LEG 6; PERPIGNAN, FRANCE TO MALAGA, ANDALUSIA, 1300 km

CATALAN BREEZE
CAMBRILS ANGEL
A SPOT OF "CLOONEY"
LA MARINA
CHILLING WITH JOHN LENNON IN ALMERIA
BALCON DE EUROPA

My brother says that perfect moments come rarely and they are short lived; this is how we felt entering Spain, although I must say that these Spanish moments lasted longer than I thought.

We left Perpignan on a beautiful morning with Pyrenees topped with snow and the sunshine brightly lighting our helmets.  It was chilly but splendid.  We entered Spain on a great note, the road is beautiful, especially that I now decided to set my GPS to avoid tolls.  I had enough of the European toll highways, and now the English lady inside my Garmin took us through beautiful Catalan villages towards Tarragona.  We decided to avoid Barcelona, I have been there several times before and we needed to find camping closer to the Yamaha Dealer in Reus where I booked my Yamaha for valve adjustment and service.  As we left the mountains behind us, the wind increased and started to blow us sideways, growing in strength as we approached Tarragona.  Eventually, I thought it will sweep us off the road as we almost fell twice on some of the overpasses.  Carmen was shaking behind me like a leaf.  My arms were already stiff from hanging on for dear life... When we pulled in Amphora D'Arcs Campsite in Cambrils, we were finished.  We got a very small pitch to set up our tent and while the wind was still blowing hard, the temperatures dropped to about 6 degrees.  We bundled in our sleeping bags inside the tent and got ready for the night.  Carmen pulled out the laptop and tried the wifi connection but the password they gave us was not working so she dressed up and went to the reception to ask for another one.  At the reception the boss' son started talking to her and as soon as he found out that we are in a tent, he offered to give us a bungalow for the same price of the camping and Carmen came back with a smile on her face, saying: "we have to move, we got a bungalow"

Few minutes later, we were inside a beautiful wooden cabin, fully equipped for self catering: kitchen with stove, fridge, microwave, etc, heat, inside bathroom and so on.  For the same price as the camping!  We slept deep and soundly that night, even though I don't mind my tent at all, I love that little thing, I spent so many nights in it, I miss it if I don't camp for few days.

We spent 4 days in Cambrils, as the Yamaha needed to order a part from Holland to do my valve adjustment and this gave us time to wash everything that was dirty, the results of the weeks of rain, sleet and smoke endured from Greece to here.  We cleaned up everything, including our bike gear, boots, gloves, helmets, etc.
When we left, we stopped by the reception to say goodbye to George, the boss' son, and thanked him for his generosity.  We pulled the money out to pay, but he said: "No, there is no payment necessary, it is my gift to you!"  I fought it for a while but he said, No way!  Thank you George for your kindness shown to strangers and for giving us a great time in Cambrils Amphora D'Arcs campsite.

We headed slowly towards Valencia; the wind was still creating havoc on the street and was fooling around with my bike again.  We arrived in Valencia around noon and I pulled into the City of Arts and Sciences, a major landmark of Valencia and great site to see.  As we rode under the great arches, we noticed lots of filming cranes and screens and security everywhere.  We pulled to have lunch and I checked online to see what the big deal was.  We found out that George Clooney is filming his Disney's Tomorrowland movie in Valencia as it looks very futuristic.  We rode our bike ride under his movie set :)  if I didn't know better I would think that he planned his shoot exactly when I was riding through there, just to see my bike :)

An hour later we were pulling into the La Marina International Camping, a great place by the sea where a lot of retired Europeans are spending their winter in this huge village, designed for their campers.  These people were really nicely set, with terraces and carpets under canopies, with flowers and lights and barbeques and everyone seemed to know each other.  We arrived there and felt immediately that we are like aliens to them.  Imagine all the fancy campers nicely set on campus and among them my little tent and my bike.  When we rode to our site, everyone came out of their campers to see what is happening.  People took photos of us and the bike and asking me all sorts of questions.  They were from Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, etc.  Nice advertising for my expedition!

Two days later, after a relaxing camping experience and nice strolls by the Med Sea, we headed towards beautiful Andalusia.  Only this name provokes in me great visions of landscapes, poetry, great food and amazing people with their dances, music and customs.  Rolling hills packed with perfect citrus orchards and olive trees line each side of the road.  Soft sunlight was warming the already blooming trees and everything seemed out of this world.  I was falling in love fast with this place and the beautiful Spanish people.  We enjoyed the beauty of Almeria, where John Lennon wrote his Strawberry Fields Forever song while shooting the film: How I Won the War in Spain, in 1966.  His statue rests in the centre of the town. 
We also had to visit the famed Cabo De Gata park, and I enjoyed tremendously the ride there as the road follows the mountains of the Cape and it is a great delight to ride a bike there.  It was also there that we met the most bikers on the road, on a beautiful Sunday ride to the Cape.

