I’d been looking forward to going out into Spain on my own yesterday and as I set off this morning I was no less excited. Spain, however, didn’t come easily. First of all the tunnel to cross the border was closed to let a police convoy through, so I had to wait half an hour for that to open; then, once in Spain, I got stopped four times at police roadblocks, they were obviously on the hunt for someone who looked like me!

My plans to go to Pamplona were then thwarted because the police had shut off the road for three hours, so instead of waiting I turned off into the mountains. Needless to say that I didn’t at all regret it; I had never realised how great the Spanish Pyrenees are until today, where I just wandered about them for hours.

I stopped at endless tiny pretty villages, went through huge valleys and climbed great mountains; all the roads were empty, I was living the dream! What’s more is that I’ve never been to a place where everybody is so welcoming. The place where I took the picture is a great example, I got out of the car and immediately somebody said hello and started chatting. Admittedly, the place looked like no one had been in for about thirty five years; people were just sat on chairs outside their houses waiting for something good to happen, like someone to drive in.
Coming home I was faced by more police check points and, sod’s law, the tunnel was closed again; the convoy was coming back the other way this time! To cap the day off I had a great meal at my friends’ house this evening, I won’t go through the menu; suffice to say that there was, as ever, way too much to eat and we all need to go to bed. Incidentally, that’s where I’m headed so it’s goodnight from me; goodnight (Paxman eat your heart out).