The School Run (Santiago de Compostella)

[steve1]

Saturday 8th August 2009

The previous nights alcohol intake ensured sweet dreams, nevertheless we were up with the birds. The fresh Burgos air gave our appetites an edge and we made quick work of tuna salad sandwiches (for breakfast!!) a quirk we had picked up from a previous jaunt in Barcelona. (You really should try it, i consider myself an honorary Spaniard every time i eat one before 9am)
The camp-site has filled considerably during the night and most seem to have utilised a haphazard approach to finding a pitch. Luckily i think i can still weave a path through to the road.
We pack the tent, load the bike and pay the receptionist 17 yoyos- quite reasonable i thought.

 

[steve1]

Off into Burgos for a look around. Its an ancient city with a cathedral situated alongside a river. The city centre is extremely clean and there is an unusual atmosphere of affluence about the place. I have never experienced this before in any other Spanish city. People appear "over dressed" in designer clothes and there are many quality marques of car dotted around.
My overloaded GS attracted many stares as i rode it up onto the wide pavement and kicked it onto its stand outside a bank (i know i think i'm a bit OCD).

They say a picture paints a thousand words and i think its clear from the following one that SWMBO is really not happy about leaving the bike outside this particular financial institution. This is partly because she is convinced i'll get a ticket and partly because her precious portatiles is hidden amongst the luggage.
I lock the stuff sack to the bike and convince her that the locals don't look like thieving types- (more corporate crime i think, but keep that to myself)

 

[steve1]

Into a coffee shop for a large glass (yes glass) of coffee. We sit close to the window and the Mrs stares apprehensively in the direction of her prone PC.

 

[steve1]

Vallalodid

Over coffee we take the radical decision to travel even further South. We have to be careful, we need to be within half a days ride of Santander where our ferry departs at 2pm on Monday. Nevertheless buoyed by the previous days mileage and the draw of even warmer climes persuades.
We retrieve the bike (Intact) and head due south for Vallalodid.
The ride is only around an hour and we find a site almost immediately. It's even better than we could have hoped for. Fantastic pitch, nice people, excellent weather and amazing facilities. One downside is that the ground is as hard as a whore's heart and i bend numerous pegs before opting to bugee the tent to anthing that stands still long enough.

 

[PaulW]

Bl@£dy fantastic write-up Steve. Read this from the start in one go!!
ALWAYS got bored before the finish of other ride reports. As others have commented, you have a top writing style.

Thanks,
paul

 

[peejay]

Glad you're back---nice one

 

[steve1]

Pirates and portatiles

It's 2:30 and the tent is sorted, temperature schorchio.
With the portatiles safely locked on the bike and SWMBO doing her best Johnny Depp its time to hit the bar and cool off.

 

[steve1]

bar-booze-bo bos

We're outnumbered 100:2 by Spaniards in the bar. We sit on a patio overlooking the pool. Its a fantastic excuse for me to sit at a table whilst SWMBO utilises her more than proficient language skills. If i went to the bar they'd simply ignore me anyway - it's too busy.
There's an old boy with his shirt off, obviously a bit worse for wear hanging around the bar and hassling people for drinks. The bar staff have long since refused to serve him so he's getting others to buy his drinks. One of the Spanish women calls him a very rude word (conjo don't use it unless you know what you're doin!) and for a moment i think the ambience could be shattered by fisticuffs. The old boy regains partial sobriety for a moment and discretion becomes the better part of valour- smartest move he made all day, she wasn't kidding.
We spend the rest of the afternoon getting Kali-ed on the patio after which we stagger back to base to sleep it off.

 

[steve1]

Franco's revenge!!

Wake - early evening with a raging thirst. Share a bottle of water with SWMBO and decide to go in search of munchies.
The site is really beginning to fill up now- mainly Spanish, a few French and a couple of Dutch. Think we are the only English.

We decide to try out the site restaurant. It's mad busy and the lone waitress is rushed off her feet, we suspect she is also cooking.
We both opt for the fish in a red sauce with chips. Food eventually arrives and we tuck in. As i get nearer the middle i realise my fish is freezing cold. I immediately stop eating it and concentrate on the chips. To be on the safeside i top myself up with a couple of flagons of cruzcampo.
Could have been a bad move considering the afternoon's alcohol intake. Nevertheless we make it safely back to the tent, however that night i'm struck with a terrible bout of Franco's revenge. Not sure which end to hang over the bog?? Next day i tell SWMBO that it must have been the fish!

