Free Man Traveler: El Primero Mensaje de España

Damn, I’ve been busy! With classes, studying, hooking up the WWOOF stuff, and exploring, it’s taken me four days to write this… anyway, here you go, the first Spain post:

Well I made it to Spain! The weather is incredible now—28C (82F) and sunny with a slight sea breeze; perfect barely describes it. However, I deserve it, the beginning of the week was horrible—15C and raining; actually, pouring. Not to rub it in or anything, but I’m going to go to the beach now…be back later to finish this.

Ok, I’m back…hoooly crap the beach is gorgeous :o) Pictures below…

The trip over here was interesting for sure—probably one of the more epic rides I’ve done in a very long time.

After a big rush to get out of the house in the morning (as usual, I left everything until the last minute!), I had a smooth journey to Faro. I was expecting rain, but when I got there, it was 20’s and sunny—perfect. Built my bike out in front of the airport, and took off for the city. The hostel was nice—big, quiet, and cheap. Slept well, but woke up in the morning to downpour! However, it stopped before the end of breakfast, so I decided to ride instead of waiting for a train. I rode seven rain free kilometers to the next town (Olhão), but as soon as I passed though it, the rain hit again—hard. Not wanting to go backwards, I decided to ride the 23km to Tavira in the rain, then take the train from there. 2kms more and I could barely see the road in front of me, but I made it to Tavira, just missing the train! I waited a cold 2hrs for the next one, which took me to the Portuguese border town of Vila Real de Santo António, then took a boat across the river to Ayamonte, Spain. It was still cold and rainy in Ayamonte, but the town was beautiful enough to make up for it. I took a short cruise around the town, and then headed to the bus station…only to find I had missed the bus by mere seconds! Not wanting to re-enact my cold stay in Tavira, I took off down the road on my bike. The 55kms to Huelva were uneventful and for the most part very pretty…but also wet as well. I did make it to Huelva before dark, and after riding around in circles for hours (literally!) looking for the hostel, I found it and plopped my sore butt down in my bed for a well-deserved (if I do say so myself) night of rest.

Day two was pissing rain almost as hard as the first, so I camped out
in the hostel for as long as I could, checked out the city a bit, then made it over to the place I had arranged with Jeronimo (my Spanish teacher) and Carlos (whose house I’m staying in). Went to bed after a quick drink and dinner with them.

Class started at 8:00 the next morning, and went really, really well. I’m taking private lessons (I was offered a reduced rate as it is the low season) and it is such a luxury, let me tell you. We learned "classroom" stuff first, then went for coffee and toast talked in spanish while we ate, then went back to the classroom.

So it’s been already been great experience, and my spanish is ever so slowly improving. Jeronimo is also a great resource for information about Spain as he has been all over. Carlos is just about as fanatical about cycling as I am and knows a lot about spain as well. He’s also been a really great resource, showing me a cool bike path (see below) to the beach, and has offered to help me route planning!

Well that’s the scoop for now…I’ll try to be a bit more regular with my updates (I know, I always say that) now that I have internet, so stay tuned…

And now for pictures...

The view flying into Portugal. Worth the price of admission.

Assembling my bike at the airport—I attracted one or two stares…

My bike loaded and ready. The rack has proven to be *really* problematic for touring, it was only meant for commuting I think…think I’ll end up having to buy another one, ugh. Anyone wants a rack let me know (actually seriously, it’d be fine (even great) for around town, if you want it, leave a comment and I’ll get back to ya.)