Author: brianmorrismd

2024 10 Spain

Spain 17,

Oct 30, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I arrived in Reims in 45 minutes with the TGV which travels at 350kph. Even moving at that speed, you don’t feel the speed at all. Patrick was there to meet me at the station. Everything has changed since I left Reims as a medical student 48 years ago. The railway station has grown, has 2 entries and Patrick had to choose the right one. We drove to his apartment (condo) which I had yet not seen. Several years ago they sold their house and purchased an apartment. Lo and behold, it was the same apartment that Remi’s mother used to live in 50 years ago. I remember the apartment quite well as I had been invited there many times to share a meal with Remi and his mother. The apartment is a pent house made up of 2 apartments joined together with an elevator that opens directly into the apartment. Many years ago when my parents, my Auntie Ann and Phillip came to Reims to visit me, we were all invited to stay for a few nights with the Dropsy’s.

We arrived at Patrick’s to drop off my baggage and then went for a walk around downtown Reims to pick up a few groceries. On our return, Genevieve, Patrick’s wife was waiting for us with a bottle of champagne and ordeuves. We spent the evening sipping wine, talking about old times and getting caught up on the news of each other’s families. They have 3 children and 8 grandchildren who live in Reims, Luxembourg and Martinique.

Yesterday morning, we walked around Reims so that I could do the touristy thing and take pictures of my old haunts. Reims has changed a lot from when I was here as a student. Is a beautiful city. It was much destroyed by artillery fire during WW1 and was rebuilt after the war. Many of the downtown building became blacked due to the car exhaust. These buildings have all been whitewashed by sandblasting making city very attractive. Much of the downtown area is now a pedestrian walk way with a tramway that weaves through the streets. It has 4 cars, moves relatively slowly, is electric with electricity running without danger through the tracks that you can walk on. There are no ugly over head wires. Why can’t we have something like this in Montreal? I stopped by the St. James store to purchase a blue sweater. Every year for the past 30 years, I buy a new blue French sweater. I have a pile of them in my cupboard and could easily open a store.

Yesterday, I studied for my ski patrol exam in the morning. Each year I have to read a 200 page book and pass a 3 hour exam on the internet. There is also 1 weekend of practice and 1 day for a ski exam which I don’t have to take as I am a Level 2 ski instructor. There is also a practice session of how to evacuate skiers from a chair lift if there is an electricity problem. I am now a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol and Mountain Explore, which is another ski patrol organization based in Quebec. This doubles the reading and the exams that I must pass in order to wear the red jacket with a white cross and patrol a mountain with no pay but does include a ski pass and a free lunch. I love it.

In the afternoon, Patrick and I took a drive through the Montagnes de Reims. This is an area south of Reims that extends to Epernay and is where all of the champagne vineyards are situated. The province is called Champagne, hence the name, champagne, and only grapes grown in this region can have the designation of ‘champagne’. Other wine that is not grown in the area must be marked ‘method champagnois’ and not ‘champagne’. We drove through the vineyards which stretch for miles and passed through several small villages. There are hundreds of small vineyards, some of whom have their own brand while others sell their produce to the ‘grands marques de champagne’ like Mumm or Moët et Chandon.

We eventually stopped at a small vineyard and met the patron. He invited us into his house for a tasting. He produces 18,000 bottles a year which is a relatively small amount. He is a member of a cooperative in order to press their grapes together in 1 big machine. Carefully, they must not mix up their grapes. This allows them to produce 100.000 bottles a year which is still a very small portion or the total market. He and his son manage the vineyard, sell the produce and deliver it themselves to their clients all over France. Some of the bottles are shipped to other countries. We tried 2 different bottles and eventually purchased 2.5 for consumption at home. The half is because we drank ½ bottles in the tasting session.

Patrick purchased a folding door system which we picked up and tried to put together. It is a German system, therefore the instructions were very logical and thus impossible to understand. The door system is too wide so had to cut it in 2, another minor headache. Remember the rule, measure twice, cut once.

