Monday, May 25, 2015

Steve limbering up before the start

Montse (one of our guides)

Rick and Any before the ride

Me, at the Empuries (Greek) ruins.

Cadaques seen from above

Our hotel

Today was another wonderful day, but I need to start with a story about last evening. Five of us were enjoying a dinner in a very nice restaurant with a pleasant, quiet, ambiance. Just before dessert, the sound system started blaring "We are the Champions" so loudly that I yanked my hearing aids off. We could hear wild celebrations in the bar and on the street outside. The election results had just been announced! The conservatives had held all 9 seats in the local government (city council?) for the last 28 years. Today, the left party (Catalan separatists) took 4 of those seats. Four of nine is not a majority, but a huge step forward, giving them negotiating strength, and the celebration was intense.

Today's highlights were the wind, a visit to the well-preserved Greek ruins at Empuries, the crossing of the Pyrenees (albeit a very little piece), the wind, the beautiful city of Cadaques, where we will spend two nights, and, (did I mention), the wind.

Lest anyone thing I exaggerate about the wind, I should point out that we just had our evening briefing. Tomorrow's ride has been cancelled because of the wind which is expected to pick up even more,  We will hike instead.  Off to dinner, now. Will finish this post later.

Just learned that the forecast is for the winds tomorrow to be 40 miles per hour, with much stronger gusts close to the sea.  Good decision not to ride.

Dinner tonight was excellent, as usual. We ate at Compartir (which means "to share"). The entire dinner consisted of plates of small portions of delicacies to be shared.  How about rabbit ribs with an apple aioli? Far too many others to remember, let alone mention, but you get the idea.

Cadaques, where we are staying was the home of Salvador Dali for many years. His museum is at Figueres, which we will be visiting in a few days. In the meantime, we will enjoy this postcard-picture-perfect harbor town.

The ride today was 46 miles long, ending with a climb up and over one (little) piece of the Pyrenees. The climb was not too steep, but the wind made it difficult. The descent, however, was really beautiful.

Early in the ride we stopped at Empuries, the only part of the Iberian peninsula, where the remnants of an entire Greek city can be found. It is remarkably well preserved, and you can see the ancient agora (the central square or market place) and the temple of Asclepius, the god of medicine.

I had missed the marking for the suggested lunch stop, so I fueled up with a banana and an energy bar before tackling the hill, arriving in Cadaques in time to explore and take a few pictures before our evening meeting.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Another great day in Spain as we cycled 43 miles, incorporating a
visit to a pottery workshop, an out and back climb to add a little variety
to an otherwise flat ride, a leisurely lunch on a pleasant patio, and a
detour to some Iberian ruins dating back to the sixth century BC. We were
riding through a region known as Baix Emporda, an area famous for its
several medieval towns, most of them very well kept.

Early in the ride we made out stop at the pottery workshop in la Bisbal,
where we had a demonstration of the artist's techniques. Following this, we
deviated from our loop ride and did a climb off about 500 feet elevation. It
was not steep and quite easy, and apparently we violated a basic rule of
nature -- we had a tail wind going up and a head wind coming down! At the
top, there was a brief view of the city.

After the descent, we cotinued on, stopping at several small medieval towns
for pictures, and ultimately stopping for lunch in Fontanilles at a pleasant
restaurant on a hillside which offered outside tables with a nice view. I
started with a green salad (excellent) and then had the traditional Catalan
dish of a grilled local variety of sausage and white beans. It was quite
tasty and provided fuel for the afternoon's riding. Although we ride fairly
independently, sevwn of us regrouped at this lunch spot which made it all
the more enjoyable.

The highlight of the afternoon was a slight detour to the fascinating
arechaelogical site about a mile from the village of Ullastret. This
pre-Roman site was occupied continuously from the sixth cenntury BC until
about 1700, when it was mysteriously abandoned. The ruins are in excellent
condition and demonstrate a remarkably advanced civilization. They had a
special "severed heads" exhibition based on the recent discovery of some
ancient human skulls with long nails driven through them. Apparently the
heads were taken as trophies after a successful battle and then nailed to
the wall to "send a message."

