all aside it's one truly memorable and loving trip. thanks for being my best travel buddy/ chauffeur! and i've proved to be the best menu decryptor or spanish translator.
Day1 & 2 - Santander
so the trip began with a long/ no-priority-check-in queue at ryanair. indeed i's quite amazed by the stanstead express train it's quite efficient and modern. and apart from the bad serivce and very smelly cabin (the 2 spanish boys in front wore vests and they're sweating... with 2 'sea urchins' armpits it was some sight). what else can you say though ryanair's the only direct flight operator to santander. thank god it's only an 1.5hr flight and as soon as we touched down we felt the slightly heated breeze! the hotel was.... terrible - with the price we paid it was nothing but terrible. nonetheless the city made up to it! it's a very nice promenade along the quay/bund (may my architect/ urban planning friends correct me the differences between the two) and you can sniff the saltiness from the sea! everyone was craving for Regma helados! we found a very cool tapas bar/ restaurant called Bodegas Mazon. the vino blanco was disgustly cheap yet superbly refreshing which complimented with our octopus/ tuna fishball/ mushrooms (bathing in warm garlicy olive oil...).
we woke up to some.. funny breakfast at the hotel. the spanish sun was all the comfort we needed and we decided to hop on a ferry to a nearby island surrounded with sandy beaches for a nice tan (which unfortunately we ovedid it...). it's a beautiful beach just 30mins on the boat and quiet in the morning - before the spanish invaded. kinda like those in HK but cleaner! it wasn't warm enough to swim though, or i wasn't as brave as the little boy.
it's our last night in santander and the little alleys never fail to surprise you! there're always somethings round the corners! and so we found another local specialty. it's a museum of wine/ tapas bar with barrels as tables =) i simply couldn't resist the smile from the cod...
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Day 3 & 4 - Oviedo & Gijon
the car we received was very nice except they dont have any v nice radio channels. baby was so pleased with the navigation he couldn't stop praising/ giving a tap on its head. we headed east towards Oviedo. the spanish gov was granted so much funds from the Commission to build all these super highways! oh and i'd mastered the spanish of sparkling water aqua con gas! the drive was fairly easy (well as a passenger it's always the case =P) and scenic - mountains on our left and seafront on our left! along the way we saw quite a few wind farms on those complex terrains and i did think about mast and wake turbulence...
so with some pee-stops we soon found ourselves in oveido a very commercial town. with luck we got a v good deal out of a 4star hotel and their orange juice was a winner that baby secretly shipped a whole jar to our table 2 mornings in a row. apple must be the best produce in this region as it seems all waitors could do the magic trick of pouring cider for thirsty diners.
gijon's just a stone throw away we savoured ourselves in the sun and seasoned ourselves w very fine sand and the atlantic sea! it's the very first time we swam together hahaha. the downside is too many c9 around they could drive you nuts! or they got this from the history - romans did conquered this little town and the remains are still well-preserved along the coast.
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