Good morning, Asturias!

When was the last time I woke up to the sounds of cows mooing and roosters crowing? Too long ago for me to remember, I suppose.

This was one of the culprits!

Honestly, the mooing was so loud, it felt as though the cattle were right beneath the window, but they were in a farm across the road. All right, time to get out and about, say hello to the animals, and see what I could find for breakfast.

Baa baa white sheep...

Boy, this is a change. Misty mountains in the distance protect their valleys between them, the sun slowly warming up the crisp air; it's almost 10 am and the main road was still deserted. The whole town felt deserted. I walked down the road, heading towards the centre.

A hut with the Picos de Europa in the background

Almost looks oriental...

Main road still deserted at 10am

Sexy valley

There were a handful of shops, bars, restaurants, and a couple of small supermarkets. I went into one of them, got some stuff from the small selection, and headed back to the apartment to have some breakfast before heading for that distance in the photos...

El Mirador del Oso, Proaza, Asturias - review

As I mentioned in the last post, we arrived very late. Toño (short for Antonio) was waiting for us at the petrol station, Estación De Servicio Valle De Trubia, which also happens to sell the cheapest petrol in Asturias, or so Toño claimed! Certainly from what we'd seen, he wasn't lying.

The apartment was very close to the petrol station, up a slight slope off the main road. Parking was no problem, one of the advantages of lodging in rural accommodation. We were staying in Asturias for four nights, and I had been looking at a lot of places, including in Oviedo and Gijón. For one reason or another, they had all been rejected, until I found Toño's residence.

It's a big house, converted into six apartments over three floors. We were given the top one. Three floors to lug the suitcases up! Toño, a strong man, kindly helped us. Each of the apartment had been given a name - much more romantic than a number! Ours was Xardón.

Of course, I'd already seen the photos of the house. I'd already liked what I saw from the outside, even in the dark night. I liked it even more when Toño opened the door for us. It was exactly identical to what I'd seen in the photos.

Apartment Xardón, El Mirador del Oso, Proaza

All the apartments had been painted in strong colours, but I loved them. The whole house had been tastefully decorated, both style and colours being appropriate for the rural setting.

The side window overlooked neighbouring houses and gardens. The double bed was large and fairly comfortable (I knew I wasn't going to get a firm mattress!), bedside tables and lamps on both sides, a full-length mirror adorning a side wall, and there was even a valet stand!

Don't forget that we arrived very late and had to have dinner first. These photos were taken well after midnight; I was depending on what lighting there was and so I didn't manage to take photos of everything in the apartment.

Sofa bed

The sofa bed folds out easily, and it's big enough for a couple, but you'd better ask Toño if there are four of you. Being on the top floor, we had a rooftop window, which was low enough for us to peek out at the fields (and the cows) and the mountains beyond, yet high enough not to bother us. Under this window, there's a small round table.

Toño practically runs this place all by himself, including the cleaning! It was immaculate, incidentally. He very kindly had a pear cake ready for us, but since we managed to have dinner, that accompanied us in the next couple of breakfasts. The cake was delicious!

The open kitchen is small, but sufficient for a short stay. We didn't need it except to boil water. A kettle would have been handy, Toño! I also found this part of the apartment a little dark, especially if you need to be cooking. 

The shower cubicle was a tad too small, and there weren't many places where you could put your toiletries and stuff. You can put them on top of one wall of the cubicle, but it isn't very convenient if you're short.

The one unfortunate aspect of this wonderful apartment is the free wifi internet connection. Being on the top floor, and the router being on the ground floor, the waves aren't strong enough to reach inside the apartment. Go out onto the landing, and you're ok. Rather inconvenient though. Having said that, the mobile network service works fine in the whole house. So, if you really need the free wifi, confirm that there's connection in the apartment you're being allocated.

Perhaps if Toño could relocate the router to the landing of the first floor, the connection might reach everyone?

Place: El Mirador del Oso

Booking: AirBnB 

If you're not registered with AirBnB, use this link and get €19 credit for your first booking!

Location: 

Verdict:  Highly recommended!

Oma Forest, the painted forest, all you need to know

Continued from Casa Rural Ozollo, review, and the right location on the map!

Like I mentioned, I don't remember what time it was when we left the house. All I knew was that it wasn't early. From Ozollo to the start of the hike shouldn't have taken too long, perhaps about 15 minutes at most, but GPS failed us. Sent us the wrong way, it did. We had to ask several people before we eventually got back on track.

When we finally arrived at the Lezika restaurant car park, it must have been way past 6pm, probably closer to 7pm. Yes, I know. The story of this trip. The first person I saw, I stopped and asked. Oh, she said. You go a bit farther down there. It'll take about 2 hours, you know. What??? I don't remember what I'd written in my plan, but I did mention we needed a couple of hours at least. But that two hours was for the whole walk; the way she said it was like she meant that it'd take two hours to get to the forest! I hope we've misunderstood her!

Lezika restaurant

We decided not to turn back; after all, that was what we'd come for. We started walking briskly and before long, it started sloping upwards. Oh-oh. Maybe that was why the lady said two hours. We're not going to make it there and back before dark! We saw people coming in the opposite direction, but no-one in the same direction as us. Until later. When we saw people behind us, we felt calmer.

The walk was fine, but you'd need decent walking shoes and reasonable fitness because of the incline. If it's been raining, some parts may be a bit more treacherous. In my original plan, I had a route and the whole route would have taken about 2 hours. We didn't follow the route. From the car park to the first of the painted trees, An Invitation to a Kiss, is just over 3 km, I think. It takes about 30-45 minutes. From the kiss, we just walked around for a while, and then went back the same way we came from.

