What a brilliant sea crossing. I've head all sort of horror stories about the Bay of Biscay and how rough it can be. In fact, last weekend there were serious gales and all manner of sea-sickness tales. However, for the charmed Mr Potter and his travelling companion conditions couldn't have been better. The sea was "mill-pond" flat all the way.
Friday night was a bit of a beery session as soon as we got Portsmouth and having been restrained while in the port because the car still had to be parked on the ferry, the beer began to flow once on board.
The cabin was the size of an en-suite bathroom and included an en-suite bathroom. There was barely enough room to walk between the twin beds but it was clean and functional.
Sunday on board was an early start, mainly due to the lack of sleeping comfort, but there was a Costa Coffee outlet on board and a couple of grande lattes later the sleep deficit was forgotten. We spent the day sitting on deck, getting a suntan, reading and drinking just enough beer to keep us going.
Last night was a reasonably early one after a top steak 'n' chips meal because we were up at 5:30 this morning - just like a work day!! We got off the ferry and drove into Bilbao. The Pioneer sat-nav was superb, getting us straight to the hotel car park. It's a shame that the sat nav can't predict the average Spanish driver. How can such a laid back and friendly people be so psychotically agressive as soon as they hit the tarmac?
Once we had safely put the car out of the way of the Spanish mental drivers we took a roundabout walk to the world famous Guggenheim Museum. The sun was shining and temperatures were in the mid to high 20's - just right for a good walk. The Guggenheim building is every bit as amazing as it is renowned. So many interlocking forms and shapes, it is hard to believe that the building actually has a function. We didn't go in to see the modern art, partly because I would have been there all day and partly because our feet were killing us by then, but we took loads of photos of the stunning building and surrounds. There is a puppy dog sculpture made from flowers outside which is amazing if for nothing but its sheer size - at least three storeys high!
Later this afternoon we checked in at the hotel and went walking again, this time unencumbered by heavy bags and rucksacks, and unsurprisingly found that it was beer o'clock! A few beers in a bar here, and bit of a walk, a few more elsewhere, and then a few more at a bar just down the road from the hotel where I ordered dinner in very basic Spanish. I managed to ask for two salads for two, followed by two more salads for two! Thankfully the owner realised that it was "Stupido Inglesi" and just gave us two salads for two - even though these two were the size of some sort of Salad Mountain.
And that, Dear Blog Follower, is where we are now - back at the hotel with a couple of take-away beers, full stomachs and a doggy bag of mixed salad. Tomorrow is the drive from here to Barcelona which is about as many miles as London to Edinburgh. No doubt there will be some form of Spanglish incidents on the way. Stay posted :-)
Friday night was a bit of a beery session as soon as we got Portsmouth and having been restrained while in the port because the car still had to be parked on the ferry, the beer began to flow once on board.
The cabin was the size of an en-suite bathroom and included an en-suite bathroom. There was barely enough room to walk between the twin beds but it was clean and functional.
Sunday on board was an early start, mainly due to the lack of sleeping comfort, but there was a Costa Coffee outlet on board and a couple of grande lattes later the sleep deficit was forgotten. We spent the day sitting on deck, getting a suntan, reading and drinking just enough beer to keep us going.
Last night was a reasonably early one after a top steak 'n' chips meal because we were up at 5:30 this morning - just like a work day!! We got off the ferry and drove into Bilbao. The Pioneer sat-nav was superb, getting us straight to the hotel car park. It's a shame that the sat nav can't predict the average Spanish driver. How can such a laid back and friendly people be so psychotically agressive as soon as they hit the tarmac?
Once we had safely put the car out of the way of the Spanish mental drivers we took a roundabout walk to the world famous Guggenheim Museum. The sun was shining and temperatures were in the mid to high 20's - just right for a good walk. The Guggenheim building is every bit as amazing as it is renowned. So many interlocking forms and shapes, it is hard to believe that the building actually has a function. We didn't go in to see the modern art, partly because I would have been there all day and partly because our feet were killing us by then, but we took loads of photos of the stunning building and surrounds. There is a puppy dog sculpture made from flowers outside which is amazing if for nothing but its sheer size - at least three storeys high!
Later this afternoon we checked in at the hotel and went walking again, this time unencumbered by heavy bags and rucksacks, and unsurprisingly found that it was beer o'clock! A few beers in a bar here, and bit of a walk, a few more elsewhere, and then a few more at a bar just down the road from the hotel where I ordered dinner in very basic Spanish. I managed to ask for two salads for two, followed by two more salads for two! Thankfully the owner realised that it was "Stupido Inglesi" and just gave us two salads for two - even though these two were the size of some sort of Salad Mountain.
And that, Dear Blog Follower, is where we are now - back at the hotel with a couple of take-away beers, full stomachs and a doggy bag of mixed salad. Tomorrow is the drive from here to Barcelona which is about as many miles as London to Edinburgh. No doubt there will be some form of Spanglish incidents on the way. Stay posted :-)
