In this entry we depart the big city of Salamanca and ride across the plains for 2.5 days until reaching more mountainous terrain. We delight in the city of Zamora, endure a heat wave, bail on another hostel and generally hit our stride.

Day 14: Salamanca to Zamora (70km)

If you had told me at the beginning of this trip that we would be logging 70km days somewhat regularly, I would not have believed you. Yet here we are!

Predictably, we got a little lost and the route got messy departing from Salamanca. We were all smiles once we saw the car dealerships though. It seems that in every country, the car dealerships mark the end of town. We waved goodbye to the Toyotas and cycled on our way.

The route was flat and fast. Honestly, it was a bit of a blur we were going so fast! We stopped to smell these fragrant yellow flowers that lined the road, and we stopped to devour a bunch of cookies, and before we knew it we had entered the city of Zamora.

There are few places that I mark down as ‘need to be revisited’, but wow Zamora was one of them. To begin with we had rented a beautiful apartment on a little plaza that was absolutely delightful. Then we wandered the old town which was gorgeous, AND got to explore a castle. The city was packed with little museums (that we didn’t have time to visit) and was super walkable. It also wasn’t swarming with tour groups like Salamanca was.

Day 15: Zamora to Tabara (48km)

Today we left our beloved N-630 highway that we have followed more or less since Sevilla, and started heading northwest instead of North. N-630 ends in Gijon and we are heading to Santiago de Compostela. Now we are on the Camino Sanabres, one of the many pilgrimage routes to Santiago.

We chose to take a bit of a shortcut compared to what our guide book recommended, and it had pros and cons. It was shorter by about 12km, but it also had more traffic and little shoulder. It was in no way unsafe, and the drivers were all extraordinarily careful of us, but it wasn’t the carefree riding we had gotten used to.

We arrived early to our destination in Tabara – around 1pm! Jason went to get us a room, and when he came out to tell us the specifics he left the key to the garage (for the bikes) on a little shelf. Then he couldn’t find it. We suffered several long moments of panic over where is the key?!! The lady gave us a spare and by the time we returned from storing our bikes and stuff the key had ‘appeared’. We suspect an employee had grabbed it while Jason was outside and put it away.

We had a delicous ‘menu del dia’ at the hotel restuarant. The menu offers a choice of first plate, second plate, dessert, and drink. Cheap places offer it for 12 euros, but fancy places ask around 18. Ha – we only go for the cheap ones.

Day 16: Tabara to Entrepeñas (70km)

Now, this day was as much an adventure as the previous day was an uneventful and shorter ride.

We decided to follow the book’s advice this time and take the longer route off the main road. This involved some extra climbs, some small towns, some bike-pushing, and of course beautiful scenery.

The typical Spanish breakfast consists of cafe (coffee) and tostada (toast), and you can get a little butter and jam on your toast. Jason was dragging in the morning, but once we got him some extra calories (a few spoonfuls of peanut butter) all was set right. We went off road onto the same gravel path that the walking Camino took over the hill. It got quite steep!

It was getting very hot again, and we knew we had a ways to go, so we were very excited to see sprinklers watering a section of grass in a small town’s park. A and H especially had a blast running through the water. I’m not sure what the locals thought about that episode.

One of the next towns we came to was only a strip of buildings along the road. However, there was a great panaderia and a grocery store where we got some good eats.

We traveled on to Rionegro where we wet our shirts again, downed a coca-cola, and had a quick chat with some New Zealanders. Finally we made it to our destination of Mombuey. We set our bikes in the Albergue and got a menu. In our chat with one of the other peregrinos, we were warned that there may be an unsavory character at the Albergue this night and decided to get back on the bikes. (After wetting our shirts yet again!) Daisy found a nice place in Entrepeñas and voila, our long day had finally come to an end.

Entrepeñas is a tiny village with absolutely no businesses. The owner of the house where we stayed was kind enough to bring us some eggs and milk so we could put together a good dinner and breakfast. It was actually very charming to wander this small little village.

In this entry we continue to enjoy the mountains before descending into the plains around Salamanca for a rest day. We do some lovely off-road riding along a Roman road, stay in a giant hostel with communal meals, and have a misadventure finding lodging in Salamanca.

Day 11: Baños de Montemayor to Fuenterobles (35km)

Leaving Baños involved a well-graded climb up and over the mountain pass and into the next drainage. We could see snow-covered mountains and for many miles afterwards we enjoyed looking back and watching the mountains slowly recede. After finishing the climb we chose to join the walkers on a dirt track that went steeply down into a valley.

For lunch we stopped at a small bar, where the owner was so charmed by our girls that he flagged down a friend riding by on a horse. They offered to let the girls take a short little pony ride around the square, joking that maybe they’d trade the bicycles for horses. H said she’d make the trade, and A said no way.

We continued on a dirt track through farmland and open fields. Along the track were Roman mile markers. The girls were inspired to learn about Roman numerals, and that night ended up doing Roman numeral math problems!

We rolled into the tiny town of Fuenterobles prepared to share a bunkroom with a bunch of hikers in a pilgrim’s hostel that is famous for offering hospitality to travelers. We were delighted to find that they had a four-bed room we could have for just our family. Hilariously it was called the American Room in honor of pilgrims from the US. I guess it was meant to be.

At 8:30 there was a communal pilgrim’s dinner and we ate with about 20 other people walking on this route. Everyone was friendly and they seemed delighted to have kids around. The host gave them extra olive oil on their fish. The girls were overwhelmed with all the attention, but when dinner was finaly done well after 9pm they were quickly asleep.

