After we leave Sos we travel north to the Basque country and the sea., What do we first notice; beautiful rolling green hills, “a land of exceptional beauty”. Although I have never been to Austria or Switzerland, I imagine this a similar landscape. I even see a few windmills, lots of neat and tidy stone homes, red tile roofs, terraced gardens, grapes. Everyone seems to have their own little sustainable homestead; garden, vineyard, a few cows, sheep and a place for everyone to roam. 
We start to notice the Basque language popping up on signage. The Basque rightly consider themselves a bit different than the rest of Spain. “The oldest Europeans to speak the original European language.” What else do we know about Basque country? That for many travelers it’s a culinary path to the best food in Spain. San Sebastian alone is credited with 16 Michelin stars and described as one of the “culinary capitals of the planet”. For Mike and I, we’re more the “pintxo” type. That is to describe the Basque tapas. Small offerings literally stacked on a counter or table. Each being the “perfect 2 bite morsel”, exquisite taste, texture and appearance.
They are served both hot and cold, and made of what ever is a specialty of the establishment; lots for seafood; marinated anchovies, prawns, squid, crab, pate, mushrooms, eggs, pork, chicken, minced other stuff. Homemade bread and rolls. In ordering, you tell them what you want, they give you a little plate, and you pay at the end of your visit by the toothpick. Unusually around 1.50 Euro’s each. Dinner can be quite reasonable.
Accommodations; our first stop is in Lekeitio- Bizkaia, they have a population of around 8,000 and the village is gorgeous. There are 2 beautiful beaches, a large late Gothic church and a busy harbor where all gather to eat at the cafés and watch the boats bob. We are staying at Hotel Zubieta which is a lovely converted 16th century palace, elegant, old and in the center of town.
We have a small suite of rooms. The views from our windows are stunning countryside, flowers, gardens and other estates. We walk down to the harbor with the rest of the Sunday population and eat our pintxo and watch the boats bob.
Our next northern stop is in Cantabria & Asturias. The coastline is spectacular with sheer cliffs, beaches and small fishing villages. So many places, so little time.
We choose village of Cudillero as our next stop. It is described as the most picturesque fishing village on the Asturias coast. “The houses painted in a rainbow of pastels, cascade down to a tiny port on a narrow inlet. 
We were not disappointed but kind of surprised that there were LOTS of people enjoying the tiny port and watching the boats bob around.
Another thing about this place, everyone drinks unsweetened cider. They have this crazy contraption that holds the bottle of cider, then metal tube that sucks the cider out of the bottle, down into some ice then up another metal tube then squirts it into a glass that has to lay slightly on it’s side.
The whole purpose is the cider has to “bubble up” and get some air into it. We tried a bit of cider and it is quite tart with a little bit of fizz. It tastes sour if it does not have the bubbles. I can’t imagine drinking a whole lot of this cider, it must be an acquired taste because everyone drinks it.
Accommodations: Hotel Azpiaz slightly outside of town. It is very close to the crashing sea, there is a surf shop in our back yard and a babbling brook that runs by our open window. Accommodations are inexpensive and the restaurant is packed. Their seafood fare attacks people from all over and you need a reservation (which I made after seeing the lunch crowd).
Here are a few shots around our hotel, our simple room with map spread out, cords to recharge, research.
