So, we slowly rolled along the area bike paths, winding our way into Figueres, by way of the little hamlet of L'Olvia, which we made a point of visiting in honor of the 19th birthday of our friend, Olivia.
In Figueres, we found the Rambla, much busier today than we found it, a week ago. We sat for a while, enjoying the scene, before picking an outdoor café for lunch.
It was mixed. I had a nice seafood salad (creamy dill dressing) and an unexciting-but-ok paella (will keep trying and comparing), while Karen had a nice fried turbot, accompanied by sauteed mushrooms and peppers, which she liked. Too bad the waiter was surly, but we got what we needed.
We headed back the way we came, again passing L'Olvia, ending up cycling the last km back to Baseia, arriving around 4.
We emptied our bicycle bags, took off our sweaty bicycle gear and clothes, and said goodbye to the bicycle part of this trip.
Total ridden: 204 km - not bad for a couple of baby-boomers going to seed.
We hit the swimming pool for a bit, then I lay out in the sun for a long time, reflecting on the following:
1) we did it (the biking)!
2) we are off to Tarragona
3) it's still 4 hours until dinner
4) there were over 20 flies crawling on my legs
5) my family has come a long way - driven out from Judaea by the Romans, driven out from Spain by the Catholic Monarchs (did you know my family lived in Toledo, until 1492?), driven out of Russia and Poland (by the Russians and Poles, obviously), only to have found a happy home in Upstate New York, USA.
I grew up there, and moved to Oregon in 1977, but that's another story.
The point is that it's great to be back in Spain, now that the Inquisition is over. I am having a much better time here than my ancestors did, when they had reached the end of their Spanish road.
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