WordPress seem to go to a lot of trouble to convince users that ‘Freshly Pressed’ is fair, impartial and based on critical selection.
Consider this then from a blog page I chanced upon…
It has been interesting to look back over 2012 to see which posts were the most popular. Bagni di Lucca and Beyond has been Freshly Pressed twice this year, which has been great fun. Thank you WordPress for choosing.
It is a nice blog but it isn’t brilliant (sorry).
I say no more…
Posted in Africa, Arts and Crafts, Athens, Austria, back packing, backpacking, Beaches, Bratislava, Budapest, Cantabria, Cathedrals, Childhood, Croatia, Cyclades, Czech Republic, dubrovnik, El Cid, Estonia, Europe, Food, France, Galicia, Germany, Grand Canyon, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Hotels, Hungary, Iceland, island hopping, Italy, Krakow, Latvia, Literature, Malta, Marrakech, Morocco, Natural Environment, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Prague, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sorrento, Spain, Suez Canal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Travel, Turkey, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, USA, Vikings, Wales, World Heritage
Tagged blogging, Culture, Favouritism, Freshly Pressed, Life
Since early 2009, as part of our own Grand Tour of Europe, we have been drawn time and again to the Iberian Peninsula in search of the real Spain and in November 2010 we returned once more, flying to Madrid and planning a short three night stay in the city of Ávila about one hundred kilometres north west of the capital city.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, Galicia, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Avila, Benidorm, Castilla y Leon, Ciudad Rodrigo, Consuegra, Cordoba, Cuenca, Grand Tour, Madrid, Santander, Segovia, Spain, UNESCO, Valladolid
The journey speeded up now of course and we completed the final thirty kilometres of the journey in less than half an hour. As we approached the city I was struck by the fact that it was much bigger than I had been expecting and fairly soon it was much busier than I had imagined as well. As we followed signs to the centre we joined a queue of crawling traffic with snarling engines, red hot clutch plates and frustrated drivers and we made slow progress towards our destination.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Basque Country, Biarittz Rugby Football, Biarritz, Bilbao, Cantabria, Euskadi, Posada La Torre de la Quintana, San Sebastián, Spain
Guernica was bombed at the invitation of General Franco and the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War because the Basque Country was a stronghold of the Republicans and because it was a symbol of Basque nationalism. It was of no real strategic military importance but Franco wanted to end the war in the north as quickly as possible and to do so he needed to take Bilbao and this act of aggression demonstrated his power.
Posted in Cantabria, Europe, History, Hotels, Literature, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Basque Country, Bilbao, Cantabria, Guernica, Pablo Picasso, San Sebastián, Spain
So after leaving Castilla y Leon we re-entered Euskadi and then left it just as quickly again as the road sign announced that we were back in Cantabria. The green valley was picturesque without being dramatic and for a time we could have been in the Yorkshire Dales or the Lincolnshire Wolds until we drove through the town that was busy today with a cattle market and horse auction that was attracting lots of people in from the surrounding countryside. We didn’t stop but drove through the middle of all the excitement and after a while were back in Euskadi and then after another short while back in Cantabria where we followed directions to Ampuero and then once again to Laredo.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Castilla y Leon, El Roble Liendo, El Tunel Laredo, Festival, Laredo, Liendo, Spain
Cantabria is part of Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains and it is so called because it has particularly lush vegetation, due to a wet and moderate oceanic climate that is strongly influenced by Atlantic weather systems that get trapped by the mountains and turn to rain. It is a place of complete contrast to the dustiest and driest parts of Spain in the arid South-East where most Northern European visitors head for the beaches and the sun-loungers of the concrete and tarmac strip.
Posted in Cantabria, Europe, Galicia, History, Spain, Travel
Tagged Artziniega, Balmaseda, Basque Country, Bay of Biscay, Bilbao, Cantabria, Euskadi, Spain, Valle de Villaverde, Vitoria-Gasteiz
The clouds were gathering again now and the sky was transforming to chalky white as we walked across the hard sand avoiding the puddles of water down as close as we could get to the water’s edge. The bay was long and wide and we had it practically to ourselves but I expect it gets a whole lot busier and crowded in the summer.
Posted in Cantabria, Europe, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Cantabria, El Roble Liendo, La Aparecida, Laredo, Liendo, Posada La Torre de la Quintana, Spain
In the morning it was disappointingly overcast and clouds were crawling over the mountains that surrounded the village and prospects didn’t look good so we had to arrange an appropriate itinerary to take account of the weather. It certainly wasn’t seaside weather so we decided to travel inland and see the countryside and after a substantial continental breakfast prepared by Luz, the housekeeper, we left Liendo and drove first west and then south into the hills.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Ampuero, Asón river, Bar Solarno La Aparecida, Burgos, Cantabria, Collados del Asón Natural Park, La Aparecida, Spain
Castro Urdiales is a busy resort in high summer but on a day in late April it was unhurried and relaxed with only a few visitors sauntering along the promenade. We had parked at the beach end of the town which meant there was quite a long walk to reach the harbour further to the west and this took us past the yacht club and elegant balconied sea front buildings all overlooking the wide sheltered harbour where a variety of boats were resting on the muddy sea bed at low tide.
Posted in Cantabria, Europe, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Basque Country, Cantabria, Castro Urdiales, El Roble Liendo, Eroski, Liendo, Pintxos, Posada La Torre de la Quintana, Spain
The Basque Country, or Euskadi in the Basque language, is part of the larger Basque region that also icludes Vavarre and stretches into northern France and is an Autonomous Community of northern Spain that was granted the status of historical region in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The capital is Vitoria-Gasteiz (Vitoria is the name in Spanish, Gasteiz in Basque) and Bilbao is its largest city.
Posted in Cantabria, Europe, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Autovia del Cantabria, Bay of Biscay, Bilbao, Cantabria, Castro Urdiales, Easyjet, Euskadi, Ryanair, Seat Ibiza, Sol-Mar Rent a Car, Spain, Vitoria-Gasteiz
