Friday, April 11, 2008

Off we go into La Mancha

I have lost track of what day it is. I woke up this morning and realized that I'd left the packet of daily route sheets in with the folder of invoices I need to send to Salomon. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Well, at least it's all highways from here on in, and once we get to Jaén, it'll be like riding in my own back yard (if you could grow olives in Canada, that is.)

I can definitely vouch for the Castillo de San Servando Youth Hostel in Toledo as a good place to stay. For €15.90, you get a modern, clean room with a decent shower, breakfast; and, if you're lucky, a team of thirteen year-olds dressed identically that make you think of a group of kids in reform school. The only thing that was missing was the clank of ankle chains!! (Remember how mouthy pre-teens were when YOU were young? Things haven't changed.) Luckily, the youth hostel management has alternate accommodation for over 26's (the young 'uns get stuck in the top floor, where the old dungeon was, ha ha) so the three of us shared a room that had a view straight across the Tagus Valley with wonderful views of the Monastery of Santa Cruz and the Alcázar.

Today's ride wasn't that much of a surprise, especially since I'd ridden the route before back in December, so this time we knew that it wasn't worth the bother of trying to ride the Quijote sections after Almonacid de Toledo (most of the traffic now goes on the CM42 motorway, leaving the former national highway more or less clear of cars...though not completely.) We stopped for lunch in Mascaraque, in a restored 18th century posada which served excellent garlic rabbit (yup, they even gave me part of the head, too, in case I was interested.) Food is turning out to be a big part of this trip, and for anyone who's interested in doing this in the future, I'd suggest keeping the self-catering days to the absolute minimum - otherwise, you lose out on one of the most positive aspects of Spanish culture.

We DID self-cater for dinner, though, as we got to stay in what must have been the steal of the week - the Balcón de la Mancha rural hostal in Tembleque. For a mere €20 a head, the kind owners, Sagrario and Ángel, allowed us the use of one of their tourist apartments, complete with power massage shower, washing machine, full kitchen and nice, comfy beds. Wonderful!

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