Yesterday, Day 2, was a rest day in Seville, doing admin and sightseeing and experiencing the very relaxed pace of life here. Not quite ideal, actually, when you’re in a bank trying to make an urgent payment. Anyway, this morning we checked out of our lovely Airbnb apartment in characterful Triana, with its vibrant bars…
Category: End to Ends
Spain 1: Cádiz to Seville
‘A journey of a thousand kilometres’, goes the old proverb, ‘begins with a chocolate con churros‘ (pic). OK, so the End to End properly started here, at the Old Fortress at the bottom end of Cádiz (pic). The city claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe at 3000 years old, and to…
Spain 0: Arcos de la Frontera to Jerez (to Cádiz)
An easy day today, just cycling 25 miles west to Jerez. Like many parts of Spain, the old main road from Arcos to Jerez has been bypassed by a motorway: it’s now virtually unvehicled, and used by dozens of cyclists, joggers and dog-walkers. Depending on your political stance, you may see this as an incredible…
Spain -1: Olvera to Arcos de la Frontera
With strong headwinds and heavy showers forecast for the afternoon, I was keen to get an early start on the Vía Verde de la Sierra – arguably Europe’s most spectacular railtrail, which begins here (pic) in Olvera. I prepared myself with a cafe con leche from the bus station cafe, but desisted from adding a…
Spain -2: Seville to Olvera
A bus trip today to the small town of Olvera, in preparation for tomorrow’s ride along the Vía Verde de la Sierra railtrail. Many intercity and regional buses in Spain take bikes (pic). The driver made a token request to take the front wheel off and lower the saddle, but after yesterday’s shenanigans, I was…
Spain -3: Gatwick to Seville
Taking bikes on planes is not straightforward. It involves some very cumbersome and detailed disassembly (pic), and a similar amount of reassembly afterwards – far more than people generally think, and with the distinct possibility of serious loss and damage during the process. Once again, Brexit comes to mind. Anyway, to ensure plenty of bike-dismantling…
Faroes 1: Kirkjubøur to Eiði
Is the Faroe Islands – in the North Atlantic, halfway between Scotland and Iceland – a country? Actually no, because it’s a dependency of Denmark, which looks after its defence, currency, policing and foreign affairs. And only has about five trees. But actually yes, because it otherwise self-governs, has its own football team, and has…
Taiwan 19: Taipei
And finally, a pleasant surprise: a bike exhibition we stumbled on, Turning Wheels: Bicycle and Daily Life in Taiwan. It was at the National Museum of Taiwan, which is deceptively spacious. Because from the outside (pic) it looks spacious. But inside… well, I’ve been to bigger Wetherspoons. Still, of the handful of galleries, two were…
Taiwan 18: Taipei
We’re off the bikes now, since Tainan, but here’s a quick round-up of our non-cycling travels back to Taipei. Tim copped a leg infection in Tainan so – with the help of his fellow Bradt author Steven, who lives here – we got it sorted at the local hospital last Sunday (pic). Very efficient and…
Taiwan 13: Tainan
All that End to End stuff on high-grade carbon-frame fast touring bikes (now returned) is fine, but we did some real cycle touring here in Tainan today… …on our hotel’s free hire machines (pic). I always love exploring a city on one of these: a cheap, clanky town bike stuck in its one functioning gear,…