clairedavieswriter

It’s a bit misleading to talk about how far we climbed today because the more important figure was the 1,045m we descended. Sometimes we freewheeled for so long it felt like cheating: There were some amazing views on the way down: But long steep descents have a drawback: we were chilled to the bone by…

The streets of Salamanca were deserted at 8.30 this morning, which had us seriously questioning the locals’ work ethic, until we discovered that April 23rd is Día de Castilla y León. Of course it is. Fortunately we found one bar open – a versatile business, where we could have chosen kebabs, cocktails or churros con…

Six days of riding have brought us from the north coast to within sight of the mountains west of Madrid. And if we’re not mistaken, it looks like they may have snow on them. Which is a little concerning, given that our route tomorrow climbs to a height of 1,100m above sea level. But what…

As we had our breakfast – coffee, juice and a foot long slice of baguette slathered with butter and jam – the sun was just rising, and it was a cold 5 degrees when we set off. The lads were a little grumpy about spending the night in a loo But their mood was improved…

Last night, we learned that the troglodyte houses we’d seen on the way into Baltanás were part of an entire neighbourhood of underground bodegas, which have been used to make and store wine since the mid-16th century. Every chimney denotes a bodega: In total, there are 374 bodegas, some of which are still used for…

In anticipation of a bracing start this morning… Last night, we went in search of the necessary fortification against the cold. We found it in a popular tapas bar, recommended to us in a timely exchange with our hosts from Rublacedo (thanks David and Paula!). Notwithstanding the extra padding provided by our dinner of croquetas…

“Can you tell me where I can buy lamp/bs?” said the man.We’d just finished checking in, and were getting the panniers off Bernard and Colin, when another guest walked into the foyer, and posed this question, in somewhat accented English, to the receptionist.“Lamps?” she asked. To be fair, that’s what I thought he’d said too.“No,…

Look! Blue sky! To be fair, we were probably also smiling because it was lunchtime and we’d already finished our cycling for the day.I’d originally planned to ride from Bilbao to Burgos in two days, but added an extra night in case the weather was bad and the distance too much straight out of the…

You’d be hard pressed to find either of these Castilian villages in a travel guide. They lack many of the features that tourists generally seek, but the welcome was warm, the locals accommodating (see The Kindness of Strangers, below) and frankly we were just grateful to find somewhere to stay in roughly the right place.…

A shout out first to the greengrocer in Bilbao who opened her till early to let me buy bananas. She’d initially said no. Not unreasonably, given that I’d blundered into her shop before opening time, dripping all over the floor she’d just mopped. But she must’ve taken pity on me given my bedraggled state and…