In the afternoon we took out the bicycles and rode through Reims and on a bicycle path along the canal. There is a canal that runs through the city and makes its way to the Rhine. When I was a student it was not at all used as parkland. Over the years it has been developed into a longitudinal park that is well used for jogging and bicycling much as the Lachine canal in Montreal. The bicycles resembled the old retro bikes of the fifties where you rode in a sitting up position. Nevertheless there is good gear and brake system. We resembled Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the theme song ‘Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head kept running through my mind. We rode for 15-20k eventually arriving at the estate belonging to the family of Marion, his daughter. Marion, her brother in law and her father in law all have beautiful houses on the enormous property. Part or Marion’s marriage took place on the estate 11 years ago. The actual marriage ceremony took place in the Basilque de Reims which is 1000 years old. Remi accompanied the ceremony on the organ. I was determined to go the the wedding which took place 6 weeks after my bypass. The houses are 150 years old and have been fully renovated in a most modern way inside. They were not home so we just made ourselves comfortable on chairs in the garden.

In the evening I had dinner with Richard’s family including Richard, Regine, Yseult, Luca his charming wife and beautiful daughters. We had cocktails at Regine’s apartment and then went for dinner in a ‘cool and in’ part of town. There were wall to wall restaurants and outdoor terraces filled with young people eating, drinking and having a good time. Richard dropped me off near Patrick’s as it rather complicated to arrive there with the one way streets. He was most fearful that I would get lost as I had forgotten the name of Patrick’s street but did remember that I had to turn left after the 2nd or 3rd street. Anyway I arrived home safe and sound.

Today I will board the TGV to Paris where I will stay at a small hotel in the 5ieme arrondissement. It is very close to the Boul Mich and St Germaine the really in and nice area to be in. I will stay for 3 nights and spend the last night in an Ibis at CDG to be ready to take the plane on Monday morning.

Love,

Brian

Pictures to follow immediately

2024 10 Spain

Spain 16,

Oct 28, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Today was a rush beyond the pale. I woke up at 6:15, rather early for my relaxing vacation, showered, packed and ate a breakfast on the run. It had drizzled the night before making the city streets of Malaga, wet and slick, just what I needed for my last motorcycle ride. (Remember what I said on my last blog entry.) The GPS lady made a mistake on the Triumph address, or probably I entered the wrong street number. I went round and round the roundabout several times eventually asking Seri for her advice. She set me straight and I got to Triumph at 7:30 as planned. The manager opened the store early for me at 7:30 as I had previously told him that I needed to board my plane at 10:00. Usually they only open at 8:30. I offered to pay extra but both he and his nice employees refused payment.

I did a quick ‘Superman’ change in the lobby, picked up my luggage, repacked and I was ready to go. My previously arranged Uber was ready to take me to the airport at 8:00. I boarded the plane at 10:00 and was in Paris at 12:30. I picked up my checked luggage and somehow figured out how to purchase a train ticket with my new ‘Advantage Senior Pass’. I then took a metro to Gare de l’Est with only 1 transfer. It is no small feat to cross Paris by metro, with 2 pieces of luggage. I don’t think that a young person could do it. You have to be of a certain age with a lot of experience. Up and down the escalators, some of which work, some of which don’t, and some of which are non existent, replaced with long staircases. Several times a young man, seeing me struggling gave me a hand and carried a suitcase up the stairs.

I arrived early at the station, grabbed a Starbucks cappuccino and called Patrick who will pick me up at the station.

Most of the following photos were taken in Granada and on the route to Malaga.

Love,

Brian

2024 10 Spain

Spain 15,

Oct. 27, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I had choice to make today, either take a 4.5 hour ride through the mountains, which knowing my pace, would take me 6 hours, or visit Granada and take a 1.5 hour ride on a secondary road. I chose the latter. Life is filled with choices and we, unfortunately, only know if it was the correct choice or not after we have made it. The only time I was shown the future was in Greece many, many, years ago when a Gypsy read my hand. Years later, I understood that what she read, came to pass, just as she said it would. Or, is it just my own interpretation of what she said. Or, did she look into my eyes and when I blinked, did she then make her interpretation of the lines on my hand. Even today, I don’t know for sure…. But that is a story for another day.

