Devall Travels

I was looking for something and saw that there were a few typos and spelling errors in the entire "Revisita España 2014" blog. So I decided to update with a few more photos from Flickr and fix the typos! The whole lot can be visited by clicking on the label "Revisita España 2014" below. " I hope this won't be the last bike trip we go on ." - famous last words - Day 11.

Not a bad night once the screaming brat closed down for the night. After two of the three S's were accomplished we went down to desayuno. It's included in the room rate. As we are both old we qualify for the "golden age" rate at the Parador that gives us a discount on the room rate of about 10%. Breakfast was a buffet. Plenty for everyone.  Views from the terrace. Sorting what goes in what bag not so simple! To save carrying loads what we need for the duration of the boat crossing and the hotel stop in Poole we needed one bag. Once sorted we loaded Döra and then checked out.  The Parador We reported the broken chair and I left a note and took pictures!! The broken chair The first planned stop was Potes on the edge of the Picos.  Today there was only one mountain pass, Puerto de Piedroluengas at 1355m. It is on the border between Palencia and Cantabria.  The descent on the northern...

Only one more night left in Spain but the best part of two days. We didn't get up too early. The alarm was 0800 but as check out was 1200 and no breakfast in the hotel, thought we'd lie in and then pack and go. The first stop was the Bernabeu Stadium. Of course I went into the car park the wrong way, had to "off road" across some pavements to set Döra up for a photo session.  Stadio Santiago Bernebeu Stadio Santiago Bernebeu Stadio Santiago Bernebeu Stadio Santiago Bernebeu - don't ask about the orange character We still hadn't had breakfast, so after a few pix we set off again. TomTom took us around the entire stadium and through the car-park of a shopping complex and we saw a Musee del Jamón. Parked and a ham croissant and coffee later we were off to the second stop at Segovia. The route I planned took us over the Puerto de Navacerrado. It's over 1800 metres and progress was deadly. To cover today's long dis...

Time to leave Toledo and head firstly to Aranjuez and then to Madrid. Or rather firstly we would pack the bike and ride out of the old town via the steep streets. The streets are not simply cobbled but the surface is flint stones embedded in concrete. Not that easy on a large bike with luggage and two adults!   We made it and then ignored TomTom telling us to take the main road, instead we headed down the south bank of the Tajo to a couple of viewing spots. Roman Bridge The Alcazar View of the old town Dora and Claire The run to Aranjuez was on another autovia and it was only signposted just before the junction with Ocaña and Cuenca seemingly more important. We topped up with fuel at the first station. At €1.369 per litre the cheapest so far. The onboard temp gauge showed an air temp of 34.5℃. Who knows what it was when stopped. We had lunch at a café right by the old Royal Palace. It was open but simply too hot to go across. ...

Is it Day 4 already? Check-out is noon at the Parador and that gives plenty of time to walk outside the walls to take a look at them from the outside.  The Parador is not all that much different in price to other hotels in the area, more expensive inside the walls than outside it had to be said.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Ávila It is very impressive. The city is surrounded by a huge plain and the "new" City is built outside the walls. Even though the wall goes right by the Parador garden there is no access, up or down here. After a walk around the inside we found a pay desk near the cathedral. As we wwre leaving for Toledo, we didn't pay the entry fee to the walk on the Walls. We had breakfast in another café in the same square as last nights dinner. Before packing the bags for the get-away. Tyre claimed today we have only 78 miles to ride. TomTom turns the numbers around to 87! We'll see. ...

Leisurely breakfast. For €3 each there was no meat but loads of pastries and even the famed Spanish 'Donuts'! Then we packed, paid the bill and set off. We had  gone a few yards when the Scala headset stopped working. A quick stop and restart and reconnect and it was okay for the rest of the day. The plan today was to get to Ávila and our  overnight hotel. I programmed TomTom to go via Burgos and thereby increase the mileage a bit but at least keep us off the autovias that are replacing the N roads everywhere. The N623 takes you from Santander to Burgos through villages and on the Michelin map it is mostly a green lined or scenic route.  It also takes you through the Cantabrian Cordillera. A range of mountains at about 1200 to 1500 metres. Gentle grades and a few hairpins to keep you on your toes. There are three main "puertos" and all are about the 1000m mark. We stopped at the first, the Puerto de El Escudo at 1011m. ...