On the Road Again!

Another update! I have been relying on the MyRouteApp website to plan where to go and this will tie in with the additional Navigation App when I pay for it.  For the simple A to B trips I can still use the Ohrex  as normal. Of course I am hoping that the Navigation part of MyRouteapp will work okay and it is supposed to allow the downloading of maps so that it doesn't need to use the internet to work.  I have a 30gb allowance on my mobile phone but don't want to eat that up with the navigation. At the end of the last update we were in Avila where we are staying for two days in the new aire near to the city walls. I opted for a EHU space and hopefully we can charge everything up. From here we have a decision to make. We will have 12 nights left before we return to the UK via Eurotunnel Le Shuttle at Calais. So which way back? Do we go north of Madrid or south of Madrid? I still like the idea of heading up through Aragon and taking the Somport Tunnel, with m...

Time to leave Toledo and head firstly to Aranjuez and then to Madrid. Or rather firstly we would pack the bike and ride out of the old town via the steep streets. The streets are not simply cobbled but the surface is flint stones embedded in concrete. Not that easy on a large bike with luggage and two adults!   We made it and then ignored TomTom telling us to take the main road, instead we headed down the south bank of the Tajo to a couple of viewing spots. Roman Bridge The Alcazar View of the old town Dora and Claire The run to Aranjuez was on another autovia and it was only signposted just before the junction with Ocaña and Cuenca seemingly more important. We topped up with fuel at the first station. At €1.369 per litre the cheapest so far. The onboard temp gauge showed an air temp of 34.5℃. Who knows what it was when stopped. We had lunch at a café right by the old Royal Palace. It was open but simply too hot to go across.   Once on the road again we entered the burned...

Firstly a trip up to the roof terrace to take in the view. Exceptional. Toledo Cathedral and Alcazar Alcazar de Toledo And then out to look for dinner. Ended walking miles, had a beer and tapas then more walking and eventually dinner near St Tomé. Tomorrow we are off to Madrid. So time for some packing and bed.  One last visit to the roof to find none of the buildings lit up. 

If it's day 5 it must be Toledo! And sure enough it is. Opening the shutters reveals another sunny day has begun. Scorchio! Breakfast was soon consigned to the past. We opted for the €5 version. Tomorrow I'll go €3 instead. That should be quite enough. We weren't particularly early but made straight for the Cathedral.  Incredibly only a few minutes to get a ticket, at €8 per person including audio headset. And into the cool quiet interior. The place is massive, begun in the middle of the 13th century it took them 267 years to complete! Better be forewarned if you want a Spanish builder! There is simply too much to tell about here - Link ! Some highlights: As the inner apse has no natural light the solved it with this window and a special "window" in the wall behind. Amongst the decoration you can see it. Here, I did it for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Transparente The main altar is a magnificent piece in gold. El Transparente still providing light along wi...

TomTom seemed to be taking us away from the city. The reason became evident as we descended across a bridge over the river Tajo and under the nose of the Alcazar to wind our way up a series of streets barely seemingly wide enough for Döra with her panniers. In fact, it was wide enough for most cars, although one section was narrow enough for a Vectra to squeeze through with only an inch or so clearance. At one tight corner that kind of went up as well as left I had to have Claire get off as my left foot was nowhere near touching the cobbles and I was in danger of toppling over.  She walked the last 50 yards to the hotel. We parked in a slightly wider bit near the hotel and we went to check in. The guy on reception then showed us to the garage. I had to take the panniers off to squeeze into a small space next to a (badly parked) French 4wd. The Hotel Santa Isabel is very centrally located. It has WI-FI  and of course, the garage! Our room is on a corner plot with a view of the ...

From Ávila the route was curiously north instead of south-east as it looked as though we were being taken to an autovia. I stopped by a "mirador" overlooking the walled city but the sun was directly facing us making the camera useless. Maybe in the afternoon with the more golden tones would be perfect? I changed TomTom and we turned 180 degrees and the ignored the signs to Toledo and headed off into the mountains to the east and then south again along AV900. The scenery was as bare as the previous day. We passed fields of black bulls with large horns and a few Fincas with the names including "toro". We went over the Puerto de Navalmoral at 1534m but not convenient to stop for the photo opportunity! Once back on the main road to Toledo we encountered a few trucks but they were easy to pass and we had lots of empty road ahead. Over the river Alberche that is lucky enough to be dammed twice in a few miles. On the lake were lots of pleasure boats and the hillsides dotte...

From the dictionary: tinker - ˈtɪŋkə/ verb - gerund or present participle: tinkering attempt to repair or improve something in a casual or desultory way. "he spent hours tinkering with the car" synonyms: try to mend/improve, work amateurishly on, fiddle with, play (about/around) with, toy with, trifle with, dally with, dabble with, potter about with, fool about/around with. I don't think any of the changes I make to The Plan can be called amateurish, but I do like to refine the plan. I was looking through Tyre to look at the route for the trip and wondering if to cut it into bite sized or daily itineraries for the TomTom.  It's then I noticed that the last couple of changes hadn't been made to the overall route and so I changed the hotel waypoints.  Now it looks up to date. Whilst tinkering, I checked all the hotels former their off road parking. And the price where it isn't free! Some are a little expensive, others free or reasonable. I like to think that Dör...

Had a few minutes at lunch time to have a look a rough idea of where to go to take in a few of the tourist spots. And here it is.  The ferry will dock in Santander around 7pm, so even with the long (sunny?) days it is still a stretch to get far, so I have booked a hotel in the city around a mile from the port. Hardly time for Dora to warm up. That gives us the evening to have a look around and get something to eat. Day 1 - Saturday at sea. Day 2 - At sea arrive Santander.  Overnight hotel. Day 3 - set off for Avila. The walled city is about 230 miles away, and in the months before we go, I'll look for things en route to stop and look at. Day 4 - a short run to Toledo. One of the old Moorish capitals. I stayed here years ago at the Parador, but it is across the gorge from the city and a long trek around. Here I have booked a hotel in the middle. Day 5/6 - Madrid. Two nights here in the centre where we can get to the Prado etc. Day 7 - set off for home.  It's a fair trek so...