I could not get a reservation for the Alhambra today, so I decided to walk up to the palace which is situated at the top of the mountain in Granada. I asked the lady in the hotel if I could walk there and looking at me, with my white hair she told me that the road was very steep and that I should take a bus. Not to be put off, I took the challenge and started up the hill. After going a certain distance, I asked a nice young man for directions. He pulled out his i-phone, consulted google maps, and told me that I was on the wrong road. ‘Go down 500m, turn left and cross the bridge’. ‘ How long will it take?’ ‘Looking at me he said ‘30 min’. So it took me a little longer! But I stopped to take pictures, made a slight error and climbed the wrong stair case, (oh yes, there are stair cases) and it is hilly, but I did arrive in almost less than an hour.

The Alhambra is a palace-fortress built by the Moors over 1000 years ago when the Moors overran Spain. I visited the palace in 1970 and again with Dominique 10 years ago. Then, you could walk up to the ticket office, and purchase a ticket the same day. 54 years ago, it must have cost 1/2euro, I certainly could not have afforded more. The price has changed by a factor of 60 and the wait list to have a ticket is 2 months. Oh well, I got enough exercise walking up and down and took some great pictures of the outside of the walls. Those Moors really knew how to build things in those days. Mind you, a good man with a whip, with no unions to answer to, and you could really get things done if you had a century to do the work.

On the way down, I went through the old section of town. Granada is built on a mountain and the old city is an incredible place to visit. The whole section has stair cases rather than roads. The roads, when there are some, resemble narrow passage ways about 10-12 feet wide. The people that live there, either walk up and down stairs cases or have small, small cars that resemble golf carts, to get around. I took a lot of pictures with tourists taking the same pictures. It is very hard to get a good photo without 100 people taking the same photo unless you are willing to get up at 5:00 am to take the picture.

I left Granada for Malaga and as I said previously, opted for an advanced secondary road. It was supposed to take 1.5 hours but I ride slower than the GPS lady. The road was a secondary road, 2 or 4 lanes wide and eventually lead onto an autoroute with tolls. So what. I have never driven that fast on an autoroute before. Smooth, clean, no pot holes, banked turns, beautiful scenery, safe, fast, 4 lanes, well marked, polite drivers, clear blue skies….what more can I say. 6 Euros, who cares.

I arrived in Malaga, circled around a few times and eventually arrived at my hotel just outside of the pedestrian area. I had dinner in a taverna and became friendly with a Dutch couple sitting at the next table to me. Seeking company for my last night, I invited them for drinks. We chatted for a while and they were quite impressed that my Dad had spent time in Holland during the war. Dutch people have a warm heart for Canadians as the Canadians liberated Holland at a time when things were very bad for the Dutch. They have 2 children of their own and have adopted 5 or 7 other ones. Hopefully one day I will see them again in Rotterdam.

Tomorrow I will be up early to return my bike, fly to Paris and take a train to Reims. I will stay at my friend Patrick’s for a few days and see Dominique’s family. I have a 2k ride to deposit the bike at the Triumph dealership. Whenever I get onto a bike, I always say to myself, ‘this could be my last ride’.

Love,

Brian

Pictures to follow, I promess

2024 10 Spain

Spain 14,

Oct. 26, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Today, I was lucky with my tourism. Rising early, and after a hearty breakfast, I was able to secure same day tickets for the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. This was my third visit, the 1st one being in 1970 and the 2nd 15 years ago with Dominique. The M-C is magnificent, much as I remembered it to be from my recollection of my last visits. The only thing that changed is the price and the crowds. It is impossible to escape the tourist crowds although probably everyone is thinking the same about me. Everyone is taking the same 100s of pictures that they may look at once and then leave on their i-phones for eternity or worse still, try to impress their friends and family who have the same 100 photos.

