Spain - The Final Frontier. Plus, Police use Scooters?

Concluding our trip in Spain, Paul and I soon reached the northern coast of Spain and prepared to get on board a ferry to take us back to the UK. The last few miles soon raced by as we went through the mountains to get to Bilbao, where the ferry port is located.

Before we arrived there, we had some terrific roads to ride on, set in spectacular scenery. We passed a lake with a very low water level....

We took roads that twisted through gaps in the mountains....

Here we had stopped to fix the GoPro video camera to my Harley-Davidson Road King while Paul checked his e-mails....

The gorge we rode through was very twisty and great fun. We came out the other end with big grins on our faces!....

Stopping for lunch on the northern coast of Spain, we had an exceptional view....

We stayed the night in Hondarribia, which is right on the frontier between Spain and France. This was the view from the hotel, with Spain on this side of the river and France on the other.  One could say, the final frontier we saw....

Hondarribia is in the Basque country in northern Spain and this region is an Autonomous Community within Spain. It has its own language and this is immediately noticeable with road signs being very different from the majority of Spain. We stayed once again in a Parador hotel which was a converted from a 10th century fortress castle. The hotel has thankfully retained many of the castle’s original features, including one wall left in its original rubble condition....

A main dining room....

A massive stone staircase....

The bar area....

Paul and I walked into the main part of the town which being a Friday, was packed with many families, friends and groups all out enjoying the evening and the start of the weekend. The atmosphere was terrific and very laid back. We noticed this scooter, which very unusually, was a police bike! I have never seen a scooter like this before....

The next day, our ferry didn’t leave until the evening, so the two of us took a ride into France, to the town of Biarritz. Being on the Atlantic Ocean, the waves are often good enough for surfing, in a pretty spectacular setting....

More views along the coast as we made our way to the ferry....

In Bilbao, we went to see the famous Guggenheim Museum, a contemporary art museum designed by Frank Gehry. The building is known as one of the most important pieces of modern architecture in the world and it is easy to see why....

We didn’t go inside the museum, for it was the building we came to see.

Interesting public art outside the museum....

A final shot of the two of us on this trip....

And one of our bikes, which had performed tirelessly and without fault....

On the way to the ferry, we had to cross a river by a ‘flying transporter bridge’. Capable of carrying just 6 cars (or 5 cars and our two bikes) the bridge is not really a bridge at all, but a cable car that you drive into, slung beneath a tall steel structure across the river. This picture is looking back at the structure....

Paul, sitting on his bike paying the bridge attendant for the crossing....

From our ferry leaving Spain....

It was on the ferry that I discovered I had left my laptop behind in the last hotel we stayed at and a quick phone call confirmed it had been found in my room, where I had left it. It was a relatively easy job to get it couriered back to me in London.

As the ferry arrived back in Portsmouth on the south coast of England, we saw a passenger-carrying hovercraft and we passed a huge aircraft carrier, moored in the navy dockyard....

Paul and I had enjoyed an excellent motorbike tour of Spain. We had seen a great deal of the country, mainly from back-roads. It is a huge and fascinating place, full of history and character. We had travelled 2,659 miles / 4,279 kms and learned much of the way of life in many parts of Spain that the tourists rarely see. We had seen glorious weather and had only been rained on for about 30 seconds, just before leaving England.

As ever, Paul is a tremendous riding partner and we cheerfully waved each other farewell as we headed back to our own homes and our wives late on a Sunday night.

A few pointers about motorcycle touring in Spain....

1. The roads are of a very good quality
2. Beware of people walking on the roads, where very often there are no pavements / sidewalks
3. Away from the motorways and the main roads, there is almost no traffic
4. Away from the motorways, there are very few places to stay the night. Hotels and campsites are few and far between, so book ahead.
5. Away from motorways and especially on the back-roads, take every opportunity to fill up with fuel, especially on Sundays. Fuel filling is nearly always done by an attendant.
6. Beware of the lunchtime drinking culture, even by drivers. While we didn’t experience any problems at all, we did see many drivers (including truck rivers) drinking alcohol in the cafes and bars we stopped in for lunch
7. It can get very hot in July and August. Drink a lot and wear sun screen
8. Few restaurants serve dinner at night before 2030. Many don’t open until then.
9. Plan your motorbike ride to pass through mountain areas. The roads there are fantastic!
10. Away from the coast, very few people speak anything but Spanish, but this is okay. Learn 10 Spanish words and everyone will try to help you!