Viva España

March 30, 2024

Bidart, France - Pedrosillo el Ralo, Spain

Yesterday evening a siren went off in the hotel. Although I didn't smell any smoke, I rushed downstairs anyway to see what was the matter. I was ushered out into the cold along with the other guests and the manager fetched Janos from our room. It soon turned out that there was no emergency, just a defect in the alarm system. Unfortunately, I believe due to this pseudo-emergency, the hotel people were unwilling to let us store our bicycles in the corridor, thinking that they might be a hazard in a real emergency. They probably wouldn't have been so cautious if that darned alarm didn't go off. As I already mentioned, we are in a tiny room, and wouldn't carry our heavy bikes upstairs anyway, so we unwillingly left them outside for the night, hidden behind the house secured with the heavy locks that we carry with us. We can see them from our window, not that that is much help when we sleep. I was happy to see them there this morning.

Good morning, bikes! Not visible from the road, but not really hidden, either.

Today we crossed the border into Spain. The sun was shining and in the car we didn't mind the cold wind or temperature of 9C. It was exciting to get our first views of the Pyrenees and taste of the Basque country, even if it was through a windshield. I tried to capture a bit of the landscape with my phone as we raced through in our little Skoda. Our Skoda doesn't really race, just relative to a bike it does.

We left the Basque country and headed southwest towards Burgos and Salamanca. The landscape flattened and we drove through great expanses of bright green fields. About an hour before we would pass Burgos it occurred to me that I might have left my toiletry bag in our hotel room. We stopped and a check of my suitcase confirmed the fact. Lots of essentials in that bag, fortunately most of which could be replaced. We were too far to turn back but it was a slightly consoling fact that we will be staying at the same hotel on our way home in a month's time.

In the meantime I needed to purchase a few items, a toothbrush for example, an electric toothbrush. We detoured to the closest centro comercial that I could find on Google maps and headed for the Carrefour there, they have everything. On the way we got to see miles of highrises on the outskirts of Burgos, a change of scenery. I got a new toiletry bag, toothbrush and some other things I felt were necessary. Mission accomplished and we were again on our way, a little behind schedule. We had been looking forward to an early check-in.

The weather was being very fickle and I hoped not so much for my friends out on their bikes. Between Burgos and our destination near Salamanca, we got caught in a brief, blinding downpour.

I think I saw a few snowflakes on the windshield, too.

Tonight will be our first 8 o'clock Spanish meal. In the meantime we have turned up the heat and are snuggled in our bed. It's raining again and 5C.

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