The trips nearly over - a last few days of pleasure and freedom in Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal and then the trip is over.
From Morocco I did the short 2 hour crossing to Spain and immediately headed towards Gibraltar, only an hour or so's ride away. My original intent was to stay in Gibraltar for the night but when I found the cheapest hotel there was the equivalent of $160 a night whilst it was $30 on the Spanish side of the border an economic decision was quickly made.
It did come with an unexpected extra cost - whilst I was in the hotel lobby checking in some local louts decided to push my bike over; another mirror needed! However there was a big consolation available - my first beer for nearly a month (and some lovely Tapa's to go with it).
Gibraltar was a funny place to visit, a traffic jam of a border as all the Spanish day workers tried to get in, followed by emerging on to the exit road that ran straight across the airport runway (obviously not a huge number of flights a week) to deposit you in a tropical version of a English country town.
Felt very much like the last gasp of colonialism, especially as I rather bemusedly watched from a cafe seat the changing of the guard (all 2 of him) at the Government House.
From Gibraltar I took a quick trip across the bottom of Spain to get to Lisbon, Portugal where I was meeting my son Duncan again. On the way I saw this warning sign which appealed to me:
It was really great seeing Duncan again - hes very easy to travel around with, sharing similar interests and a similar pace to my own. We both enjoyed Lisbon, it was an interesting city - a nice mix of restored classic buildings, modern stuff and a bit of urban grunge to show real people live there.
We also bought Duncan a bike helmet so we could go away and tour the coast and surrounding towns for a few days. A lovely way to travel together - and also confirmation that Duncan has been infected by the motorcycle bug as badly as jack and myself.
Unfortunately the days with Duncan were quickly over and then it was time to head back to Swansea to leave my bike in Swansea (again many thanks to my dad) followed by a quick trip back to London and the flight back to Australia - how quickly 7 weeks had passed.
From Morocco I did the short 2 hour crossing to Spain and immediately headed towards Gibraltar, only an hour or so's ride away. My original intent was to stay in Gibraltar for the night but when I found the cheapest hotel there was the equivalent of $160 a night whilst it was $30 on the Spanish side of the border an economic decision was quickly made.
It did come with an unexpected extra cost - whilst I was in the hotel lobby checking in some local louts decided to push my bike over; another mirror needed! However there was a big consolation available - my first beer for nearly a month (and some lovely Tapa's to go with it).
Gibraltar was a funny place to visit, a traffic jam of a border as all the Spanish day workers tried to get in, followed by emerging on to the exit road that ran straight across the airport runway (obviously not a huge number of flights a week) to deposit you in a tropical version of a English country town.
Felt very much like the last gasp of colonialism, especially as I rather bemusedly watched from a cafe seat the changing of the guard (all 2 of him) at the Government House.
From Gibraltar I took a quick trip across the bottom of Spain to get to Lisbon, Portugal where I was meeting my son Duncan again. On the way I saw this warning sign which appealed to me:
It was really great seeing Duncan again - hes very easy to travel around with, sharing similar interests and a similar pace to my own. We both enjoyed Lisbon, it was an interesting city - a nice mix of restored classic buildings, modern stuff and a bit of urban grunge to show real people live there.
We also bought Duncan a bike helmet so we could go away and tour the coast and surrounding towns for a few days. A lovely way to travel together - and also confirmation that Duncan has been infected by the motorcycle bug as badly as jack and myself.
Unfortunately the days with Duncan were quickly over and then it was time to head back to Swansea to leave my bike in Swansea (again many thanks to my dad) followed by a quick trip back to London and the flight back to Australia - how quickly 7 weeks had passed.
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