May 17 2025

A day to remember

I wake at 6am sleeping on a mattress on the floor of our cabin. My days on the top bunk are over, the short ladder and cramped cabin have convinced me of that. We will be docking in about two hours, so time to get ready and pack. The crossing was smooth and apart from having the toilet not work initially, due, we were told, to “people tortured the button” – gentle tap only required.

I wonder if our cabin window is a reflection of the state of our ferry

Anne wanted to be on deck as we came into port as this is where her father did his national service back in 1950. We are arriving in Algiers, the capital of Algeria and the first time we have visited the country plus the first time Streak and Storm have been in Africa. The waterfront of Algiers with its historic buildings rising up the hillside make an impressive vista.

Had to duck as we rode up the steep ramp

Docking completed we need to negotiate with the bikes two levels down. How come every indoor parking so far has been two levels, either up or down? Suffice to say we negotiated it successfully and entered the arrival process which is documented in Visas and Borders. The whole process took a couple of hours but we were ably assisted by a very helpful customs officer who followed our progress, assisted us with paperwork and even guided us to the insurance booth and gave directions to get SIM cards. Thank you, a welcoming arrival to Algeria.

Into the traffic, after laid back Spain, one has to be much more focused here. I had been complaining about the number of traffic lights on roundabouts in Spain, here I am reminded of Lima, everyone has priority. A couple of traffic lights would not go amiss to ease the mayhem. Maybe we have spent to much time in Europe.

We head for the suburb of Bab el Oued, an older suburb close to the port, both sides of the road house small shops selling everything from washing machines to SIM cards housed in the ground floor of apartment blocks. There is very limited parking so into some roadworks we go, “Ok to park here?” “Oui” and we are off for SIM cards. We now have 80GB (€8) each and are set for our time in Algeria.

Bab el Oued – work site perfect for us to park

We navigate through the myriad of vehicles and people who seem to step out without looking, unaware they in front of a foreigner’s vehicle. For all the apparent chaos to us, it seems like the vehicles and pedestrians are conducting a dance with steps we are unfamiliar with. Anne noted at one point that the bonnet of the car behind me and my pannier were separated by centimetres, probably less than an inch, as we wove through traffic. Yes I did see a couple of fender benders today, but very little hooting or driver aggression.

As we get out town, waves, smiles and toots of horns greet us. I think people are happy to see visitors. Lunch is taken at a motorway service station as we head west towards Tipaza, our first stop. As we are eating a tasty chicken lunch we are approached by a woman who informs us she and her husband have paid for our lunch as we are guests in their country. A kind and unexpected gesture.

We continue west, humbled by the generosity of people, towards our newly built hotel in Bouma’Chouk. Navigation to our destination is easy as a multi story hotel with the name writ large on the side helps.

At the hotel we meet Lamine, a motorcycle enthusiast who says he will link us up with friends across the country. How kind of him.

After checking in we head by taxi for the Roman ruins at Tipaza which has an impressive history and is of course another UNESCO World Heritage Site, which we have recorded visits to many over the years, I suspect UNESCO keep adding more, so we will never get the full set.

Tipaza some 70 km. west of Algiers was an ancient Punic trading post which the Romans took control of in the first century CE (Common Era) which I found confusing because I thought “CE” meant “Conformité Européenne” and was found on electronic products? Oh well back to the Romans. They developed the port and it became an place of exchange with the indigenous population for the next few centuries.

Two French / Algerian couples kindly invite us to join them and their guide on a tour. We had planned to hire a guide as otherwise we would be looking at columns and walls with no idea of their significance. Our guide Andou is just 19 and spent six months learning French to be able to share his love of history and this location. He even showed us the entrance to a roman water tunnel that in his early teens he had followed to the other end and come out in a police station across town. The policeman who first saw him thought he was having hallucinations! Andou explained the layout, how the rich lived overlooking the ocean, what’s changed?! and how each part of the city worked in relation to each other. He showed us how they heated water and even made underfloor heating under the mosaics. As it was in French you will have to ask Anne any questions.

Our guide Andou standing on the Cardo Maximus axis that leads to the ocean

Villa of frescoes – with underfloor heating

IV century Basilique of Saint Sala, Tipaza

Drinking fountain – people in the left, animals on the right

Tipaza fountain stone worn by horses’ necks

Anthony with Jamel, Andou, Karima, Karima and Raphael

After a quick drink with the two couples, it’s back to the hotel and a quiet dinner watching the sunset contemplating how kind and helpful the Algerian people we have met are. What will tomorrow bring?

– Anthony and Anne

May 16 2025

El Provencio, our base for three days

No matter how much research one, well Anne really, does, finding the right accommodation both for us and Streak and Storm can be a challenge. Anne had identified a couple of places to see south of Cuenca and while looking for somewhere to stay Anne found this gem “La Hospedería – El Provencio” but I am getting ahead of myself.

