*BBC plum voice: ” Here is the cycling forecast for northern Spain. Today,26th May 2015. Extramadura. East by North Easterly. Blustery.Gustery.”* 
Today I finally cracked out my wind cheater. Boy, was it cold ? Even though the sun was up it’s impact was absent. My Castelli wind jacket is of the “boil in the bag” variety. There is no ventilation so you slowly get wetter and wetter on the inside. All I would need to do to dry out later was to find a windless spot in the sun and slowly turn myself, rotisserie style. It was a short ride today, 33 miles or so, but hard in the strongest wind yet.
I stopped into a roadside Meson Iberico for some water and sampled one of her Ladyship’s tapas, which was so tasty it caused me to comment on the quality of her cooking. Gusterly. Which, thankfully, she took in the spirit in which it was intended and not a as proposal of marriage.
I arrived in Salamanca just after 2pm. My hotel is part of the Plaza Mayor, an economy part, I might add, so that I have the tiniest room they have , and after squeezing my bike into the lift it is now safely chained to a sewage pipe on an outside service terrace only accessed by the staff.
But who comes to a town like this and stays in their room ? Tomorrow is rest day exploring the town, and the European Cup Final. Spain v Italy. ( Secretly I hope Juventus win otherwise I’m not going to get much sleep, am I?)
singlemaltmonkey 