This and that whilst sipping a fine malt.
2018 is the year that Mrs. Monkey finally hung up her work suits and court shoes and cried, “Enough is enough”. As the sun bore down upon us during a seemingly unending summer we contemplated our futures. Now, both of us were out of work. What can we do - what do we have -… Continue reading It’s the future…
Bilbao had been a blast. I must admit, though, I was surprised by the obvious presence of the regional Euskadi language. All signs were in Spanish and Euskadi with English included sometimes. On occasion, Euskadi took preference. I’m aware of the campaign to save Euskadi as a language and if nothing else, certainly the… Continue reading Days 17 and 18 – Bilbao – Laredo – Santander
There are essentially two routes to Vitoria G from Logroño. The city is due north and after Laguardia, ringed by bodegas and vineyards, you can go around the Herrera peak, 55 miles, or over it, 45 miles. I had decided to go over it! As I dug into a constant 14% gradient I seriously did… Continue reading Days 15/16 Logroño to Vitoria-Gasteiz to Bilbao
I had an interesting encounter in Tudela. On arriving into the outskirts I decided to cut short my two night stay here and press on to Logroño the following day. Time to check-in was 4.00pm so I hung around having made good time. At 4.05 I walked into Reception to find no-one but a young… Continue reading Days 11 / 12 Zaragoza to Tudela to Logroño
Sunday morning lie in. I had selected two treats for the day and intended to keep it to that. Too much walking around Alicante had made recovery and then riding a bit of a challenge so I’m trying to be sensible with what I can see in a day. First stop was the Aljafería, a… Continue reading Day 10 Zaragoza rest day
There were times during the last few days when I thought that I was cycling to the top of Spain and whilst I clearly wasn’t, you know what they say, perception is everything. Surely then I must come down at some point. You see, this is the benefit of hills; Great views Makes you stronger… Continue reading Days 8 and 9 Albarracín /Daroca/Zaragoza
I am sure that I remember it correctly. In Laurie Lee’s “A Moment of War” he describes arriving in Teruel and “liberating” a van which was parked outside the church. Nothing was done or said but the van was commandeered and proved useful, no doubt. When I arrived in Teruel,sure enough the van had gone.… Continue reading Day 6 El Toro to Teruel
Valencia is one of those cities I could have spent more time in. I was getting the feel for the place and was enjoying wandering around. Today, however, I leave this area and the tourist spots behind and head into the hills. Wandering on the wild side...well, as wild as it gets, this is the… Continue reading Day 5 Valencia to El Toro
I am domiciled in an old Spanish house, off a cobbled street slick with rain. My host is an affable chap whose broken English is better than my broken Spanish and he welcomes me with a knowing pity. I have a huge bedroom containing 4 beds. Somehow I booked a family room. This makes it… Continue reading Day 3 Xàtiva to Valencia.
Well, that didn’t quite go to plan.I had given myself another 30 mile ride from Alcoi to Xàtiva thus easing myself in gently. Thunder storms were forecast and I thought that with an early start I could be in Xàtiva for lunchtime and with any luck the storms would be way behind me. I was… Continue reading Day 2 Alcoi to Xàtiva
