Our family accommodation was a 200 year old cottage situated in the small, quiet village of Trillayo with magnificent views of the Picos de Europa. Ten minutes away was the charming town of Potes with its pretty streets and disjointed houses with their own coat of arms. We thought Potes in Northern Spain would be somewhere we visit when we needed the supermarket. Little did we know we’d fall in love with this quaint little town. Stopping off regularly after a day exploring to wander the cobbled alleyways, sample the Spanish tapas and watch five year old POD swim in the river with the locals.
There are some magnificent caves in the world, like the Vatnajokull Glacier in Iceland, Batu in Malaysia and the Marble Caves in Patagonia. For us white water rafting in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves in North Island, New Zealand was certainly a memorable experience. Right up there too however has to be the spectacular El Soplao Caves in Cantabria.
We had the best time aboard the Cap Finistère and Pont-Aven cruise ships with Brittany Ferries. One of the highlights was certainly dolphin spotting while in the Bay of Biscay. A pretty special experience especially for five year old POD who screamed so loudly, some might have thought there was a man overboard!
The scenery in the Liébana region of Northern Spain is spectacular. The route along the CA-185 from Potes to Fuente Dé engulfed by huge mountains with the pretty Rio Deva river running adjacent. With not even a cloud in the sky, our excitement was at fever pitch as we drove along the beautiful winding roads.
Pais Vasco is well recognised for its unique flavours, tapas and wine with cities such as Bilbao and San Sebastian boasting Michelin star chefs. While the Basque Country is largely commercialised, it’s a land surrounded by lush countryside, mountains and coastline – with much of the Urkiola National Park, Valderejo National Park and Urdaibai Biosphere Reservation untouched.
It happens to the best of us. One minute you’re happily taking in the views, the next feeling like you want to reach for a bag. My first experience of nausea was on a boat from Port Douglas to the Great Barrier Reef although self inflicted so I totally have myself fully to blame!
The Doves’ love for tennis has been covered both here on POD Travels and on our parent blog PODcast. We’ve always enjoyed the Mark Warner model which allows you to play on holiday with LTA qualified coaches, as well as taking advantage of what’s on offer in resort. We have however also taken an activity holiday at Club La Santa which is situated on the North West Coast of Lanzarote.
We always flew to a destination before POD came along as we wanted to begin our break by the quickest means possible. Since we’ve become parents however, the journey has formed an integral part of our overall holiday experience. Now aged five, POD is a true adventurer with her inquisitive nature undeniably infectious. Luckily for us she loves to discover new places too and is pretty much up for anything. Over recent months we’ve taken the car to the Isle of Wight, the Côte d’Opale in France and Ghent in Belgium. Road trips are amazingly good fun and they’ve enabled us to do even more exploring that we might have done otherwise. This summer we’ve decided to do something we’ve not done before – travel to Northern Spain on board a Brittany Ferries’ cruise ship.