I got back to the hotel around five and had a very welcome shower before
settling down to write this note. We have our evening briefing in about half
an hour, and then are on our own for dinner tonight.

I'll close with a brief mention of last night's dinner. After our olive oil
tasting we were served dinner in a private dining room. It was another
extravaganza, with many starter dishes for sharing (including quail eggs,
duck ham, snails and other every day delicacies). The main course choices
were squid or grilled rabbit. I had the rabbit which was a little over done,
but still tasty, and had a taste of the squid which was excellent.

Time to wrap this up and head for the briefing about tomorrow's ride.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

It is hard to believe that it is Saturday already. Today was our
second full day of riding, and it was very different from yesterday. It was
only 25 miles in total, but we had strong "breezes" as we turned inland from
the coast. So, there was plenty of opportunity to stop for coffee, gelato,
photos and lunch.

We left our hotel and followed along the beach, riding for much of the time
on the "boardwalk," which, for the most part was a paved surface rather than
wood. Because we were comparatively early, there were few beachgoers and the
route was easy to navigate. The first major beach that we passed had a sand
sculpture contest in progress. It must have been going on for a few days
because most of the sculptures were begininning to detriorate. Still, they
had been very well executed. The all faced away from the water, so the sun
was behind them and it was difficult to get any good pictures.

Just before leaving the beach and heading inland, we stopped for coffee at a
pleasant little bar right on the water. Then we headed inland, riding for a
while on hard-packed trails similar to what we had yesterday. We passed
through several sall towns, inclluding Palafrugelll where it was market day
and there were lots of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish on display. I had
a quick waltk-through, bought a gelato (quite inferior) and then pedaled on
to the small medieval town of Pals, where I joined Lee and Carolyn for a
walk through the old city before having a "lucky burger" for lunch. (The
lucky burger is distinguished by the guacamole on it; the "goat burger"
features a generous goat cheese). Not exactly cuisine of the region, but we
have had, and will continue to have, lots of that.

The last 7 kilometers brought us to Peratallada,, where we will be for two
nights. Although it was cold, I did take a quick dip in the pool. I still
hope to get in the Mediterranean later in the week, but it just looked too
cold yesterday.

Tonight we have an olive oil tasting before dinner. We have WiFi here, but
the signal is very week, so I am hoping that this will post properly.

Friday, May 22, 2015

These cycling trips are almost as much about the food as about the cycling, so I will have much to say on both subjects as the two weeks fly by. Today is considered to be one of the toughest rides of this tour. In a way that is too bad, since this was a perfect ride and I would love to have one like this every day. The weather was great – bright sun, and temperatures around 70 degrees. We started in Girona, our home for the last two nights, and rode 37 miles to the Costa Brava. We had a well-marked route out of the city, and then hit some rural roads with virtually no traffic and some bike paths that were not paved, but were easy to ride on since they were dry and hard packed. Where there was traffic, it was nice to see the signs reflecting the new law that motorists must give 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) clearance to cyclists.

Then we hit the big climb of the day – around 1150 feet of climbing (to an altitude of 1500 feet) over about five and a half miles. Not too steep and really quite pleasant. Then we had a magnificent descent to the Mediterranean’s Costa Brava with spectacular views all the way down. The ride along the cost to St Feliu de Guixols was up and down with another 1100 or 1200 feet of easy climbs, bring the total for the day to about 2800 feet. I bypassed the suggested lunch spot because it was only 11 am when I got there and I wasn’t hungry yet (we had breakfast at 8), so I had lunch at the hotel after I arrived. More on that lunch, after I describe last night’s dinner. We ate at Arros I Peix (Rice and fish – remember the language here is Catalan, not Spanish, although Spanish is also widely spoken and understood). We started with a green salad with tuna, followed by some grilled vegetables. Then it got more interesting with shared platters of deep-fried baby eels, cockels, mussels, and finally scallops. All this was just a build up to the main course, “soupy rice with lobster.” The pictures below tells the story best. We had a choice of desserts, and I went with “coffee pudding,” which was quite good. Alhough this was an early dinner by Spanish standards, it was after 11 when we finished.

