Having left my oceanside retreat in Noja, I picked up Brian at the Santander airport in a beautiful sunny afternoon. By the time we left the airport, having arranged Brian´s gear, we rode for an hour in the rain to reach the home of a couchsurfing host. Manuel was extremely kind and his wife gave us some home-cooked meal, my first in weeks. It was wonderful. Brian got his first mainland Europe experience that night as we got a few drinks. We then saddled up the next day and took a short ride to Laredo- about 35 miles in about 3.5 hours. The hills were long and hard the northern coast of Spain is difficult along the sea. Huge hills, very steep, stood in our way everytime we reached a valley. But, it is green and bucolic and quite scenic.
The hills were unrelenting and we took residence in a formal campsite in the town of Laredo. It was an amazing beach and wonderfully sunny weather. We spent a few hours on the beach splitting a bottle of wine and some food. The next day, we took to the hills once again. Although the views over rocky cliffs plunging into the Cantabrian sea were magnificent and the sun shone strong, the ride was one of the more difficult of my trip thus far and it was only Brian´s second day. He rode hard, though, and tried to keep up on the long steep climbs. The sweaty dripped through and into my sunglasses and I was dripping all over.We finally reached a point where we needed beer and sat for an hour drinking beer under over hanging grape vines before rolling into the suburbs of Bilboa where 30-story skyscrapper apartments, all new, lined the streets where my map didn´t indicate city before. The city is growing exponentially and we retreated to the hills for an informal camp and to watch the Germany Turkey match.
This morning we awoke to throw ourselves out of the tents in the rain and race to the city to find a hostal. Hungry, thirsty, and tired we are now drying our gear and will spend the day exploring the city which I already took to. The old city is full of small streets without cars and there are tree covered boulevards, with parks and some fantastic architecture, not even the best being the Guggenheim designed by Frank Gehry. Somehow Bilboa reminds me of Budapest with a variety of districts and an amalgamtion of architectural styles mashed together, strewn with advertisements and the hustle of a big city. I am very happy here and look forward to exploring the art museum. I finally found a store with english book titles and bought On the Road. Having never read it before, it should be a fine addition to my summer reading.
Tonight we watch the Spain-Russia match in Bilboa! ESPANA! ESPANA!
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3 comments:
na hello tesó! nem válaszoltál, hogy mikor érkezel el hozzánk! és különösen, hogy mennyit lennél. így hogyan tervezzek méltó befejezést a túrádhoz?
sok sikert és write me about the details of your trip! I've got some great ideas what to do, but I need to know the "when"!
andrás
Szia Krisztian
The other Varsa s of course follow your pedal pushing days with immense interest, and we are all in awe of not only the adventure itself , but of your observations, appreciation of cultures, your poetic musings and of your copious consumption of red wine.
But , hey, its a long ( and it is long !!!) distance bike trip.
Yes, too bad about Holland, yes a read-book is an unnecessary burden for a rider , and yes, and to bad, the rain in Spain does not only fall on the plain.
We eagerly await your first border crossing.
i find myself reading your blog in fits and starts so i get big blasts of krisztian emotion and observations and they settle in my brain for a bit and then i come back. and i love it.
wanted to give you a book suggestion i think you would really enjoy - from a literature canon perspective - as is John Steinbeck - from a travel perspective as is called "Travels With Charley" and mainly - is probably the best book I have ever read about a love affair with the road, the US and our inner journeys. I hope you can find it abroad.
Take care,
Julie
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