From the Picos de Europa I headed back to the Bay of Biscay. Cantabria was the last section of Spains northern coast that I hadn’t visited yet. Santander I only spent a few hours in Cantabria’s capital Santander, because I had to return my rental car there. As ever so often, the most apparent landmarks …
Author Archives: michael
Iberia Impressions: Picos de Europa [en]
I hadn’t known about the Picos de Europa mountains before planing my trip to Iberia. But a Spanish colleague from work recommended them to me, when I asked for hiking recommendations in the Pyrenees. Pictures on the Internet looked promising and it was not far off my route along the coast. Since the swell forecast …
Iberia Impressions: Galicia & Asturias [en]
After two weeks of surfing in Portugal, I headed back north, to the Spanish region of Galicia. They must have great beaches and surf-spots, but I hear that many of them are pretty remote. Traveling by bus/train and not having infinite time left, I decided to leave Galician waves for some other time and to …
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Iberia Impressions: Portugal’s North [en]
After Madrid, I headed for the coast of northern Portugal. Less sight-seeing and photographing, more surfing and partying. Didn’t even make it nearby Porto. Well, I’ll get to see it some other time… Esposende/Ofir First stop was the Ofir peninsula near the town of Esposende (the proper Portuguese pronunciation of which I will never learn). …
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Iberia Impressions: Madrid Stopover [en]
I hadn’t been to Madrid before and the city has always been a mystery to me. How could one of the most notorious maritime empires have been governed from a landlocked place like this? The geographic location seemed unappealing — no harbor, no impressive mount-range serving as backdrop, not even a noteworthy river flowing through. …
Iberia Impressions: Euskal Herria (Basque Country) [en]
After visiting Biarritz on the French side of Basque Country, I finally arrived in Spain and on the Iberian peninsula. Donostia (San Sebastian) First stop was in Donostia, a city famous for it’s surf beaches, like Zurriola. It’s located by a river mouth and two bays. In the middle, there’s a small hill raising from …
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Iberia Impressions: In Transit through France [en]
I’ve already written way too much about my recent Interrail surf-trip to Spain and Portugal. So this time let my just dump some photos from the places that I came through. Let’s start with my journey through France… Paris Two days stop-over. Always liked La Defense and the modern stuff (we don’t have much of …
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The Gotchas of Railroad-Safety [en]
They say trains are one of the safest modes of transportation. And while I can think of several horrific train crashes in the past, I generally believe it’s true. But now I’m wondering about all the small things that could go wrong? How common are they? On my last surf-trip, I witnessed this small incident …
Interrail — was it worth it? [en]
I wanted to avoid flying during my surf-trip to Iberia, so I only used trains and buses instead. My trip took me from my home in Germany through France, Spain, Portugal, and back. Altogether this went really well. I was impressed by the punctuality and comfort of French TGVs and Spanish Renfe long-distance trains. In …
Iberia Surf Diary [en]
With a short stopover in France, I’ve been traveling through Spain and Portugal from mid-September to late October. Main objective was to get to know surf-spots along the Atlantic coast and surf as much as possible. Here I’ve collected my surfing experiences. Mostly to learn from it for future endeavors. E.g. what spots and what …