After checking into the hotel today and showering, I went downstairs, intending to eat “something light.” But I ended up ordering the “menu of the day,” with a goat cheese salad as a starter (the goat cheese was warm and delicious), followed by grilled hake (a fish that I have rarely, if ever, had before, but which is very pleasant), and flan for dessert. I then took a walk along the beach to burn off a few calories and get ready for dinner (again at 8 pm). Here you see the grilled hake.

Our hotel is directly across the street from the beach. I had intended to swim, but it is quite cool, especially with the breeze, so I decided to pass on the dip in the Mediterranean, at least for today. I think that we will have a few more opportunities.

Thursday, May 21, 2015 part2

I forgot to mention in my first post that I also visited the arab baths, another aspect of this very old city's long and complex history. At any rate, here are the promised pictures -- three of various views of the Cathedral (including one of a very bizarre statue on one facade) and a photo of a rare sight in Catalonia -- the Spanish flag, in this case flying alongside the Catalonian flag in front of the post office.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

My laptop has been acting up today, and Microsoft has now hijacked it to install updates. So, I will do this post from my iPad, (belt and suspenders☺️) and add pictures later when the computer is working properly.
I had a great night's sleep last night, after that long period of travel.
After a good breakfast in the hotel, I started walking the city, beginning with a section of the ancient wall surrounding the city. We have been blessed with absolutely beautiful weather.
Then I did self-guided audio tours of the cathedral and the Basilica. For the rest of the morning, I toured the old part of the city, and ended up in the Placa de la Indendencia where I ran into Lee and Carolyn. The three of us enjoyed a pleasant lunch, and were only slightly late for the safety briefing which was the official start of our tour.
At 3 o'clock, I went down and work with Rick to get my bike set up. I get about 7 miles, just to get the feel of the bike, and returned to the hotel. We will gather again at 7 PM for our first group dinner.

Wednesday,May 20,2015

I have arrived safely in Girona, Spain, after about 26 hours of traveling -- three planes, two trains, a taxi, and a couple of shuttles along the way. It almost started disastrously when I got a four am phone call from American Airlines informing me (by recorded message) that my first flight would be delayed about eight hours, forcing me to miss all of my connections. The next message offered me alternative routing through Los Angeles and London to Paris but that would still get me to Paris too late for my connection to Barcelona. When I got to talk to a real person, she was able book me on an earlier first flight (fortunately I was staying in a hotel near the San Jose airport) and all the other connections fell into place. The last train ride was about 90 minutes, and I experienced a little panic since I had anticipated a forty minute ride, but it got me here just fine.

We are having some intermittent rain today, but the weather forecast looks good for the next several days. Upon arrival at the hotel I met three other riders from our group (Amy, Sybil and Gary, all from Colorado) and also ran into our three guides, Joan (Catalan for John or Juan), Montse, and Rick. (I have ridden with Rick before, in Andalucia.) I will meet the others tomorrow (including 3 that I rode with in Croatia). I did a little exploring today, and will do more tomorrow morning before we get the bikes set up in the afternoon. I was immediately struck by the large number of Catalonian flags that one sees (and the complete absence of the flag of Spain). The Catalonian separatist sentiment is strong. I only took a few pictures today, primarily because of the weather. When I arrived, I noticed that the Cathedral steps were covered by sod, although I don't know why. When I went out walking, I could see that they were removing the sod. Along the Rambla, I watched two men putting up a mannequin gymnast, controlled by a wheel on the adjacent balcony. Notice again the Catalan flag. WiFi in the hotel seems pretty good, although this computer is incredibly slow. I shall persevere and try to keep posting updates.