Saturday - It must be Seville

Welcome to my blog. The story so far is that I'm going on an adventure! I'm hoping to get all the way to Senegal and back to the UK in 2 months. I will rendezvous with my wife, Sue, in Agadir, when she flies out to spend a week on the beach with me. Then I will head off to the Atlas Mountains for some off road action! My Brother John is travelling with me, on his luxurious Triumph touring bike, as far as the south coast of Spain. My steed is an 11 year old 400cc Suzuki, more used to off road conditions than sitting on a motorway for 4 hours. It will, however, come into it's own when I reach southern Morocco.

Made it to Seville where the weather is warm and sunny. The trip so far has not been without incident. My sat nav has packed up so I'm now relying on maps and a compass! It's a good job I was a Boy Scout as traversing the Sahara, navigating by the stars, should be a doddle!

Having 24 hours on the ferry to Santander was relaxing. John (my Brother) and I met Darren the scouse lorry driver who earns his living transporting supercars, for the super-rich, to the Algarve and Costas because they are too lazy to drive them there themselves. We passed him shortly after coming off the ferry with his cargo of gleaming Ferraris and Astons. Also on the ferry was the actress Julie Graham who was most recently in the gritty crime thriller Shetland. I should have asked if she would like a photo with me!

I wasn't expecting it to be quite so cold but we quickly climbed the Picos mountains and came across snow. Watching the many eagles soaring above made me forget the chilly conditions. Three hours later we arrived in Salamanca with no real expectations of what we would find. Our hotel was right in the city centre but without the promised secure parking so we had to unload everything off the bikes. Salamanca turned out to be a beautiful city with a stunning central plaza. Well worth a visit.

After a good nights sleep we were off on the 300 mile leg to Seville. Once again it was cold as we traversed the Cantabrian Alps and encountered snow yet again. I can support the saying that the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane because we got well soaked as we approached Seville. Again our hotel was in the city centre and again no secure parking. So the unloading ritual was repeated.

The most important part of the long distance motorcyclists anatomy is his backside. A marathon runner may look after his feet but the biker looks after his ass. I have been wearing gel filled cycle lycra shorts under my trousers for that extra comfort as my seat is very small. It my give me a Beyoncé like booty (I hear than is very fashionable) but I'm prepared to live with that. Anyway soon my arse with become leathery, gnarled, and numb so I won't have to worry. I will be like John Wayne after a year on the trail.

Friday night in Seville is very busy with what seems like the whole population out on the town. We found a nice local bar and ate well before returning to the hotel for a night sleep. Today John is trying to repair my sat nav as he has the skill and patience for such things. This evening we have found an Irish Pub (every city has one!) to watch the England France rugby match. So more later.

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