Archives: March 2008
In Which The Title Is Longer Than The Blo- I Mean Diary Entry
March 31, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Orgiva I've had busier days. ;-)...
In Which Helicopter Nick Disappears
March 30, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Orgiva I've timed my entry into this magikal world just right. Today is Sue's birthday party -- a gathering of the clans, longhairs arriving from their houses and huts (and yurts) from across the valley and up in the high hills. Here's Paul, who knew my sister 25 years ago...
In Which I Find Myself Beside BesideTheSeaside
March 29, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Orgiva Route: Nerja - Maro - La Herradura - Motril (oops) - Lanjaron - Orgiva I am camped in a mountainous area called the Alpujarra, a dozen miles from the sea and half a mile above it: pitched on a Moorish terrace -- a thin, flat strip carved out of...
In Which I Am Transported Back to 1988
March 28, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Nerja Route: Torremolinos - Málaga - Torre del Mar - Nerja I've previously got lost trying to find Málaga airport: I suspect most people in western Europe have, too, at one time or another. Now, I can add getting lost in the city itself. The Moorish Gibralfaro castle dominating the...
In Which I Finally Get To Insult Ipswich.. From A Distance
March 27, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Torremolinos Route: Marbella - Fuengirola - Benalmadena - Torremolinos Yesterday? Flip flops and a fleece: recovering from the night before, a little unsure of how the weather would turn out down on the beach. And today, a 25 mile ride, no more, into the heart of darkness. Or so I...
In Which I Have A Day in Three Parts (Sort Of)
March 25, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Marbella Part One: In The Morning Hopped on the bike and braved the N-340 to check out Marbella and Puerto Banus. A word about the N-340 -- a road notorious in 70s and 80s Britain as a death-trap hell-hole traffic jam.. just the kind of thing you'd expect from Johnny...
In Which I Set Off Once More Unto The Breach
March 24, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Marbella Route: Tarifa - Gibraltar - Estepona - Puerto Banus - Marbella As I started typing the day up I wrote 'Tarifa' instead of 'Marbella'. After 144 days in the southest town in Europe (sic) (or Norwich..) that's no surprise. Today I packed up, had a last cup of tea...
In Which I Sing 'On The Ball City'
March 23, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Tarifa I made it back to Trafalgar just three days after saying I probably wouldn't. Can you believe a word I say from now on? Can I? For example - if I were to tell you that Horatio, Lord Nelson, England's finest, the hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, went...
In Which We Meet The Men In Hats
March 22, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Tarifa No biking to speak of in the last few days. Just rain, dog-walking, sunbathing, wind, more rain, more sunbathing, house red and a couple of long nights down in town. (Julio: why do I always feel this rough the morning after a night out with you?) It's Semana Santa...
In Which I Pick The Wrong Day To Do The Washing
March 19, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Tarifa Four-and-a-half months since I arrived in Tarifa and I finally got round to riding back to Cadiz - 60 short miles up the coast and a city I by-passed way back when in the rush to get here and see my friends. Quite apart from ticking it off on...
In Which My Plans For Albania Are A Wash Out
March 18, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Tarifa Gibraltar - Tarifa A big thanks to Charlie and Squeaky at Klaus' No.1 Bikes in Gibraltar for storing the bike, servicing the bike and.. gulp.. cleaning the bike. Or, as they said as they pulled back the dust-sheet: "We couldn't be bothered to do all that cleaning, so we...
In Which I Spend A Strange Night In A Parallel Universe
March 17, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Gibraltar Route: Tarifa - Norwich - Tarifa - Norwich - Tarifa - Norwich - Gibraltar Me again. Back in Spain-ish. I flew in to GIB but got no further. It isn't just road-signs and currency that change either side of the Gibraltar-Spain border. Whereas ex-pats and tourists across the border...
In Which I Read A Book
March 15, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Did you hear the one about this bloke called Mike -- 42 years old, a journalist (of sorts), recently divorced, bought a motorbike and rode it around Europe? He's just published a book about his trip. .... and then I woke up from my dream. Oh. Hang on.. no.. it's...