We were off again on Monday (3rd June) morning travelling as far north as we could. We had visited the north Spanish coast in previous winters when it was too cold and snowy to get to Portugal via the east of the country. But it was always very overcast and cold and very Irish. Right now we were very happy with _very Irish _climate.

We spent Monday night up in the hills near a town called Pontedume. The journey there was amazingly beautiful and amazingly scary. The campsite was basic and the data was non existent. Previously if we arrived at a campsite without data we would have to move straight away but now we have another option. Earlier in the year Denis had bought a satellite internet aerial, this would be the first time we needed to use it. It worked perfectly.

Next morning we drove back down the mountain and further along the north coast to the small town of Espasante. This town is surrounded by spectacular scenery. The sun was shining and the breeze kept it cool enough to enjoy. We had run out of food again but google showed us five restaurants in the town. So off we went to find one we liked.

When we walked into the first one there was a card game going on down the back. The owner was involved in the game but came up to the counter to serve us. Thinking we’d start with drinks, we ordered and then asked for a menu. He said, no, no menu. Trying not to feel too let down by google we paid for our drinks and sat down.

The owner arrived back to us with free tapas and the terrible thing was the tapas were the best we’d had in Spain… Oh if we had only been able to order food, it would surely have been great. The free tapas were a cube of pork with the crunchiest crackling I’ve ever seen or tasted. Oh well, we drank up and moved on.

Unfortunately, the next four restaurants were closed. Tuesday might be their closed day – then as we walked back to our parking at the harbour we passed a restaurant that google didn’t know about – Las Palomas.

Denis approached the counter to check if they were serving food. Of course we were too early but food would start in just thirty minutes. We took a seat and the waitress (who turned out to be the owner) came over with menus. And as she was turning away she asked, Are you by any chance from Ireland? It turned out she had spent two years in Cork and loved Ireland! This restaurant had been in her family for fifty years and had recently been done up, maybe that’s why google didn’t know about it.

And then a different waitress with a Cork accent came over to us. She had come from Cork to work here in Spain for the summer. Her boyfriend was from Bantry and she had been studying in Cork. She didn’t speak Spanish… but because she was from Brazil… she spoke Portuguese. Isn’t it a very, very compact and interesting world? Long may we be able to move around freely… and spread the Cork accent!