Travel with Kevin and Ruth: Two sleeps to go!

The last month has gone by quickly for us! Although we've been enjoying Spain, we've been looking forward to Ireland.

It's going to be kind of odd.. we haven't been in an English speaking country since we left England at the beginning of October. Seven months of having to check Google Translate if you want to ask a question! Not so much here in Spain because we can get by with the language, but you get my point.

We're not really looking forward to the change in weather, but hopefully it will be like Norway... the scenery will make up for the lack of sunshine! We depart Spain on Sunday morning, and arrive Ireland Monday afternoon. The forecast on arrival is for a high of 16C (61F), cloudy, with showers.

We're okay with that temperature, but hopefully the rain holds off enough that we're able to get out and do some hiking each day. We'll be okay with that.

So anyhow, we needed to get a little closer to Bilbao where our ferry departs from. We're finding the coast far too busy and congested for our liking, so decided to head inland a little bit to find somewhere more peaceful.

Before we left Lierganes, we did a quick walk to another part of town to see a couple of old buildings...

Private residence with a fancy entranceway.

Built in 1725, this "palace" is also in private hands.

The Lierganes sign.

We headed out and hit the road further east...

We were on the main highway for a bit of the way.

I found a little picnic area beside a "hermitage"... a small chapel. It was very quiet and peaceful. There was a level parking spot beside the hermitage just off the narrow road, and we figured that would make for a quiet overnight spot.

I think four cars went by from the time we arrived mid afternoon until we went to bed. And we haven't seen a single person. So very quiet!