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Dave's thoughts on Madrid: I had no real preconceptions about Madrid before arriving except for knowing that Picasso’s Guernica was there and that the Prado was one of the world’s great art museums. And so, I was surprised how quickly I fell in love with this vibrant, cool, art-drenched and massive city. Leaving it after only four days, I felt wrenched: ready to put down roots for a longer stay. We were, of course, right in the thick of it thanks to Lou and Air BnB: in a renovated small old-style apartment on the second floor above Calle de la Palma in Malasaña. Along our street could be found: nightclubs (one next door and one across the road – good luck sleeping on Saturday night/Sunday morning); political bookshops; punks, hipsters, schoolkids, old men with small dogs, ... read more

“The duende, then, is a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, ”The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.’ Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation … everything that has black sounds in it, has duende.” Lorca, 1933 Despite the early experience of stress dropping the car off at Santa Justa railway station after travelling through the outer burbs of Sevilla we were delighted to find that our AirBnB apartment was perfectly situated – a spectacular floodlit view of Catedral from the balcony by night and an stroll to everywhere we wanted to ... read more

Picking a place off the map back in Melbourne called Juviles (pronounced: ‘Who-billees’) then finding that getting there involves driving up kilometres of sinuous mountain roadways that seem too small for two-way traffic might at first seem a flaw in planning on my part especially when I have a bit of a fear of heights. And yes. It was an oversight to think that you could travel into the highest mountain range in Spain and not have to navigate such roads. Put it down to naïve enthusiasm. The trouble is that enthusiasm aside, I am seriously freaked out driving on these roads in Spain (being a passenger I mean – Dave is doing the driving!). Partly it is the driving on the right hand side of the road, partly the rapid pace of oncoming traffic and ... read more

I like Dali's art and take on 'reality' but I have to say his politics were a bitch. I always find it disappointing when I can't quite fully embrace a person as a 'total package’... nevertheless Franco sympathizing aside for a moment (can I really do that?) we really found our three peak Dali- Gala experiences quite extraordinary. The trips were book-ended by trips in the car that really did my head in. Thankfully one involved a lovely walk. The first came in Figueres, an other wise ordinary town where Dali renovated a destroyed movie theatre as his own personal museum and ultimately mausoleum. We visited there in the car on the way to Cadaques. The GPS took us up a series of one-way streets that seemed to keep approaching and then turning away from our ... read more

The last ride of the tour consisted of a short climb out of Olot through the mountain pass of Coll D’en Bas and then a 29km downhill section along an old disused railway line that was easy riding except for sections of corrugation that shook the teeth out of your head. On the last leg of the day I came freewheeling downhill into a tunnel and didn’t see a pothole in the dark! I hit it at speed and my pannier bounced off but luckily I didn’t! The spine took the brunt and it remains to be seen how well I pull up tomorrow! For now a hot shower and several glasses of Catalan champagne (cava) at lunchtime have me feeling no pain! Cycling on a Saturday saw the locals out on the cycling paths – ... read more