Andalusia curves and culture CSS2601
The first day of the tour has begun and while large parts of the group are still arriving, Alberto, Harald and the tour guide Holger go on a discovery tour in Malaga. After we have looked at the hustle and bustle in the market hall we climb the mountain over Malaga to the Gibralfaro fortress where we enjoy the excellent view. Then we go through further parts of the fortress to the birthplace of Picasso and some small idyllic Spanish places until we return to the hotel after visiting the cathedral in the late afternoon. After the rest of the group has arrived, we hold the welcome briefing, hand over the bikes and then enjoy an excellent dinner. We are all already looking forward to the first day of riding tomorrow and fall into our pillows full of joyful expectation.
We hear the waves rolling onto the beach right outside our hotel door as our day begins. There’s hardly any traffic in the city, and although it’s unfortunately still a bit cloudy, we can’t wait to set off on our adventure. We take the highway to quickly leave Málaga behind, and after a few kilometers, we begin the winding climb into the Montes de Málaga. We take one last look back and get into the groove on our bikes. The route is perfect for getting used to the new bikes. Just in time for lunchtime, the sun finally makes an appearance. No wonder—after all, we’re on the Costa del Sol, and lunch on the beach is a must. We spend the afternoon dancing along the winding roads in the mountains west of the Sierra Nevada. That’s what we came for. And so, curve by curve, mountain village by mountain village, we head toward our first destination, Granada. We arrive at our hotel early enough to explore the old town a bit. We’ll take plenty of time for the Alhambra tomorrow. A fabulous first day of riding is coming to an end.
Today's day started without a motorcycle. Our group has set off to visit the magnificent Alhambra. After an impressive morning, we started with the usual briefing for today's slightly shorter tour. After the first curves, however, we stopped again because we were surprised with an excellent picnic from Tom among the olive trees. So strengthened we continued our journey for the rest of the afternoon and, after being stopped by a herd of goats and a short coffee, finally reached our no less magnificent accommodation in the Parador de Jaen. With a sumptuous dinner we let the day end and look full of excitement for tomorrow.
We feel like royalty as we look out from our balconies in the morning at the hills surrounding Jaén. It’s almost a little hard for us to leave this place, but today’s plan sounds tempting. So we hop on the motorcycle and head out. Our morning ride takes us along winding, sometimes very narrow main and side roads through seemingly endless olive groves. After a while, we reach a small town called Alcala La Real. Even from a distance, we notice the mighty castle complex towering high above the town. The Fortaleza de La Mota is the highlight of our day, and we have plenty of time to explore this impressive site thoroughly. After lunch, we stay on winding side roads. The view down to the Embalse de Iznajar is unforgettable. Our destination today is Antequera, the heart of Andalusia. Another day in the motorcycle paradise of Andalusia is drawing to a close. We’re already excited to see what tomorrow has in store for us.
We arrived in Seville yesterday; this city is too big and too fascinating to leave after just one night. Today is our first rest day of the tour. No packing, no early mornings. Today we’re taking it easy. North of the city, there are many winding roads just waiting to be explored. And while some set off on a leisurely tour with our guide Holger, others head out with Thomas to discover the city and some of its sights. A few of us meet up with friends, and still others head out on their own. So there’s something for everyone. In the evening, we all meet up again to experience something that no visit to Seville should be without. In a small neighborhood theater, we attend a truly authentic flamenco show. A day in Seville couldn’t end any better.
After we chose to drive through the Andalusian wilderness as our motto today, Mother Nature showed us her power at the first viewpoint and limited the view a little with a large cloud. Also in the further course of the wonderfully rustic remote route we could always experience the remains of the storms of the past weeks in the form of landslides next to and sometimes also on the road. The other viewpoints then provided a slightly better view until we finally reached our lunchtime destination. Although the lunch break was a little longer than we thought and even in the second half of the day some streets were not in the best condition die to the recent storms, we reached our destination as planned in the beautiful hotel in Seville. At an excellent dinner we celebrated the happy end of the day honored a veteran Edelweiss veteran. The options for tomorrow are now clear and we are already curious what the day will bring.
After exploring Seville as thoroughly as possible in a single day yesterday, it’s time for a bit more peace and quiet. Goodbye flat countryside and city traffic—here come the mountains. Our hotel’s location lets us leave the morning city traffic behind pretty quickly, and soon life is back to normal on small, quiet—if a bit bumpy—side streets. Well, almost. Somehow, finding a parking spot today feels like it’s cursed 😉 The highlight of our day is Arcos de la Frontera; climbing to the highest point of this town on our motorcycles and the descent down are quite a challenge. It’s definitely one of the most memorable experiences of this tour. After lunch, there’s hardly a straight stretch of road left, so we wind our way through the mountains toward our destination. The storms of the past few months have left their mark on the roads, so we have to improvise a little to reach our destination, Ronda, on time—which we ultimately manage to do. And so we let the day come to a close in our cozy hotel, surrounded by palm trees and birdsong.
Today is the second rest day of our tour, and Ronda is definitely worth exploring. Fortunately, it’s small enough that we’ll still have plenty of time to fully enjoy the region’s famous roads. So in the morning, we set off on a longer ride through the Sierra de Grazalema. The roads are mostly narrow and empty, and the curves within the curves have curves of their own—it’s a dream. And so we wind our way through the region’s mountains, past gorges, white villages, and cork oak forests. At lunchtime, we meet up again with Holger, who has prepared a picnic lunch for us. In Grazalema itself, we soak up the atmosphere of a Spanish mountain village before finally heading back. In the afternoon, we have all the time in the world to explore Ronda at our leisure. We round off the day with a group dinner.
The last day of the tour has dawned and we set off for a ride through the mountains to the sea and on one of the most beautiful motorcycle routes in Spain back to Ronda. Here we were not only offered wonderful curves but also contact with the local population. After the first coffee stop was a bit shorter, we reached our lunch destination at Ronda early. Freshly strengthened we went to the last piece in the rugged mountains between Ronda and Malaga. After two unplanned stops we reached the sea again and enjoyed wonderful views until we reached the white mountain village of Mijas. After a last coffee and cake together, we quickly made the last piece back to the city hotel in Malaga where we celebrated the successful tour with an excellent dinner and tinsed about future plans. Tom and Holger say thank you for these beautiful days and hope to welcome everyone again on one of the next tours.