it's a conspiracy....

Driving back from Kate's mother's house near Montcuq to Madrid, a lazy 12 hour stretch, we narrowly avoided getting sucked into the hellish outskirts of Bilbao (again).

There is a clearly a conspiracy, probably hatched by an unholy trinity of freemasons, anarchists and opus dei members, to direct all traffic between San Sebastian and Burgos via Bilbao - there are clearly vested interests at work here. Somebody is getting a big pay off somewhere from all the lost tourists and travellers who end up stranded in Bilbao's claustrophobic valleys when they were seeking the wide open plains of Castille y Leon.

There are at least 3 motorway routes that will take you from San Sebastian to Burgos (and probably numerous A-road routes). However, only the longest way - via Bilbao - is actually signposted 'Burgos'. It was the same story heading too France, trying to follow 'Francia' signs. Both of the other routes involve going via Vitoria Gasteiz, which mysteriously disappears from road signs and thus you plunge relentlessly towards Bilbao, drawn by roadsigns evilly leading you off course with false promises of a quick, easy route.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like Bilbao - I just hate driving there.