Finally, we came to rest in Malaga, which we will have to explore for the next few days, from Balcon de Europa to Alhambra, from Marbella to Gibraltar.
I have to say that Southern Spain is a splendid place, even though the famed Levante is bothering us almost every time I climb the bike.  This famous wind is incredible, bringing moisture to the East Mediterranean and warmth to the West and it does create amazing waves on the sea.

Lastly, I would like to address this last bit to the person that sent me an email from my website: www.nomadsportsacademy.com.  AOSTB, if you see this post, I tried to reply to the email you put on the website contact form, but it came back to me twice as google said your email does not exist or the mailbox is unavailable.  I will answer personally your query if you can email me again: nomadsportsacademy@gmail.com with your complete email address.  Otherwise I will not be able to respond to your questions.

Sights of The City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia.  George Clooney was in that balcony with all the cranes and cameras

 Camping in La Marina, the only tent and bike among the neatly camped caravans.

 Eastern Med; we rode on this sea shore for 5000 km from Istanbul to Gibraltar; it is an amazing feeling to see the diversity of cultures, landscapes and customs of the people that live by this amazing sea.

 Beautiful Andalusian villages along the way...

 Balcon de Europa

 Typical Andalusian entry gate, I love the intricate mosaics!

 it turns out my wife is very famous in Spain :)

 The Levante is playing with the sea

 Beautiful Cabo de Gata

 Plaza de Torro in Almeria.  You can still feel the adrenaline from inside

 John Lennon

Leg 5: Palermo Italy to Perpignan, Languedoc, France: 1900 km

ALMOST STUCK IN PALERMO
SURPRISE IN SAN LUCIDO
COSTIERA AMALFITANA!
DELUGE IN POMPEII
"FLOATING" TO LIVORNO
"DROWNED" IN NICE
"FROZEN" IN PERPIGNAN

In the last 9 days, we were strongly reminded of the nature in Europe in January and that, after all, we are trying to ride around the world and that it would not be a walk in the park.
In Palermo, our first intention was to find a ferry that would take us north to Corsica and then France; we discovered very quickly that the ferry to Corsica only starts in April so we were put in the position to face the riding North, towards the Italian Alps and then cross into France by land.  We checked the weather and we decided to head out, even though the forecast was a bit of rain here and there.  I told Carmen: "ah, it's nothing, we will take it a day at a time and avoid this whole thing"; me and my freaking wishful thinking!

We had a magnificent ride from Palermo towards Messina and then on to Cosenza where we veered towards the Tyrrhenian Sea to the little seaside town of San Lucido.  We had no clue what we would find here, but the road was great, winding on the Italy coast in the great afternoon sun.  We were happy just with the riding and the beautiful Mediterranean on our left.
Arriving at San Lucido we found a little hotel called CLICHE, a great looking place, clean and very new.  Alessandro, the owner/manager was a very welcoming, warm host, making us feel at home immediately.  The room was overlooking the sea and the village of San Lucido is a quiet, pleasant community.  We went to buy some food at the local Spar and I didn't realize that it was a one way street and as I was pulling out against the traffic, a local came out of a bar and told in signs that it is a one way street.  Cars were coming from the other side already and, to let me pass, the man jumped in the middle of the street and stopped the whole traffic to let me pass.  No one objected, which is not a general rule in Italy :)

We had a peaceful night in San Lucido and in the morning, after the usual Italian breakfast of brioche and cake and coffee, we headed out towards Napoli.  I heard before of the great, record-holding, coast of Amalfi, between Solerno and Naples, so I told Carmen that this would be amazing, to ride our bike through this beautiful coast.  Well, we did it!  Not only that we did it, and the coast deserves its name, but we did it in one of the craziest rain storms I have been in my life!  Photos below do no justice to that place and the storm we have been through, but I have videos and some day soon, I hope I can find a place to be able to edit the clips and put them on youtube for you; then you will understand!
The road through Amalfi is carved into the mountain, right above the sea, but this is not the only amazing thing they have done; they built their villages and homes, virtually suspended above the sea; not only that, but they planted orchards and vineyards that are almost vertical on the mountain and there are roads and infrastructure leading to all these places.  They have 5 star hotels built almost vertically on that mountain face and no one seems to be bothered by the massive peaks behind them or the few hundred meters drop in front of their houses.  We rode that coast from the sea level all the way to 1100 m above the sea as we were going on the other side towards Pompeii.  It was pouring down rain, we even entered into the clouds as we approached the peak of the mountain and the road was slippery.  But we made it!  I was in awe of both this amazing coastline and of my beautiful bike that survived that, in pouring rain, winding through the narrow roads at very low speeds for 4 hours. By the time we got to Pompeii that night, we were soaked, even though we have waterproof gear; nothing would be waterproof there in that storm.

