20 years ago today – Day 25

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Thursday, March 28 – Sevilla to Palma del Rio, 1157 km

The time apart yesterday must have been as good for Mike as it was for me. He is a good mood this morning and he fills me in. Manuel is a member of the local Green Party and he is leaving early this morning to get to a convention in Madrid. He is stopping to study bats in a monastery on the way. We write in his guest book and share another continental breakfast before we set off.

Manuel leads us down to a district in the west side of the city where we can find a bank machine. I am unaccustomed to using my VISA card for withdrawals and have forgotten my PIN. Mike’s card isn’t working either but we find a cash exchange machine and convert the last US$35 that Mike has into pesados.

Then we leave town heading north east, following the south side of the Guadalquivir River. The route is flat and very scenic. There’s a smoky haze over the valley. There is also a fierce headwind that has us crawling at 16 km per hour. We keep a steady pace, which is what a headwind requires. We pass through the villages of San Jose de la Rinconada and Brenes. At 57 km, before Lora del Rio, we stop for lunch by the side of the road – slices of sausage, cheese and bread from our panniers.

At Lora, we cross over to the north side of the river and until we reach the outskirts of Palma del Rio, our destination. The headwind persisted but perhaps not quite as strong.

Palma is a very quiet town. The high tower of the cathedral looked interesting from a distance. We never checked it out because the only hostel in town was full. There is a second one on the outskirts of town on the north side of the river we are told. It is in the process of converting to a 3-star hotel so it was more expensive – 2600 pesados – but it was good value for the price. The proprietor reminds me of my Aunt Dallas.
We met two British cyclists coming into Palma and shortly after we arrive three German cyclists register at our hotel. The Germans are older, in their 40s and 50s, and totally unfriendly, but the Brits talk to us for a bit. They are going the opposite way we are, from the Costa del Sol through Grenada and Cordoba, and they are on their way to Sevilla tomorrow. The present wind conditions must be working in their favour.

I don’t understand the Germans or want to. Dedicated travelers know, especially those coming from where we want to go, that other travelers are valuable messengers. The Brits tell us that Cabra and Montilla are interesting towns. They also say Montefrio is spectacular. We had hoped to avoid that route to Granada because it requires a 10 km climb to reach that town, but then the other main route would have much more traffic, especially truck traffic.

PHOTO 1: Manuel Bordallo
PHOTO 2: Mike and I set to leave Seville
PHOTO 3: Cathedral in Seville as we leave
PHOTO 4: field near Brenes
PHOTO 5: near Palma del Rio
PHOTO 6: Palma del Rio from across the river
PHOTO 7: street in Palma del Rio