Amy Winehouse

Rarely does someone really strike you with the sound of their voice. Amy Winehouse was one of those people. The way she sang was simply wonderful.

It was with considerable sadness, but not much surprise, that I learned of her death a week ago. I was on the ferry returning from Spain when I heard the news. I didn’t have any affinity with Amy herself and it was clear some time ago that she had pressed the self-destruct button, but I did feel a loss for the music the world would now not be able to hear – the music she had yet to make.

I was in London yesterday and I realised I was very close to where Amy Winehouse lived, so I went and took a look at her house, the flowers and tributes.

Sadly, I think the empty booze bottles containing flowers speak volumes about her life.

Rest In Peace Amy.

Riding North Through Spain

Paul and I are now well into riding back through Spain, this time northbound, heading back home. We are about halfway and enjoying our ride as much as we did on the outward leg.

This is the white mountain town of Casares, which is not too far from my house in Sotogrande. It is amazing the way the houses are perched on the hillside. The houses have small windows and are white to reflect the sun to keep the temperature low inside. There is no air-conditioning here!....

The road from Casares to Ronda was magnificent and as good to ride as any we have seen on our trip. Fast bends, fast straights, slow hairpin bends and glorious views – this road had them all.

Even though it is only a hundred miles or so from Sotogrande, I have never been to Ronda before and I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised as it seemed busy with many interesting places to go see. They would have to wait for another day as Paul and I didn’t have time to explore much when we went through, but we did stop to have a look at the dramatic bridge that crosses the canyon that runs through the town. Here we parked the bikes just at the edge of the bridge. In Spain it seems you can park a motorbike just about anywhere....

The bridge itself. Not a great photo due to the harsh sunlight and the deep shadows, but just look at the scale of this stone bridge. Check out the person standing on the bridge, top left, so get an idea of the height of the bridge. The bridge is 390 feet tall, or 120m. Construction started in 1751 and wait for it... took 42 years to complete! To build something as dramatic as this must have drawn people from miles around just to see what back then, would have been a wonder to behold....

A horse drawn carriage, no doubt carrying tourists, is driven over the bridge....

We ended the day staying in another Parador, this time in Antequera. We left early to get as far as we could in the cool of the morning and were rewarded with a splendid sunrise....

I forgot to mention something that happened on the journey south through Spain. One morning, we left our hotel very early and riding through the mountains we were stopped by the “Guardia Civil” who are the federal military-status police force. Amongst many other areas, they are responsible for all highway patrol matters and often make random stops of vehicles to check all the paperwork is in order. Two surprising things happened. First, the two Guardia Civil guys saluted us as we stopped our bikes. I have heard they did this and it was good to see it. Then after checking our papers (in Spain you are required to carry all vehicle papers, insurance details etc) and seeing all was in order, they chatted to us for a while in good English and advised the bike-to-bike radios we were using are illegal in Spain. We had no idea about this and they asked Paul to unplug his before we rode off. It seemed to us that maybe there was a possibility they were wrong and using the radio is no more distracting than speaking to another person, say, in the same car you are driving. I will try to find out more and post what I discover.

Paul admiring the view of a mist covered mountain....

Even in a foreign language, don’t you just love signs like this?....

Talking of foreign languages, there was one translation on a menu that made us laugh.  At one restaurant, we were given an English version of the menu. At the beginning of each section of the menu was a food-related quote, one of which was the following by Quevedo.... “What are you thinking, my friend, what do you think about me? For you stuff me with turkeys and hens, dessert in suppositories, purgatives and medicines”.  Something was not quite right with the translation, I think, but it did make us laugh!

We stopped at a place called Guadalope for something to eat and sat in the town square, opposite the monastery. The huge carvings in the sandstone external walls were remarkable and ornate....

The carving is exquisite and measures about five feet by four....

It was very dark inside the monastery so taking hand-held pictures was very challenging. This is of the wall above the altar....

Returning to the bikes which we had no option to park in the sun, this is what greeted us. It was a little warm!....

Occasionally when riding along, you see something that you cannot understand what it is. Paul and I saw the top of this structure and had to go check it out. It is an amazing new cantilevered bridge being constructed just outside the city of Talavera de la Reina. I am sure this will become an iconic structure after the road it carries is opened....

The Leading Ladies, in front of Mombeltran Castle....

Just above the castle is an impressive road that climbs steeply up a mountain. This is the view looking back down....

We made our way to a city called Avila for the night. That city is so impressive, it deserves a post all of its own, but you, my dear readers, will have to wait for that....

Messing About In Boats and the Virgen del Carmen

One of the benefits of riding to Spain is that my wife Jackie and Paul's wife Sarah were able to fly down and we all got to spend a week together in Sotogrande in southern Spain. The flight from London is about 2.5 hours, and the drive to the house is a short one of just about an hour. Of course, Sarah flew with their son, Jack, who must be one of the most happy babies I have ever seen.  He enjoyed the flight and didn’t disturb the other passengers!

Having had great weather all the way through Spain on our ride, we were lucky that the weather continued to be terrific and we basked in glorious sunshine for the week.