Leaving Cuenca we are well wrapped up, the temperature is barely in single digits celsius. We are heading for the Claridge Hotel, no not the London one but a now abandoned hotel, one of the best forms of “brutalist” architecture in Spain. Built entirely of concrete this hotel was a favourite of travellers heading from Madrid to the coast on the N-3 highway. The construction of the Autovia del Este, one of many roads to receive EU funding, bypassed this location. The Claridge Hotel and many another similar establishments and the adjacent petrol stations closed as new roads removed their traffic and therefore customers. We pass many such forlorn establishments every day as we ride on the older roads. The unintended changes that progress brings…

Next we visit the Castillo de Belmonte built in 15th Century for Don Juan Pacheco, the first Marquis de Villena. This is a well preserved castle with beautiful interiors and worth the €10 entry fee. We rode up from the south which gives great views of the castle from distance rather than through the town. Lunch in Belmonte in a local cafe, could not be better, local people local food.

Just outside Mota del Cuervo stand seven windmills in an area known as “La Sierra” stand seven windmills made famous in the book “Don Quixote”, or to give it its full title “ The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha” by Miguel de Cervantes over 400 years ago and was considered one of the first novels in western literature and one of the most published and admired.

We get to see the location without any other visitors although the size of the parking area makes me think that as the weather improves the visitors will flock to this site so we were very lucky.

Back to where I started, our night’s accommodation is at a converted winery in El Provencio. When a new winery was constructed in the 1990’s this building was abandoned but locals wanted to see a future for the old winery building. A retirement home was considered and the room fittings and wide doors installed before the decision to open a hotel. It does make it easier to get helmets and gear into the rooms. Great and helpful staff but the big revelation was the restaurant. After one night we decided to stay for four nights and use “La Hospedería” as a base rather than keep moving. It was a good choice as our comfortable bed and frequent bookings at the restaurant can attest to. With lunchtime stretching till 4pm and later we can get a day’s ride in and be back for lunch on one day. On the flip side of the coin they had to turn the restaurant lights on around 8pm for our arrival for dinner.

Señoret rice with extra scallops just for us

Filled bottles to keep cats from peeing on your door

1789 bridge over the rio Zancara in El Provincio

Our first excursion takes us to Laguna del Rey, outside Ruidera, a series for lakes connected by waterfalls, the cloudy day does not do the location justice so we move on to Motilla del Azuer where we plan to see a 3,500 year old bronze age fortification. When we arrive, we are greeted by a locked gate. The fine print says you must book at the museum and travel in their minibus in the morning. Oh well, lets nip round the back for a close view. Down a dirt farm road and we are as close as we can get. Time for lunch. It does not get much better than this: out in the middle of nowhere enjoying nature’s beauty.

2 hour ride to get here and it is open by appointment only

The roads we have taken have been mostly clear of traffic and we can cruise along enjoying the scenery. Yes I have taken some video and will eventually assemble an armchair ride, however bugs do keep affecting the camera’s view.

While the crops we see vary from wheat to almond, olive and fruit trees interspersed with vineyards, a nature strip down each side of the road is at times a riot of colour. The red of Anne’s favourite, the poppy, is interspersed with yellow, white and purple. Sometimes the flowers spill out across the adjacent fields making for a glorious spectacle. I also love the contrasting green and brown between crops and fallow fields.

Vinyards all have little white washed houses

Almond plantations in Castile-de-la-Mancha

Well, all dusted off and back to our hotel to plan our next day out and what is for dinner tonight?

Today’s destination is Alcalá del Júcar – a town seemingly clinging to the side of a cliff. As we get closer riding across a flat plain, I am expecting the town to rise up as we have seen before on a defendable hilltop, but no, this place is carved into the side of a river canyon explaining why it cannot be seen as we approach. Quite spectacular but I would be nervous about inhabiting some of the houses.

Doesn’t look as safe as the houses in Cuenca

We must farewell our home for the last four nights, great service from the friendly staff, comfortable beds, an excellent restaurant. This was a five star location for us, but onward we must go.

Coffee stop at a typical small petrol station in Spain. Note the alcohol.

Petrol station with amazing selection of food and drinks

Valencia, our next destination, gives us the opportunity to both see a little of the city, fine tune our packing, get the blog up to date and adjust the motorcycle chains etc. Anne found a nice apartment on the 27 bus route to the town centre.

We wait as a kilo of fresh sardines are gutted and deboned for the previous customer

Mural dedicated to Joseph Renau – poster artist and activist

Llotja de la Seda – XV century silk exchange

Llotja de la Seda (Silk Exchange) trading room

Intricate stone carvings – Llotja de la Seda (Silk Exchange)

Amazing array of fresh foods at Valencia Central Market

From Valencia we will board our second ferry of this trip. For those who know our destination, please do not give it away in comments for those who do not.

So see you on the other side.

– Anthony

May 14 2025

Two weeks riding in Spain in six minutes

May 8 2025

South from Zaragoza

The balmy weather that greeted us on our arrival in Bilbao and kindly rode with us to Zaragoza has parted company and a chilly morning in single digits Celsius greets our departure from Zaragoza. We successfully negotiate the two levels of underground car park and are soon heading heading south, well rugged up with winter thermals and winter gloves to keep us warm. The heated grips still work, yeah. Unfortunately the dexterity required to operate cameras is sacrificed, so fewer of Anne’s great riding photos will populate this blog entry.

