7th November (cool morning, cloudy with rain - warm afternoon, cloudy with sunny patches) 57 km

Didn’t sleep well last night. A little bit of outside disturbance, but mainly all sorts of things running around in my head. Tomorrow is our last day of cycling. Where has the time gone? It only seems a short time ago that we were leaving Peg and Andy’s in Neston on the Wirral, to begin this adventure. Those first few hundred metres with a fully laden bike, I remember thinking how strange it felt as we hadn’t ridden with panniers for two years. But like everything that we were getting used to again, it was only a matter of time before your body adjusted and the unusual became the norm.

It also rained during the night, which it wasn’t forecast to do, but this morning when we woke at 7.20am, the dark grey, heavy clouds were still lingering and it looked like our last full day was going to be a wet one. We cannot complain. The only day of serious rain was from Dieppe to Rouen, when we got absolutely soaked over the full period of the day. Other than that, we’ve had no rain, other than a mornings drizzle on the Loire.

The scenery was not that great but it was flat, easy riding and no traffic.

By 8.20am we were riding along a great minor road Julia had found last night. The surface was fantastic, the scenery was pine forest, which we’ve had for some time in this area along with olive and some citrus trees. However today, we also saw plenty of horses and some cattle. The town we visited yesterday, El Rocio, is made for riding horses. No roads, only dirt and sand and we are talking a full sized town here. They have the old cowboy horse tie-up outside each building and even though cars are there, it’s designed for horses. The lady at reception was telling us that on one particular day, to celebrate the Virgin Rocio, a million pilgrims converge on the town. We just smiled, but thought she had confused her figures translating from Spanish to English, but no…we googled it and she was bang on. She also said that during the week, the town has a population of 1900, but it swells every weekend when people come from Seville and surrounding areas to spend the weekend, riding and just going back to a different time.  There’s also a lot of drinking, dancing and partying going on which probably keeps the punters/pilgrims coming back time and time again.

Church at Villamanrique de la Condesa

We got glimpses of the immaculate porches as we cycled by.  Beautiful tile work, intricate doors and light fittings with potted plants - these houses looked very inviting and wealthy.

Kept our eyes on the weather while riding as those dark clouds were still lingering and it was raining in the distance. We were clipping along at a good rate and able to ride two abreast as there were very few cars to worry about. After about 20kms we came upon the small, but affluent looking town of Villamanrique de la Condesa. Found our way through their cobbled one way system, which took us past quite a few Tabacs, with leering, lecherous looking guys staring at Julia as we rode in. I realise that it’s unusual to see a woman touring on a bike, especially in these little out the way places. Julia definitely warrants a look, but they are not at all subtle about it. Reached the centre of town and decided on a short break whilst there was no rain, to eat a banana for me and an orange for Ju. Whilst I crossed the town square to take a couple of shots, Julia ate her fruit. As she did a woman came up to her and started talking to her in Spanish.  We didn’t understand what she was saying but her garb, the way she honed in on us and the expectant yet dismissive air about her was all too familiar – she wanted money.  It really is a problem here. I’m not sure why it’s so prevalent as Spain has a system of paying their senior citizens. Julia nearly asked her if she wanted her orange, but probably didn’t in case the woman grabbed it.

Ju here – there’s no way I was offering my orange to that woman.  I had been salivating over the thought of eating it for the last 20km as Pete had wanted to get going without any breakfast – not even a cup of tea!  I reasoned she’d probably already had breakfast and most definitely had not cycled 20km in the past hour.  Besides, I’m pretty sure she just wanted money so a “No comprende” is all she got.  I swear, they see an obvious tourist and the dollar signs come up in their eyeballs like Scrooge McDuck – well Scrooge McDuck has nothing on me when I’m hungry! 

Of course one of the other reasons Pete wanted to get going early was because after trying his best for the entire tour to keep our bikes as clean and grit-free as possible, he had now just ridden through possibly the dirtiest town in Spain.  I’m sure that is the real reason he didn’t sleep well – he was fretting about how he was going to get those bikes clean.  And now, back to Pete…..

Found our way out of the one way streets heading for Pilas, about 6kms away. Unlike the previous town, this one could supply us with a supermarket to replenish our stocks. On the outskirts, it began to drizzle. Found a Dia supermarket but it had no café and no cover for the bikes. Hummed and haa’ed and finally decided after covering the bikes with pannier covers and tent and sleeping mat covers, to push on to the next town. Not too far down the road on the outskirts of Pilas, we pulled into a BP garage. Stored the bikes undercover in a car valet park, there were four, so we figured not too many people would be turning up today. Inside, we ordered two coffees and a tortilla type roll to share, from a young lady and a guy. This interaction led to a lovely conversation, of a sort, with Anna, the garage owner’s daughter and Andrew, a guy who worked there. Anna, although working today is studying to be an Attorney. She had fun practising her English as did Julia with her Spanish, whilst I just smiled a lot and ate and drank and wrote messages on her phone, which we translated into English. We spent an hour there laughing and sharing information, as the rain, which had been closing in, finally arrived. Discussed everything from family to travel, study to Spain and got some suggestions for our stay in Seville. A big hug for us both before we rode off, once again confirmed in no small way, what we love about travelling. One piece of info that we learned today was that the Spanish people don’t place a high value on money. They regard family, friends and love as the most important things in life. Can’t argue with that. We left, when the rain had eased, feeling very happy to have come across these two lovely people.

Not too far along the way to our next destination, the rain began again and this time, there was nowhere to shelter. We were out in the middle of the country, so we got wet. By the time we reached Bollullos and pulled into the supermarket carpark, we were soaked and the spray and mud from our tyres, was all up our backs. Sheltered for a few minutes and the rain ceased. Parked the steeds and bought some lunch that we could eat outside, without having to prepare anything. Still no rain, it was holding off. We’d looked online last night at a hotel in Bormujos, which had great reviews, but more importantly was only 45 euro for the night and only 10kms from Seville. We are booked in two separate hotels for our four days in Seville, but they are in the city centre. We cycled the remaining 11kms with no rain and as we reached the town, the sun actually showed itself and was hot, but it was not to last long.

The square near our hotel

On our walk to get dinner

On our walk back and the square had an almost Christmassy look to it.
Feliz Navedad!

Safely back in the hotel and catching up on blogging.  Couldn't get internet in our room so
made use of the beautiful communal lounge area with the hordes of other guests.......

The Hotel Santa Barbara is a lovely place to stay. Beautifully decorated, it is situated up the side streets of this outlying suburb of Seville. Shedding our damp or wet gear, Julia showered, whilst I blogged, then it was my turn. Wandered out through the streets until we found a shopping complex. Burger King had a deal on, two meals for the price of one… who could turn that down..certainly not us. Once we’d eaten we made our way back to the hotel where we uploaded the photos and posted the blog for yesterday before washing our groundsheet in the bath/shower and hanging it up to dry. Tomorrow, the fly sheet will get the same treatment before it too, gets packed for the final time for the trip home.