Took it very easy this morning and actually spent time in the hotel having a leisurely breakfast. I also take the time to study the map and decide I am going eastwards into Spain to a place called Zamora. I get straight on to booking.com and book my hotel for the night… so I shall be staying in The Hotel Jarama, which is in the centre of Zamora a short walk from the main tourist attractions… oooo maybe I’ll be a proper tourist tomorrow.
Here are some photos from my balcony in daylight… I think I prefer the night ones…
Got everything ready and left at about 12.30ish. There was a doorman standing outside the hotel… he reminded me of the guy outside the restaurant on Saturday… too late mate already been in haha
Back on the road again… was on a fast road for a while when I realised it was taking me the long way to Zamora, so I switch to the compass page on the gps and head east… after a while I decide to try and film a bit of the ride again… I think I’ve got it now… bugger.. it won’t upload!!
That’s a shame…. anyway…
Onward and up into the mountains again.
The point is you don’t get scenery like this on a motorway…
Whilst riding ever upwards I glance down at my gps and see I am approaching the 1km above sea level mark… so I’m now definitely a member of the 1km high club… yippee!!
There are some lovely views from this height…
It’s all downhill from here… as I’m negotiating the twisty roads I decide it’s time for another video… but I can’t really manage the bike in bends one handed so what to do?? Aha… I’ve got some cable ties in my bag that the guy from Latvia gave me.. I can tie the camera to the top of the gps… fab
oops… will have to come up with a good story for the insurance company… I don’t think ‘it fell off my bike’ is gonna cut it really do you?
It’s also a shame because the next few miles are some of the best twisty bits… would have looked good on film, but I think I’m going to have to invest in one of those camera mounts for the bike in the future.
That certainly was a great road.. the N216 between Macede de Cavaleiros and Mogadouro.
I cross the border into Spain at Miranda do Douro where there is a massive dam across the river that separates the two countries.
As soon as I am in Spain the time jumps forward an hour, (Portugal is on the same time as the UK at the moment), I thought I had another hour and 45 mins to go, but actually its only 45 mins so that’s a good thing.
I arrive in Zamora and find the hotel no problem, but oh dear what a shabby area, it doesn’t look very good and seems my luck with the hotels has finally run out. I have to go into a bar at the front of the hotel and the girl behind the bar does not speak any English. Somehow I managed to ask about the parking and she takes me around the back, the garage is on a separate block and as she is showing me where it is another Harley rider and his partner walk up and he hands me a remote control for the garage door. Ok, so that’s a positive… I park the bike and then go back to the cafe where she checks my reservation and gives me the door card. The actual entrance to the hotel is on the side and I use the door card to open it… good security. Up 3 short flights of stairs to the first floor and I am very pleasantly surprised by the room. It is very modern and clean with a good size bathroom and huge shower, which is a massive plus given the tiny one I had in Cascais; there’s a flat screen tv, wifi access and air con so all in all another good find… but I don’t want to be wandering around this area on my own at night that’s for sure.
After a quick wash and sort out I make my way down to the bar/cafe/restaurant to find out about dinner. The other harley rider and his wife are in there and they invite me to join them for a beer. Vince and Pat are from Milton Keynes and they have just ridden 400 miles up from Cascais to here in one hop… wow! I ask the girl about the restaurant… in mime mostly… she says it does not open until 9pm.. another hour and I’m starving. Pat wonders if there is a Maccy D we can go to.. so I go back to my room to check it out on the laptop and sure enough there is one a shortish walk from the hotel, so off we troop. After about 15 minutes we find it and I have the obligatory Big Mac etc. Oh well its filling at least. Another 15 minute troop back and then into the hotel for the night. Pat and Vince are a very nice couple who do a lot of touring on their bike, they tell me that the next HOG Rally will be in Rome… no way, that’s mad… there were over 10,000 bikes at Cascais, how on earth will anyone enjoy riding in Rome; well I certainly won’t be going, that’s for sure. I might go to another major rally in Fakker See, Austria next year instead, but wait and see.
Tired now so off to bed… think I am going to Burgos tomorrow, its not far so should be a quick run, but you know me….. watch this space.
Oh checked the camera and all working ok…. just can’t see the screen properly.. damn!!
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| Test photo with broken camera. |
sounds like a great holiday. At least you know someone is reading your blog now.0)
Hi Kaz… yes it is.. thanks for letting me know you are out there. TC xx
Wow, who's the Latvian guy? 🙂
Don't know.. we didn't exchange names for some weird reason.. but they were all very helpful as I found all Latvians to be, you too 🙂 xx