April 20, 2022
Lepe to Rociana del Condado
Our first full day in Spain: now we are here we recall the Spanish aren't much on breakfast, so there was nothing offered at the hotel and we didn't expect much at the local cafes, if we could find anything open. Good thing we are still carrying a bag of granola, which topped with pear and yoghurt gave us energy for the first couple of hours. We did miss the coffee though!
A strong, dry, side wind buffeted us along as we picked our way out of Lepe, starting on small roads through large scale farming where all those oranges and tangerines come from as well as strawberries are grown on massive fields covered in plastic greenhouses. Later in the day, as we got higher and, presumably further from rivers for irrigation, production shifted to olives, wheat and other crops that don't need lots of water. The wind kept up but the wide open views were gorgeous and the roads relatively quiet. We were successful in picking a route from what we saw on Google Maps and Rides with GPS trying to avoid both busy highways and dirt tracks.
Today I was also reminded of of a book we read this summer The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton, which I highly recommend as a somewhat philosophical look at travel that should appeal to cycle tourers and all adventure travellers. In one chapter he writes about what I shall paraphrase as the 'tyranny of the guidebook' that leads one to hustle along to join the queues at the top rated attractions meanwhile passing other places that may have elements that are as beautiful, or historically important, but somehow didn't make the list in the guidebook. Simply because they were on our route to Seville, we rode through towns that are probably not in any of the guidebooks, but still could boast beautiful town squares, charming (and clean) cobblestone alleys and churches that are a few hundred years old. The real highlight of the day was Niebla, which we almost bypassed but then noticed some old walls as we approached. Niebla was an important trading centre a thousand years ago when the Moors built a substantial walled town and mosque. The walls are mostly intact and the mosque is now a church with a unique, 9th century, flat roof and columns from an earlier Visigoth structure. Best of all, the church was alive with a dozen kids in what looked like confirmation class that deteriorated into playing hide and seek among the pews while their moms were in a meeting in one of the chapels.
A modern attraction that might not have been in the guidebooks was what, at a distance, looked like a suspension bridge, or something an evangelical leader would construct as a pulpit, but when we got close enough we could see it was a pair of solar generating towers. Very cool.
In Rociana del Condado, for supper we eventually found a place actually serving food, a hunting and football themed tavern, where we ordered plates of grilled fish. Then we noticed all the regulars were eating bowls piled with small snails, not as dinner but as something to go with their drinks. The waiter described them as "insects, good to eat this month" so Steven tried some for desert. Tasty, but lots of work for not much flesh.
| Heart | 7 | Comment | 3 | Link |
2 years ago
2 years ago
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 7 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 608 km (378 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 8 |
Thanks for a new book!
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago