I know. Dumb joke, but I couldn't resist.) Hey everyone!
Sorry about the delay in getting around to posting blog posts -- I never thought that it would be possible to go through so many towns where there was nary an internet place nor a Chinese restaurant (don't ask me why, but I've had the WORST cravings for Chinese food in the past few days.) At this moment, I'm in the lovely town of Sigüenza (made even lovelier by the fact that spring is beginning to hit big time here). In the next hour or so, I'll put up some more entries about what's been happening over the last week or so, but before I do that I need to put out a quick update: WE ARE NOT FINISHING IN ESTREMERA ON SATURDAY!! We're going to be finishing up the day in Morata de Tajuña, where we'll be staying at a hostal called the Libra II. I had some problems trying to get hold of the owners of the hostal (why, oh why, don't they ever answer their phones????) and I didn't want to risk bringing a whole whack of people into a town as small as Estremera without having some kind of sleeping arrangements lined up first. (I know, that's really anal and Canadian of me, but so be it.)
So on Sunday we'll be heading from the Plaza Mayor of Morata de Tajuña and heading towards Aranjuez. And like I mentioned before, anyone who's interested in coming along is more than welcome to, and if you live in Madrid but have never tried to make it to the Vía Verde del Tajuña, here's how you get there.
a) Take the Metro to the very southern end of Line 9 (Arganda del Rey.)b) When you get to Arganda, leave the station and turn RIGHT (west) out of the station and ride your bike for 400 metres, past the BP station and the merge on the left
c) After those 400 metres, you'll pass a white house with a bunch of cars parked illegally in front...just PAST that house, on the left-hand side, you'll see the red asphalt that marks the beginning of the Vía Verde. (Don't ask me why Vías Verdes in Spain are paved with red asphalt.) If you reach the roundabout, turn around and go BACK! You've gone too far!
d) Follow the Vía Verde to Morata - 14.7 kilometres in all. Don't kill yourself along the way! You do have to ride uphill after kilometre 4, but only for three klicks, and you get a nice, delicious downhill soon after (even though you have to pass that dumb cement factory....)
e) When you get to Morata, follow the Vía Verde to the Guardia Civil building and take the SECOND right going downhill: this should take you to the Plaza de la Constitución.
f) The route is pretty basic: Go WEST (=right) along the M313 for 10 km (and for a further three when the M313 joins the M404.) When you reach the town of Titulcia, don't go into the town itself; follow the highway to the second roundabout and follow the signs for Villaconejos. (If you're not riding a mountain bike or a hybrid you may find it more comfortable to head to Villaconjeos and then go down along the Tagus to Aranjuez.) Some 200 metres after that roundabout, you'll cross the Tajuña River and then IMMEDIATELY AFTER there'll be a turnoff to the right that indicates where the Vía Pecuaria (transhumance route) starts. (Look for the white signs with the cows on them.) We follow the Vía Pecuaria all the way into Aranjuez via the Real Cortijo de San Isidro gardens, and then we'll finish up in the Cámping Internacional Aranjuez campsite at about lunchtime. Feel free to bring your tent and sleeping bag if you'd like to make a quick getaway that night...you can take the Cercanías back into Madrid the next day.
Okay then....time to get to work on the updates of everything else that's been happening over the past week or so....
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