Good morning….. So I had an awesome sleep in the middle of nowhere Spain. Slept in actually and not used to this breakfast at 9:20 thing. If you get breakfast included expect it to start at 9:20 or 10 it seems.

So breakfast isn't ready so I wander downstairs to put a camera mount on the bike…and all the doors are locked…..we are locked in the hotel…was just waiting for weird axe killer music to start as I was the first one up and finding out something was amiss ergo I get killed off first.


Seriously all the doors were locked and no one is around at the front desk or anywhere it seems…so I go wondering…and voila…..I find a door in the Kitchen that isn’t locked.   I escape and bolt for the bike….look behind and good news no one is chasing me. So I calm down and commence to mounting the mount. Its brisk out…bike is covered in frost.

After a bit of twiddling I getter done and sneak back into the hotel…..very weird. Not sure what would have happened if there was a fire. Since I have time to kill I do the shower n shave and stuff….socks are twitching when I reach for em….here we go again…. And I pack up. Just in time for breakfast. Figured it would be another awesome meal…. Nope coffee and toast. All good though as I’m not much of a breakfast person anyways.

Dress for the worst today a I’m entering mountains it seems and there is snow on em….and the wind is blowing. But at least the sun is up and all the frost got melted off the bike. So I load up and try fiddling with cameras to mount one in a cool place and settle on the ball mount I just set up. Put things away…..hop on and go…

Whaaaa hooooo awesome roads along the side of a valley too much fun…got big ass grin on and decide I should get some video of this. So stop…open the bag to grab the hero cam (the one I got that started this trip)…can’t find it…frig…at the side of the road…I searched every where…crap…I musta left it in the room. Hop on and zoooooom whaaa hooooo fun ride a lil quicker this time….pull in babble with my hands to the inn keep about me dilemma. He stares at me and tosses me me room key. Not sure if I got it out right to him…..he sure looked at me funny. So I ran upstairs and commenced to turn the room upside down…..frig its not here. ….WTF? I know no one would have stolen it.   So I commence to pout head downstairs…walk over to the bike. Think hmmm I parked over there…took a look and there it was sitting on the ground staring at me.   Wow….lucky….So got me grin on again. It must have fallen while I was putting things away. Good thing I decided to take video when I did. I was only about 20 minutes away in RT time that’s about an hour for you 4 wheel lovers.

So off I go again I had decided when I first left that I will go to Salamanca…the guys yesterday were pretty insistent on checking it out. Sooo I look at the map for a curvy way to get there…as there are about 50 routes to get to anywhere here it seems. So I see a wild squiggly line that looks like it will do the trick and point for it….again. This is sort of in a North direction and not quite in the direction of Portugal but whatever…we shall see.  

I tried to nav it without the GPS … forget it……missed me turn north…not sure how… but I did. So load up the GPS and off I go. Holy goat path Batman. First planned twisty and this is a dooozy…its only a lane wide and is a mountain pass up up and away and not in the best shape most corners were good but some had loose gravel so had to assume they all did.   A lot of blind corners and loose leaves falling. Either way…. it was a fun road…..got to the top and had a panoramic view of the town I was heading to below….so off I went. It was a long ways down.

What a trip…..road was clearer and nothing but descending switchbacks. They can be tricky specially if its bumpy at all, the back wants to swap with the front if it gets light after a bump and braking hard. So I spit out at the valley below and wandering like a bumble bee towards Salamanca…eventually I end up on the freeway and zoooommmmm people are doing like 140 so made fast time in to town.  

Well they were right…… freaking WOW. It’s a university town that was once the capital a long time ago It goes ba k to 3 AD and there is a big Gothic Cathedral on a hill and the town is all ….. ancient. It’s a Unesco site…nuff said I guess. Do google it.

So I park the bike at the first cubby hole I can…love that about bikes…can park almost anywhere…and commence to exploring…the sun is up its not bad out about 14C and not that many tourists it seems…so you just wander around the old avenues and streets. Everywhere was a picture opportunity….so I figure time for a latte….look up and there is a freakin mcdonalds….wtf….sigh….they tried to blend it in I guess but still. There should be a law.

Since I have no wifi (probs with sim card and recharging it). Tried online the night before but vodaphone online had problems. So I used another site and they had me in "looking into it mode"  Crap its only 10 euros. So in the mean time I got nada. Can’t even txt. So I go stand in front of the Mcdonalds and sure enough they got free wifi. Its global I guess. For those who don’t know….if your in a pinch seek out a mcdonalds they have free wifi everywhere. I need it to see what hotels are out there.

