James deserves a kick in the backside for that

James is our GPS. He has a British accent but is Spanish in temperament . 

We set off early in the morning drizzle hoping to avoid the traffic on the mountain roads. That paid off and we got to out of the windy bits fairly early. There is a town, and tunnel called Gavin up here. Visibility was poor but the countryside was very picturesque. Every second hillside in Spain has a dun coloured tower or church.

At various stage James had us showing as driving through fields, over cliffs and in rivers (all very fast flowing after the rain). We got very annoyed when he asked us to take the second exit at a roundabout which ended up in a paddock. Patience was getting very thin. Anyway we got back on track heading for Sos Del Rey Catolico. Another hillside town. This one is famous for being very well preserved, and for being the birthplace of Fernando I. He is famous for being king of Aragon, marrying Isabela of Castilla, driving out the moors from Spain and launching Columbus. He probably did other stuff too.

James asked us to turn off a reasonable road and we followed. Whilst I had asked to see Sos, James had decided that we needed to see some of the Cinco Villas. A collection of five towns in the area of historical interest. Unfortunately we did not really have time for this and the road James chose for us was a category 7 road. I know they do not have category 7 roads, but when they do this one, with €500M it should almost qualify. I don't think there was more that ten metres in a row without a pothole.

Yes we drove by some 11th century churches and some lovely looking hilltop villages, yes we managed to almost run over a flock of quail, but we wanted to go to Sos. Well, we got there finally and were in such a state that we switched James off and stuffed him in a backpack whilst we had a buffet breakfast at the parador. Calmed by food we wandered the old town. It was still raining so not totally perfect however the church was excellent. We were shown around by an old guy who obviously loved the place and would get a bit impatient if I did not immediately translate his words of wisdom to Marjan. We could not take photos but it was quite interesting. Particularly the old bits ...circa 950. Sos is mentioned from the 850's and was walled early in the 900's. It was at the front between Catholicism and Islam, hence it's hilltop which dominates all the area around it.

We decided to get going early and beat the rush hour traffic in San Sebastián. James was reasonably mollified and behaved himself. However we kept checking his recommendations against Google Maps. And when Marjan saw how short the drive was from the motorway to Sos, she suggested we give him a kick in the b£#.

The countryside as we started into the Basque Country was spectacular. The motorway headed into this awesome gorge and from there it was green hills and tunnels all the way. We got a bit cocky and James led us in ever decreasing circles till we found our hotel.

A couple of hours of walking in San Senbastian was vey pleasant. We strolled along the la concha promenade in the vizcaya gale, we got a map from a hole in the wall tourist map machine, we climbed Monte Urgull for a lovely view East and West. We wandered the old town among the Manchester United fans here for a game. We even had time for a beer and pintxos (albeit average) in La Plaza La Constitucion.

Headed back to the hotel and dropped down into the bar beneath our hotel where we had some txakoli and more pintxos. This time the pintxos were excellent and the txakoli an interesting accompaniment. By the way, we had enough for a light dinner with the pintxos and txakoli for €12.50. Perhaps that was to make up for the loud Man U. supporters. Nonetheless, take that Barcelona!

Now we are back in our room for some soccer and grandchild skypeing.