ATS 240B Andalusia Tour
After a spectacular sunrise and pleasant temperatures at breakfast, we start with 4 motorcycles and a support vehicle to make a first detour to the Montes del Malaga. After a short coffee break, we return to the coast and it immediately becomes clear that the tour group not only knows something about motorcycling, but also about good food. For lunch, paella in 2 variants (sepia black + traditional) and various side dishes are ordered and eaten in the scenic located beach restaurant. So strengthened, we get back on the motorcycles and off into the mountains that lead us to the Sierra Nevada. From there it is only a stone's throw to the hotel in Granada, which we leave again in the evening to dine in a typical Chinese restaurant. The tour guide is immediately accepted into the group and familiarized with some specialties such as 1000-year-old eggs. As I said, they know about good food and the coming week promises to be a culinary highlight in addition to the historical sights and diverse landscapes.
This morning also spoils us with pleasant temperatures around 25 degrees and perfect blue skies. We use this to visit a special viewpoint in the mountains around Granada and hold our morning briefing with a view of a fortress of the Alhambra in the shadow of a monastery. The rest of the day is almost completely dominated by the olive tree, because this plant, which can live for several hundred years, dominates the landscapes through which we ride today. There are almost unbelievable wide areas planted with olive groves and occasionally interrupted by golden-yellow fiels and gleaming white villages. Since the heat of the day is exhausting today, we manage to be in our beautiful hotel, an old Spanish finca, in time to refresh ourselves with cold drinks and the necessary cold shower, and then to visit some sights around Antequera again in more moderate evening temperatures. The day ends with a dinner in the incredible Andalusian ambience of our finca.
The sun is shining on our finca and already at the morning briefing we seek shelter from the stronger sun. The first photo stop at El Torcal then provided some cooling in the mountain air before we went through the rolling hilly landscapes of Andalusia to the Mirador Tajo de la Encantada National Park for a coffee stop. Near our resting place there was the entrance to the famous Camino del Rey, which we did not walk but the view of the paths carved into the rock was breathtaking. After an excellent lunch, the visual highlight of the day followed, the white city of Zahara de la Sierra, which was awarded for its beauty, and the wonderful view from the city into the surrounding landscape with the reservoir. Here we have seen the first clouds since the start of the tour, which at first looked picturesque, but then on the way to the hotel we let individual rain columns fall to the left and right of us, but again we were lucky and after a rather demanding way through the old town of Arcos de la Frontera we reach the exquisite hotel on the city hill in time.
After a hearty breakfast in our beautiful city hotel, we set off to leave the EU and take a look over to Africa. On the way to Gibraltar we pass many idyllic haciendas where the fighting bulls for the corrida are bred and we get close enough to some of these proud animals to be able to recognize their energy. After the immigration formalities have been completed, we take the cable car in Gibraltar and are greeted at the mountain station by one of the Barbary macaques, who is playing his funny game with some visitors. We enjoy an excellent lunch on the mountain top and continue our way to the southernmost point of the British exclave, where we take some souvenir pictures and leave for our hotel in Ronda in the late afternoon. With a spectacular panorama, we are served an opulent cdinner and we make plans for tomorrow's day of rest.
Today is a day of rest and we take advantage of our VIP shuttle in which a tour participant accompanies our group. After an excellent breakfast with local and international products, we set off to visit the small mountain village of Grazelma in the national park of the same name. We let ourselves drift through the white streets and how could it be otherwise, we conclude the visit with an excellent tomahawk steak and selected side dishes in a panoramic restaurant with a view of the landscape. As I said before, our tour participants also do know about good food and the beautiful sides of life. After a short rest at the hotel in Ronda, a walk to the sights of the city follows, such as the famous bridge over the Tajo gorge that divides the city and a visit at the bull fighting arena which is the center of the corrida for the whole country. But now we are hungry again and stop halfway between the sights and the hotel in another chinese restaurant, enjoy the typical chinese hospitality and share our food. After dinner we took our shuttle again and enjoyed the sunset under the famous bridge... what a view. Tomorrow we will start our motorcycles again and so we will go to bed early to start the last day strengthened. We are already excited.
The last day of riding dawns and after another excellent breakfast we set off for a round to the Mediterranean Sea. But as soon as we arrive there, we are drawn back to the Sierra and cover the last kilometers on wonderful mountain routes. This is followed by an extended lunch break in an excellent restaurant in Coin, where we are particularly amazed by the local craftsmanship and enjoy excellent food again. Only a short distance to the hotel and we rest a little after the handover of the bikes in the early afternoon, before we end the evening one last time with an excellent dinner. It was a first-class tour through the most beautiful landscapes of Andalusia with many highlights and tour guide Holger says thank you for a wonderful time, lots of fun with riding and especially the excellent dinners in Granada and Ronda.