The end part one

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The end

I’m writing this sitting on the train back to Edinburgh. It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to write anything but I’ll do my best to remember all the stories and events that have happened over the last few days...There are quite allot so I’m sorry if this turns out to be a huge post.
So, after my last post we woke up and rode out of our camp spot to a town and bought fresh hot baguettes, which we promptly ate in the middle of the village. From there we made our way down the coast to get our 50kms out of the way before finding a beach to sit on for the afternoon.
As we were loading our bikes after the beach I noticed that my rack had a serious stress crack in the main weld. This pretty much proclaims my rack dead. But we still had another 100kms or so to go. So it was out with some rope and I managed to tie it up so that it just about looked like it might work for a while. Then it was fingers crossed hoping that it would make the rest of the journey. That night we found probably the biggest campsite in Spain. At first we were a bit apprehensive and intimidated by it after our night in the middle of the bush, but the atmosphere was great and we soon felt at home surrounded by a dozen different nationalities.
After having forked out for a campsite we decided that if the weather held we would attempt a bivi on the beach, kind of the holy grail of our trip. Somehow, after leaving a Carrfour that dwarfs most Tesco stores we stumbled upon what seemed to be the perfect spot. Even better the sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The only downside was that the main rail line to the north of Spain ran along the shoreline, but we decided that the trains wouldn’t run all night and that we would be able to get enough sleep. More importantly we did not want to pay another 40 Euros for a campsite.
As the day wore on the beach slowly emptied as we expected and all was going to plan. However, by about 6pm fishermen and their families started arriving and setting up for what looked like the evening. Surely they would go home before dark though? With darkness approaching torches started appearing and lights were switched on to illuminate the fishing rods. The upshot was that we slept against the sea defences for the railway line with around 20 people fishing on the beach able to quite clearly see what we were up to. To make matters worse a nearby chemical plant shone its lights into the night meaning that you could still read a book in the ‘darkness’. Sure enough however the trains stopped and we fell asleep. Apparently the Spanish like to get moving early however, and the trains were back running at 5am. Then at first light the beach comber/ litter picker tractor was buzzing around the beach to get it ready for the day. All in all a great night’s sleep was not had.
This was our last full day on the road and we had planned to find a campsite near a railway station then make our way into Barcelona to find bike boxes for our bikes - these boxes were critical to us getting home as easyjet state that a bike must be in a box to travel onboard. Our other mission for the day was to find an internet cafe with a printer as the only way our e-tickets for the train journey to Edinburgh we needed printed pieces of paper....We both thought the whole point of an e-ticket was that you didn’t need paper?????
Campsite found, showers had and train negotiated we found ourselves in a familiar situation. In the middle of a city we didn’t know without an adequate map. Essentially we got off of the train at what looked like an important station and emerged onto a sunny street. Unsure of which way to go we started walking towards what looked like old buildings. Success, we stumbled upon part of the old city and hordes of tourists. We promptly bought a map and found ourselves. In such an old and beautiful city it seemed wrong to be searching for Mc Donald’s. However that’s where we were sure we could find internet.
With no luck in Mc Donald’s we found a smaller cafe for lunch with internet and were able to search for bike shops. With only two possibilities our chances looked thin and we set off to the first. After being distracted by a cathedral and some amazing looking boats we came across the smallest bike shop we had ever seen. No bike boxes.
Slightly nervous now we made our way to the big sports store Decathlon which was our last and final option before some serious re-thinking needed to be done. We located the store on our more than useful tourist map and, speaking no Spanish whatsoever, went about trying to obtain a bike box.
We managed to find one guy who understood what we were after. However, he told us to come back at 11pm and go through their rubbish and take what we wanted. Not ideal by any means, but it was our only option and we decided to role with it. With that mission on hold it was time to find a printer. At the tourist information a very helpful woman told us of an office internet place. Perfect.
However, by this time it was just after 2pm and the Spanish had decided to go on lunch for three hours. This gave us three hours to sit in the sun and chill, deciding that trying to achieve real goals doesn’t really fit with ‘touristy’ activities.
At 5.02pm we entered the shop and saw computers and printers. Big score and we bought an hour of internet time to make sure that everything was as sorted as it could be.
By this time we were both starving, and keen to sample the local food, we started meandering the back streets of the old town looking for a small, authentic looking restaurant. What we found was exactly that. I’m pretty sure that there hadn’t been a tourist in the bar for many years and we were greeted with mixed looks.
We were given a menu of Tapas and picked 6 dishes from the pictures and waited apprehensively for our food to arrive, having no idea what we had ordered. As we waited we ordered a beer and were chatting when the barman gave us some baguette with something on top and smiled. Deciding that we were in for the authentic experience we dug deep and ate the first mouthful. It turned out to be crab in some kind of sauce and tasted great. Our waitress had a knowing smile as our food arrived which made me slightly worried. We still have no real idea about some of the dishes, but it turns out we ordered muscles in a spicy tomato sauce, potato crockets, cured ham, what tasted like a lamb kebab and two dishes which were nice but remain a mystery. One was some kind of small sea food, and one was some kind of meat in a tomato like sauce. All in all a great success. We decided to congratulate ourselves with another beer, and were given a small plate with whole battered mini squid and tucked in.
After dinner time was getting on and we decided to check the state of the cardboard outside Decathlon. We managed to communicate to a security guard what we were after and he went inside to find out what they had. After a few minutes of waiting he produced two of the biggest boxes I’ve ever seen. They were about 6 feet long and about 3 feet high. Truly spectacular. Then it was time to wrestle the boxes onto the underground and get them back to the campsite ready to be packed in the morning.

To Be Continued....

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