The ceiling of the mosque is held up by a least 100 columns which gives a different perspective each time that you take a step. You will see this in my pictures. The mosque is at least 1000 years old and has easily stood the test of time. The Moors invaded and stayed in Spain for 700 years. Their influence can be seen in the architecture all over southern Spain. Their conquest was eventually stopped at the Bataille de Tours, by Charles le Marteau if I remember correctly from my grade 8 history. Had Charles lost the battle, the history of Europe would have changed completely and Europe may have become Muslim. And now a mere 1000 years later…… Finally, after pushing the Moors out of the Iberian Peninsula, the good Christians, not to be out done, built their own Catholic cathedral right smack dab in the middle of the mosque. This was obviously done to show once and for all their domination. The more things change, the more we arrive at where we began. I guess that we should be glad that they didn’t destroy the mosque altogether. The cathedral built in the middle of the mosque is actually quite cute.

In Israel, British Mandate Palestine, Ottoman Province, Crusader conquest, Arabian Southern Syria, Mamaluk land, Roman Palestinia, Greek conquest, Israel, Judea, Canaan, Philistine land, (forgive me if I have forgotten a few) the Israelites built a Temple, the size of which rivalled the Alhambra or the Vatican. It was destroyed by the Babylonians (modern day Iraq) who carried them off as slaves. The Jews, as they became known, were then liberated by the Persians (modern day Iran) who allowed them to return to Judea where they rebuilt their 2nd Temple. The Romans, (modern day Italians) conquered the land and after 2 revolts, destroyed the Temple and dispersed the Jews……1800 years later, my great grandparents fled Russia due to the pogroms, which is why I find myself in Canada. The Arabs-Muslims arrived and built their golden mosque exactly on the same site as the Temple, leaving in tact the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall. Had they built their mosque 6 inches to the left (I exaggerate) the modern day Middle East conflict may not have occurred. And so we have the definition of a hurricane, ‘what goes around, comes around’. In 2024, I, as a Zionist, an atheist and a Jew felt compelled to to return to Israel to defend what I feel is the right of the Jewish nation to claim a sliver of a piece of land, 15k wide that we call Israel. You may read all about this in my blog on Israel.

All over Spain, at 7:00 everyone finishes work and goes out for a drink, tapas and later a dinner. This evening is no different. The streets were packed with people. I came across the cathedral, and was entertained by a short concert by a 60 piece orchestra outside in the courtyard. I am now seated in a Spanish taverna, sipping rose and eating tapas. I ordered 3 tapas, which probably is too much as the proportions are more than generous. 1 of my choices was ‘dog fish’. I am not sure what that is, but I hope that is more of the latter than the former. It was fried and came with a sauce. which was delicious. I will look up what I ate when I get home.

Today I changed pace as well as my route. Instead of taking my usual very very windy and very very hilly tertiary route, I opted for a secondary route avoiding of course the autoroute. The road was 2 lanes wide, well paved with just the right amount of curves to make the route interesting. I bombed along at 80k which is a great speed for a motorcycle. I could observe the scenery and not be overly concentrated on each turn as I was on my last 3 days. I rode through the country side where I saw miles and miles of olive trees. I one point I came across a group of 6 bicyclists riding along in a pack, taking up the entire width of the lane. They were travelling along, downhill at 70-80 k. I could not overtake them so I followed them along until we arrived at a hill where they were forced to slow down and I could pass them.

The weather has changed from 25C in Torremolinos to 12C today. It was chilly on the bike so I will add another layer when I ride to Malaga tomorrow. I am staying in a 3* hotel tonight in the Old City. One of the differences between a 3* and a 4* is the size and power of the hair dryer and the thickness of the bath towel.

Love,

Brian

Gold stolen from the Incas, and they are not ashamed to show it!