Day 12: Fuenterobles to Salamanca (51km)

We were the last of the pilgrims to leave the hostel, since no one in our bunk room was interested in waking up early! Back on the dirt track we took a turn to get back to the road sooner. It went through several cow pastures requiring opening and closing gates. At each one we held our breath, praying it wouldn’t be locked… and none were! We made it to the next town of Frades de la Sierra without incident.

As we rolled into a town a man called out to welcome us to his grain mill museum. Mind you, this was a random, tiny town in the middle of nowhere. We said yes. He welcomed us into the grain mill owned by his family for three generations. He showed us pictures of his parents and grandparents, explained how they got the machinery, and also how it worked. They used a steam engine to power it! All the farmers from the surrounding areas would bring their wheat to be ground. Jason would like to add that the mill shook the building so hard that the roof was reinforced with extra wood beams and suspension heists.

The ride into Salamanca was uneventful. Usually entering a big city is stressful with traffic, but we got on a separated bike path that delivered us right downtown without incident. Once there the historical area was packed. We walked to the hostel where we had reserved rooms, but found that it was in fact impossible to get the bicycles into the bicycle storage area. Actually, the storage area was a small corner in a stairwell that was already full.

We quickly scrambled to find new lodging and leave the old one. For only about $15 more than the crowded hostel we rented a two-bedroom apartment just on the outside of the historical area. It turned out to be a great decision.

Day 13: Rest in Salamanca (0km)

We were all happy to have another true zero day. We slept in, ate Argentine Empanadas, and did a small amount of traditional tourism. If I’m being honest though, we mainly sat around and ate. Jason and I took a walk to a big grocery store and ended up with a LOT of food.

We followed the advice from the outdoor store and took the Via Verde rail trail out of town.  What a fantastic experience we had on this trail all day long!  The trail follows an old rail line that was used until the mid 1990’s.  It’s conversion to a regional trail seems to be relatively recent.  We picked up the trail at its terminus in Plasencia.

Right away we started out impressed with a long tunnel that even had lights.  Out the other side we were immediately in the country instead of the densely packed outskirts of Plasencia.   A river raged below us and wildflowers burst from the ground on either side.  There were glowing poppies all along the trail.

In rapid succession we rode over two high bridges.  We were appropriately wowed and stopped to peer over the edge at the rapids far below.  We joked that this trail was going to take us twice as long as the road would since we were stopping so often for pictures.

H got cold from all the rock cut-out shadows along the trail and we stopped several times to add more layers.  As the day progressed it heated up and the shadows retreated. 

Eventually we emerged from the rock cut-outs into a wider plain with horses and cows and trees on either side.  At one point the trail brushed against a road and a service station so we could grab some soda and coffee.  We met a cyclist from Hungary there who had a heavily loaded bike and was sticking to the roads.

The trail climbed up gently towards the mountain towns.  Our pace slowed.  The girls delighted in sticking their feet to the side to have the plants brush against them. As we gained altitude we entered a treed area full of shade. 

Right before 2pm we entered the historical town of Hervas.  We wanted so desperately to get some ice cream, but the grocery stores here close at 2 for the siesta.  At exactly 1:59 Jason dashed into a supermarket only seconds before they started lowering the shades… and he emerged with ice cream cones!  We sat in delight and ate our cones as the local schools let out and packs of school children surged by on the pedestrian street.

The town was beautiful.  We walked and rode through the narrow streets back to the trail, which wound above the town and along the mountainside through lovely terraced farms.  Looking back on the village impressed us until we turned around the mountain and into the next valley.

Just as the trail leveled out it was time to descend to our destination: Baños de Montemayor.  There are some hot springs here that make the town a legitimate destination for tourists.  We are staying at a small hostel and we are the only ones here.  The small alleys and mountain-style houses are delightful to explore. 

We went out to eat for the very first time on this trip – H ate an entire pizza (not a personal pizza, more like a pizza for two). What a day!

A short entry without too much riding to make way for an entry entirely about a perfect day of riding (on day 10).

Day 8: Cañaveral to Plasencia (41 km) Well, the night in the shared room hostel was noisy and not too restful, but we all slept well enough to get on the bikes the next morning. The hikers are always up and gone before we even are all awake, so at least it’s quiet while we get out the door.

The day started with an uphill climb that eventually reached our very first summit sign! This was our first summit sign *ever* as a family and we were delighted.

After the summit sign was a mostly flat/downhill ride into a headwind towards Plasencia, a walled city widely considered to be the cultural capital of the northern Extremadura. The ride was broken up by a stop at a highway rest station for the busy interstate. WOW was this as an experience for us! It was a bar/restuarante serving sandwiches, plates of food, and drinks of all types. It was absolutely hopping with people and we were the only non-Spaniards. We had a big and yummy early lunch.

As we rolled into Plasencia we rode along the ancient walls of the city. We found our hotel just outside of the walls – Hotel Dora, a one-star hotel that just barely earned that one star. It had been difficult to find lodging in the city, so this was the best we could do. It was clean and safe, but the air conditioning didn’t even pretend to work and the first floor smelled so badly of secondhand smoke that we rushed through it every time.

On the plus side, we found an automated laundromat and did a load of clothes as soon as we arrived. Yay for clean clothes!

Day 9: Rest day in Plasencia (0 km)

A true zero miles day (on the bikes). We got pastries for breakfast, found a city park packed full of peacocks, walked on the city walls, and did shopping/chores. The girls spent more than a few hours playing games and reading.

H needed sunglasses, so we stopped at an outdoor store and the owner brought out a whole box of sports sunglasses for kids for her to try on. As she decided, we got to chatting and I told him about our trip. He was very excited to share with us that a new rail trail had recently been completed and it could serve as our route for the next day of riding. We bought the glasses and took his advice – the next update will be on our beautiful and perfect day on the rail trail.