Planet Ruby Starrs

We found a very nice camping site, just outside Oña... Camping Puerta de los Montes Obarenes....one of the nicest campsites we've been in a long time. Very basic, not very big but with friendly people, a nice bar area and to cut a long story short (and a lot of dithering) we managed to stay there for two nights.   We had a few drinks in the bar - some people swam in the pool.  It was actually a very nice place to be, trees, birds and bats.   On the second day because we didn't have so much driving to do we went into Oña and visited the Monasterio de Salvadore which was blissfully cool and highly decorated with gold inside and full of the most amazing 16th century carved woodwork.   We stopped and had a beer in town - feeling very continental sitting under a parasol in the market square and then we drove up the hill to the Miradore de Elba, the viewpoint which was quite near the campsite.  There was...

Some dark and brooding skies.... but very temperate if humid weather.  Our travelling companions went of in such of a bus to Bilbao on a quest to visit the Gugganhiem - we went last year so were quite happy to hang out and explore the coast. Nice coves and lots of rocks for Dr Fred to get his fix....   We found quite a nice campsite - roomy pitches and quite a bit of shade. After a wander around the beach we went back to the van and I sat drawing and reading for a couple of hours...  very pleasant, relaxing, and eventually our friends arrived back from Bilbao quite late.  We sat out late eating cheese - drinking wine and celebrating our adventure.  We had a late start in the morning... I think the early day before had taken its toll - we all slept late plus, it was gloomy weather.  We packed the van up and set off for the next campsite via a place we were hoping would deliver amazing views - Alto de los Tornes... This turned out...

Two nights and a day across the bay of Biscay... Portsmouth to Santander... a delayed start actually meant a very pleasant evening sat on deck having a drink and catching up with the friends we are traveling with for the first week or so. However the moment the boat started moving the breeze drove us into a more sheltered spot and eventually to bed....  I always sleep well on a ship... white noise gentle rocking - works for me. The day at sea was without drama... a day at sea... no whales spotted and alot of cloud and wind.  We had a nice picnic and sat on deck trying to spot the ever elusive sealife.  It was sunny and relaxing. We seriously entered into the spirit of things🤣 and played 'juke box bingo'🤣🤣 we didn't win we didn't even come near to winning ...and all we did was drive Dr Fred to desperation with our enthusiasm... to be fair a couple of glasses of wine and a cider probably lowered the inhibitions but we did know nea...

After what feels like weeks of packing the van... making mosquito nets... checking all the cutlery, plates...pans etc etc etc- we have hit the road for a Grand Tour of Europe. (Avoiding fires) But before we get the ferry from Portsmouth we are having a lovely couple of days catching up with old friends.   First, a really nice lunch in Derby and then a lovely evening meal sitting in the garden down in Woking. Today we got the train from Woking to Waterloo and went up to the big smoke to look at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.  I love the eclectic mix of all the different mediums, skills, sizes, colors although I have to say I thought it was quite monochrome this year... and there was nothing that grabbed me that said this is ''amazing''.  There was a lot of really nice interesting art though, and we had a very pleasant few hours wandering around trying to pick one that we liked best in each room. The photos...

Our final day on our London adventure.  We had expected to sleep late but the glorious bird song in the trees surrounding our gaff woke us up -that and the police sirens🤣 but to be honest mainly the bird song.   We were still very lazy and late to get going, we couldn't quite decide on a plan.   I think we'd kind of done London as much as we could this time around but in the end we decided to go look at the 1996 music exhibition in the Barbican music library.  We headed fpr the tube via the Keith Flint mural The Barbican exhibiwere very Oasis led (that and the Spice Girls).. and quite minimal input from Blur in spite of the several references to the rivalry between the two bands.   There was some interesting stuff on how dance music was evolving with the Ministry of Sound.  There was quite a comprehensive 1996 timeline - 30 years ago doesn't seem like that long 🤣 seems quite recent in terms...

Saturday had been a long day so we decided to have a lazy Sunday.  Our intention was to check out the local Sunday markets and have a walk in the park -  brunch out somewhere and see what happened from then on.   We had plans to be out in the evening which meant we had to leave home about half past four to get to where we needed to go so we didn't want to go far.   We set off for a walk around Dalston and Hackney.   it's very colorful, remember I'm a country mouse these days...   the markets were not as busy as the had been during the week but we found a really nice cafe by the park and we had a lovely lazy brunch and then we walked through the park deciding to head for the new V&A East Museum.   The museum is sited on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic park.  My friend had had visited this area for the Paralympics and was really pleased to see that the whole Park has been totally utilized...