Pamplona to Logroño – a short ride 104kms in 1:10hrs.
Art and Wind turbines
Fields of
Tunnels
Town on a Hill
Pyramid
Logroño is the capital of La Rioja a major wine producing region in Spain and Rioja wine has been accredited with “denominación de origen calificada” . It is also famous for several streets that specialise in Tapas bars but you would have to stay here for a year to sample them all hahaha. Calle Laurel is the most well known street. The first day was 40c, the next 41c and the third day was 42c but no rain so I was happy.
Art
Fountain
Stone Man
The Seasons
The Seasons
The Seasons
Art
Wooden Man
Tapas
After Dark
Man on a Horse
Tapas
Fountain
Interesting
Painted Ceiling
Smokin
Mother and Child
Stone Bridge
Steel Bridge
The museum was free, surprisingly well organised and immaculate.
Art
Art
Money
Jigsaw puzzle
Venus with Silver eyes
End of the Empire
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Saints
Who is who
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Concatedral de Santa María de la Redonda
Calle Laurel, party street
Calle Laurel
Calle Laurel
Calle Laurel
Calle Laurel
Calle Laurel
Calle Laurel
Calle Laurel
Laguardia is a village on a hill that is riddled with tunnels dug during the Middle Ages as a place to hide from invaders. They are now used to make wine. I went on a tour of one of them. By bus it takes 30 minutes to get there from Logrono and costs 1.90 Euro.
Bayonne to Pamplona over the Western end of the Pyrenees. Maximum altitude 718m compared to 1,818m when I crossed over from Toulouse into Spain. Once I got past the villages in the foothills good ride through the mountains in fine and cool weather upto Elizondo.
Slow traffic
Farms
Cattle
Lone Rider going Uphill
Curves
In the right direction
Cloudy
Winding
Cattle
In need of TLC
Alpine
Cool
Elizondo – a Basque town in the mountains, made famous by Dolores Redondo in the Baztan Triology. Having read the books I had to see the town for myself and as I was passing through I stopped and walked around, very pretty. From there to Pamplona I joined up with a 4 lane highway with trucks, looks like they are headed for France by another route. Distance 104kms, time 2:44hrs.
Elizondo
The Church
Not the Bakery
Pretty
The Weir
The Bidasoa River
Main Street
Supermarket
Town Square
Pretty
Old Faithful
Digging for Gold
Trucks
Tunnels
Donkeys
Roadworks
Roadworks
Pamplona – where the Running of the Bulls takes place every year. This is where the bulls chase a crowd through the narrow streets of the town. The runners wear white with a red scarf and a few get gored every year while the Bulls finish up in the Bull ring where they will be killed. The city also has some impressive defensive fortifications and an interesting Church.
Bilbao in Spain to Bayonne in France both in Basque country. Short ride 2:05hrs and 159kms with 6 Toll stops and €24.77 in tolls, a real nuisance. At one stop the system did not detect my bike and did not ask me to pay, I was stuck holding up traffic, so I pushed the Help button and after a few minutes the bar was raised without me having to pay, first time for everything. More traffic and more trucks on the winding mountain roads not a good combination with trucks trying to overtake trucks and blocking both lanes.
Heading out of Bilbao
Mountains
Through the mountains
Tunnels go with mountains
Tolls
Bayonne – I came here mainly to visit the Basque Museum and Biarritz. The old town itself is very nice with narrow lanes and cobblestone streets, many street cafe’s and tourists wandering around. There are also free bike parking spots around the town. The Saturday market was in full swing when I was there with some genuine local produce.
Cobblestones in a pattern
Saturday Market
Saturday Market
Saturday Market
Saturday Market
On both sides of the river
The Basque Language is Unique
Basque country mountainous
The Basque Regions
Interesting Wheel
Around the House
Cattle with Wigs
Gravestones
Two Seater
Dugout Canoe
Rudder
Girls at the Beach
Traditional
Behind the Door
The Front of the Door
Pelota
Pelota
Pelota
Picnic
Dancers
Dancers
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Procession
Biarritz
Chocolate Stones
Wine Press
Street Art
Street Art
Street Art
Street Art
Could be a Wicked Witch
On the Street
Menu
Tuna and Vegetables
Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne
Inside
Painted Ceilings
Painted Ceilings
Painted Ceilings
The Alter
Street Art
Street Art
Biarritz – Once a playground for the rich and famous, now everyone goes there. Not a bad place if it stops raining hahaha. I took a bus from Bayonne to Biarritz €2.20 for a 24 hour ticket wandered around, it is not very big, had lunch, wandered around some more dodging rain showers and back on the bus.
