Country Roads, Spain

Country Roads, Spain

Come along with me on my road trip through Spain! Country roads…

I struggled to figure out a way to tell you about our trip, since it had some distinctly different themes:  driving, eating and Madrid. So I figured first I’d tell you about the driving, and our road tripping around the northern parts of the country.

Our journey started in Bilbao, where we took one night to settle into the time zone, shake off the jet lag and stretch our European street legs.

Guggenheim 

Taking in the most popular sites…

“Puppy”

and stumbling onto surprise beauties.

Stealing quiet moments for ourselves.

The next day, we hit the road going west, with a pit stop in Santander, to oogle the seas, hike up to see the palace and grab some lunch. 

and other treats.

We continued west and parked ourselves in Oviedo, opting for day trips around the region. Each town had its own charm, but some themes remained the same.

Gorgeous parks in which to get lost.

Statues of the famous and the obscure.

Modern buildings tucked into ancient hills.

(or ancient buildings tucked into even more ancient hills)

Sprawling, grand plazas…

and of course, towering cathedrals (this one in Burgos was my fave, and the most impressive).

Being sure to soak in quiet moments for oneself.

And not forgetting to stop and smell the roses.

Our approach was really a great way to see Spain, and introducing us to towns and areas that would otherwise have been overlooked if we had just stuck to the big cities. And really, isn’t it in these small towns that we really see the essence of a country’s people?

Further, the thing about travel? It makes you realize we aren’t all so different after all, and we are all, in a lot of ways, all fighting the same fight.

Hasta luego! Meet you in San Sebastian.