September 16, 1997
To Tamariu
After breakfast, our urgent priority for the day was of course to separate our bikes. On the advice of our hostess we pinned our hopes on the town's only garage a few blocks away. We had scoped it out the night before, and were unsettled by a note on the door saying that it was closed for a week for vacation but would reopen the next day. We anxiously whiled away our time, walking the streets until after 9:30, with no signs of life from the garage. At least we were successful in the meantime in finding a new pair of sandals for Rachael. Finally, at about the time that we had given up and were considering other options (including taking the train to Barcelona to pick up our rental car early), its door opened for business. With a tremendous sigh of relief we returned to the hotel for our bikes, lumbered back to the garage with them, and presented them to our mechanic, who spoke no English but had little difficulty in understanding our predicament. Aftwr waiting 10 minutes for him to dispense with an earlier customer and his more mundane need, we watched him attack the lock with a metal power saw; and 5 minutes and merely 1000 pesetas poorer, we were free again at last.
Free to climb out of Port Bou, up a long steep switchback over the huge headland to the south - another gorgeous ride with great views and good winds, which carried us all the way to L'Escala where we broke for a snack at a waterfront cafe. We were initially entertained by but finally wearied by our neighbor in the restaurant, a garrulous, clowning and probably drunken old guy. From L'Escala we veered inland for awhile, following very quited roads. On this stretch we enjoyed another wonderful spectacle - a cattle drive down the middle of the road, with the drover, a stout man on a donkey, assisted by an able cadre of hounds. At one point the cattle got out of control, causing the drover to curse out to his dogs and take a swipe at them with his staff. He produced a series of high-pitched, wierd commands as he and his dogs quickly brought matters under control again.
After this we enjoyed a spell of fairly leisurely riding, which ended abruptly at the little headland surrounding Palafrugell. We planned to find a room in Tamariu, one of a series of coastal villages - but first we were confronted with a defeating series of steep, awful hills. Spirits were a bit low as we pushed up the final summit.
Tamariu, once we finally arrived, was a lovely, scenic spot to spend the night. It is situated on a tight rocky cove, surrounded by lovely red cliffs. After enjoying sundown on the bay we settled in to a casual waterfront cafe, where I daringly tried sepia (cuttlefish) for the first and last time. A memorable meal, sumewhat suggestive of fried rubber balloons.
Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 668 miles (1,075 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |