Devall Travels

TomTom seemed to be taking us away from the city. The reason became evident as we descended across a bridge over the river Tajo and under the nose of the Alcazar to wind our way up a series of streets barely seemingly wide enough for Döra with her panniers. In fact, it was wide enough for most cars, although one section was narrow enough for a Vectra to squeeze through with only an inch or so clearance. At one tight corner that kind of went up as well as left I had to have Claire get off as my left foot was nowhere near touching the cobbles and I was in danger of toppling over.  She walked the last 50 yards to the hotel. We parked in a slightly wider bit near the hotel and we went to check in. The guy on reception then showed us to the garage. I had to take the panniers off to squeeze into a small space next to a (badly parked) French 4wd. The Hotel Santa Isabel is very centrally located. It has WI-FI  and of course, the garage! Our room is on a corner plot with a view of the ...

From Ávila the route was curiously north instead of south-east as it looked as though we were being taken to an autovia. I stopped by a "mirador" overlooking the walled city but the sun was directly facing us making the camera useless. Maybe in the afternoon with the more golden tones would be perfect? I changed TomTom and we turned 180 degrees and the ignored the signs to Toledo and headed off into the mountains to the east and then south again along AV900. The scenery was as bare as the previous day. We passed fields of black bulls with large horns and a few Fincas with the names including "toro". We went over the Puerto de Navalmoral at 1534m but not convenient to stop for the photo opportunity! Once back on the main road to Toledo we encountered a few trucks but they were easy to pass and we had lots of empty road ahead. Over the river Alberche that is lucky enough to be dammed twice in a few miles. On the lake were lots of pleasure boats and the...

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. ...

We finally arrived at the Parador in Ávila at about 6pm.  We opted to park in the garage at €14 rather than leave Döra in the street. A good choice but it seems that €14 buys a car space but the knob in the adjoining space thought it was okay to park on my side of the painted white line.  Luckily I was on holiday and didn't have to scrape his/her paintwork to get out. Once showered and in civvies we walked up to the main square for a beer or two and ended up staying in the same place for dinner. The two course €12 menu included wine. Excellent value that the French might like to consider! Tomorrow we better check out the medieval walls!

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. ...

Arrived in Santander at around 1815. Then bobbing about waiting to get on the berth. Lovely and sunny. The beaches full of people enjoying the weather and the sea. LD Lines have been pretty good. Food okay but a little pricey. Bar good. Cabin good.  We were off pretty sharply at about 1850 and into the streets of Santander. TomTom took us along the road parallel with the port. Apparently we had to turn left at a roundabout that didn't actually exist as they have built a huge shopping mall and bunged in an underpass. TomTom maps not updated. Pretty poor, especially as we seem to be subsidising the latest generation owners, who get free maps for life. I wonder if they have this problem. Eventually we found our way to the hotel. The bar is open for a beer and healthy crisps. The hotel San Millán has a fitness centre. Cue loads of Mr Muscles everywhere, and strangely loads of smokers... The car park of the main road is a curious dirt hairpin. Not pleasant ...

At sea. The ship seems quite noisy. Not just the neighbours but the engine sounds and the vibration through the decks and fittings. So far just a gentle swell as we awoke at 7am or maybe 8am. We haven't a clue whether the ship is on UK or Spanish time. The view from the window in the cabin. Sea and sky. We went and had a look at breakfast in the self-service.  A choice of full English or continental. We went for the less belly busting continental. With coffee. The coffee on the ship is pretty decent. Then sunned ourselves for a while followed by a siesta before we went to have a lunch of soup and a roll.   I managed to get TomTom to find the satellites so we could see where we were. So far very few announcements from the crew of where we are. At 1430 still no sign of land but TomTom showing us about 100 miles off Santander. The downside to this long crossing in August is that the boat is overrun with kids. A lot of them being looked after p...