Monday 23 May 2022
After a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed we dutifully arrived in the restaurant on time for our 09:30 breakfast booking to find that the place was packed. Listening to the various English conversations we decided that this was a coach party, on the move that day. Either the restaurant could not cope with that number of cooked meals or they had just not bothered to put out the menu, but we made do with larger than normal amounts of bread and croissants.
We had picked up a few useful leaflets from the tourist office the previous day, so at least had the morning planned. Being used to French tourist offices, all grandeur but never open, we were pleasantly surprised to find this one no only comprehensively stocked but staffed with a friendly person who spoke good English and had helpful recommendations.
We set of down the road towards Monte Castillo, clutching my useful phone app, MapOut. While not a spectacular walk it took us into the country and 152m up a hill, giving us good views out to sea. We surprised a stork at the top of the hill, which fluttered of with a slow worm in its beak.
After a reviving coffee in town we decided that the weather forecast was promising enough for a lunch at Comillas, a small fishing port about 15km away. It felt very off-season when we arrived and were able to park in the street next to a restaurant platform that overlooked the harbour. Despite the enticing setting the increasing cold wind persuaded us to move on after a tasty starter of crab croquettes. The short walk around the harbour seemed the only point of interest, so we returned to base.
We were still trying to get the hang of restaurant and bar timetables. From previous experience in Spain we thought that we’d be able to get tapas in the early evening as a substitute for a full dinner much later. But most restaurants were closed on Monday and we returned to a small bar opposite the hotel. Surprisingly, this small bar turned out to be quite jolly and served a good range of snacks. Our own snack of cheese and biscuits, washed down with the remains of the previous day’s restaurant wine finished off the evening.