In the mean time I commence to finding a decent café…and I do…and have an awesome coffee. The coffee here is soooo black and thick but tasty. I’m starting to think that everything back home is watered down….sighhhh…

So I stumble around and keep going up hill and eventually I find the Cathedral…its huge….and its open…so I wander inside. OMG…its massive..and quite amazing. You see the pics and the National Geographic specials and stuff…but with your own eyes is amazing. There is hardly anyone in it also…so almost have the place to myself so I start taking pics of everything.  It’s a long walk inside from end to end…

But…the day is getting long and I got to get some miles on so I start to wander off and down the hill through the side streets and its amazing…nothing but photo ops everywhere and its also just a normal city….with shops and apartments smattered about. Too Cool…..so glad the guys talked me into going there.

So I found the bike, loaded up…and hit the road. Not easy to get to Porto from there.,….again no roads go east west easily except the freeway…so I hit the freeway to get into Portugal and it flies….so make up some time. As far as a border crossing…yes you slow down a bit…that’s it…….no sign to say welcome to Portugal…or no Adios Amigos either… but now it’s getting nippy …around 9c so need the scarf and extra liner. Now the driving part to get across the border kinda sucked as I want to be off main roads so at first opportunity I peel off on what looks like a twisty alternative road. Holy crapp I entered Mars…. one lane…the GPS saved me butt…it was weird landscapes with gigantic boulders….and small villages…that I had to turn 50 times to get thru each one….and the roads are like driving down a hallway….one lane wide and folks drive fast.

So…..I make it through that part…and while the sun is still up the roads open up…to almost two lanes and more open but curvier than J’Lo…and a fair amount of traffic coming at me not going with me…so don’t have to pass a lot. But everyone is going fast….around sharp curves…so gotta go a bit wide on the corners just incase…even delivery trucks are flying….and there are a lot of corners..as the sun sets…. the roads start to get crazier…...so sum it up…….I’ve never been more challenged on a ride to date…..the GPS was mandatory as there were so many turns you needed a navigator to figure it out….and when it was pitch black out as it got late….it got even crazier……I was doing narrow switch backs every 30 seconds it seemed I couldn’t tell north from south….and had to go fast as everyone was an the traffic got busier……I was swivling my head so much my neck rubbed raw. That sucked as it hurt to swivel….and I needed to swivel……as there were so many sharp corners….I’ve been on some major twistys before but not like this….the combo of narrowness, dark, and so many…..also major climbs and decents. But a one in a lifer I suspect….I’ll remember that ride till the day I die. So I finaly spit out on the major freeway for the final run into Porto…..I enter the name of the hotel suggested by Diego into the GPS and goooooo crap people fly….was doing 140 and getting passed.

So I rolled into Porto about 10 I think…then holy crap….again the GPS….I’ve no idea how the frig you can nav this place…I lost count of roundabouts…and turns…and narrow cobblestone roads. Its dark..I’m tired and bit chilled and need a room….I finally pull up to the Hotel suggested but can not figure out where to park…and it’s a bizarre area….so I figure…there has to be a Mcdonalds around here…so put it into GPS and sure enough a ton of em pop up… I select one and off I go….its in a mall….crap….pick another….same thing….frig….3rd times got to be the charm…..so I pick and sure enough its on its own so I go in order a coffee sit down and voila..free wifi. I start looking for a hotel and a Best western is right near me and the warehouse districts…where the port is aged….so I book it. Drain the coffee and commence to navigating to it…holy frig…up and down narrow streets in directions that make no sense and then poof…there it is….looked like Shangri la! This is one old town…cobblestone roads cool looking buildings and tones of traffic….even later in the eve. Cobblestone is cool for about the first minute…after that…it just shakes the crap outta everything….but does add to the ambiance….guess there is a reason why we have paved roads now LOL.

So….I check in…put the bike away in a garage next door…and commence to settle in…which means I put normal clothes on scoot downstairs and make friends with the bartender…I sampled all the types of ports he had..and got some good advice on where to go….he then wanted to make me a ham sandwich….how could I say no. So he did and it was delicious…the smoked ham is awesome …. Don’t tell Diego I said that. He got a bit testy when we talked about French fries….how can they be French fries when the Spaniards discovered the potato….etc etc etc...do not remember hitting the pillow...