Well here we are in Logroño and Rob will have to use lots of 'ñs' over the next couple of days: pronounced en-yays, just in case you were wondering.
But first of all Oviedo.... city of STUPID traffic lights and ripping-off-tourists. Beautiful place tho' with wide streets and marble steps everywhere. The Ruta de Vinos - ie a street with lots of cafes serving wine - was so full by the time we got there that no tables or seats were available (....er....well... the second time we went anyway!) Another gripe was that on the hottest day of our trip the air-conditioning (a main consideration when booking a hotel) didn't work and, by the time we got back to the hotel bar, they'd run out of white wine!
We did, however, manage to get into a cider place (earlier) - apparently the area is famous for cider and especially cider pouring from a great height. We were not sure if it tasted very pleasant but it was good to 'do' it. Watch this cheery man do his stuff - what a way to make a living...sorry it's sideways but we'll have missed even more it it was landscape. Got charged a fortune for a plate of cheese 'cos we didn't sort out the price first (rule one in a tourist town is to do this) but it was quite pleasant: we paid up, WITH a tip, and forgot about it!
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| Oviedo Cathedral |
Oviedo is such a pretty place. Lovely cathedral with off-centre spire and wide streets with lots of space and great buildings. We have more pics but those reserved for those who are interested at a later stage.
Today's ride from Oviedo to Logroño was 274 miles and quite a mission. Although the temperature was 37 degrees there was a good sidewind that took the sting out of the heat in the afternoon. We went through the most spectacular mountains yet and there are quite a few candidates for Rob's next screen saver. Here's one of them - but there're quite a few as good later on. And while you are thinking about it - NO I am not on a film set in front of someone else's picture.
We had such a great day's riding and stopped to chat to another couple sharing what was coming up - they were going the other way from about this point - see next pic.....
It really did look much more expansive than this, breathtaking and not hot as there was a strong breeze to take the heat away. This photo was taken on the border between Asturias District and Castilla y Leon District. Behind quite green and lush and ahead - as in this one (above) dry and rocky.
We rode around this lake and, again, it is noticeable how low the water level is but the whole surrounding scenery spectacular and massive in perspective.
Over the other side, as you can see in the next pic, it is much drier and arid. The temperature rose sharply and even though there was a strong sidewind which allayed the strength of the heat we cooked in our motorbike clothing with British Standard Protection security. We wished we had the confidence to shed layers but when you watch the video that follows this pic you see why we kept all our armour on.
Next is the video of our descent from about 1500m to the Rioja Plain. So hot and so dry but good roads...er.....AFTER the video sequence..... and so we made good headway to do our 274 miles in about 8 hours with lots of mountain roads like THIS in between 60mph easiness.
Now we're in Logroño, which seems really pleasant - free bike parking, a swimming pool in our hotel, really easy ride into town and WORKING air-conditioning and fridge.
We're off into the centre of town now to see what's what - and we'll try to organise a trip round some Rioja bodegas for tomorrow without having to get on the bike. Sound fun eh!
