Marta & Rita's Iberian Tour

[Marta-GS]

Little break for breakfast - decided to build a bit more on the RR

Last Saturday Rita and I did our pre-ride from Switzerland to Spain.

We went from our home town in Switzerland (Basel) to Roses (north east of Spain, nice town by the sea). Roses is not my home town (pretty close though), but my parents were spending the weekend there and wanted to give them a surprise.

My initial plan was to leave Friday, sleep somewhere in the middle of France, and arrive home on Saturday. Being able this way to take some back roads for the trip and enjoy the ride.

But things started getting complicated at work Thursday evening, and finally had to work all Friday to do some fire fighting. Was really disappointed. Rita was disappointed too... That left only Saturday to do the 900Km ride, so no way we could take any back roads. Had to jump straight into the motorway (ugh!).

Left Basel on Saturday morning, around 8.30 AM (I'm not an early bird) and got to Roses at around 6.30 PM. 10hours for 900km. Average 90 km/h. Not that bad! Know can be done quicker, but don't like to squeeze Rita on the motorway and... my butt needs some rest from time to time (the low seat is pretty hard!!!!)


Route we did was the following (just to give you an idea):

• Basel
• Bern
• Lausanne
• Geneva
• Swiss-French Border
• Grenoble
• Valence
• Montelimar
• Nimes
• Montpellier
• Narbonne
• Perpignan
• French-Spanish Border
• Roses

And this is how it looks like on the map: STRAIGHT!




One of the easiest Switzerland-Spain rides I've ever done.
No rain. No cold. No heat. No wind (can be a pain in the south of France). No ice/snow. Very fluid traffic. Almost no roadworks.
Totally uneventful and pleasant ride.
Which is fine when you have to do lots of Km in one day, but doesn't help much when you want to write a RR
Now what do I tell you???

Well, got there Saturday evening and parents were very happy to see me.
We spend rest of Saturday and Sunday together (great lunch on Sunday!) and we went back to our home town (real one this time) Monday early morning (just on time for mum to go to work in the afternoon - dad is retired and doesn't have to worry about working ).

Spent Monday afternoon working from home (love this flexibility I'm allowed!) and Tuesday morning took the plane back to Switzerland. And have been working like crazy since then... Just realizing now that in less than 24h I'll be landing in Barcelona, almost ready to start my holidays!

[silverboy66]

great rita!!!

[Navel]

Hi Marta,

I live between E and F on your planned route, contact me if you need any help -advice?- around there. By the way, a nice place very near your waypoint E: http://www.hotelsemaforodebares.com/en/, the gardens around the hotel have free access, with an amazing view of the Ria do Barqueiro and the point where the Cantabric sea meets the Atlantic ocean. The hotel has a wonderful terrace but not sure it will be open in October.

Thumbs up for your ride!

[Marta-GS]

Originally Posted by Navel

Hi Marta,

I live between E and F on your planned route, contact me if you need any help -advice?- around there. By the way, a nice place very near your waypoint E: http://www.hotelsemaforodebares.com/en/, the gardens around the hotel have free access, with an amazing view of the Ria do Barqueiro and the point where the Cantabric sea meets the Atlantic ocean. The hotel has a wonderful terrace but not sure it will be open in October.

Thumbs up for your ride!

Thanks Navel, will take good note of your offer!
Checked the hotel and looks beautiful, like quiet places like this one.

[Marta-GS]

Originally Posted by Dust_

Hello!

If you need any help for your plans of Portugal, I can try to help as best as I can, I'm curently studying in Lisbon (though I'll only be in Lisbon after the 20th of January) and I have travelled up and down Portugal a couple of times

Thanks Dust!
It's very likely that I contact you, never been in Portugal before and any recommendations will be welcome.

[Marta-GS]

Originally Posted by Kurro

Hola Marta, en el sur me tienes, para lo que necesites.

Que disfrutes de tu viaje.

Thank you so much for another kind help offer, this one on the south.
You guys rock!

[YOUNZ]

Hi Marta, long before you were born, 1960, I was in Spain, while in the US Navy. Wonderful country. I had a great time back then. I even included some Spain adventure in my book. Way back then, I remember the local people spoke with an added accent, such as, Barcelona would be pronounced Barthelona. Some said, in empathy with the King at that time.
Have you ever heard that?

[Big Daddy D]

Hi Marta,

So jealous of your trip! But I've been down to the south of Spain myself this summer.

You should really try to incorperate the Sierra Nevada, the route to Pampaneira and Trevélez, and the route from Velefique to Bacares. The roads to and from those places are spectacular too.

