Tag: spain

Spain Again (Tarragona and Valencia)

by blacridere

It’s still dark when I wake up. I’d prepared and laid everything out the evening before so all I need to do is shower, get dressed, eat and drink something, put my kit into the panniers and head out. The evening before the receptionist asked me to post the key to my gite through the letterbox of the main gate, as no one would be up at the ungodly hour I must depart in order to beat the heat. I post the key through the slot in one of the gate pillars on my way out and head West out of Biarritz.

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I’ve Been Everywhere, Man (a musical interlude)

by blacridere

A journey without music is no journey at all, as far as I’m concerned. There are many famous aphorisms about music, some so famous and true that they’ve become cliches. “If music be the food of love, play on”, wrote Shakespeare. Nietzsche went further: “Without music, life would be a mistake”. For me it was Dick Clark, US television’s equivalent of John Peel, who summed it up: “Music is the soundtrack of your life”. My journey would have far less meaning without it.

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From Zaragoza to Barcelona (via Hades?)

by blacridere

My decision to break the journey up in Zaragoza was made not only because I heard it was a cool city and wanted to check it out, but because it’s only a relatively sedate 200 miles (320km or so) to Barcelona from there. I’m not too hungry at breakfast, so I load up on fruit and coffee, check out and I’m out of the hotel and out of the city by 9am.

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Of Dust and Valour

by blacridere

At the end of my previous post, I think I possibly went off at the deep end with fascism, climate change, and Phaedrus, and my readers are owed an explanation, so I’ll attempt one and hope that it proves satisfactory.

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The Long Ride South (part 4: Zaragoza)

by blacridere

Despite the late finish the previous evening, I roll out of bed at 7am as usual, pull on jeans, a t shirt and flip flops and make my way down to breakfast. This is the most upmarket hotel I’ve stayed in during the trip, delusionally boasting 4 stars, and easily the worst. Breakfast is a wilted, dry and tasteless affair. The coffee is probably the most awful I’ve had in two decades, although not as bad as one I’d tasted in a Northern Irish prison early in my career as a justice reformer.

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The Long Ride South (part 3: León)

by blacridere

I roll out of Vitoria-Gasteiz and towards León. The distance to be covered is not too great: I am travelling to Leon to meet with a business contact, Jorge, and have planned my stops to try and arrive in the mid afternoon so as to be able to get my bearings and catch my breath before we meet. He has suggested I take the National Routes instead of the motorway, and having learned what I have on previous trips, obviously I take his suggestion and join one upon leaving the city. 

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The Long Ride South (part 2: a Brush with Death)

by blacridere

“The future’s uncertain and the end is always near”, sang Jim Morrison. Bikers generally like The Doors, perhaps because the essence of Jim’s poetry speaks to us at a visceral level. Perhaps. The future is indeed uncertain as I set off from Bordeaux towards my next intended stop in Vitoria-Gasteiz. 

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The Pilgrim Returns

by blacridere

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It takes only a few minutes to get from one side of Santander to the other. At the waterfront near the ferry port there is Continue reading “The Pilgrim Returns” →

Back in the Basque Country

by blacridere

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The morning comes and I am still undecided as to which way to head. I type a random address in Santander into the satnav to see which routes are available. There are several, via Continue reading “Back in the Basque Country” →