Spain part 2 - south into tourism.

I received a couple of requests for more so I will plan a Spanish trilogy and hope to keep mine under better control than Douglas Adams'.

3 items:

-This address does not accept normal input, so you must use our regular email if you want to write to us.

-I have been sending position reports most evenings so you can follow me at share.garmin.com/DaveHutchinson. My batteries went flat so it missed a few places.

-this email, and others from land travels can be seen at techco.ab.ca/land. Sailing emails are still at techco.ab.ca/harmonica &/or techco.ab.ca/dulcinea

I last wrote from Castillo La Mancha. After the farmlands, & famous old windmills near Consueglo, I headed SW and into the hills & woods to avoid the main roads from Madrid south. Alternating between booking.com and AirBnB, I have carried tent & sleeping bag without using either. 33kg of bike & panniers is too much!

I found a lovely BnB just west of Cuidad Real built & run by a young Irish couple. Next day I set out for a village with natural springs, but took a road up the wrong valley and missed it.

At one point I past a large dead pig in the ditch. It was big & hairy enough that I'm glad some vehicle had hit it and not me. Lots of signs about hunting throughout Spain and I understand that much is for Wild boar.

That evening I just beat a heavy rain storm to the top of a 4km hill, and watched the downpour from a comfy hotel room. I keep hearing that rain has been exceptionally heavy this year.

Next day I rode south through hill country. Mostly woodland in state parks, but later in the day I arrived at long descents into farm land of olives and "Robles" the small oak trees under which pigs feed on the acorns.

I stayed in a very Spanish home in Villanueva. My hostess was busy sewing a dress for a shop in Cordoba, but she sent me out for a walking-lap of the town with her daughter's boy friend whom she thought should learn English. My broken Spanish was more useful, and with that he bought a return train ticket to Cordoba for me so that I could see the city without having to cycle into it.

After that lap of town my hostess' friend took me on another lap passing his house which he is rebuilding beautifully inside, and then to a bar where he ordered snails (caracoles) for us to eat. A regional delicacy that was surprisingly good.

To Cordoba by bike would have been all day; by car would have been 2 hrs; by train it was a 20 minute super-smooth ride at 180-200 kph. for 8 euros and change each way.

Cordoba is in Andalucia: a region famous for its many cultures over the last 2000 years. A Roman city from 150BC late in the Punic Wars against Carthage. Visigoths moved into much of the region after the Roman fall, but the Moorish invasion in the early 700's started 500 years of Islamic rule in which Moors, Christians, & Jews lived side by side. Cordoba fell to Christian armies in the 13th C, and all Jews & Moors were forced to convert or leave (or be burnt) by the Inquisition in the early 16th C

Cordoba Cathedral was built inside a mosque (The Mesquite) which was famous as one of the largest of the time. Risking causing offence, it seemed more reminiscent of a suk or bazar, being lined by striped pillars. Remarkable, but inspired me less than the social life over coffee across the river.

Next day it was across the broad valley of Río Guardalquivir to Castro Del Río. The density of grain crops might bring tears to the eyes of a Canadian prairie farmer.

My bed for the night was in a 400 year old house in front of the church square with orange trees in fruit.

From there, south, past the fortified village of Monturque (a name with obvious roots), along small farming roads to Estepa, then Setenil de las Bodegas to Ronda, where the tourist busses first hit me.

I spent a night in the "bario" on the outskirts of Ronda in another flat which I might not have chosen for myself, but with good room & a helpful hostess.

The ride from Ronda through the Park Siera de las Nieves, El Burgo, and Alozaina was through beautiful limestone mountains & high goat-pasture. There was little traffic but at one point a support van for a cycle tour group stopped me to ask if I wanted water (I had plenty). My bike is painted silver and his 1st client appeared up the hill and asked whether it is titanium!

From there it was down to the roads, suburbs, then beaches of Malaga & Torremolinos. I had booked a cheap flight from Malaga to Santiago de Compostela in the NW of Spain for a final 10 days, but first I wanted to see The Alhambra in Granada, and that was a jewel.

Unlike the lovely gothic architecture which crosses much of Europe in various styles, The Alhambra Palace of nearly a Millenium (though largely rebuilt in the last 150 years) is unique. A trickling fountain in every court, perfect symmetry, and elaborate decoration everywhere. It was worth the trip.

Life is good! A good ham, after aging for 3 to 5 years can cost several hundred Euros. Although eating is generally very cheap. The only caution is to stop before you have too much in front of you.

My last (I promise) email from Spain will be from Galicia, and Asturia in the north west.

Dave Hutchinson

+34 617 576 806