Andalusia: Day 26 - Lisbon

Today was a low energy day.  I had some breakfast, I organized my stuff, I put my feet up and played some games.

Around noon I thought I should go out for a walk and went down to the water and back.  I got a shawarma kind of a thing on the way.  It was good, cheap and fast.

Lisbon is probably the best place in Portugal to get non-Portuguese food.  There seem to be a lot of Nepalese restaurants.  I was wondering if there is a connection between Portugal and Nepal.  Looked it up.  There is no particular connection other than Nepal is a source of cheap labor and Nepalese come for jobs.  Nepal is the ninth largest nationality in Portugal.

After my walk I needed to rest a bit before packing the bike up.  When that was done I went to the rooftop bar for a beer.  I was the only one there for a long time.  A Scottish family came in and I started chatting with Andy.  We had some lively conversation until their food came and I left to go find some for myself.

Since I was in no mood to think I selected a hamburger place nearby.  The walk there took me off the street I had been going up and back on to a kind of fancy street just 50 meters away.  This was a walking avenue with Benetton and Zara shops.

I was the only one in the place but the burger was good.  No thinking: mission accomplished.  They did have quite a few takeout orders and GrubHub and when I left I saw there were several tables of people outside.  In a lot of Europe people seem to prefer to eat outside even when the weather has them wearing heavy coats.  I think I was more comfortable inside wearing my T-shirt.

When I came back to the hotel I thought I might check the bar for Andy and family ... they are Scottish.  They were still there and we continued chatting and I had another beer.

Now I have a 5am wakeup and it's Uber to the airport.

Andalusia: Day 25 - Evora to Lisbon

I woke up early but still managed to leave later that I wanted to. The ferry in Montijo left every hour and a half and I was hoping to get the 4pm.

I was struggling from the start.  No power in the legs and my butt hurt.  I didn't really stop for pictures.  I did crash into a large branch laying across the wide shoulder.  I was going uphill and looking down.  Fortunately, nothing bad happened and I moved the branch off the shoulder.  I noticed at the hotel one of my cranks has a piece of wood jammed into one of the screwheads.

At Montemor-o-Nova I stopped at a gas station/cafe/minimart and got some water and chips.  When I came out two guys were eyeing the bike and they didn't look like cyclists.  Were they up to no good?  Who knows?

I just wanted to get to the ferry, into Lisbon and to my hotel.  I used all my tricks to keep myself moving.  You have to be careful not to fall into the trap of checking your progress too often.  The right amount is motivating, but too frequently does the opposite.  You want to check and be 2 kilometers further than your guess.

I made the 4pm ferry and had enough time to buy a ticket and sit for a few minutes.

There were 4 cyclists on the ferry.  The touring Spanish guy didn't want (couldn't) talk.  The American girl out for a ride was on the phone. The other guy was probably a pro cyclist and his bike was too nice to talk to us.

I took it real easy from the ferry through town.  At one point I was just following a cycling city tour group because they were slow.

At the hotel I showered and headed up to the roof for a beer.  I guess the bike tour is done.  Tomorrow I will pack the bike and do a walking tour and next day head to the airport early.

For dinner I ended up at a halal chicken place.  It was close to the hotel and it was open.  Reviews were also good.  It was very empty and there were all these waiters standing around.  I felt sorry for them so I went in.  The waiters spoke English and set me up with a nice meal.  As I start eating people started coming in and by the time I left the place was packed and there were almost fights at the door.  One poor waiter was pleading, "Please, just let me do my job" to a group of guys who wanted a table.  A lot of the ordering and table negotiations were in English.  Ton of food for me: 12€.

My Toronto support staff point out that it is Ramadan and sunset was at 8:06 which was about when I left the restaurant.  I saw food on the tables but I think now they were waiting to pounce as soon as they could.  Me stuffing my face while everyone else was waiting for the sun to set explains some of the looks I got.  It also explains the hangry confrontations at the door.

Now I relax and sleep.

Andalusia: Day 24 - Mouráo to Evora

I think I was the only one at Casa Esquível last night.  The place was pretty nice and breakfast was decent.  I drank all the orange juice and most of the coffee.