The ride from Santiago de Compostela to Bilbao was fun, through the mountains all the way, there was only a short stretch of toll road at the beginning which I avoided by going down a back road. The back roads are fun but the speed limit is 90kph which is ignored, mostly. A Police car went past in the opposite direction when I was doing 110kph and I was worried for a few minutes because in Australia that would mean they would do a U turn and come after me to save the world from a dangerous criminal and fine me $800 but here in Spain even the Police acknowledge it is not a heinous crime. Police motorcyclists wave to me as they go past at a 150kph hahaha. 566kms in 6:12hrs.
Heading out
Wind turbines
Mountains
Unusual Bridges
Tunnel
Out of one Tunnel and
into another
Mountains
National Parks
Interesting Mountains
Interesting Mountains
Interesting Mountains
Misty
The Sea
And a Bridge in the Middle
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An S bridge
Never seen one before
Gasolina and give my rear end a break hahaha
First stop was the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao fantastic architecture and some fantastic exhibits inside, in other words, come and see for yourself. As a bonus there was a special exhibition of iconic automobiles.
Art under the Bridge
Guggenheim
The mist is created
Big Spider
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Weird and Wonderful
The Puppy
The Puppy
The Puppy
Holy Place
Inside the Guggenheim
A maze, sort of
Mazes
A straight maze
In the middle
Basque Steel
Basque Steel
The Ceiling
Genius
Door and couch grass
Genius
My name is Richard
Genius
Looking at the Mazes from above
Pretty
Scrolling Art
Close up
Rolls Royce
?
?
Fry your eggs in the back window
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The Original Mini
James Bond
E type
Ferrari
Mercedes
Mercedes
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Batmobile
Bertone having fun
Interesting
4 cylinders only?
FI work of art
The Firebirds 1, 2 and 3
The Firebirds 1, 2 and 3
The Firebirds 1, 2 and 3
The Firebirds 1, 2 and 3
The Firebirds 1, 2 and 3
The Firebirds 1, 2 and 3
Dead man
Dead man 2
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Looking down
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Mist man made
More steps
Puppy
Sprinklers
Tapas
Tapas
The Centre of Bilbao
The Metro
The old town is the next place to go in Balboa. For a change it was not raining, I wandered around, had lunch at the Market, a huge variety of Pinchos which are tapas by another name, nothing particularly remarkable in the rest of the city. Went on a ride on the Funicular to a lookout with views of the city.
Porto to Santiago de Compostela short ride all on the freeway 4 toll stops €22.35 for 233kms in 2:22hrs. A bus ticket for the same journey only costs €20 and you don’t have to pay for your own fuel hahaha. Anyway good ride in fine and cool weather along winding roads, no rain is always a plus.
Heading out of Porto
Mountains
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Angled Bridge
Enter Spain
The Border River
Tolls
Freeway Art
Freeway Art
Big Bridge
Big Bridge
Under the Bridge
Mountains
Zorza – Galician food
The next day dawned cloudy, windy and the weather gods threw in a drizzle just for fun. My advice is to stay away from the Atlantic coast, stick to the Mediterranean coast or the Interior of Spain unless you like gloomy weather.
A bus into town cost me €1 and I optimistically did not even bring a jacket, 16c and a drizzle, headed straight for the Cathedral Museum where I spent 3 hours. It is in three separate buildings and then there is the Cathedral itself, very few English translations so you will have to guess what the exhibits represent.
Saint James has an interesting and controversial history, nevertheless he is the Patron Saint of Spain and is very popular.
Merida to Cabo da Roca started out as a fine day but when I crossed the border into Portugal it started to rain. This time I made the wise decision to take the freeway and pay the hefty tolls (€20.35 and 3 stops, 230kms) because the last time I was here I used the backroads and getting through Lisbon on the slippery cobblestones while it was raining was not nice hahaha live and learn. The toll roads are a nuisance, you usually have to stop, take a ticket at the beginning and at the end present the ticket to a machine or and operator and pay the toll, a motorcycle is in the lowest class, cars pay much more. Each time I have to stop take my gloves off, fish around for my wallet, pay the toll or put the ticket away and struggle to put on wet gloves again. Anyway I arrived at Cabo da Roca which is the Western most point of the European Continent and the rain stopped, it was still cold and windy. Beautiful views with a few tourist busses, it must be a regular stop, I took a few photos and was on my way. I stayed in a small village nearby called Almoçageme, all the roads here are steep, narrow, winding and some are made of cobblestones. 328kms in 4:04hrs
Spanish Freeways Beautiful
Portugal = Rain
Bridge Toll
Big Bridge
Rain
There it is
Arrived Cabo da Roca
Rugged coastline
Big Rocks
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Lighthouse
Heading back
Lunchtime
Village Cafe
Nice cake
The view
Unusual door knob
Frome Almoçageme I rode to Porto famous for producing Port. Getting back on the freeway through the back roads took a while with Garmin directing me down roads that were probably meant for horses not motor vehicles, a few missed turns later I was off and running, back on the freeway or Autopista. 363kms in 4:04hrs This time 2 toll stops and €27.20.
