I did this trip a few months back, turned 30 and wanted to do something cool. So I flew and met a couple friends in Barcelona and from there took a train to Madrid, rented a BMW F700GS and rode the southern coast over to Lisbon, Portugal where I met another friend. It was the perfect combination of hanging out with friends but also a few days of solo riding. The trip was awesome, the photos don't do it justice. Also I find I like to take pictures of buildings and rarely bring a camera out at night for the fun stuff. Plus my contour died for the most scenic parts of the trip but here are some photos for you guys to check out. I met some friends in Barcelona but will start the trip from Madrid where I picked up the bike. Couple random pics of Madrid View from my hostel, 8th floor Another new friend, she was dressed as a mime from a bridal shower I met Ok enough fun, time to get on the road. For those of you who have ridden in Madrid you know, those tunnels are confusing as hell and I ended up riding in circles for a solid 20 minutes. Other than that, although the city is crazy, drivers are really courteous towards motorcyclists. Such a nice break from the way the shit heads drive here in the US, specifically the 10 freeway in Los Angeles where Ive been hit 2 fucking times this year.
Picked up a bike from these guys: http://www.espanaenmoto.com/home.php Overall a good experience, they had a good selection of bikes and were located at the train station in north Madrid. First trip was from Madrid to Málaga with a stop at some small town along the way. And we're off! Northern Madrid isn't very interesting, just mostly office buildings Got lost in these tunnels for about 20min Finally out Some street shots riding through Madrid, really cool city:
Now some open road shots, literally, hardly a god damn person drives on the highway here. Outside Madrid is boringly flat so Ill just post a couple pics. Finally after an hour or two came up to a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was old as shit but that's all I know about it. I didn't stay long, everyone here was like 150 years old and didn't really like a motorcycle riding through the town during siesta. Actually got off my bike and took some real photos too. Cool place.
Alright I gotta keep moving though, had 4-5 hours of riding on a terribly uncomfortable BMW F700GS (well uncomfortable compared to my KTM 990 adv). But the city of Malaga and the beautiful women there await and I've only got one night there. Lets get going: Scenery gets a little better as you approach the Mediterranean: Stopped and took this one, there were too many flies stuck to my contour at this point. I arrive late in Malaga around 8pm. Good thing it doesn't get dark until 9:30.
Málaga! I rally my new hostel friend to go grab some drinks, I have heard rumors about girls in Malaga but I was not prepared. The rumors were true, I have traveled many places in the world and these are some of the most consistently attractive women I have come across. Wish I had more than one day there. We are drunk. Clock strikes 12, I realize IT'S MY BIRTHDAY. We rally and start drinking more, I am talking to every girl I see but my Spanish es muy mal and they aren't having it. I switch gears and start going for drunk tourist girls which is like fishing with dynamite in Spain. I cannot put into words how hot/hung over I am at this point, just trying to sober up so I can do the 4 hour ride to Seville Looks like they spelled 'Merica wrong Time to hit the road to Seville, I think its about a 3h ride, I don't really remember.
Obviously I got to Seville late. I don't feel like doing anything, but I rally and decide to meet up for a pub crawl. Turned out to be a fun night, met some new friends Seville was a really nice city and not many tourists outside centro so that was nice too. But that was it, had a late night and didn't feel like doing shit the next day, off to Lisbon. My friend has been there for a day already hopefully he has some cool shit lined up. Fuck! I forgot to charge my Contour again.
The ride from Seville to Lisbon was really nice, but of course my camera wasn't charged. Also I had planned to go down to Gibraltar but ran out of time. Really needed atleast a couple days at all these cities, lesson learned. Here is where I got my toll ticket, the highways in Portugal are wide open. Why? Because they RAPE you with tolls, just from the border to Lisbon which is about 2h of riding cost 18 euros which is around $30. Now for those of you who don't know me, which is all of you, I am a cheap ass. Ten euros a day for a GPS was 10 euros more than I wanted to pay and well, I got lost.
I ended up taking a train up to Sintra because I heard there was an awesome castle up there. Yep, sure is: Lisbon was awesome. Wine is cheap and flows like water, everything is relatively cheap, and most everyone speaks English which helps a lot. My Spanish lessons didn't pay off too well as I would hit a wall after about 10 minutes of conversation in Spain. Plus I raw dogged a random chick in the hostel shower, high fiver! It made me feel young again.
Lets head back to Spain, get sick, spend 3 days face down in a hotel room, go to the hospital then catch a flight back home. Thanks for checking out my trip.
Nice pics! Thanks for sharing. I went to Lisbon back in 2009, it is one of my favorite cities! Barrio Alto is really nice!