A coffee stop reminds us that you can still get your favourite tipple; beer, spirits etc at the motorway cafes, this has not changed since we rode here in 2012. What has changed is the number of people that speak english, usually the younger generation but not always. We even met one woman with a Manchurian accent from her time in the UK. It does make life easier for us, especially me.

We leave the highway and onto the smaller roads we prefer as we head for a planned lunchtime stop at Albarracín. As we approach, the ever darkening skies portend heavy rain later in the day. Our final destination is only 100km away but the twists and turns en route it will take us two hours. A snap decision, we do not want to ride wet and cold on mountain twisties, Albarracín will have to wait for another day. Through the tunnel under Albarracín we go. As we wend our way up and down over various passes towards Cuenca, the temperature drops as we cross each pass at one point the sign says 1685 m which I take to be metres above sea level, over 5,500 ft. We avoid most of the rain (although we did stop to don our waterproof jackets) and arrive some two hours later as predicted. I would not want to ride any faster thanks. Although cold, what a fantastic ride, through ever changing scenery, perfect curves and very little traffic.

Time for a stop and selfie on our way to Cuenca

While we are staying away from the old town at a hotel with off street parking, we head towards the centre of town to look at a couple of restaurants Anne has identified as having gluten free options and are open from 8pm. At the first, the sign of a painter with his brushes and paint locking the doors just before 8pm is an indication you cannot rely on what you read on the internet, similarly the locked gate at the second restaurant means we will rely on old fashioned looking in windows to chose our dining place.

We enter Mesón Darling a quiet looking cafe. We get the menu and Anne reads out the options, “tail”, “trotter”, “ear”… “Anything from the middle” I ask. I really am not that adventurous on eating all the extremities of animals, tasty as they may be. We do get a couple of good options and as we eat the place fills with locals eating drinking and talking, the cafe really is part of the social fabric of Spanish society.

Not trotter, ear or tail for us thank you

Cuenca old city is a thin finger of land rising upwards as we trudge up from the bottom. There is a bus service to the top, but you cannot enjoy all the sights in the same way from the window of a bus, so we walk up. The photos say it better that I can but we really enjoyed our time here.

Buildings built on top of rockface in Cuenca

View from Cuenca towards San Pablo convent

Casa Colgadas de Cuenca or hanging houses

While we have adapted slowly to the eating habits in Spain, we have enthusiastically embraced the depth and variety of Tapas, but our stomachs have not fully adjusted to the later eating times. Each place we visit to eat from city restaurants to country cafes, we find we are able to navigate the respective menus and get “sin queso” “sin gluten” options. We are impressed with the friendliness of the staff and always get a free small plate of something from the kitchen even of we are only having a drink.

Apart from the cool weather and occasional rain which we have managed to miss most of we are having a very enjoyable time in Spain. Tomorrow we continue further south having seen and done so much in less than a week.

– Anthony

P.S. Can you add your initials or name to any comment so we can identify who they are from. Thanks

May 7 2025

Zaragoza

We wake in Zaragoza in the centre of town. Anne found a hotel location with offsite parking, hard to find and only two levels underground to navigate. (Anne’s note: it wan’t just “only 2 levels underground”. It was a scary ride down a shiny, dark, very tight corkscrew which kept Anne awake the following night with worry. While the dirt road riding before Olite had gone really well, one tight left hand hairpin was badly handled and forced Anne to stop. Righthand hairpins were never a problem. The left ones were now nervewracking. Very annoying. The thought of riding back up that corkscrew terrified her until she decided to walk it the next day – it wasn’t that bad after all and would be easy enough. Her head can get in the way sometimes!! And the ride back up a few days later was fine indeed).

Zaragoza lies roughly in the centre of the autonomous province of Aragon and half way between Madrid and Barcelona.

Yesterday after our arrival we found a great cafe with many gluten free options across the road from the hotel, so food is covered.

Supermarkets are cleverly tucked away inside the centre of large buildings – their street frontage barely wider than an apartment entrance and easy to miss. A small entrance and what looks like just a couple of aisles of products can expand to include fresh meat and fish stands. Everything you need close to your apartment.

Even the smallest supermarket had fresh fish

It is apparent that many people in Zaragoza live in apartments and life appears to revolve around nearby parks and the cafés which seems to be the social hub. Each cafe had customers at the counter, small tables and often a more formal dining area towards the back.

The sixth is Anne’s birthday and after giving her a birthday card, no room for presents on the bike sadly, we are off to our first site to visit today: the laundrette for an exciting hour of watching clothes going round and round.

Better follows for Anne though, despite her migraine and coughing bug she woke up with, as we go to El Sardi for a Birthday lunch. We are the first guests again, not quite used to the Spanish eating times. While the meal was delicious, it was the random act of kindness from the restaurant manager which was the most memorable. He had noticed how much Anne had enjoyed a whole tin of anchovies that he presented her with another one before leaving. Those anchovies were not only delicate and juicy but without a single fish bone – couldn’t call these “hairy fish”. Lucky Anthony doesn’t enjoy them!!