Here's a picture from the Alto de Velefique. We drove up this road from Velefique. In Bacaras is a great hotel btw. Can't miss it.



Looking forward to reading more!

Enjoy your trip!

Daniel

[Big Daddy D]

Originally Posted by YOUNZ

Hi Marta, long before you were born, 1960, I was in Spain, while in the US Navy. Wonderful country. I had a great time back then. I even included some Spain adventure in my book. Way back then, I remember the local people spoke with an added accent, such as, Barcelona would be pronounced Barthelona. Some said, in empathy with the King at that time.
Have you ever heard that?

Spain has many dialects. And what you say is true. Barthelona... Cerbetha...

[CENTI]

more pictures please!!!!

[Paddygfw]

Looking forward to your RR
Have a great and safe trip

[Marta-GS]

Originally Posted by YOUNZ

Hi Marta, long before you were born, 1960, I was in Spain, while in the US Navy. Wonderful country. I had a great time back then. I even included some Spain adventure in my book. Way back then, I remember the local people spoke with an added accent, such as, Barcelona would be pronounced Barthelona. Some said, in empathy with the King at that time.
Have you ever heard that?

Hi Younz, what you say and what Big Daddy D confirms is right.

Spain has quite a few dialects. One of the most special ones (for me) is the one spoken in Andalusia (south of Spain). They speak very fast, eat half of the words and also have some 'picturesque' words of their own . Know it well, my grandparents from mum's side are from Andalusia (but after Spanish Civil war they emigrated to Catalonia where they live now).

But not only dialects. In Spain there are also other official languages in addition to Spanish. The most widely spoken are:

Galician (spoken in Galicia)
Euskera (spoken in Euskadi - Basque country - and Navarre)
Catalan (spoken in Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Valencia - well, some people from Valencia even claim that the language they speak is different from Catalan, they call it Valencian).

And there are even some other languages that are not official. A couple of examples:

Aragones ( spoken in some valleys of the Pyrenees)
Asturleones (spoken in Asturias and Leon)

It's a really interesting topic!

[Marta-GS]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy D

Hi Marta,

So jealous of your trip! But I've been down to the south of Spain myself this summer.

You should really try to incorperate the Sierra Nevada, the route to Pampaneira and Trevélez, and the route from Velefique to Bacares. The roads to and from those places are spectacular too.

Here's a picture from the Alto de Velefique. We drove up this road from Velefique. In Bacaras is a great hotel btw. Can't miss it.

Looking forward to reading more!

Enjoy your trip!

Daniel

Hi Daniel,
Thanks a lot for your suggestion, taken good note of it!
Love the pic you've posted!

[YOUNZ]

Originally Posted by Marta-GS

Hi Younz, what you say and what Big Daddy D confirms is right.

Spain has quite a few dialects. One of the most special ones (for me) is the one spoken in Andalusia (south of Spain). They speak very fast, eat half of the words and also have some 'picturesque' words of their own . Know it well, my grandparents from mum's side are from Andalusia (but after Spanish Civil war they emigrated to Catalonia where they live now).

But not only dialects. In Spain there are also other official languages in addition to Spanish. The most widely spoken are:

Galician (spoken in Galicia)
Euskera (spoken in Euskadi - Basque country - and Navarre)
Catalan (spoken in Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Valencia - well, some people from Valencia even claim that the language they speak is different from Catalan, they call it Valencian).

And there are even some other languages that are not official. A couple of examples:

Aragones ( spoken in some valleys of the Pyrenees)
Astur Leones (spoken in Asturias and Leon)

It's a really interesting topic!

But surely, if you are a Spaniard, I assume you can communicate effectively anywhere in the country?

[Marta-GS]

Sunday night, about to go to bed... Tired but happy.

Great weekend at home!

Saturday took plane to Barcelona as scheduled, had great lunch with family and visited uncle & aunt. Relaxing eve with parents at home.
Today, Sunday, have driven to sea and spent day there diving. Great fun! The more I dive, the more I love it! Bit of traffic on way back, so got home late, just had dinner!
Enjoyed every minute of the weeken!
And didn't want to spoil it, so haven't worked at all.

But this means... I still have to finish all my pending tasks... And really have to before leaving (not taking with me laptop & smartphone from work - really want to do hols!).

So just decided I will stay at home tomorrow morning to make sure I finish all this working stuff. Then have to pack all my stuff in Rita. Not quite sure at what time will be leaving... And wouldn't surprise me that I end up leaving Tuesday instead of Monday...

Will keep you posted!