Archives: September 2007
In Which I Briefly Wonder If This Is Kazakhstan
September 30, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Viana do Castelo I sat this afternoon in intermittent sunshine, in the Public Gardens of Viana do Castelo, down on the riverfront. (Viana is BesideTheSeaside but the centre of town is just upriver from the sea itself.) My horizon, when I looked up from my book, and this was often,...
In Which A New Country Appears Before My Eyes, Sort Of
September 29, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Viana do Castelo Route: Vilanova - Vigo - La Guardia - Caminha (Portugal) - Viana do Castelo Spain disappears in my rear-view mirrors, not only rain-splattered but -- finally -- plug-ugly. From the moment I entered the Basque Country, though Cantabria and Asturias and the rest of Galicia, the coast...
In Which I Meet Uncle Manuel
September 28, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Vilanova de Arousa Route: Fisterra - O Viso - Noia - Portosin - Ribeira - Catoira - Vilanova de Arousa The road south of Finisterre hugs a coast that winds round bays, twisty inlets and estuaries like it was Norwegian. Out to the tip, winding inland and round and back...
In Which I Reach The End Of The World
September 27, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Finisterre Route: A Coruna - Malpica - Laxe - Muxia - Fisterra (Finisterre) I couldn't leave A Coruna without seeing the Tower Of Hercules, but now that I have, you neededn't bother. it's quite high, it's been a lighthouse for 2,000 years and there are the remains of its Roman...
In Which I Issue An Open Invitation
September 26, 2007 by Mike in Diary
A Coruna Route: O Barquiero - A Coruna A day in Three Parts. Part One: Loving The Galician Coast I need volunteers. I've found a place to live. Not just a little white-walled house by the sea, with space to hang the hammock and somewhere to park the bike. This...
In Which I Come Over All Huckleberry Finn
September 25, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Barqueiro There's a pale old yellow moon tonight. I'm sitting on somebody's balcony looking out over the port, the harbour, the estuary of the Rio Barqueiro and the ugly town of O Vicedo on the other bank. At night, its blanket of twinkling electric light looks pretty as a picture....
In Which I Hum A Frank Sidebottom Tune To Myself
September 24, 2007 by Mike in Diary
O Barqueiro Route: Gijon - Navia - Ribadeo - Viveiro - O Barqueiro I god a cowd id by doze. *At-CHOO* -- What does Spain look like? Hot desert, scrubby hillsides and white-washed villages empty but for the occasional mistreated donkey? Or high-rise resorts overfilled with sunburnt Brits in Man...
In Which The Fog Descends
September 23, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Gijon I had a drink or two last night. I spent the first half of today on the beach, doing not very much at all. It felt like the right thing to do at the time. As in, I certainly didn't feel like doing anything as adventurous as moving. This...
In Which It's A Tough Life And No Mistake
September 22, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Gijon Route: Unquera - Llanes - Ribadesella - Villaviciosa - Gijon I'm thinking of starting a support group for certain places around Europe that suffer an absence of British tourists. Try as they might, they just can't seem to attract visitors from the UK or Ireland. Or the USA. Or...
In Which I Am Tormented By Tormentas
September 21, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Route: Santander - Unquera Way back on 11 August last year I saw the rock paintings at Alta in Arctic Norway. Today I visited the Paleolithic cave paintings at Altamira. Alta.. Altamira. Spooky. The exhibition here was worth riding three kilometres or so inland (remember, I make up the rules...
In Which I Take A Short Holiday
September 20, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Thursday 13th September Morning on the beach. Afternoon on the plane. Evening on the train. Norwich by night. Back in a week. --Mike x Thursday 20th September Breakfast in Norwich. Morning on the train. Afternoon on the plane. Evening in Santander. It's good to be back. --Mike x...
In Which I Confess, And Mooch, And Catch My Breath
September 12, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Santander Route: Bilbao (Basque Country) - Santander (Spain) I can't hide from you, gentle and alert reader, that I got way behind on this blo- I mean diary. (If you're reading this at some future date, ignore me and carry on.) Truth is, I remember little of this day, but...
In Which I Do The Museum Thing
September 11, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Bilbao Route: Gernika - Bilbao I better get this out of the way first: Bilbao is the Spanish name of the city. In Basque, it's Bilbo. I can't bring myself to call it Bilbo. Today is a tale of two museums. In the morning, the Peace Museum in Gernika. With...
In Which I Ride the Perfect Road
September 10, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Attention bikers. Give up yr job. Leave yr family. Sell yr house. Get here as soon as you can: Click this link! Ride this road every day, back and forth, up and down, round and round, every last, luvverly curve of smooth tarmac unsullied by lorry, truck or car. It...
In Which I Could Stop Right Here
September 9, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Donostia I've been here for a few days. It feels like I've been here for years -- luvverly. My cousin Diana *has* been here for years. She was teaching English when she arrived. When most people here had learned English, she started teaching people how to teach English. As far...
In Which I Basque In The Sun (.. sorry about the pun)
September 5, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Donostia Route: Bayonne (France) - Irun (Basque Country) - Donostia/ San Sebastian As much as I disliked Bayonne last night, I loved it this morning. Swap a down-at-heel motel next to the motorway, for a bustling, friendly bar serving delicious food to laughing locals, and you'll feel the same way....
In Which My Prediction Turns Out To Be Right
September 4, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Bayonne Route: Capbreton - Biarritz - Bayonne I should have guessed. In yesterday's thrilling update I worried that I'd get a sleepness night because of a yapping dog and Rory McGrath. No such luck. Instead, I was rudely woken at about 4a.m. by the heaviest rain I've seen this side...
In Which I Predict A Bad Night's Sleep
September 3, 2007 by Mike in Diary
Capbreton Monday morning. OK With: back to work. It's not a long ride from Arcachon down to Capbreton but it's significant: I've cracked the back of France. I can (almost) smell Spain: looking south down the coast I spy the shadows of hills trailing away westwards, far in the distance....
In Which I Have Precious Little To Add
September 2, 2007 by Mike in Diary
I've taken a holiday from my strenuous work for a few days. I've been on the bike a lot, but following my nose rather than the coastline. Inland. Sweeping, fast roads; cracked farmlanes with grass growing through broken tarmac and right-angled turns at the edge of fields of dying sunflowers....