discombobulated

Went on a great mountain-bike ride today.

We’re enjoying being on the hill in Christchurch. The combination of sea and sky, the weather, the light, human activities like kite-surfing, kayaking and sailing, mean the vista is constantly changing. A few pictures are online, like this sunset.

Back in sunny Christchurch once more… Will update the blog with the last few weeks of our trip when time allows…

Visiting my sister Johanna, brother-in-law Gregor and new arrival Edith. Celebrating Johanna’s birthday. Discussing politics and the world, enjoying home-made lattes and going for walks around the neighbourhood enjoying the autumn colours. Back in NZ Nov 2.

In the heart of the Alsace wine region. Plan to meet with Anne Rowland tonight, and reach Strasbourg on Friday 8, leaving for England on the 10th. Great autumn weather recently, but rain expected tomorrow.

Made it via TGV to Dijon. Plan to do a three-day tour via Beaune and back to Dijon, then train to Mulhouse and cycle to Strasbourg. Very autumnal. Beaucoup vin. Aim to be back in London 10 Oct-ish, USA 17 Oct and NZ 26 Oct. Have updated photos in the gallery, but blog entries up to now will have to wait till I have some more time…

Awoken after 6am by hymns being sung by small choir, progressively down the Calle Mayor from the Iglesia de Santa Maria de los Reyes. Rest for a while, then get up and wrestle with Lisa’s rear brake pads for ages. After a coffee, on the road around 9:30am back the way we came, pausing at the ancient burial mound of El Sotillo. Into a hard, steep 14% climb up the face of the Sierra de Toloño Mendilerroa to Puerto Herrera (1,109m). This time the cloud is on the north side and it’s a chilly descent to Peñacerrada where we take a coffee break. Continue briskly to Puerto Vitoria, deciding it’s too chilly to picnic and drop to Vitoria. Find supermercado, then cycle to Park Florida and find a sheltered grove to eat our lunch. We are visited by two drunk hombres who wish us “buen viaje” and we give them our remains of jamon and pan. Drink coffee and read newspapers in Cafe Barcelona to warm up. Do some internet then cycle through rain to bus station. Do the folding trailer thing again and with no fuss we are on our way to Iruña/Pamplona. Arrive around 6:30pm to fine weather. Reassemble gear , ride to old town and find accommodation at Camas Escarray Lozanzo. Cook dinner in room. Figure the chardonnay we bought is corked but by the time we return the supermercado is closed. Bugger!

Away by 8:30am. At west end of railway station see signs for Logroño, but lose signs at a crucial intersection on the edge of Vitoria. We confirm we are on the right highway with two separate locals but 4km up the road at Berrosteguieta finally see a highway id sign that tells us that we are on the wrong road! Backtrack to town. Grrr! An hour down; climb steadily past rubbish tip and over Puerto Vitoria (778m). Descend to Ventas de Armentia and stop for a coffee. The blue sky and sunshine are most welcome after the last few weeks of mainly grey skys as we roll through undulating countryside reminiscent of Tuscany. After Peñacerrada we hit some 14% gradients on the hot climb to Puerto Herrera (1,109m). Drop rapidly down into the region of La Rioja Alavesa by the Ebro river. Cloud chills us on the way down. Near Laguardia, see the impressive buildings and landscaping of Bodega Heredad Ugarte and stop to taste their wines. The woman presenting the wines is very professional and friendly, rapidly swapping between Spanish and English to suit the audience. Accompany the wine with chorizo and bread for 1.30€ At the tasting we meet Peter (NZ) and Cathy (Aus) and discuss wine and promise to visit their Blue Pyrenees Estate out of Melbourne. Continue to Laguardia, a walled town perched on a strategic hill surrounded by vineyards.

We eat lunch at Restaurante Biazteri; a 9€ menu includes a Basque potato/chorizo/paprika dish and paella, beef/patatas fritos and lamb patitas, santiago tart and café, and vino. Visit information centre and get a bed at Camas for 30€ Wander the well-preserved, car-less medieval streets to the Torre Abical (Abbot’s Tower), around garden on exterior of wall, through Puerta de San Juan. Excellent views of the surrounding vineyards, bodegas and mountains of the Sierra de Toloño Mendilerroa that we crossed earlier in the day. Visit bar in town square for a cervesa/vino. Visit the interior of the Iglesia de Santa Maria de los Reyes (C XII - C XV), watch the sunset from the western edge of town. Visit the Vinoteca Mayor de Migueloa for vino de casa at just 0.90€ a glass. Stop at another local bar on the way back to Camas.
{Mayor de Migueloa, Consecha}

