Rock Cafe, but only after having a cold drink and a perusal of their merchandise. On the second day we ventured out separately as each couple had different interests to satisfy. Some returned to the Hard Rock Cafe to buy items of clothing whilst others went to the waxworks museum, which proved to be both interesting and bizarre given the choice of exhibits and the, at times, dubious quality of workmanship, and included a film that gave a comprehensive history of Spain.
The following day, we set off for the next stopover in the city of Zamora, capital of the Zamora Province in the Castile and Leon Region. Again the fickle finger of fate interfered with some of the sat nav’ s and the group lost Sharon & Paul again, who as it turned out had the best choice of route and arrived at the destination well ahead of the rest. The remaining 6 had a detailed and circuitous tour of Madrid before finding the exit. Zamora is a reasonably sized place off the normal tourist trails with an old well preserved centre with a good supply of bars and restaurants. The Hotel Ares is small, family owned and very friendly. The rooms are well equipped and comfortable and furnished in a shabby chic style.
Our next stop was to be Santiago de Compostela, the capital of the Galicia region in northwest Spain. It is world famous as the culmination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, and the alleged burial site of the apostle St James. His remains are reputedly housed in the cathedral which was consecrated in the year 1211. On our journey we crossed the route of the Camino( the Way of St James), which is signposted by images of the scallop shell that has become the mythical symbol of the pilgrimage, and in the process saw many pilgrims walking to their final destination in Santiago. Perhaps as some sort of sign, we amazingly stayed together on the ride and arrived at the hotel Miradoiro de Belvis as an intact group.
This was also the parting of the ways for Paul & Sharon as they headed back to their home in Southern Spain. The remaining 6 rode on to a city called Ponferrada( in English iron bridge) for night stop in the AC Hotel Ponferrada. After the Roman conquest it became the largest mining centre in the Empire and
it remained a centre of mining for coal and other minerals until the 1980’ s. The economy is now based on wine, agriculture, wind power generation and tourism. It has a very well preserved walled old town centre, complete with a medieval castle.
The penultimate leg of our tour took us from Ponferrada to Ribadsella on the northern coast. The chosen route took us through the Picos Europa( peaks of Europe) mountains, which are majestic and beautiful and provide some of the best motor biking roads in Spain. We had a blast negotiating some tight corners and sweeping bends as we headed northwards some 230 miles to the Cantabrian Sea.
Our overnight stop in the Gran Hotel del Sella was satisfactory. Originally built in a previous century it had been extended and modernised. The rooms lacked air conditioning or a ceiling fan, but that shortcoming was more than compensated for by the balconies and the pleasant views over the harbour in one direction and the sea in the other. Ribadsella itself is located in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias. It is a pleasant town with extensive sandy beaches and large harbour. It provides many opportunities to eat and drink and seafood is certainly something of a speciality.
From Ribadsella it was just a short journey along the coast to Santander and our ferry home. The crossing was a bit lumpy in the Bay of Biscay, but the sea calmed as we entered the English Channel. After 24 hours onboard, we disembarked in Portsmouth and headed north for destinations in the Wirral and North Yorkshire. By the time we reached the Midlands the weather made a turn for the worst and it absolutely poured down for the rest of the journey, making it a very soggy homecoming after two weeks of almost uninterrupted sunshine. It was a great experience from a motorcycling point of view, covering something like 2,400 plus road miles and we experienced some wonderful places en route and as ever, we had a great craic in the process. We definitely need to do it again, but I must make a note to spend more time reading maps and less reading menus and wine lists.
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