Saturday 8^th September – Gijon

43:32.810N 5:40.117W

Last night, as we were shattered and it was late, we decided to enjoy the celebrations from the comfort of the boat – we could hear the singing quite clearly and the fireworks in north Spain just seem to go bang – nothing goes into the air except smoke (we’d noticed this at Santander).  We went to sleep to the sound of the party (well past midnight by now).

We had a quiet day today; I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and we went for a walk around town - most of the shops were closed for the festival as expected.  The festivities are starting again this evening; this time we aim to join in as soon as we’ve had dinner.  As I prepare dinner, I can hear the band – I recognise one of the tunes as ‘Roll out the Barrel’ – the old ones are the best!