Away around 8:15, ride to the bus station and fold the trailer and remove the front wheels to have the bikes and gear stowed in the ALSA bus to Vitoria. No fuss - excellent. Some debate over seating until everyone sits in their designated seats. Somewhat sad to be leaving Santiago de Compostela after such a brief time. There’s lots to explore and the mix of pilgrims, locals, tourists and students makes for a pleasant and affordable city. We compare it to Bruges and Prague. Numerous towns pass in a blur as we travel east. At one brief stop Lisa leaps off to go to the WC and the bus leaves without her. Picture Jonathan trying to convince the bus drive to stop with next to no Spanish - “mi chica, WC estacion.” The driver is not impressed but stops the bus and Jonathan runs back to the station to find a sheepish Lisa. Lots of “lo siento’s” back on the bus. It gets hotter and hotter at the back of the bus, even with curtains blocking direct sun. We are grateful to reach Vitoriia around 7pm. Reassemble trailer and gear. Once we orient ourselves, we ride through the old town full of grafitti and bars. It looks seedy and dangerous compared to Santiago de Compostela. Drop down to newer part of town. Once again can’t find info centre. Stay at Residencia Casa 400. Walk city streets but fail to locate supermercado. Spy several maps through the now closed doors of several bookstores and decide to have a go at visiting Rioja tomorrow. Wander back to accommodation to self-cater.

No rice pudding for us this morning. Since it’s a rest day, we eat yoghurt and fruit instead. What luxury! Look for a place to enjoy a café with Tart de Santiago but most places are yet to get moving or sell one and not the other. Visit the Catedral del Apóstol during a catholic service, and see the botafumeiro, the largest dispenser of incense in the world, but it wasn’t in action during our visit. The cathedral is the destination for thousands of pilgrims each year. Walk across town to the bus station to arrange our transport eastward. Wander back to old town and Jonathan downs a coffee while Lisa explores the fixed market; Lisa noted groups of men eating freshly fried green peppers and drinking vino tinto. Do some internet. Eat picnic lunch in our room, then more internet. Down a cervesa and vino at a local cafe then return to our room to cook dinner. Head out into the night around 10:30pm and the streets are busy. Stop at Casa de Xantar/Bierzo Enxebre to listen to classical guitar player and are impressed when our coffees and Tart de Santiago are accompanied by olives marinated in liqueur. We find a cool studenty bar down the street for some wine. It’s empty when we arrive but by the time we leave it is humming. Just after midnight we walk to the Plaza Do Obradoiro for a sound and light spectacular with fireworks and images projected on the wall of the Catedral del Apóstol , including fish and bubbles to celebrate Jacobeo 2004 (a particularly holy year for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela). Drift back into town with the crowd after the end of the show, and near the Igrexa de San Martiño Pinario find another cool bar for a Coronita. Bed around 1pm, a huge night for us.
{Sonsierra, Rioja, Crianza, 2000}

Rain in night and a poor sleep (the sound of waves on the beach couldn’t mask the duff-duff-duff from someone’s car stereo at a nearby lookout point) mean we don’t rise till 8:30am and get away by 10am. A few k’s into Muros for groceries, and good riding by the seaside to Tal and Esteiro where we stop for coffee at a café with an excellent view over the water. Continue via Crucero de Roo, Serra de Outes to meet the C543 heading inland and back east. A steady climb in drizzle and fog is numbing. Stop at lunch time in a blink-and-you-miss-it town but don’t hang around. The weather improves and the road levels out through farmland. We lose height to Urdilde, Os Anxeles and Bentamiráns by which time the farmland has given way to urbanisation. Endless roundabouts and signs and increasing traffic brings us to the pretty centre of Santiago de Compostela, the destination of thousands of Christian pilgrims. Walk the bikes to the information centre, seeing an impressive number of hikers and cycle-tourists. Try hostel recommended by LP, but it is full, so settle for pricier Café-Bar Girasol. We wander the streets, seeing lots of restaurants with meat and seafood displayed in the windows, and wandering musicians in formal garb. Down a few beers and vinos (Ribeira Sacra Tinto. Casal de Vela, Godello. Rioja Santiago, Crianza 1999). Go for the 9€ menu at our hostel.
{Fuxon os Ventos, Galicia, tinto}

Overcast sky. A few forested hills to Molinos, then undulating farm country through Villarmid and Bermún to busy Cée by the sea. Stop for groceries, then cruise the coastal road to Ézaro with impressive rocky hills reaching up to wind farms. There we see a picnic area beside the deserted beach so make that our lunch venue. A short way after, we grab a coffee at the fishing village of O Pindo. Soo after, it starts to rain and we are heading south, directly into the droplets. We persevere, and count five cycle tourists coming the other way (more than we have seen all week). It’s straightforward riding along the coast through Quilmas, Caldebarcos, O Viso, Carnota, Lira and Lariño. Cool-looking sand dunes and rocky headland at Louro. Soon after, just short of Muros, we stop at Camping A Vouga, and set up tent in earshot of the waves. (To set up the tent though, we have to splint a snapped pole using rolled metal from a discarded cervesa can. All the gear is showing signs of wear…) Cook dinner by tent in dense fog.
{El Coto, Rioja Crianza, Cosecha, 2001}