We pulled into Zeus Camping at Pompeii as darkness fell.  It was still pouring, rivers were flowing through the streets and I sank my bike in the pools of water a few times. I didn't care anymore, I wanted to just sleep somewhere.  We were cold, wet and in a very strange place.  We decided to take a couple days to dry off and get ready for the next step, which we hoped would be Genoa. 
While things were drying out in camp, we took a stroll the next day and visited the ruins of Pompeii, which, I must say, were a great surprise for me.  The atmosphere there is not that of a museum or just a place to visit, I felt we were walking among the graves of the people that found their death there.
Goethe said: "I don't know of any natural disasters in the history of the world that brought so much joy to all of us then the Pompeii disaster"
I am not sure if he is completely right or not, but I do agree that this place is a beautiful place to walk through and experience it.  To be able to see their homes, their temples and in some cases even the bodies that were caught by the disaster while sleeping or praying or eating and you can actually see on their faces the expression they had when they died.  It was humbling, to say the least!

We left the next morning with dry gear and as we headed from Pompeii, the sun was shining and the roads were dry and I told Carmen: "today will be a great day to ride".  1 hour later we were in hell!
The wind picked up and within minutes the sky got dark and it started to rain so heavily that I could not see properly in front of me.  Trucks were passing us and sheets of water would smack me straight into my face and instantly drenched me.  I think I sent at least 100 beautiful phrases to the Italian truckers that day! 
We stopped every 2 hours or so to have some tea and warm up at the Rest areas on the highway and every time we got in, people would give us a long look and rightly so; we were dripping heavily and we were bundled up with several pieces of gear that are not too pretty, like: buffs, bandannas, face masks all soaking wet. 
There was no way we would make it to Genoa; there were the mountains and also the tunnels, darkness was coming and I hate riding at night, even when it is dry, but not it was impossible.  Towards the afternoon I decided we would sleep in Livorno and we were happy to do that.  First, we would dry out and secondly, Livorno turned out to be an amazing city, full of clean streets and buildings (no more garbage everywhere like in Sicily and Southern Italy) and with great places to eat and full of people walking in the streets even though it was still raining as we arrived there.
Well the next few days were spent, as you have guessed by now, in hard rain on the road, drying out at night and rain again the next day.  With the exception of the last day, when we headed out from Nice to Perpignan: the sun was out and we said, finally, here is a nice day.  Today we would just enjoy it; yeah, right!  It was 5 freaking degrees because we were heading for the Pyrenees and there it snowed like hell the night before and all the cold air was coming straight under my goggles and freezing my face.
So, here we are, in the great European winter, still drying out and still trying to warm up.  I never thought I would miss the 40 degrees temperature of Africa, but I am;
I don't know how we did not get sick, but I think all the lemons and oranges we had in Greece gave us more protection then we thought. 

My bike is approaching 40.000 km, I need to soon do the valve adjustment, and a full service.  I must also say that I am totally in love with my tires! The Yamaha dealer in Pretoria that did my service in October last year did not have the Metzeler Karoos and he said he can put the Heidenau K60. I have already 10.000 km done since Pretoria and there is not even a dent in these tires... They don't look like they were worn at all!  I am sure I can ride for at least 7-8000 km more.  Long live Heidenau!
My bike gave me absolutely no trouble for the past 40.000 km and I am not just saying this because it is my bike (which I am, but I don't care).  This baby was dropped several times, sank in mud, drenched in rain, drowned in the Flood of Italy and many other things.  I only changed the battery in Athens and I just put gas and keep going.  I did not inflate the tires once since Pretoria, I did not top up the oil, heck, I didn't even check bolts or anything.  We are 40 kg over the Manual top weight (sorry Yamaha) and this bike handles like it is brand new and naked.  Not only that she does not care how much we weigh or load  her, but it uses now less gas per 100 km than before.  I now do 4.4 l per 100 km with over 500 kg on her (wet bike, accessories, baggage, us), instead of 5.3 l per 100 when I bought it.  I am very happy about this, especially in Europe, where the gas is out of this world.  It looks like they bring this freaking petrol from Mars, that is how expensive it is.
Below you will see some photos of our trip north.  I am going to bed now.

Soaking wet in Italy; you can almost see my disgust through my goggles:)

 The beautiful coast to San Lucido

 This is how some of the towns are built on top of mountains; I love the sight of them.

 And the Amalfi coast starts...

 This how my GPS looked when we crossed from Amalfi to Pompeii.

 The beautiful city of Pompeii and its tragedy.

 Some photos of nice, I was so tired and wet, I didn't care about photos anymore.

 The freezing Perpignan...