Name: Oma Forest, The Painted Forest, Bosque Pintado

Website: http://www.bizkaia.net/home2/Temas/DetalleTema.asp?Tem_Codigo=4960

Directions: The website has all the details. Basically, you walk out from Lezika restaurant car park, cross the road, turn right, and in a minute, you'll see a sign. Follow the gravel track. If you don't see any signs after a minute's walk, then you've gone the wrong way.

Verdict: Interesting! Unusual, different, contemplative

Tips and recommendations: 

• Allocate 2-3 hours at least. Follow the recommended route as outlined on the map. Don't start late like we did.
• Dress comfortably. You'd need a decent pair of shoes you can walk in. They don't have to be trekking boots; trainers will do, for example.
• Bring water!
• For photographers - remember, once you're in the forest, the pines will be blocking a fair bit of light. Go later, and you'll have even less. Because it's going to be shaded, don't worry about harsh lighting. You may find you'd need to either push up your ISO, or bring a monopod or a tripod with you.
• Children can do the walk; in fact, they'd love the forest! Just allow more time. I actually saw a family with a pushchair, but I wouldn't like to be the one pushing! In fact this site says "Oma Forest is neither wheel chair accessible, nor baby pram accessible." In the same site, you'll find information regarding how to get there by bus or train.

Just like Guggenheim and El Peine del Viento, there are many photos I took which I would like to share with you. I've made another video, bigger, and better, I hope! To appreciate the video fully, watch it in full screen and in 1080p HD. Click on settings wheel, bottom right, click quality and select HD.

Casa Rural Ozollo, review, and the right location on the map!

So, finally, we were on our way out of San Sebastián, climbing up Mount Igueldo before snaking down again towards the coast. I kept to the coastal route, heading towards Ea. Really, we should have stopped over at Zumaia, a town famous for having one of the world's longest set of continuous rock strata. I'm sure it would have been a more interesting stop than Ea, a town where there is a beach with supposedly beautiful views of the sea.

We had a quick walk around town, and didn't see any beach, let alone the beautiful views. It was 3.30pm, and we didn't want to arrive in Ozollo too late. So, we didn't bother asking anyone, and decided to have lunch.

Errekaize was where we chose; they had  a set menu for €12. When we first saw it, it was empty - we didn't know at that time that they had more tables upstairs. Unfortunately, by the time we went in, it was full. A film crew - I didn't know what they were filming - had reserved a large section, and we had to wait for a few minutes for them to set up a table. I said "them", but it was just the one waitress, and she had to handle a full restaurant.

Food was average. We had minestrone soup for starters, and I'm not exactly fond of this dish. Second was supposed to have been fish, but they'd run out of it - the film crew had got there before us, and we were offered chipirones instead. Sorry to say it, but I've had far better ones. I've just seen that they have a Facebook page should you have the urge to look at it.

So, all in all, our disappointing experience of San Sebastián continued. By the time we finished, there wasn't enough time to take a look at Elantxobe, and after this experience, it was a risk not worth taking. Straight to Ozollo we headed.

I have no records of the time we arrived, but you can have a rough idea from the fact that we arrived in Ea at 3.30pm and had lunch, which wasn't a fast one, although, on paper, Ea to Ozollo was a short drive.

It wasn't easy. In the end we had to get the directions by phone (see the reason why at the end of the post). The landmark to look out for is the castle, Castillo de Arteaga. We wanted to have dinner there later in the evening, but it was closed by the time we got back. Just before this castle, there was a small track turning to the right. This was the turning we had to take to bring us to this charming, quirky cottage...

Casa Rural de Ozollo

I loved it! My allergy didn't, but that was the price I had to pay to be among greenery. And I could just imagine that it was going to get worse. The triple room cost us €68, including breakfast. Fast forward to the next morning... Breakfast was served in the garden because it was a fine day, but I had to have a sweater on. It was a cold breakfast - croissant, sweetbread, juice (not fresh, but good), coffee, tea, chocolate...

The room was small, but much bigger than the one we had in Isabella's. There wasn't any table, but I saw other rooms which had one. The double bed was huge! It was either a queen or king-sized - never know the difference, anyway. There was wifi, but it wasn't terribly reliable. It was a big cottage, so I guess it just depended on where we were with respect to the router.

There was a kitchen and a living room which could be used, but we were there for only the night, so we didn't have the need.

Gemma, the lady of the house, was very charming, very sweet. I'm sure if I had asked her for certain things, she would have obliged. For example, there was shower gel, but no shampoo. I didn't bother asking because we had some sachets. The breakfast didn't include toasts, but perhaps it was possible - I didn't ask, but I did ask for tea, which she obliged.

There was a car park in front of the house, on the edge of a large field. Our room, unfortunately, faced the back, which was the side you'd see first, coming from the road. Anyway, for just one night, it was no big deal.

We hurriedly dumped our bags, and made our way to the car. We had to hurry because it wasn't early. Later than 5pm, for sure.

Façade, Casa Rural de Ozollo

Name: Casa Rural Ozollo
Address: Ozollo Auzoa 3, 48314 Gautegiz Arteagako (Auzoa means barrio - district - but Google maps don't recognise it; all the maps I've found on the Net are wrong. The map below is the one you want although I'm not sure about the postal code).
Website: http://www.casaruralozollo.com/

Verdict: Highly recommended!