15th October (raining most of day, warm) o km

Watched some motorcycle racing from San Juan last night, as there was no footy on. Jonathan Rea was racing. His tenth straight win in a row…amazing. Climbed into bed and even on the slightest movements, this almighty sound rang out with the squeaking of springs and scraping on the hardwood floor.  So too scared to move, we settled into sleep. In the early hours we were woken by two different sounds. The first were seagulls on the roof of the hotel just above us and they were going off. Sounded like they were trying to kill one of their own and if I could have climbed onto the roof, I’d have killed a few more. Even Julia heard them, but I think that was in between turning over. The other annoying sound was that of people talking until around four. Just loud enough to be a disturbance.

A stunning statue at a busy roundabout

Woke at 7.15am to pouring rain - the end of cyclone Lesley coming through. This morning we have to either extend the hire of the current car to take to Portugal, or get another if our one is booked. If the company won’t let us cross countries then we may stay another night here, if they have a room, otherwise it will be back on the bikes and we are getting very wet. Julia was into the downloading of photos from yesterday, as soon as we woke and I got breakfast ready. I’ll sign off now and my follow up report will hopefully have good news.

Hey Georgie - see you got your own wifi over here

So….Returned the car downtown. Told us that we could take our car to Lisbon, Portugal but it would cost Euro 2000 to cross the border. That wasn’t going to happen. Then one of the girls recalled that they have three Portuguese cars at the airport that need to be returned and we can take one of them…not for free I might add, even though we’re doing them a favour. Had to go to the airport to check out the options to see if the bikes would fit in.

Volkswagen Polo….no chance. Renault C3….no chance. Skoda Fabia…..maybe, but it will be tight. Looked at the size and still not sure we’re going to get those bikes in, but we’ll give it a go. God knows what happens if we can’t, as the car still needs taking to Porto and we have paid 115 Euros for it. We will just have to make those bikes fit.  Had to drive back to the hotel as by the time we got back from the airport, the city branch was all shut down for their afternoon siesta.  At 4pm, we will know if we have made a big mistake by ordering a car far too small.

Phew! Bikes in, just got to fit the bags in now.

It is now 6.19pm. We have loaded the Skoda Fabia with our two bikes and the majority of our gear for the trip to Porto. I suppose living in a tent and cycling with only the bare essentials for months has at least taught us how to cram things into a small space, because I honestly did not think we were going to do it.  So that is a huge relief.

Shortly we will resume our love affair with Ruta Burgers, the gourmet burger place we found last night. They were delicious, so they’ll get another shot. The weather has been miserable all day, which is probably just as well as with all the pfaffing around with the cars, it feels like a wasted day. Predicted as sunny tomorrow, which would be nice as we will have the afternoon and following day to peruse the sights of Porto, although Wednesday is looking like rain again.

Our observations of Spain have been. Very family oriented. Kids have great areas to play in and safe too. Spanish men are a little more withdrawn, in general than the women, but once you’ve struck up a conversation, they are fine. The women are very aware of how they look and both of us have commented on their style and dress sense. Driving has generally been very courteous, but they have a rule at certain roundabouts that neither of us understand and results in a free-for-all, first to their turnoff, wins. It is crazy and scary. Most homes in built up areas in Spain are high rise. Whether older or new, Spanish people take great pride about the inside of their homes. Eating out is accepted as normal and Tapas is not only common, but dirt cheap. People don’t think of eating at night here before 9pm, which isn’t our cup of tea, but it brings the community together.

A colourful mural on the way back to the Hotel Celta

It’s now 8pm and we have just returned from Ruta Burger and we have to say, it was just as nice tonight as last night. The Scottish couple we met there last night was also there again tonight so we had another chat with them.  The staff are excellent as is the food.  We were hoping to watch England vs Spain on the tele tonight but for some reason it’s not being screened, even though they showed Wales last week.  Shame.