After two wet days and a visit to Lourdes we were hoping for dry weather as we got closer to Spain. We dressed for rain as it wasn't looking good.

Our original plan was to visit San Sebastian on the way south however after checking the weather and the expensive prices of accommodation in San Sebastian we moved on to Plan B.

We back tracked a little towards Pau with Pamplona set as our destination for the night. Pamplona is famous for the annual running of the bulls. We arrived safe and dry about 2pm. This was to be a rest afternoon - you know, time to do the washing, have a beer and relaxing dinner together. Greg and I have been to Pamplona before so had no desire to wander in to town and Chris also decided to keep to our neighbourhood. With clean clothes we wandered off to find somewhere to eat. Chris and Kerrie enjoyed their dinner but Greg took one look at his meatloaf in tomato sauce, turned up his nose and went in search of an ice-cream!

We set off next morning without wet weather gear - but it was 5 degrees Celsius! We had 400km to ride to Madrid however we stopped after an hour on the road to put on more layers of clothes. We spent the day riding on the Autovia - the Spanish version of the Motorway - the roads were great! By lunchtime we were almost frozen solid.

Our lunch stop was at Medinaceli, a mountain town that is popular with tourists for its Roman heritage including a well preserved Roman Arch. As we got off the bikes we noticed that what we thought was sprinkles of rain - was actually snow flakes! We made a bee-line to a bar for warm coffee and baguettes. After lunch the decision was made to put the wet weather gear on to try and stay warm for the remaining 150km of our ride - it did help a little.

We are spending two nights in Madrid in a lovely hotel on the outskirts of the city, it is in a University precinct and our rooms are warm, spacious and the right price. As tomorrow is May Day public holiday in Spain the hotel restaurant was closed and there was no where else to eat so we had a vending machine dinner of mixed Italian salad for Kerrie and a tuna sandwich for Greg washed down by a beer each.

The restaurant was still closed next morning so breakfast was delayed until we got in to the centre of Madrid. Today was to be a day off the bike so Greg used his magic Uber app to get us to the closest Metro station for our trip in to town. We realised that it was a public holiday as soon as we got off the train - people everywhere! The Sol (central Madrid) was very busy and security was high - Police were everywhere preparing for the traditional May Day March, TV trucks were setting up and people were streaming into the square. As well as the holiday, Real Madrid were playing Bayern Munich in the European Champions League at the Madrid Stadium tonight and fans were gathering on every corner of the city. Result - draw. RM won 4-3 on aggregate.

We found a place for breakfast and planned our day. We thought a Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus was the way to go! Unfortunately because of the holiday they were not starting until 3pm. We decided on a free walking tour with an English speaking guide instead. As the tour started we soon discovered that nothing is really "free" as our guide made it quite clear that he would expect a 'tip' at the end of the tour for his services.

We were guided around the old city for 2 hours visiting the main tourist sites. We really didn't mind giving him 10 Euro at the end of the walk as he had entertained us as well as informed us about the city. We visited Plaza Mayor, The Cathedral and The Royal Palace as well as a bar that was recommended as a good place to see Flamingo Dancers in action each night. We stopped outside the oldest restaurant in the world, had a delicious drink in a bar and then returned to Sol for lunch.

While on the tour we had spied a Crepe Cafe so it was a unanimous decision as to where we would have lunch! After lunch, about 2:15pm by now we purchased tickets for the bus tour at pensioner rates. Spot on 3pm we joined the bus for the first city route around the new part of town - a bit like many other new cities We returned to Sol and joined the bus to see the old part of town We decided to get off and visit the Cathedral and Royal Palace.

Santa Maria la Real de La Almudema Cathedral, is huge and looks really old in Gothic style but it was only consecrated by Pope John Paul 11 in 1993. You can only enter by the front door if you are the King or Queen of Spain so we went in the side entrance with all the other tourists. The altar had a steady stream of visitors and the pipe organ was massive. After visiting the Cathedral we walked to The Royal Palace - closed for the public holiday! The palace is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family but is only used for state ceremonies King Felipe VI and his family do not live there preferring the more modest Palace of Zarzuela on the outskirts of town. Apparently the Royal Palace has too many rooms - 3,418 to be exact with a floor area of 135,000 square metres - glad I don't have to do the cleaning!

We decided to eat in town but before dinner it was decided to sit in the sunshine, have a beer and watch the world go by. Dinner was a simple meal as we had filled up on the bar snacks provided with our drinks.

After discovering it would cost about 50 Euro to return the whole way to the hotel by Uber, it was back to the Metro. Tickets were 3 euro each with an Uber from the station to hotel for 6 Euro - bargain. We had a great day but were exhausted!

Our next day of travel took us to Santa Elena just a stopping spot for the night. Our hotel is the only one in town and the only place we found to eat as well but the restaurant looks and smells great. We walked around the town after an early arrival and found a deserted bull ring before returning to the hotel for a drink on the balcony while we wait for dinner at 8pm.

Tomorrow, as Valentino Rossi would say, we 'arriva fora de MotoGPa' in Jerez and finally get to see our Beach Chalet in Rota!