Northern Spain and the Picos

We're all aware that the world, his wife and his motorbiking dog have been to Northern Spain and the Picos triangle, but Alastair is going to throw his tuppence in none-the-less, for all the right reasons!

- Alastair Glenn

I'll start in Spain, as we all do mostly the same thing to get here - for me a long, tedious ride in the rain to get the 27-hour ferry, so I'll not bore you with this ...

My wife flew into Madrid, and I was meeting her at our friend's house in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It's a truly majestic town with a huge monastery built in the 1500s so lots of history; it's a UNESCO site and as such, is one of the most visited sites in Spain. The surrounding streets play host to a lovely array of bars and restaurants, all of which are modestly priced and very friendly. It may not be on many touring plans of people like us, but it certainly should be!

A few days later I left their house at the same time as my wife left to fly home, and my plan was to meander my way back to Bilbao for the ferry six days later.

My first stop was Segovia, which hosts a very large aqueduct dating back to the Roman times, and also the equally impressive Alcazar de Segovia, a medieval castle which is perched up high and has magnificent views of the surrounding areas. It is amazing to see the aqueduct and the fact that it is still standing strong after so many years. The streets around the base host a plethora of bars and restaurants all basking in the shade of the structure itself.

Onwards now to a quick stop close to Santo Domingo de Silos. Here we have Sad Hill Cemetery, which was used for the final scenes of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It is in a fairly remote area, but I just couldn't resist when I knew I would be passing reasonably close by. It is hard to believe that this was filmed in 1966, long before I even showed up on this planet, and it is still a classic!

My overnight stop was Burgos, again a host to a magnificent cathedral and a lovely city to explore. For the eaters amongst us, it also has Morcilla de Burgos, a version of black pudding made in the province, and it is a very tasty item!