There are enormous bulls, snorting fire, prancing in the streets. Harpys, taller than semi-trucks, march behind them. Dragons with woman’s breasts, spin and dance. All of them have fire streaming from their noses and horns, and are circled by human attendants helping them, as they blindly make their way through the crowds. It is the last night of carnival and the street is alive with madness. Giant sparklers fill the dark with light, sending sparks flying and threatening to set the world on fire. They pop, whir and and burst making people shriek and duck for cover. There is drumming too. Soul ..read more

Last night I slept on the beach with the aquamarine sea lapping just feet from where I slumbered. I awoke to the sound of the rolling surf (which I thought was thunder and leapt out of my sleeping bag and out of my tent in a hot panic, ready to run for cover, my heart beating a million miles a minute. Only to find that it was 4AM and the sky was perfectly clear.) and I lay awake listening and checking my phone. I see on my weather app, that although there is indeed no rain, the wind is forecasted to pick up and hover around 30 mph later today with gusts to of up to 80. There goes the hope of ..read more

Today was a difficult day, one of the hardest on this journey so far. I awoke in a light drizzle and thought I wouldn’t go far, just out to the local delta of L’ebre river. It is a large, wide delta covering many miles, comprised of endless rice fields, berms and wetland. It is a birder’s paradise and all manner of shore birds stop over there on their migratory route—even flamingos. Simply, the goal of the day was to see them, to sit on the shore and watch them flounce and clack, and to relax. So, out I went, the wind at my back. It felt more like Holland than Spain as I cruised farther and f ..read more

I was going to tell you about all the struggles of the day. How I woke in the dark to rain, and lay there feeling at first annoyed and then guilty for feeling that way, because this region is having such a terrible drought. They say the trees will die in two to three years here if the pattern doesn’t change. Then there was a lull in the shower, so I got out of my sleeping bag and took down my tent in the predawn darkness, hurrying before it started again. I really hate taking down a tent in the rain. I was going to tell you how, it was so early that I forwent my café con leche because the re ..read more

It is hard to keep my eyes on the road as I whirl through Valencia. One enormous sculpture-like building towers to one side and then another. The streets are filled with crowds of people on bikes, electric scooters and on foot all scurrying about their business. And there are cars-many cars. I have become a country bumpkin over the last few weeks cycling and this could very well be a recipe for disaster. All this distraction and seeming chaos could spell one big wipe out—but it doesn’t. The infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians in Spain unbelievably excellent. All through this busy me ..read more

I spent the day tormented as I bounced down gravel roads bordered by low stone walls that were doing a lousy job of preventing me from stealing the oranges that dangled from the trees on either side.   A battle raged inside me. Their golden orbs tantalized me and as the dust from the road rose up and made my throat drier and drier, I couldn’t stop fixating on how juicy they would be, how refreshing! I kept riding. I was trying to be virtuous. They are someone’s livelihood, I thought, and I am a guest here. I stealed my self, but then I had to pee. Being that I can’t go in the road an ..read more

The bells are tolling and have been for hours. Tonight, I have stumbled upon the festival of The Moors and Christians in Bocairent. I of course had no idea that this existed, but here, it is of paramount importance.  I pedaled into my campsite after 55 miles with seriously aching knees, envisioning a mellow evening, with or without a real dinner, I was too tired to care, when my campground host let me know that was simply not to be the case. She told me that tonight was the most significant night in her town and I must walk back 15 minutes into the old city and experience this sacred day ..read more

“Tu es sola?” asks the tipsy man sitting down the bar from me. I had just ordered my glass of wine, proud that I had stayed up late enough to get something to eat in Huescar. It is not the drink I had wanted, it was the tapas. Little delicious snacks that come free with a two dollar glass of wine. Get two glasses and it is a meal. Delicious and the cheapest thing going. “Where is your husband?” He slurs in half broken english/spanish. I show him my ring and resolutely open my book. Of course that doesn’t stop him. He leans towards me, “Tu es muy bonita.” And just like that, a perfectly good e ..read more

I am afraid that if I don’t write every day, I will miss something. Something as important as meeting the couple in Gorafe yesterday, half way out of the canyon at a little “Hail Mary” cafe nestled against the cliff walls and learning that they had just completed digging out their new cave house. Eight rooms in total. They extolled the virtues of the cool climate it provides in the summer when the temperature hovers around 110 degrees or more and the absolute silence and dark found within them. They invited me to stay, but I had to press on.  Or I might forget the wild boars that snuffl ..read more

I know you can’t read this until tomorrow because I am wild camping and there is no service, but I have to tell you about today while it is fresh.  I have often said that I am “Late to the game,” about world knowledge, but did you know that there is a canyon in Spain that rivals the Grand Canyon? I came upon it today only because our host in Granada insisted that I not ride the boring way, but instead go to see the coloraos, whatever the heck they are. He said I simply had to, so with trepidation, I took a left off my route towards Barcelona and cycled off down said dirt road.  This ..read more