SPAIN 2006: Madrid, Barcelona and the Ruta del Quijote. Trip to Mancha, Catalunya and Castilla

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Pass the dark tunnel of Bielsa in the top of the Pyrenees, stands up there as close to the endless series of switchbacks and wide curves that characterize this stretch of road in France. A short stop in the great square, the first photos with the bikes on parade near the numerous waterfalls fed by melting snow and then on through the tunnel to be located immediately across Spain. A few kilometers further we advance in the Natural Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido. The path "paved" slips between the rocks brushing in a magical and wild. The crystal clear stream flowing quickly takes us to the bottom of the canyon, peace and tranquility are all around us and up above, on our helmets, large vultures circling tirelessly as a comic Tex Willer. Towards evening we arrived in Jaca important town in the heart of the Pyrenees.

The day after crossing the northern Meseta, the great plateau that occupies much of Spain, we head to Madrid. The air is bright and clear sky, the color green fields planted with forage stands out against the red rocks and yellow fields of wheat and barley. The mountains in the distance from a horizon that seems to sprout dish. Groups of wind turbines here and there catch the wind blows in gusts the plateau. The asphalt looks shiny wet and we see the usual mirages.
Along the way, at times, we come in the shapes of the legendary bull blacks, huge billboards advertising an old cognac Osborne, as adopted by the Iberian tour now symbols of the nation in the world.

When we arrive in Madrid the traffic surprisingly sudden and chaotic.
Madrid is located in New Castile in the center of the Iberian Peninsula, is a city rich in history, art and culture, where the Arab and European civilizations have met, creating an incredible mix. E 'from the Plaza Major, where past fact all public events, from bullfights to performances, from parades to the processes of the Inquisition,
we begin our tour of the city. We climb into one of the many tourist buses discovered on a tour in the most scenic locations: Plaza de Oriente with the Royal Palace, Puerta del Sol with the monument of the bear and the strawberry tree symbol of the city, Plaza de Santa Ana, the United Way and all other attractive squares and streets that pass through Madrid. In the evening, eat in one of the many small bars in the Plaza Major, who shines in its frame buildings and lighted windows. The plaza is teeming with young people, who plays drums and who flirts, and there, in the opposite us, a group of Italian students sang "O Sole Mio." Later, after a tour of pubs and music-bars, while we look for a taxi to take us to the hotel, in a corner, a homeless man, an icon in the night grinding Madrid, looks at me and says goodbye before disappearing under a mountain cardboard, his refuge for the night.
Shooting the bikes, which remained quiet for two days in our garage, we move along the Ruta del Quijote, the most famous street in Spain and that retraces the places and the atmosphere of the novel of Cervantes' Don Quixote. " Here we encounter every country has its own small part in this story ever existed, but most current and tied to his hero, the Knight of the sad figure. Even their names evoke the romance, Puerto Lapice, Belmonte, Campo de Criptana, El Toboso, Mota del Cuervo, every corner, every square carries a memory Hidalgo, and if we have them Garibaldi Don Quixote. Along the Ruta meet the small town of Consuegra rests on a hill where stands the unmistakable profile of the spotless windmills. From dominating the plain and probably Cervantes, the famous battle against the knight errant tilting at windmills, he took inspiration from this place. We stop in a clearing to take the photograph with the bikes lined up just below the blades of wood that have ceased to grind corn about fifty years ago, although at least once a year to move back to their coated white linens, restored , precisely due to Cervantes and his lonely and now mythical character.
Continue northward turning slightly toward the sea, we expect Barcelona, the Catalan, the second city of Spain. Our visit is only beginning to Las Ramblas, the wide avenue running from the port, teeming with street vendors and musicians living statues, mime and storyteller, vendors of jewelry and small animals, students of every nationality and color. Duty is the visit to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's great unfinished work, with its towers, which stand out towards the sky, spectacular religious temple and eternal construction site. The design of the interior columns reminiscent of the trees and the ceiling is studded with huge sunflowers, it is estimated that will take another half century to end it. And tomorrow, unfortunately, the long and inexorable return to Italy, twelve hundred kilometers all in one breath. We carry with us, as always after a trip, the luggage of a rewarding experience, which gave us the opportunity to meet another country, its history, its traditions and its culture. And all this thanks to a passion shared with other friends and especially with the help of an irreplaceable companion. ... The bike.