Oh, the sights you'll see...

We are in Andalusia, a part of Spain that must be the bread basket of the nation. Vast orange groves, fields being prepared for planting, onions, potatoes, and mile after mile of greenhouses stretch to the edge of sight in every direction. The views are long and stunning!  In the midst of it all are rolling hills, the largest of which are topped with sparkling white towns or castles dating back even to the 700's. It has been a wonderful ride.  Our daily routine starts with early rising. We make coffee and a small breakfast in our room or tent, and try to hit the road before 8. We ride for about 2 hours, between 10 - 20 miles depending on wind and terrain, then stop at a roadside cafe for coffee and a slice of toast. Back on the road quickly for another couple of hours until we stop in a park or plaza to make our standard cheese, cucumber, and tomato sandwich on delicious bread. Another couple of hours usually brings us to the town where we will spend the night. Looking for a hostel and a store to buy groceries often takes longer than we'd like; but once we are settled in, all feels right with the world.  We take a couple of hours to explore the town, stop at a sidewalk cerveceria for a beer or glass of wine, and then return to our abode to cook dinner on our trusty camp stove. The amount of pasta we are consuming is staggering!  Off to bed early.  It's a routine that seems to suit us.  Riding in and out of old large cities is a bit daunting, but we are coping. As we left Seville, we both commented the the neighborhood we were passing through looked really rough. At that moment two policemen rode up and said, pointing all around us, "muy malo".  They were very concerned for our safety and gave us a motorcycle escort to the edge of town. A little embarrassing, but part of the travel tale. 

As we ride we occasionally pass huge fields -- acres and acres filled with electricity-generating solar panels. A man we met said that Spain was the world-leader in solar generation, but a rightward shift in national politics is shutting the systems down in favor of oil. He was dismayed.  By the way, we have had almost no conversations about U.S. politics. It's actually been nice taking a break from obsessing about the idiot we have in the White House. We did have one conversation in a hostel in Seville with a Belgian woman, a Japanese woman, a British woman and some Dartmouth students.  The foreigners were wondering how Trump got elected since they had met no Americans who had voted for him. The Americans were just as perplexed.  Conversations with fellow travelers have been fun, but conversations with the Spanish have been difficult. Since we are traveling mostly in rural areas, almost no ne speaks English. We know only minimal Spanish. Getting directions is always a challenge!  The frustrated local usually just speaks louder and faster until we say gracias and ride away. Wish we knew the language better.  The riding has been mostly flat until we have to make the short climb to a hilltop town. Yesterday, we climbed up to the town of Almodovar del Rio.  It it the steepest town we've ever seen with narrow, winding streets leading up to the castle on the pinnacle. At the end of the day the fitness tracker on Anne's phone said we had climbed 110 flights of stairs!  

Castle in Carmona

Looking back at the hilltop town of Carmona

Ferdinand's tree

Almodovar del Rio castle