I didn't get started as early as I wanted.  My batteries are low.  I got no gas in the tank.

Fortunately, there was a lot less climbing today and I just pedaled as I could.  Soon enough I was at the halfway mark and my lunch stop in Monoito.  I got a nice menu of the day for 10.  As I left there were two touring bikes parked beside mine.  I didn't see any other riders while I was eating and I was wondering how I missed them.  As I looked at the bikes a couple from the US came out and we chatted for a bit.

Joel and Casey were just moving West Coast to East Coast and took some time off.  They are just starting a 90 day trip.  They were on kilometer 35 starting in Evora.   They gave me a tip about a rail trail just out of town to Evora.  It was a fun talk.

I did take the rail trail and it saved me some hills and was pretty fast.  The end was a little messed up as it ended in an area cut off by the highspeed train and it was hard to get to Evora which was right in front of me.

There was one scary incident on the trail.  I had to pass through a gate across the trail and there were cows everywhere.  Most moved away but one stared me down and looked like she might charge.  Cows are big!  And they have pointy horns. And they can run.  Finally, they all moved on but they are big!

I got to the Hotel M'Ar de Ar Muralhas and it was a lot fancier than me.  I got some looks from very well dressed older (probably my age) ladies wearing lots of jewelry as I came in.

I was exhausted and it took me a while to be able to force myself to explore the town.  Nice town.  It would be better in the sunlight, but worth a visit.  I felt a little better after a beer and had resigned myself to eating at the hotel due to my tiredness.  It was still over half an hour before the restaurants opened.

As I headed back I walked past a place that when looking at maps and reviews had been my first choice.  As I looked in the window at the tables all set and waiting for customers, I stuck my head in and asked the waiter if I would need a reservation for one?  He waved my in and said I could eat now at the snack bar.  There were some foreigners and earlybirds already eating and it wasn't even 7.  This was great!

Nice dinner.  I sat near a couple from Quebec and they asked about my rides and said they would be doing a little riding in the south with family soon.

Tomorrow is the last riding day and I'm pretty worn down.  I am paying for two rooms tonight as I was suppose to be in Lisboa today.  I'll be there tomorrow.

Andalusia: Day 23 - Arroyomolinos de León to Mouráo

I started the day at the bar I didn't have dinner at last night and had toast and jamon.  And several cafe con leche of course.

I started riding and it was much the same as yesterday ended with lots of ups and downs.  There were some trucks going really fast.  Most pulled out or slowed but some barrelled past.

I stopped for a cafe con leche and a botella de agua (grande) in Sequra de Leon.  After that it got a lot flatter and there were some huge downhill sections.  Still plenty of climbing every now and then but some long fast runs.

I stopped for lunch in Jerez de los Caballeros.  I had expected to get there at 1:30 but the long downhill got me there at 12:45.  I had to wait for the restaurant to start lunch at 1:30.  I was the first seated.  After a while there were a few old guys in for the early bird special but it wasn't until I was leaving that anybody under 70 sat down.

I had an unintended 10km of gravel road I wasn't expecting.  I routed off the main road because it was supposed to save some climbing and it may have but it was a gravel road.  The highway felt super smooth when I got back on it.

After that the traffic reduced to almost nothing and the road was super smooth.  This was a nice section.

Soon I was was seeing signs to Portugal.  It was mostly downhill and I made good time even though I was quite tired.

The hotel is quite nice and this town has a castle.  Not a tourist castle according to the hotel lady.  She recommended a place for dinner and after a few beers in the town square I went there for the 7pm opening.

Adega Velha is a very interesting restaurant.  I stood at the bar with some old guys and drank wine they made in those giant falling over wine things.  This is some old technique going back before the Romans.  Georgians where involved or something,  If you want history read a book.  Anyway now I'm kinda drunk and I ate way to much.  Very good but I could not finish.

The owner had spent years in Florida and had had an American wife. One of the old guys's son had worked in San Francisco as grafic designer.  So he probably worked for a software company.

It was a fun evening.  Need to go to bed.  Happy birthday, Kieran!