Real Gone Kid Having arrived a little late at the start, Nick made up for it by leaving a day early. There was a tear in my eye as I waved him off...then I realised I could take his bedroom. This was particularly welcome since Plum's snoring was so bad last night I ended up sleeping on the sofa. Not Fair The Spanish do not appear to have any concept of 'weights and measures'. In Blighty we have rules about such things and people to enforce them. If you buy a pint it will contain 20 fluid ounces....or if it doesn't you are required, by law, to make a sarcastic comment to the barman. Something like "could you fit a scotch in there?" is traditional. Because Malaga is an area with many Brits, every bar offers a beer size called a "pinta". If you are very VERY lucky this may indeed be a pint but usually it is just the biggest glass they have, which could be anything from about 40cl upwards. You won't ...
We plan our trips, as far as is practical, to enjoy decent weather but this is never a given. A bit of rain is to be expected, and nothing to be afraid of, but the forecast for Lisbon was wetter than a wet thing. Faced with the prospect of finding shelter for building our bikes then 20 miles of sub-aqua cycling to our hotel we resolved to get a taxi. Arriving into Lisbon, there was a noticeable absence of rain so figured we might as well revert to plan A and cycle. The promised long queues for biographic data capture didn't materialise. Those cunning Portuguese had found a way round the problem...they didn't bother trying. As a man who has been preparing his stool sample for several days this was a bit of a disappointment. Finding a good spot to build the bikes is always a challenge and today we came up with a corker. We hauled the boxes off the oversized baggage belt and built them right there. This created the tantalizing p...
In February 2023 Plum and I had our first ever DNF (Did Not Finish). 5 days into a 2 week ride from Lisbon to Valencia we were hit by a freak cold front that promised sub-zero temperatures and a pretty miserable time; so, like the hardened cyclists we are, we got a train to Madrid and flew home with our tails between our legs. We now find ourselves with the time and inclination to do a bit of cycling so are heading back to Lisbon to put things right. The weather in early November may still be pants but hopefully just cool or wet rather than 'freezing the balls of a brass monkey'. This will be our 2nd flight to Lisbon this year, and actually my 4th!,. The airport there has acquired a reputation for long queues for Brits at passport control. Now the EU has rolled out Phase 1 of its new electronic travel authorisation programme, which requires people to provide biometric data (photo, fingerprints, stool sample…the u...
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