2024 10 Spain

Spain 13,

Oct. 25, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I finished dinner at 11:00 and still had a lot of energy left so I decided to see Cordoba by Night and take a few photos. I will say nothing more. You be the judge.

2024 10 Spain

Spain 12

Oct. 25, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Today was another motorcycle day. I left early in the morning to go from Sevilla to Cordoba. My GPS lady told me that it should take me 5:15 to get here. She must be getting disappointed in me as her estimates are always at least 1 hour less than my times. I arrived 7 hours after starting including a 30 minute break for a cookie and my usual mid day cappuccino. The road as usual was very very hilly and very very windy. Great, that was what I chose and that is what I got.

Riding a motorcycle is not a means of travel. It is a sport by any definition of the word ‘sport’. It demands 100% concentration 100% of the time. 1 second of distraction can be fatal. You must have 4 eyes on the road, 4 eyes on the brake, clutch and speedometer. The scenery is spectacular especially in the countryside and in the mountains. The feeling of freedom with the wind in your face and the glorious sound of the Triumph engine, especially on the downshift is comparable to nothing else in the sensation that it creates for you. If you have never ridden a motor bike in these conditions, I can try to explain it to you, but you will never have the full understanding. Do I like riding a bike more than skiing or racing a sailboat? No, but it runs a very close third.

The road was fantastic but very difficult. Most of the day I rode in 2nd or 3rd gear. There were hairpin turns every 30m. I repeat, every 30m. When they mark 30k or 40k, they mean 30k or 40k and not a km more. Only 1 small stretch was marked ‘poor road conditions’ and they were telling the truth. The pot holes rivalled our Quebec pot holes. Luckily that stretch was only for 30k but it was a long 30k. I couldn’t do more than 30k per hour at best. Actually, I never hit more than 50kph the entire day.

I went through mountains covered with small trees or bushes. There were very few farms and no vineyards. I saw the occasional cow. I must have seen no more than 6 cars in 6 hours and only 2 other motorcyclists going the other way. My new Senna helmet has a plastic screen that can be pushed up so that I am riding in open face mode. Usually I drop the windshield if I am going more than 60k but I never reached that speed today. I drove with the screen up to feel the wind in my face. What a dream. Yesterday, I was boiling hot. Today, I had a slight drizzle for much of the day. I usually don’t like to ride in the rain as the road can be very slippery. Today, as I was driving at a low speed, it didn’t make much of a difference. I really enjoyed the light rain on my face which kept me cool.

Today, I am staying at the Conquistador Hotel, a serious 4* and had the pleasure of discussing politics with a French couple from Toulouse who sat at the table next to me. It is easy to make fast friends when you are travelling alone..

Tomorrow, if I am lucky, I will be able to revisit the mosque-cathedral which is across the street, before heading off to Granada. I will try to shorten the route if possible and avoid some of the hills and curves.

Love,

Brian

2024 10 Spain

Spain 11,

Oct. 24, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

‘If you can’t always get what you want, then if you try sometimes, well, you just might get what you need’. Thanks Mick.

Today was an exploration day to walk around and see what I could in Sevilla. Sevilla is arguably one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever visited. I know, I say that about all the (girls) cities. Every thing in the Old City has been cleaned and renovated to perfection. There are pedestrian walk ways every where. The cafes, bars and restaurants are plentiful. The only problem is the volume of tourists. It is Oct 24 and not too crowded, but there are tourists everywhere. My old adage, ‘if you have heard of a place, so has everyone else, and it may not be useful visiting unless you don’t mind ‘tourists’, rings true.

I started my day by spending several hours trying to change my telephone number on the SNCF website. The security is just too thick. Not having one of my daughters or grandchildren with me to help me, made it impossible for me to navigate the site. SNCF needs a telephone number to confirm a trip and they only have my Canadian number. I now have a Spanish sim card and I can not use it to book a trip. So, I will just have to wait until I get to Paris to book my itinerary in France.