Heading out
The view
Dunes
On the Autopista
Thirsty work
The dreaded Toll plaza
Porto is hilly, up and down and some streets turn into stairs hahaha. The place where everyone hangs out is Ribeira on the river bank, the other side of the river is Gaia an easy walk across the steel bridge. I walked down to Ribeira but to get out of there I took an Uber, for around €5 you can get around the city area. There should be a lift and a Funicular to get you back to the top but neither of them was working. I spent most of my time wandering the hilly streets looking for Street art while dodging rain showers. Never did get to find all the art, too many hills and showers.
A word of warning, when you order a meal at a restaurant in Portugal you will be brought bread and a few side dishes that you assume are part of your order. Assume not because if you touch any of them you will be charged extra usually an outrageous price. Let me give you an example, I ordered a glass of wine and it came along with a small bowl of olives, this is common practice in Spain and anywhere else, the olives or peanuts or whatever are free. I also ordered a meal, when I was given the bill, the wine was €3, the 10 or so olives were €2.20. No credit cards only cash so I paid in cash and was given change which I counted and it was €1 short, I pointed this out and they brought me the correct change. Another place charged me for bread which they brought along with some other stuff, none of which I touched and when I pointed this out they said Sorry and brought me the correct change. You have been told.
Ribeira
Ribeira
Ribeira
Olives €2.20
Precarious
Beautiful
I did not know what I was getting hahaha
River Cruise
River Cruise
River Cruise
River Cruise
River Cruise
River Cruise
River Cruise
An Icon
The Market near the Cable Car
Market
Stout
Market
IPA
Gaia
Fountain
Find the Fox
I walked up the stairs
Portugese BBQ
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Railway Station
Balancing Act
Ribeira
Gaia
And of course I had to do a tour of the most iconic brand of Port in Porto “Sandeman”. A tip, if you look online the bookings will show Full but if you go to the counter in Gaia you will get a place if not the same day then the next day. That is what I did.
Sevilla to Merida an uneventful ride on the freeway in cool weather, 187kms in 2:05hrs.
On the road
Enter Merida
Once you get to the first Attraction you can buy a ticket for 16 Euro that will get you into a total of 8 places and that is what I did. There are many other bits of Roman buildings scattered all over the town.
Terre to Sevilla, a cold ride until I reached Puertollano and then a classic motorcycling road the N420 winding through the mountains and a couple of National Parks upto Montoro, 742kms in 7:56hrs, my rear end still need conditioning hahaha.
Sevilla is one of my favourite cities and I have visited it several times. This time I saw a couple of new places, the Hotel Alfonso XIII and the University.
Monumento a la Generación del Veintisiete
Híspalis Fountain
Catedral de Sevilla – Where C. Columbus is buried
Wine
Monumento a Fernando III El Santo
Lunch
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Shades
Pastries
Carriages
Hotel Alfonso XIII
Hotel Alfonso XIII – The Lift
The Beer
Wedges
The Ceiling
The University
The University – many courtyards
The University – many courtyards
The University – many courtyards
The University – many courtyards
Gold Tower
Food
Choc Brownie – Very good
I discovered that Sevilla has Street Art, so I went Mural hunting in one particular area where they are concentrated.
An unexpected surprise was a religious procession that usually happens during Easter.
Toulouse to Terre in Spain should have been a great ride over the Pyrenees but it rained and it was miserable and nerve wracking through the mountains and of course there were many tunnels, 484kms in 7:10hrs.
Oftringen to Clermont-Ferrand in France, a long and tiring ride 535km and 7:50hrs, just passing through.
Heading out
Swiss Roundabout Art is Amazing
Spot the Train
The View
Back roads
Back roads
Cows
Roudabout
Enter France
The River between Switzerland and France
Mama and Baby
Flat for a change
Pizza Bread
Bolognaise
Chocolate Gelato
Clermont-Ferrand to Toulouse 399kms in 4:45hrs on the back roads, raining at first and then it became fine. Another stop to meet a friend. I visited Toulouse in 2015 for a few days, they have some spectacular mechanical animals.