We are really lucky that our house is next to the water and we have a small boat that we just love messing about in.  But first, the five of us headed out in a larger boat that belongs to a friend and we went along the coast to Puerto Banus, a well known port along this stretch of the coast. This is Jack looking rather worried about his first boat trip, sitting between Jackie and Sarah just as we were getting ready to leave....

Jack still looking worried....

He soon cheered up however when we let him drive the boat!....

On the way, we were spotted by some Dolphins that decided to play in our wake....






Puerto Banus and some of the boats moored there....

Jackie and Sarah relaxing while Jack in between them gets down to some serious relaxing!....

Jack waking up, being cuddled by Jackie....

We had a wander around the marina and had a good lunch before heading back to Sotogrande. Paul was obviously tired as he was asleep on the back of the boat.....

On another day we went into the local mountains by train to a small town called Benaojan where we had a leisurely lunch. The train arrives near the restaurant at around 1pm and doesn’t leave again until 4.40pm, so there is ample time to eat! Here we are at the restaurant....

In trying to match one certain blogger who often posts pictures of his food, here is the salad I ate as a first course. It was delicious!....

Young Jack, taking it easy after lunch....

Jack again, being fed by yours truly....

The second part of this blog post is about a Spanish Festival, called Virgen del Carmen. The virgin icons of the church in Spain are very important and one of these is the Virgen del Carmen who has been adopted as the patron Saint of the sea. On 16th July each year her revered statue is taken from the local church and paraded through the streets and down to the sea. In some towns, the statue is then taken onto a heavily decorated boat and accompanied by other boats, taken for a trip on the sea. Such a festival happens in Sotogrande and we decided to see the parade and join in the flotilla. It was quite a sight!

Here are Jackie and me on our way to see the procession, with the picture courtesy of Paul....

At the front of the procession were three small girls in fancy Spanish costumes....

The procession making its way alongside the port....

The Virgen del Carmen statue, held aloft by the people of Sotogrande....

The parade is accompanied by fireworks. Not just any fireworks, but the loudest fireworks I have ever heard. Next comes the crazy part. The boats that will make up the flotilla assemble on the water and jostle for position to get a good view of the statue. Having so many boats in one place all moving could produce quite a few insurance claims, but remarkable, we didn’t see any of the boats collide. There were some close calls however....

The boat carrying the statue is the white one, in the middle of this picture....

This short video shows the boats following the boat with the statue. Large boats, small boats, overloaded boats and even jet-skis join in....






I cannot believe how many guys were in the small boat on the left....

The flotilla moves out on the sea, with the Rock of Gibraltar in the background....

The boats against the setting sun, thankfully all going in the same direction....

Being Spain, little regard is taken of health and safety. It is actually quite refreshing to see these kids enjoying themselves. Yes I know they might fall in. Yes I know they should have life jackets on....

It was great fun. As the final picture below shows, it looks absolute chaos, but everyone was being very sensible....

I love messing about in boats!

The Sierra Nevada Mountains (in Spain)

I was looking forward to the ride on day 4 of our ride across Spain as we were to cross the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Having ridden across the mountains of the same name in California, I wanted to complete the set and ride both ranges in different continents.

We knew we had a long days riding so leaving early was a must. We skipped breakfast and continued our journey south. Paul riding around a bend with a spectacular background....

The view of the lake near Hornos, north-east of Granada....

Fantastic bends, just inviting you to take them at speed....

The dam that forms Lake Negratin....

The water behind the dam is very clean and clear and the fish make the most of the food thrown in by the passing tourists stopping to look at the dam. I think these were about 12 - 15 inches long....

The lake is surrounded by trees and this makes the views even more special as you catch a glimpse of the turquoise water....

Not as tall as there US counterparts, the mountains in the Spanish Sierra Nevada only rarely reach above the tree line....

A haze was in the air, making a clear view of the mountains impossible....

Looking down on one of the small towns in the mountains....

Mile after mile of Olive trees, for which Spain is famous....

Rounding one bend, a fire was blazing away on the hillside. It looked like the grass between the olive trees was on fire, but it was also catching some of the trees....

What is it about signs like this that make motorcyclists stop and take a picture?....

2,000 metres or 6,500 feet is not spectacularly high, but it had provided some terrific roads to get up to that point.

Another of the mountain villages....

I love the roads in the foreground of this picture, crossing from side to side in a long ride down the hill to get into the village....

Many of the bends have their sides protected by these stone blocks....

We rode 317 miles in the mountains today, which was quite tough. By the time we found our hotel in the town of Berchules, we were very tired. It was all we could do to eat at the hotel of get to bed early. I slept very well that night.

The following morning we had a 184 mile ride, mainly along the coast, to get to my house in Sotogrande, in southern Spain. We had ridden 1259 miles from Pauls house near London to my house in Spain. We were greeted by my wife Jackie, who had flown down the day before, and that afternoon Paul drove to Malaga Airport to meet his wife Sarah and son Jack. We were to spend 5 days relaxing with our wives before heading out on the road again.