Adventures With Harvey

  Pays Basque… and pintxos! The best part of a visit to Northern Spain is undoubtedly Pintxos.  “What” I hear you ask… “are pintxos?”  This is the Basque word for tapas and with this in mind, the way to eat an evening meal in Bilbao or San Sebastian is as follows:  Visit pintxos bar #1.  Choose a delicious little titbit from those displayed behind the bar, or order a small hot morsel from the menu.  Order a liquid refreshment of your choice.  Find a little table (outside if the weather is warm enough) and consume, either on your own or perhaps with new friends you have made along the way.  Visit pintxos bar #2.  Repeat.  Visit pintxos bar #3… you get the picture.  The pintxos could be anything from slow cooked beef cheek to goat’s cheese wrapped in courgette to crab served on a slice of baguette.  We spent 2 wonderful evenings in San Sebastian doing exactly as described above however I’ll flesh this story out a little more shortly. Our first stop in Pays Basque was Bilbao, a middle

Tales of Port and Masterpieces Yes, we Travelling Woodies are back in Spain but before our story returns to the land of olives and tapas, there’s the small matter of our visit to Porto for your faithful correspondent to report.  Once described as opening up like a pop up book from the banks of the Douro river, Portugal’s second biggest city was an absolute treat to visit.  We spent a wonderful couple of days wandering the waterfront, visiting one or 2 of the famous port caves for a tasting and learning the history of the town. On the second evening we split tacks and each did a different walking tour.  Apparently those on the blue team have spent a little too much on rugby tickets on this trip, so to even up the ledger a tiny amount, team pink booked herself a food walking tour.  (further detail on our culinary experiences has been requested so pink team reporter here to enlighten like-minded readers 😊 …)  This was a little like an old-school progressive dinner which involved stop