A Fabulous Friday in Spain
Spain-Portugal Stage 2 – Fri 13th May 2016 – La Palma del Condado to Huelva (42 Km)
Weather: 11⁰C min – 19⁰C max, fine, partially cloudy, 40% rain probability
” Bicycles may change, but cycling is timeless “ ~ Zapata Espinoza
Friday 13th is not always unlucky, in fact today has been as good as it gets. Looking out my window this morning and seeing some blue sky put me in good spirits right from the start. Feeling on good terms with the world I went to the café-bar downstairs and was treated to an excellent breakfast of toasted, freshly baked, Brioche bun topped with Jamón ibérico (Iberian ham) accompanied by zumo de naranja (orange juice) followed by café blanco (white coffee). I have given up asking for cappuccino because the Spanish don’t seem to understand the concept.
Squeezing my worldly possessions into my two pannier bags didn’t take so long today because I was a bit more organised than yesterday. What I have settled on is separate mesh packing bags for gadgets, chargers and cables, riding gear, street clothes, and toiletries. Then the packing bags get allocated to either the left or right pannier bag depending on whether they might need to be accessed during the ride, e.g. fruit & nuts, bananas, band-aids, rain jacket, and tools always belong in the left hand pannier. Yes unfortunately I am one of those types of people!
Packing up so quickly enabled me to be on the road by about 9 am, winding my way down the delightful cobbled streets of La Palma del Condado. A young boy standing at a corner with his bike clapped me as I passed, called out bravo and gave me a lovely smile. You can imagine how good this made me feel!
Cycling conditions today were as good as they get, following the straight, smooth, wide-shouldered, traffic-free, A-472 road almost all the way to Huelva. No doubt this is the reason I passed so many other cyclists, all waving to me and bidding me hola. Most of them looked a bit more professional than me and all were certainly going faster, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if some are in training for the Tour de France in a couple of months.
One of the highlights of the day was the magnificently walled city of Niebla (which incidentally is the Castilian word for fog). The city of Fog has an interesting history which you can read about here. Not wishing to get to Huelva too early I killed some time here looking at the impressive walls, then stopped a little further along the road at the tired little town of San Juan del Puerto for a strong, muddy coffee.
The roadside flora included more of those huge cactus plants, red poppies, gum trees and lots of crops of sunflowers (looking much happier than they were yesterday). There were also orchards of orange trees, with plump, ripe, fruit hanging invitingly from the branches. I admit I was tempted … until I saw the high barbed-wire fence surrounding the orchard.
I was enjoying my ride so much today I was almost sorry to reach Huelva, particularly when the approach into the town took me through a seedy looking, high-rise area, with lots of dubious characters hanging about. As I slowed down to take a photo I heard a commotion outside one of the bars. At first I thought it was just excitable Spaniards raising their voices as they do, but when the kicking started I realised they were fair dinkum so I kept pedalling.
Today was only a short ride of 41 Km and I made such good time that I arrived at the Sercotel Familia Conde hotel at 12:30 pm. As this was too early to check-in I spent an hour wheeling my bike around the nearby long, narrow, pedestrianised shopping street that goes by several names, from Calle Concepción to Calle Berdigón. What a beautiful mall, with its marble-tiled streets, modern designer shops, and café-bars, restaurants, and food shops everywhere. One shop that caught my attention was the Museo del Jamón with clusters of beautifully presented Jamón ibérico hanging invitingly from the ceiling. I’m so glad I decided to stay over this side of town – what a contrast from my first impressions!
Now I have checked into the Sercotel Familia Conde, a fantastic hotel right in the best part of town. Having showered, changed and blogged, I am off to do some more exploring and then try out the restaurant recommended to me by the delightful young lady that greeted me at the reception desk.
The Cerveceria Bonilla restaurant recommended to me by the hotel receptionist was just as good as she said it would be … great service, ambiance and food (at a reasonable price too). The grilled Iberian Pork Sirloin was out of this world.
Dear Kevin,
Glad to hear things have improved. Only tourists are tempted to try the Seville oranges, as they are very sour. You will find the lower branches have all been picked (by the tourists), but the fruit still hangs on the upper branches (the locals only use them for marmalade, orange flour water and the like).
As for the black bull, it is the only road advertisement allowed in Spain and this is because the bull is such a symbol for them.
Lots of love,
Nancy
Dear Nancy,
Interesting … I am glad I didn’t try to jump the barbed wire fence! In Sydney we only use “Seville” oranges for juicing, but naturally they would not have been grown in Seville. Also I had noticed the lack of billboard advertising in Spain and wondered why.
Lots of love,
Kevin
Well Kev it appears that you have had yet another interesting day riding. Why are you so nosy to find out why there are commotions? Glad that you moved on and not try to see or listen to what is really going on. Anyway once again the photos looks great but the roads seems rather lonely and the place very quiet. Take care lots of love.
Hola, Dad,
What do you mean, ”unfortunately I am one of those types of people”?! As I started reading that paragraph, I imagined that I was right-handed and virtual-packed exactly as you did – it just makes sense, right?
I love that you’re getting applause and bravos from kids – kids being one of the more charmingly and delightfully honest sources of truth in the universe.
Gosh, you’re certainly in your element, what with the cacti and red poppies (which you managed to capture together, in the one pic!)… and the eternal return of eucalypts and Patterson’s curse. I concur: some of your (certainly earlier, Spanish) photos are dead-ringers for Aussie landscapes. Though we’ve also got the olfactory dimension here right now, which you’re fortunate to miss: back-burning en masse (sometimes the weather forecast is for “Smoke”).
(Vego though I am) I have to say, Jamón = ham-on! Remind me to send you a photo of Cousin Stewart’s pet pig, Banjo ☺
I was made to feel nostalgic a couple of times again today. First,I noticed in the breakfast room this morning a Ken Done picture from Sydney, Australia. Then when I got to Salema there was a rack of boomerangs in the souvenir shop! To top it off the receptionist at the hotel where I stayed last night said her very favourite TV show is Australian Masterchef. Isn’t that the show you and Trudy auditioned for and nearly got on? I said to the lady, “What could Australia possibly teach Portuguese about cooking?”
There’s no place (except for the awesome places you visit, right?) like home. Yes, Trude and I auditioned for Season 2 of Masterchef. It’s back in season here, and I’m watching each week’s worth in a batch each weekend. They’ve certainly lifted their game – when we auditioned, I had plans to learn butchery, filleting, master sauce-making and master flour-things (i.e. breads, pastas, pastries, cakes, etc) making, to give me an edge. Which, in Season 2, it still may have done. Now, all of that is assumed – where do they find these people?!