I wasn’t particularly looking forward to traveling across Spain

 

 

fearing that it would be hot, difficult and not particularly interesting.  Instead, found it to be one of my favorite sections of the ride.

In Madrid, we had the good fortune to stumble on a wonderful small restaurant, Zoco.  Being Americans, we sat down for dinner early by Spanish standards, 8 pm, when the restaurant opened and was still empty.  We were able to have a long chat with the owner/chef Marbell from Venezuela.  We liked her and her food so well that we returned daily and were treated like friends/family.

The restaurant is a family affair so we met them all:  her mother, two toddlers and her husband.  He explained to us how their families moved from Madrid to Venezuela during the turbulent years of Franco’s dictatorship and now have returned to Madrid to escape the dire political and economic situation in Venezuela.  Marbell shared her recipe for her signature quinoa salad with me and I will try to replicate it when any of you come to dinner.

 

Heading out of Madrid we have continued to find ourselves either climbing or descending most of the time,

once again fighting headwinds but also savoring the beauty and relative solitude of this country.  The weather changed dramatically during this section from very hot (mucho calor!) to a cold rainstorm (was I hoping for that?!) and much cooler days and nights.

The night after the rainstorm Jim and I stayed in a lovely guest house, Casa del Holandes in Madrigal de la Vera.  The proprietress was kind enough to rent us a room despite being otherwise closed for the season  She warmly greeted us and told us all about the region.  Our room was on the third floor of an old house perched on a steep hillside looking over the village and the mountains.  This fact is particularly relevant since I hung my wet rain gear on the balcony when we headed out to dinner (“Jim, do you think this is ok?”  “Sure, if it falls we will know where to find it on the lane below”).  Off we go to dinner with our friend Peter (late of course, it is Spain) and well, yes, a bit of wine was consumed with dinner.  Upon returning to our room, I collected my rain gear from the balcony and noticed that my rain jacket wasn’t there.  Looking over the edge of balcony I discovered that rather than falling to the street, my jacket was hanging on a light fixture on the wall of the second floor!  Gallantly, Jim went to retrieve it (“Oh no, I can’t look”–so no photo).  With the help of an umbrella, a table, and two young Spanish boys…well, I have my jacket and thankfully an intact husband!

We rode through a spectacular national park, Montfrague Parque, with stunning vistas, huge Griffon vultures,

little traffic and great climbs/descents.  Today we are in Caceras, a jewel of a small city with a fabulous and intact historic central district.

It is not touristy like so many similar sites and consequently is apparently a favorite of filmmakers.  Today they are filming Romeo and Juliet and soon they will be filming the Game of Thrones here.

Although it would have been nice to see the old city unimpeded (without filmcrews, actors, etc) it was somewhat interesting to see how they develop the sets and to see actors in medieval garb everywhere (like at the table next to us at lunch).

 

Tomorrow we head off to Portugal and the last 4 days of riding on our journey.  Thanks again for “riding” along.  Your interest and support have meant the world to both of us.

Buenos noches!