Hi there,

As you can see, I start fulfilling my promise. I am at Conbloux, in the French Alps, just in fro,nt of the Mont Blanche. I don't have the time to write more today; as the netpoint is about to close, but I'll finish the updates tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who posted comments and send sms. It's really great to hear from you. Keep in touch.

Bisous

Day 2: Bilbao - Guernika - Ea - San Sebastian - Biarritz

After experiencing the beauties of sleeping at a gas station, side by side with many truck drivers and a couple of other crazy people, we went again down to Bilbao (see post Spot 2-Bilbao), first to visit the Guggenheim Museum, followed by a short walk in the city center. After lunch, having at the time the perspective of a day with few miles to ride; we have decided to take the national road, instead of the highway, on our way to San Sebastian. This way we came accross first with Guernika (see post Spot 3- Guernika) and afterwards an amazing drive through the cost from Ea till San Sebastian (see post Spot 4- Drive from Ea till San Sebastian). After a amusing and original night tour in the city centre (see post 5-San Sebastian), I kept faithful to my 2cv for the second night, but chosing a much more attractive location: downtown Biarritz, just in front of the sea.

KILOMETRES (Total):	1098km
KM SINCE LAST POST:	353km
GAS SPENT (Total):	69.95l

Click here to know all the details of my Legendary Companion

Spot 2 - Bilbao

Originally in our plan Bilbao was schedule only for a short visit of a couple of hours. The contingencies of our first day on the road lead us to stay overnight, and how much a problem turn into a great opportunity. Already at first sight we were absolutely amazed with Bilbao’s visit card: the Guggenheim Museum. Indeed it seems such a common place to say it, but no matter how many descriptions you heard from friends or pictures you have seen, nothing will prepare your eyes for the impact this magnificent work of art will have. The most impressive thing about the Guggenheim is not only its unique curved lines grouping into perfection, but above all the way this highly modern shaped building interacts with the whole historical city centre, making impossible to picture the city before its construction. When inside, the amazement continuous. I must confess I am not very found of museums and above all of all plastic arts in generals, but I’ve gladly spent around three hours exploring each room, each corner, each characteristic and small detail that make the Guggenheim the single most impressive piece of architecture I’ve ever seen.
Even though, no matter from how far you would be travelling, the Guggenheim experience would already make your journey worth it, Bilbao seems to have a complete “spanish city experience” to offer. Having the museum as its ultimate metaphor, the mixture between the old town and contemporary elements is the city’s main characteristic. Besides, from the few we were given the opportunity to experience, nightlife seems to live up to the well known Spanish standards.

Spot 1 - Tordesilhas

Having in consideration the already mentioned heat problems, when Tordesilhas first appeared on the road signs we immediately decided to make it our first sightseeing stop. Maybe this city won’t ring any bell for the non Iberian readers, but Tordesilhas connected with one of the most prosperous eras of both Spain and Portugal. In 1494, two man, at the time Kings of the two most eminent world powers, seated in the palace shown in the picture, located nearby the Douro River, singning the Tordesilhas Treaty, a treaty that basically divided the world between the two.

Tordesilhas became a nice surprise. Despite being a rather small town located in what seems to be a rather arid area, this city assumed to be more then a simple historic icon. The city centre, very well preserved and with the two Cathedrals standing out, proved to be worth visiting if you ever find yourself in the region.

Day 1: Porto - Tordesilhas - Bilbao

Saturday, the 30th of August 2005, 11.20 pm: with a delay of over 4 hours, our journey has finally begun.
Having on consideration our late departure, we knew from the start that our original plan for the 1st day was in jeopardy. Nevertheless, we moved forward with our motivation untouched.
Our first aim was to reach Spain, objective accomplished in about 3 hours. But not before the true hero of this adventure passed brightly his first hard test: the Highs of Marão. Never going under 60 km/h, in third gear, the 2cv managed with no major problems the consecutive long uphills, some of them 6 and 7% steep.
It was already in Spain that we finally came across that who we immediately acknowledge to be our most perseverant enemy till the last day of our long jurney: the intense heat. Always with the car’s top off, I easily dealt with the strong sun with a heavy load of sun lotion. Unfortunately such an easy solution couldn’t yet be found for the impact the high temperatures have in the 2cv's engine. Despite continuing “eating” mile after mile at constant and reasonably fast speed (around 75km/h) for a National Road, it became clear that the car’s engine was overheating. That problem can be spotted very easily, as some parts of the engine expand, making the accelerator start to get stuck (the car remains in constant acceleration, even when the pedal is not being pushed). The problem was minimized by increasing the number and the duration of our stops, something that did not come in hand being us already running quite late.
But as all situations, there was a bright side. In order to keep up the spirit of the trip, we decided to stop at Tordesilhas (see post Spot 1- Tordesilhas) for over one hour, adding a new destination to hour already quite filled route.
With the night and temperature falls, the 2cv seemed to regain his enthusiasm. The average speed (he’s the one deciding that, not me) increased, the number and duration of the stops went in the opposite direction, allowing us to make till Bilbao (see post Spot 2- Bilbao), minimizing our delay.

Moment of the Day: crusing the Portuguese-Spanish border with the top off, listening and singing out load the hits of the one and only “Marco Paulo”, kitchest Portuguese singer ever, but nevertheless, an icon!

KILOMETRES (Total):	745km
KM SINCE LAST POST:	745km
GAS SPENT (Total):	49.44l

Click here to know all the details of my Legendary Companion