Soria

Was 9degC on a Monday morning, as I rode out of Burgos. Nice in the sun and at city speeds. 
Different story out on the roads. Luckily the temperature rose to 16degC. 
Then dropped to 9degC. 
Then rose to 16degC. 
………etc

Mind, the scenery was worth the trip. 
Lower elevations tended to be full of gold-leafed trees.
Higher elevations had lots of those top-only Spanish pines. 
And everywhere had lots of escarpments. 

There also seemed to be a lot of mist, but that turned out to be smoke. Burning season. Clearing brush and other unwanted wood. 
There were lots of logging trucks on the road. And factories, for making planks, furniture, pallets, etc

Arrived in Soria. 
Found the hotel. Landlady was stood outside having a chat. Let me in. Took me through the check-in process.
Nice place. Almost “twee”. Could be romantic 🙂
Unpacked.
Parked the bike underground. 3euros/24hrs is the best public parking I have seen for a while. Security. Painted floors. Their own toilets. Luxury 🙂
Was tempted by the free parking in the covered walkway by the hotel. Well. There were lots of other bikes and scooters there. 
But hey! Let’s blow the 3euros 🙂

Went walkabout. 
Saw a fair bit of the city. 
Tea and pastry at the start. 
Potato frita and vino tinto at the end. 

Once back in the hotel, extended my cell-phone plan.
Did some banking. 
Checked out some likely restaurants.
All whilst listening to the Beeb 🙂

Early evening, ‎went out in search of supper. Saw more of the town, as both Michelin restaurants were closed. A common practice on Monday 🙁

Wandered around till I recognised the street, and popped into the nearest bar. Enough exploring!
Potatas bravas were OK, but not even close to Sevilla. Still, the cognac and cafe solo helped 🙂

Walking home I chanced upon a Chinese restaurant. Interesting food. Now, three courses and a glass of wine for 6.70euros is tough to beat 😉
I left the ‘flan’. Possibly made with one egg and water, IMHO. 
You have to kiss a lot of frogs till you find a princess. 

Talking of which. 
One of my favourite jokes involves a frog and a princess.

Back to the hotel and bed.
Not even a glimmer of a dream of either the frog or the princess 🙂

Tuesday morning up to book a place for London’s meeting up with the Holland crew.

Then a cafe con leche for a very late breakfast.
 
Get a map from the tourist information office.

Check out the Numancia museum. Yes a city that would starve for 8mths and then suicide, rather than submit to the Romans. Who by the way were breaking a treaty in laying seige to the city. But hey! They’d lied to other Iberian cities before. 
And to think that even 2,000yrs ago people started wars for spurious reasons. We haven’t improved much.

Walked over to see if one of the restaurants is open for lunch. Yes. But not until 2pm. Made a reservation then took a stroll. 
Oh the horror. Have to go for a walk on another blue sky’d, sunny day 😉

Came upon a famous elm tree.

Then ended up at the cemetary. NICE view of the valley.

Finally up to the castle.
Not much left. The Spanish pulled most of it down after retaking it from the French. The bit you won’t see in Wikipedia is why the Spanish put in a swimming pool. hahaha

Then it was time for lunch. 
And what a lunch! Shades of Lemon Meringue! Good food fills you up! 
Everything at Baluarte was really good. 
The ones that I thought were outstanding were:-
(a) Oxtail&mushroom croquette, and pork-tartare……

(b) ravioli with rice-pasta, sweet potato filling and covered in mushroom&truffle froth

(c) chana&mushroom stew……

There were SIX other courses!
To be honest it was more food than I needed. hahahahaha. 
One outstanding beer. A nice red. And to finish, an outstanding Pedro Ximenez. 

Had to go back to my hotel for a lie-down 🙂 Watching back-to-back episodes of Poirot, en Espanol. 

Then out for an evening stroll. 
Check on the bike. 

Back at the hotel.
Setup my GPS for tomorrow. 
Update my travel spreadsheets. 
Make a cuppa for tomorrow.
And so to bed.

Wednesday morning up at 5am. WaaAaaay too early. So back to nap till 9am. 
TaiChi. 
Pack. 
Get the bike out of the garage, and load up.
Head out. Not the way TomTom suggested. What do the Dutch know. My way caught the medieval bridge 😉
And then the sign to Teruel. 
See you there.