I walked around aimlessly in the Old City and just visited what ever I came across. The Sevilla Cathedral is worth a visit for sure. I first visited it in 1970 when there was no entrance fee. The second time I visited it 10 years ago there was a small entrance fee but you were not allowed to take pictures. This time, the entrance fee had quadrupled but because I am a French (EU) citizen over 65, not only did I get a reduced rate, but pictures are now allowed. Wow, what progress. I was a little disappointed as I could not find a quiet place to pray. I have the sneaking suspicion that the place is kept open to serve the tourist trade rather than the worshipers.

I am always impressed when ever I enter a European cathedral. First of all what strikes me is the enormity of the building. The planning that must have taken place to construct the building which took place often over 300-400 years. You must overlook the fact that slave labour was used and certainly more than 6000 people were killed in the process. 6000 workers died in the construction of the stadiums in Qatar for the World Cup and I have yet to hear any protest by the authorities in the UN. They are obviously too busy with passing judgement over …….I won’t go any further. I saw the tomb of Cristopher Columbus. Very impressive. Rumour has it that the old boy was Jewish. If so, I wonder if he and I are from the same tribe. I also climbed up the steeple to get a view of Sevilla. Great view from the top and well worth the 34 ramps to get there.

I next wandered over to the Palace. I had visited it twice in the past and wanted to see it again and take some photos. Unfortunately, everyone else in town had the same idea as me. Tickets were sold out. This never happened in the past. Those darn tourists…… I walked over to the University of Sevilla. What magnificent place. It rivals any other university in Europe such as Oxford or Munster. The students are really lucky to study here. I hope that the education standard matches the magnificence of the surroundings. The campus even has a moat which is quite deep but dry.

I am sitting in an out door restaurant, in the middle of a plaza sipping wine and writing my blog. I ate seafood paella for the first time in my visit to Spain.

Tomorrow I will ride to Cordoba.

Love,

Brian

cigarette making machine invented here

University of Sevilla

2024 10 Spain

Spain 10,

Oct 23, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I left Gibraltar under cloudy skies, damp, British weather and journeyed on to Spain, just around the corner. The weather is not the fault of Gibraltar as it is at the cross roads of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with tides and currents going in and out, so what would you expect. You have to navigate, back and forth, through not busy lanes, eventually arriving at Spanish customs. They were more impressed with my Triumph than me and commented on the beautiful Triumph exhaust noise. That is why I ride a Triumph, for the noise… I rode for 2.5 hours and stopped at a roadside cafe for tapas and a cappuccino. My tank registered that I had 230k to go on the tank of gas after riding 100k. This seemed impossible so didn’t take a chance and road back 12k to a gas station. I filled up the tank with 3l and my bike computer gave me 350k until empty . The bike really does not burn gas.

The Spanish country side is very barren. Yesterday, I rode through mountains that looked like a rocky dessert. Today, I rode through mountains that were covered with large bushes, as tall as small trees, but bushes all the same. When the mountains flattened out, there were small farms. The villages are few and far between. This is a remarkable contrast to France where there is a village every 10-15k complete with a cathedral, several restaurants and cafes and a memorial to the fallen soldiers of WW1.

Finally, I arrived in Sevilla. What a beautiful city! Visiting Sevilla is an absolute must on anyone’s bucket list. I am staying in the old section on a small narrow street next to the Cathedral and not far from the Palace which I will visit tomorrow. Sevilla is ‘tres, tres, chic’. The stores are incredibly well decorated. Even the lesser quality stores appear chic. The amount of merchandise available to the consumer is endless. What ever you want to purchase in clothes is available. Everyone here is well dressed. Shabby-chic would not cut it here. At 7:00pm the streets were packed with people. The center of town is a pedestrian walkway. There are cafes on the side walk everywhere. Everyone seems to be out for a drink after work.

I am staying at a 1* hotel in the old section of town which is really is a 3*. After my long ride today, I was somewhat tired and took a siesta. I don’t think that I have ever done that before. After all my life is usually go, go, go. The hotel has a bistro where I just finished off some tapas, beer and wine. I feel much better.