 

[steve1]

Sunday 9th August Sightseeing Vallodolid

Once my head clears were off to Vallodolid (not even sure if that's spelt right??) for a relaxing day sight seeing. Park the bike on the pavement outside the cathedral ( I know, thinks it's the previous days binge, gone all religious- no faith in banks any more). Use the cable lock to secure the jackets, convinced SWMBO to leave her beloved portatiles back at the tent (hidden in the bag). In her delicate state she couldn't refuse.

 

[steve1]

I say, I say, I say, boy

Dive into the nearest restaurant for some breakfast. I believe we surprised the waiter with our order. Maybe it's unusual to have cod and scrambled eggs at that time of the morning, still it was on the menu.

The restaurant was a themed homage to a large, anthropomorphized adult rooster with a strong Virginian accent (any guesses) or was that the alcohol still messing with my thought processes??

 

[steve1]

chorizo

After breakfast SWMBO takes a shine to the build quality on some of the local fountains.
Can't see what all the fuss is about

 

[steve1]

one for the ladies

Apparently if you play with his knob the height of the fountain increases????

Conversely if you stand on the fountain the size of his knob increases... it's all physics.

 

[steve1]

Travel broadens the waistline!!

Eventually i manage to drag the Mrs away from her fountain. We wander through the opulence that is Vallodolid. Don't recall such a beautiful city, the streets are immaculately clean and the public space has been well thought out and much money has been ploughed into it.

Makes you realise how it could be, always seems so much better than UK cities. Maybe its the sunshine and the feeling of not going to work tomorrow, who knows??

Judge for yourself. Below a pic of McDonalds in a Vallodolid stylee

 

[steve1]

History lesson

Wandering through the streets we stumble upon a couple of gems, (if you're that way inclined).
Valladolid was the home to great historical characters such as Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote. His importance in Spanish/world literature often quoted as being as Shakespeare is to the English.

(yawn) Sorry forgot myself for a moment- was in tour guide mode.

On the left- you can also visit the Christopher Columbus House-Museum, where the "adventurous sailor" spend the last years of his life.

Any rode it's worth a gander- all the stuff they teach you at skool suddenly comes to life.

 

[steve1]

Triumph

Wander round the city all day, it's pretty quiet (Sunday) and there are many sights which are pleasing to the eye.

 

[steve1]

council planning

We stop for a spot of lunch, round the back of the cathedral. There's quite an impressive building off to one side. I'm guessing it's the town hall- should look good once it's finished.

 

[steve1]

After lunch we walk aimlessly through the main shopping street, this brings us out onto a wide avenue with a well established park on one side.

Spot some twins on the way in???????? never one to miss a photo opportunity i quickly take a snap.
Interestingly one seems to be right handed and the other left. I wonder if this has something to do with the way they were packaged in the womb?? Kind of the same but opposite- like light bulbs laid top to toe in order to utilise the maximum available space. After all space would surely be at a premium in a womb, especially with twins.
SWMBO calls me weird (I'm not the one that's come as a pirate)

 

[steve1]

quality

The sunshine in Vallalodid has a certain quality. The feel of the light on your skin, the temperature of the air you breathe, the intensity all serve to anchor your senses in another place. This could never happen in England. The quality is a world away from that of Valladolid.
Over the past few weeks my, our, journey has taken many twists and turns and in some respects i feel Valladolid represents either an end or a start.
I can't put my finger on it, but it has something to do with quality and the fact that the journey homeward is beckoning.
I sit on a low stone wall that surrounds a fountain and ponder the nature of quality.
I think travelling is more than just the physical movement from place to place. The mind is freed from routine and mundane operations and is able to focus on the present and the relationship between man and his position in the world. I don't mean place just in a geographical sense. Whilst away from your own world the points of reference that you use are gone. The only safety line back to my own existence is my bike- it remains. The quality has changed, shifted and one fears or hopes, (dependent on individual situations) that a return is inevitable. It's all about quality.

With the sun still beating down i arrange SWMBO into the classic John Wayne pose (as he leaves a US fort with a twin line of cavalry behind him). The fact that she's astride a polar bear (and has come as a pirate) matters not....quality

 

[steve1]

park

We stroll from brilliant sunshine through the ornate portal of the park and into the dappled shade of Valladolid's secret garden. The trees are densely packed and small colourful birds flit from one side of the path to the other. Now and again we the trees surrender to lawned areas where the contrast in light plays tricks with your eyes. Here, huge peacocks laze in the afternoon sunshine occasionally standing and letting off weird shrieks that would definitely scare you if it were dark.