Toledo bound

Up late-ish, and catch up a bit on my blog, then have to hit the road.

Loaded the bike. Settled the bill, and headed out. Made sure to swing along the river, then Salamanca here I come.

Was a nice run. Gently heading downhill, then along rolling plains. Full of poppies. Did I tell you that the country-side is full of wildflowers. And poppies being red, really stand out. I have never seen anything like this. Acres, and acres, and acres of wildflowers. With the poppies stealing the show. No wonder Major John McCrae penned his poem.
Hopefully we are all doing our bit to ensure the torch is held up high. In what ever way we can to ensure this world is a better place tomorrow than it is today.
And what is a better place? Well, I have said it before, and I will say it again, read this ‘Thought of the Moment‘. Acemoglu&Robinson really make the case for an open and inclusive society. Do read their book, if you have not already.

And that is what thinking of the open road gets you into. Philosophy 🙂 For the road is just like life. You start off heading somewhere, along a road you think you have chosen, and all sorts of factors come into play.
And when you have reached a destination, you can reflect on the choices, surprises and overall experience.

So where did my road take me today? Thursday, 2016 June 2nd?

The empty countryside formed into Salamanca. A place made known to me through the TV series, Sharpe’s Rifles, based on this book. But this version looked real, lively and full of history.

I rode through the town in a variety of directions, eventually ending up here.
Right by Taberna Charra, selling tapas, caffe-con-leche and aqua mineralle con gaz. Perfect. The sausage tapas WAS perfect. With the pork-belly a close second :):):)
Those with a guilty conscience may wish to choose another location. Priests frequent this establishment. hahaha

Cleaned my visor (bugs). And rode on to Toledo.

Next stop was Avila, to refuel. Outstanding vista. I rode around a bit to make sure it was true. Straight out of the story-books.

And then a bit of awesome countryside, en route to Toledo. Gentle twisties, on hilly terrain, with a backdrop of larger hills, then mountains. And the trees, that looked like broccoli florets, but were pine trees.
No wonder Michelin has this section of road designated as scenic.

And then Toledo.
Even more awesome.
Built on a natural outcrop of rock, this is a walled city par-extrodinaire.
Probably the worst kept secret is that the Alcazar has a cafeteria above the public library. Caffe+jus naranja for <3Euros, and a view to die for 🙂 Talking of which. Someone should have warned me, that one of Toledo's specialties is marzipan! And it is GOOD here. Really good. I continued my perturbations through the city, having booked into a pension for the night, and parked on the street. Found a Da Vinci exhibit, fresh fruit&veggies market, loads of architecture, statues and squares to explore. Then supper. I wanted soup and steak, and found a touristico menu that gave just that. Found my way back, without a map. Plugged in my MagicJack and made a couple of calls to North America. Wrote up this blog. And "Time for bed, said Zebedee‘

Goodnight All.