A visit to Costa del Sol. Stage 8.

It was Early for me as I had little if any sleep as I had some devastating news last night. All the swear words I know in the world wouldn’t express how I feel.

We stayed in Jerez last night which is our start point. I got The Cyclist to let me pop i to Carrefore again last night as he said he doesn’t want me to cook as I have enough to do and it is Damn hot, so he doesn’t want the room heated even more by boiling saucepans. he has a point that I am grateful for actually as the heat really takes it out of you. Not long after setting off we pass an entrance to themCircuit here. This is probably the closest I will ever be to Jerez Moto GP circuit. I have done the Mesano circuit near the Adriatic coast of Italy and San Marino which is also miles away. Ah. Gosh that takes me back to September 2007 when my little favourite Casey Stoner basically wiped the floor with all of them. It isn’t the same without him. Anyway…….
These country lanes that we are on to begin with are what The Cyclist plotted as the real Vuelta is going on the motorway for the first quarter of today and there are no bicycles allowed for us I’m afraid, but this route is far nicer anyway.
Along the way The Cyclist got stung on his leg above his right knee. Henwaved for me to stop and came to an abrupt stop oviously in pain. hensaid that henhadnremoved the sting but thatnwhat everbitnwas had just stung him without provocation. imgavenhim 2 antihistamines and putnstingnreliefmthen savlon on his leg. 5km later he was stung again between eyes. I had stopped and he came to me saying ouch, but not actually using that word as I sure you can imagine. he said it felt like his eyes were popping out. He showed me the sting and asked me to squeeze where it was to see if I could gat any more poison out. I put Sting relief and salon on again and we hoped it wouldn’t balloon like it did in Italy.
Today was mountain windy narrow roads. There is often no signal at all so if I did lose The Cyclist, I wouldn’t be able to contact him. I know why there is no signal. I mean we are in the mountains in the middle of nowhere so why would the phone companies give it reception. There were a couple of Wild dogs in road. I look carefully as The Cyclist informed me the other day, that Spain is The last European country to have wild Wolves. Really!
The main N-road into Estapona is by the sea and the cars have suddenly improved. We are a Stones throw from Marbella which is just along east and also Gibraltar. Getting through Estapona was OK. It is huge and neither The Cyclist nor I had heard of it before we were doing the Vuelta.
The last climb was long and very very very hot. It was also very steep in the beginning and it is not like the other mountains we have done on previous tours as there is hardly anywhere to pull over. The Cyclist had a bottle with just water that I kept filling for hill so he could squirt water over his head. We could also see the Gibraltar rock in the distance and you can see it poking out from the cloud in the photos. At the top we did the obligatory photos and then got on our way as it was a long hot day and we were both tired.
We had a Lovely hotel at the start point and owners daughter was having her wedding. It is different to UK ones in that most of the lady guests wear what I woulnd describe as evening ball gowns. Boy they know how to put a show on. Kyle counted the tables for the meal and there were 29 seating 12 guest. That is a lot of people. Oh my. Someone just walked in with a huge box of dunkin donuts as a gift. Different!
The page boys have crimson coloured shot silk long shorts on with white ankle socks, white shoes with crimson buckles on. They keep arriving and I told athe Cyclist that I was so do ad we got here before the wedding else we would never have been able to park. With the long red carpet and all the glamorous dresses it is like watching the Oscars. I have been sat outside for what feels like ages waiting for the bride to arrive as I want to see the type of wedding dress worn by Spanish Catholic wealthy girl. I am expecting a huge meringue but maybe they do not make as big a fuss as they do over the co formation dresses the girls wear that are like mini wedding dresses. Any way, unlike our weddings, the guests have been here an hour and a half and still no sign of the bride and groom. It is now 8.45pm and I ducked inside to do the kit wash and also to get The Cyclist some food. Thank heavens for Carrefore deli counter. It has now fed us for 3 nights. The Cyclist is partial to the chicken curry noodles so I got him oodles of them.
And still the guests arrive. It is going to be a long long night and their party hasn’t started yet. The guests have been checking into the rooms around us for a while now. I assume the happy couple will not arrive until dark as there are torches along the red walkway that are ready to be lit. Our route took us through Los Ángeles today, so now we know were the USA got their ideas.its dark and thy are here. The bridal party arrived after 9pm on Iwo horse carts like a western movie set. They didn’t go in to eat until 10.30pm so I think it is going to be a long night.