Love,

Brian

2024 10 Spain

Spain 9,

Oct. 22, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Today, I spent 8 hours exploring Gibraltar. I left the hotel at 10:00 and only got back to the hotel at 6:00. I walked along Main Street which is as the name says, the main street. You have just left Spain, you are still on the European continent, but you are in England. Everything here is just like it is back in ‘jolly old England’. The main street is filled with wall to wall typically English shops. There are small lanes crisscrossing the main street which have more of the same. It is really fun to be here.

The main part of the city is surrounded by a defensive wall. Gibraltar was chosen by the British to control the gateway to the Med. The Spanish tried to take it over forcibly 200 years ago but were driven back. We are much better off having the Brits controlling the strait. Can you imagine Spain and Morocco controlling the gateway to Europe and the Med?

Thousands or millions of years ago, what was Europe at the time was joined with North Africa by a land bridge. At some point in time, the earth moved and Europe and Africa separated. What is now the Mediterranean was dry land. The movement of the land created the biggest waterfall ever known to the world. Eventually the Med was filled and the Med was joined to the Atlantic eliminating the land bridge. On the other hand, Greek mythology tells a different tale. Hercules, seeing the mountain in his way, pushed through the land mass himself as he wanted to see the sun in the west and stop it from setting in the sea. Hence the Pillars of Hercules with Gibraltar mountain on 1 side and a Moroccan mountain on the other side of the strait. Seeing the Pillars of Hercules, for myself, is 1 more tick off my personal bucket list.

I walked over to the port but there is not much to see there unless I missed something. It is mostly an industrial port with some sections full of fishing boats. I saw very few sailboats, unlike Torremolinos which is just the opposite.

I spent the rest of the day climbing the Rock of Gibraltar. The Rock is a serious mountain rising 500m directly from the sea. For the greater part of the day I could not see the top as it was covered in a cloud. 2 days ago I was in Spain with 25c temperatures and blue skies. Today I am in England with British weather. There is a steep road where only taxis and small tour buses are allowed. You walk up and eventually arrive at the gate to the park on the mountain which is strictly controlled. There are many paths to choose from. I visited the Cave of St Michael which had stalagmites and stalagtites and a nice sound and light show.

Eventually I arrived at the summit. Here you had a magnificent view of the strait leading to the Atlantic Ocean. Across the way, looking south you could see Morocco. The water varied between dark blue to Mediterranean turquoise. The clouds had cleared, the sun had come out and the view was to die for. At the summit you could go down by the road or take the Mediterranean stairs, steep and carved out of the mountain. The sign described the stairs to be difficult and not for people with vertigo. The stairs were not that difficult for a triathlete unless you were wearing high heels or sandals. I was wearing sandals… I took many photos.

On the way down I met 2 Brits climbing up. They told me that they were practicing for a charity race next year where you go up and down the stairs 5 times, 1.5k each way, in a day. When they saw my Worlds number tattoo on my arm, which I have not washed off yet, they asked me to join them telling me that it would be a piece of cake for me. I swallowed my pride and declined the offer.

I arrived at the bottom of the mountain, not far from my hotel. The human body is an amazing machine. If you sweat all day and don’t drink water (1 cappuccino does not count) you don’t have to P all day. That in itself for a 75 year old is an incredible feat.

This evening I am dining at a British pub. I have been travelling in Europe, including England for 44 years and this is the 1st time that I have tried fish n chips. My French friends always order fish n chips at least once when we sail to the Channel Islands. It’s really not bad but nothing to write home about although that’s what I am doing now. Fish n chips used to be served in England wrapped in a newspaper. That has not been allowed for over 20 years. When they stopped wrapping the fish in newspaper, people complained about it saying that the taste was not as good.I guess that the newsprint and ink leaching off into the fish changes the taste.

Tomorrow I will ride to Sevilla.

Love,

Brian