Valladolid

The last part of the 700km++ was awesome.

Ran off the highway and into Almazan. To be honest I suspect that I was lost. But whilst stopped within the walled area of the city, confirmed that I was right on track.

The road into Almazan had been empty. The only things visible were castles, forts and keeps.

Running further towards Valladolid, I ran through Penafiel, with a most impressive castle. Was a shame to keep riding, but I was not far from Valladolid. So bashed on.

One final fill-up some 40km out and I was there. Well. Stopped here.

Found a place to stay the night, and rode off. Turned out the place was hard to find. After riding around the place 3 times (at least), I pulled over on the sidewalk and took stock. My native BlackBerry Map app had me riding in circles. And Google does not manage the screen space properly on my BB to help.
Luckily, a police car stopped, so I asked for help, and they said “Follow me”, in very good English. And lo and behold they took me to Hotel Parque 🙂

I placed the bike in underground parking, unpacked, lub’d and checked the bike, then did the same for my gear.
Sat down to update the blog, and realised that I was more tired than I felt. 10+ hours on the bike will do that. Went for a short stroll. Showered and then to sleep.

Up late on Wednesday, and caught up on my emails. Then went in search of a barber.
Beard and hair needed a trim. Reception suggests one around the corner, though they were not sure. I went there, and found a chap wielding a pair of scissors competently and went inside.
Getting a barber to do well, is hard. When he speaks no English, and I have a “pocito” grasp of Spanish, this could have been a disaster. But with the use of hand gestures, this turned out well. Very well 🙂

Some shopping, then went in search of the city.

Turns out to be a very nice city. Lots of green space. Lots of corners and nooks to sit in and watch the world go by. All with a backdrop of awesome architecture.

Came home in time to prep for supper, then off to meet Amelia. Under the statue. I was wearing a carnation and carrying a copy of the Times! hahahahaha
Nah. Things have been updated. I was wearing my Tennessee t-shirt 😉

We took a stroll, ending up at the museum of modern art. Akin to MOCCA, as used to be, in Toronto. But much bigger. With an interactive display, where you could play with building blocks. Who says art is not fun!
And surprise, surprise. TED was having a forum on food.

Then to a tapas bar, and then a restaurant, to share a board, and a litre of water.

A most EXCELLENT evening.

PS: Learnings from the evening:-
(a) Castille is so called because of the number of castles. And there are LOTS. Everywhere! Makes sense once I had the explanation.
(b) You can now get pre-loaded credit cards, that hold multiple currencies. And pay in whatever local currency applies. A neat way to reduce the double-bite charges from the main credit card companies.
Muchos gracias Amelia 🙂