Oh Deer, another dodgy Hostal!

Well, here I am in a hostal because the camp site, which according the Internet is open all year round, is closed. I had prior warning as I chatted to a Dutch couple at lunchtime who had tried to camp at the same site the previous night, they arrived at the site to be greeted by a sign which said 'Abierto todo el ano' (open all year) – next to that sign was another saying 'Cerrado' (Closed)!

Welcome to Spain!

I rolled into Navahermosa with the good intention of finding some water and heading into the hills to do my first wild camp of the trip. I was frazzled, my bits were hurting and I stopped at the first cheap looking Hostal I saw. It was 20 Euros for the night and it looked like a proper Spanish dive with locals playing cards and dominoes, and rubbish all over the floor so I checked-in.

The first thing I generally do in Hostals is let in some air and light into the room, I opened the curtains, 2 sets of sliding windows and the ubiquitous shutters and the splendour was revealed!

With monotonous regularity I was greeted with a building site, I'd be disappointed if I saw anything else. There was of course a feckin great deer in the yard next door but nothing there to surprise me!

I'd been assured that there was WiFi in the hotel and there was, but it didn't work. The conversation to resolve the technical issues was interesting and fruitless. The barmaid seemed quite offended that I would suggest they had a problem with their Internet. She drafted the owner in for support and she seemed 'up for a fight' - I wasn't, she was bigger than me!

Whilst on the subject of bar staff, I have the greatest respect for bar staff in Spain, They will be there when I leave the bar at 10:30pm (Claire may read this) and they are there again when I go for breakfast at 8:00am. They do everything, serve drinks, coffee, food, sweep the floor and everything else, usually single handed, you rarely see a Spanish barman/woman not doing anything.

I'm the last customer in the bar tonight, purely in the pursuit of updating my blog of course. As is usual I haven't got a clue where I'm heading tomorrow. I'll have a look at my road map sheets before I go to bed and see what's south of here. There have to be more building sites to discover as I inch ever closer to the Med?

Ps - there was something on the menu called Venado, I asked what it was, I should have known!
I had the Squid.

Who needs sleep?

Bless them, they're young!

On arrival at the camp site at Pelayos de la Presa beteen Avila and Toledo I wasn't impressed.  It seemed to be, no it 'was' a construction site, all the access roads and area around the facilities were dug up and everywhere was a mess.

I asked as usual for a pitch not too far from the servicios so that I don't need to ride my bike to go for a pee.

I was offered a couple of pitches which were just loose dirt and gravel.  The only alternative was the long grass on some spare land behind what was described to me as a sanitation block.  It was the best option!

I was assured it was a quiet area which was good as I knew I had a biggish day tomorrow.

After my customary 30 minutes of Ipod induced entertainment I settled down for the night around 

11pm.  The noise started shortly after.  It seems the sanitation block is also the staff living accommdation, whether they party every night or just on Saturdays I don't know but they made a lot of noise.  No music but lots of shouting and screaming about 5 metres way from my tent.  When I say no music, I mean no music until midnight when the party really got going.  

I lay there trying to be chilled out about the situation, saying to myself  'they're just youngsters having fun' although if I'd had an Uzi available, I suspect it would have been used! 

The music only lasted for an hour but the general din went on and on, I last checked my watch at 3am.  I'm not sure if the noise stopped then or I fell asleep but I was awoken by them clattering around at 6:30am.

Once I was up and about at 6:45 they went quiet for the next couple of hours!  Youngsters eh!

The next day was a tough one, it started immediately with a steep climb of around half an hour.

Looking back at the first climb of the day from about half way up.

The day was 80km+ and the vast majority of it was into a strong and cold head wind.  It was a digging deep sort of a day.  I finally left the region of Castilla y Leon which I'd spent 5 or 6 days in and entered Castilla La Mancha.

Todays lunch stop for once didn't look overly promising.  I entered a fairly nondescript town and headed, as usual for the church.  No water fountain but a welcoming bench and as I approached I heard the combined voices of the village children singing hymns in the church. 

The town grew on me, even the architecture of the supermarket next to the church was sympathetic.

I don't know how long the kids had been in church but when they eventually ran out every one of them stopped dead at the door to shield their eyes from the bright sunshine.

I was fairly weary as I approached Toledo.  Around 10km outside town I came to an incredibly confusing junction of roads, mostly motorway either in use or under construction.  This is the second time the road into town seemed to disappear with no option other than motorway to continue.  On the approach to Avila a few days ago I did around 2km on the motorway because there was simply no other choice.

So it was again.  I set off up a slip road only to realise after a few hundred metres it was the motorway to Madrid.  I continued for a short distance and then went the wrong way (intentionally) down a slip road joining the motorway which turned out to be under construction and not in use.  I crossed a building site 'a bit like the camp site' and joined a dual-carraigeway going in the right direction.  I wasn't sure if  it was a motorway or not but it turned out to be the 'National' road and the right one for Toledo.

This road was fine for a few km until I reached another confusing roundabout with only what looked like motorway exits.  I took the road designated as a 'CM' road as motorways are normally 'A' 'AP' or 'E' roads.  I climbed a long steep slip road on very tired legs only to find a sign at the end saying 'Autovia' - definately a motorway.  Why couldn't they put the bloody sign at the bottom of the slip road.

I went back down the slip road, the wrong way 'again'.  At no point during all my traffic misdemeanors has anyone blasted me with their horn, the Spanish seem very tolerant.

As I got back down to the roundabout the heavens open and I was battered by driving rain.  I stopped under the bridge to put my waterproof jacket on, by the time I emerged from the other side the rain had turned to hail and my face and legs stung with the onslaught.  I took the other exit which also looked like a motorway but by this time I didn't care, it was going in the right direction.

I was on a long and steeply descending dual-carraigeway, soaked through and freezing cold but I could now see Toledo.  It looked impressive but I wasn't impressed with it's welcome.

It had been a long day but Claire had booked me in to a Hostal for 2 nights so all was well.

I just had to find it.

Segovia:

Spectacular city, but too many tourists!

I do realise that I'm one of them but it's the groups, the tour parties of 30+ being shepherded around by their tour guides.  That's the trouble with beautiful places, they're popular.  Maybe early morning or evening would be a better time to see Segovia, things may be closed then but that wouldn't worry me too much as I can't walk around them anyway.

I did however take the plunge. lock my bike up and pay my 3 euros to go inside the Cathedral, it seemed too impressive from the outside to miss the opportunity.

The inside was spectacular but no photos were permitted, below is a selection of pictures I didn't take!

The 2 main things I wanted to see in Segovia were the Roman Aqueduct and the Arabic Castle, the Alcazar.

The Aqueduct was constructed in the late 1st century AD.  Built from granite blocks with no mortar it was designed to bring water from the nearby hills into the city, it's just short of 100ft tall at it's highest point.

 I didn't go inside the Alcazar, from the outside it's drastic refurbishment makes it look a little too perfect and modern for me.  The fairytale turrets were apparently Walt Disney's inspiration for the castle in Sleeping beauty.

 

After a few hours doing the tourist thing I headed off the beaten track where I feel much more at home.  I found a back street bar, full of locals which did excellent tapas.  

A few more photos from around Segovia - 

I'd now better check the map to see where I'm going tomorrow, I suspect it may be a bit hilly!