I'm not 100% sure that the whole retirement gig suits us. It's one of those "seems like a good idea at the time" scenarios until you realise that all those things folks want to do (travel the world etc) when they retire, we did anyway! Apart from (to keep it topical) living in Turkey which neither of us have any inclination to do!
So, to update, after two and a half weeks, almost three thousand miles, one phucked wheel bearing and a lot of good food we came home to a pretty chilly house in Dundee last night. It was, to a certain extent, forced on us when our kids informed us that they'd both be spending NY with us and friends from Istanbul decided to inform us that they'd be "visiting" for NY also. Ho hum, full house for NY.
To paraphrase Bill Bryson, here are a few of my Notes From a Small Road Trip with a few pics from my trusty old phone, as opposed to posh new camera.
Bordeaux: Nice but expensive. I'd forgotten how expensive France is, in comparison to most other EU countries. Got there on a Sunday night and paid about twelve pounds for a black pudding supper. Ok, it was two different boudin noir served with potatoes two ways plus the obligatory dod of apple. Wine was nice, but again, expensive for what it was.
Cant believe I paid €16 a bottle for this!
They do like their sweeties...San Sebastian: Died and gone to heaven. More Michelin starred restaurants per head of population than any other city in the world bar Kyoto in Japan. Hugely disappointed by the pinchos (or pintxo) culture - mostly boring little bites on a bit of bread with a heavy emphasis on tinned tuna. More weight placed on presentation than flavour. Fortunately we found several places who didn't run with the crowd and served up interesting and unusual tapas/pinchos. Once you get beyond the touristy sh1t, brilliant place to spend a bit of time enhancing your waistline. Generally more expensive than other areas in Spain, not convinced its justified.
Ok, some of the pinchos were not bad...
Braised beef cheeks served with pineapple and sesame. Sublime!
Highlight of San Sebastian. Chuleton de Buey in Bar Nestor, 1.2kg of beef chop.
After 
Bilbao: Other than the Guggenheim museum, its a bit of a dump. Pinchos I wouldn't feed to my ex wifes dog and "genuine Basque cuisine" that would give you the boak (Glaswegian for poor quality food).
Leon: Bit of a wild card, went there on a whim. Superb little place with a beautiful cathedral and an "old town" that looks as though it hasn't changed since the sixteenth or seventeenth century. Good food and everything as cheap as chips! Definitely a returner with more time to spend. Stayed in a former(ish) monastery where they still had seven masses a day and no double beds... Good wifi and free parking though!
Cachopo de Ternera - an Asturian dish which is best described as beef cordon blue. Think thinly sliced beef with ham and cheese, dipped in breadcrumbs and then fried. Pic doesn't do it justice, believe me.Porto: If you like port then this is
the place. Fantastic cafe culture, all the major port houses within walking distance and as its Portugal everything is dirt cheap. Shame about their football team. Waited till the end of the derby game (Porto v Benfica - who won 0-2) before admitting to our waiter that we were both Benfica supporters! He was not a happy camper and I examined our bill minutely to make sure there were no "errors".
I'd recommend Porto as a city break to anyone who enjoys good food and wine. The Douro reds are excellent value - I now know why you rarely get a decent Portuguese red outside of Portugal... they keep them all to themselves. For white drinkers, Alentajo and Dão regions are really good, albeit a touch expensive even locally.
Sunday lunch in Porto:Starter
Main Course
Dessert
Santiago de Compostella: This place is an absolute gem. Once you work out the "tourist" joints its hard to spend money and the food is excellent - we had a bit of help on the food front from a local which made things easier. Only there for one night but its on the list to return with more time.
They don't skimp on the measures in Galicia!Betanzos: While battering up the Autopistas del Atlántico towards Santander (and the ferry home) our front nearside wheel bearing decided to give up. One call to our breakdown company and 45mins later we were deposited outside Groupo Manuel Rey Automóviles in Betanzos. Unfortunately it was lunchtime (think siesta time!) and no-one appeared until three o'clock in the afternoon. By six o'clock we were merrily on our way with a bill that was only £30 more than our local mechanic would have charged for the same job. Result and thank you Kwik Fit breakdown cover. £58.90 a year we pay and they cover you for Europe as well - bargain of the year as far as I'm concerned.
Other than that, Betanzos is an even bigger dump than Bilbao, albeit on a smaller scale.
Westmoreland Services on the M6: Cracking black pudding and lamb pie. Not cheap at £3.50 but worth every penny.
South east Asia next. Not sure the C-Max will make it that far, so maybe we'll fly... or maybe not
JF
