To get to the small country of Montenegro, where we would spend a week hiking, we first flew into Stockholm for a 24-hour layover.  In Stockholm we participated in a Nordic food and drink tour.  One very memorable part of the tour was the Swedish licorice. Evidently the Swedes love their sour/bitter licorice. Most of our group spit it out immediately. Those of us who did not wished we had. But we loved Stockholm.  We then flew into Split, and had a driver take us south along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia to Dubrovnik, where we would meet our hiking group. Along the way, we stopped in the towns of…

On Sunday, June 25th, Pete and I took a train from beautiful San Sebastián to meet our Backroads Group at the Biarritz Train Station in France. This would begin the French Pyrenees part of our cycling trip. We would still be in Basque country, but we would now be in France.  After a short shuttle to a beautiful picnic spot, we cycled 16 miles along the rugged Atlantic Coast to the sunny Bay of Biscay and St-Jean-de-Luz.  After a swim in the Bay of Biscay and a stroll through town to take in a local festival (celebrating Saint John), I met up with our group for a dinner in our hotel (Grand Hôtel Thalasso…

After spending time in Pamplona, we headed to San Sebastián by bus. our first activity in town was to walk along Playa de la Concha, the largest and most prominent of San Sebastian’s three beaches. We then settled in for a refreshing “Tinto de Verano”, a mix of red wine and lemon-lime soda, and lunch at a restaurant on the promenade overlooking the beach. Later, I went swimming and even swam out to one of the floating docks, just as the protagonist did at the end of “The Sun Also Rises”. At the end of the day we had a private intro tour of San Sebastian that included lots of…

The second chapter of my 2023 Basque trip consists of walking the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James). For centuries Pilgrims have been taking this walk from various points in Europe to Santiago de Compastella, a town tucked away in Northwestern Spain, where St. James’s remains are thought to be buried. My good friend Pete Keane and I would spend three days walking the French Camino or the “French Way”, which starts in the small village of Saint Jean Pie-de-Port. Our destination – Pamplona.  Before starting our hike we met in the seaside village of Biarritz, France for a day. Biarritz is known as the “queen of beaches and the beach of kings” after Empress Eugenie…

After flying into Madrid and taking a short flight to Bilbao, I settled into the Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, located just across the street from the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, which I visited in the afternoon. The inside of the Guggenheim is as beautiful and unusual as the outside. Without a doubt it is the most kinetic museum I have ever visited. It is just plain fun to walk and explore. The art is a bonus because the building itself is a masterpiece. Designed by Canadian American architect Frank Gehry, the building is groundbreaking architecturally and launched Frank Gehry’s career.  In his 90’s, he is still designing. Later in the trip, I will be staying…