Traveling the Iberian Peninsula by motorcycle.

Seville is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. Я не впервые в Севилье и каждый раз улыбаясь, в прекрасном настроении хожу по узким улочкам старого города с ажурными балконами, выйдя на который можно протянуть и пожать руку соседу напротив.

Horse-drawn carriages take tourists past tall bell towers and grandiose temples along the Guadalquivir riverfront to the fantastically beautiful Plaza de España with openwork bridges, a classical fountain and Spanish women dancing fiery flamenco to the guitar.

It so happened that my small, cozy hotel in the city center turned out to be next to the famous bullfighting arena.

And tomorrow, the Day of the Spanish Nation (Fiesta Nacional de España) is celebrated all over Spain, which is dedicated to the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492.

And I bought a ticket to the bullfight

Bullfighting was canceled

Rather, it was postponed a week later due to bad weather.

For several days now, the entire Iberian Peninsula has been covered with clouds. Rain has canceled the execution of bulls at Spain's oldest and most famous arena Maestranza (Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza) in the city of Seville.

The rain gave the bulls another week of life. And deprived thousands of bullfighting fans of a colorful and spectacular show

I can't count myself among them, so I took it all philosophically. I felt sorry for the disappointed spectators, rejoiced for the bulls and went to the no less colorful performance at El Palacio Andaluz Flamenco.

In this beautiful Flamenco Theater, at a table with a bottle of wonderful Rioja and thinly sliced cheese and jamon, I spent not the worst hour and a half of my life.

And the next day I was already flying on a perfect highway on my two-wheeled BMW to the border with Portugal.

Portugal is a very small country.

It can be crossed from south to north in six hours by toll highways. And from west to east in two.

The roads here are great!

There are almost no cars on the expressways. By our standards, you could say that they are empty. And the main thing is that there are no cameras, no police ambushes, and you can drive at any speed. I used to drive 150-160 km/h on the autobahns, and sometimes cars overtook me at speeds over 200.

There are a lot of gas stations. Usually they are typical, with a store, a cafe and a rest area. магазином, кафе и зоной отдыха.

Gasoline costs -1.6 euros.

Coffee - 2-3 euros.

The secondary roads are also of excellent quality, often running along the oceanfront with slight ups and downs, and are comfortable and fun to drive on.

You can always turn to the Atlantic, stop at the edge of the earth and look down from the high rocky shore to where the ocean merges with the sky, thinking about the eternal. Or about today, as I do.

On this trip, as usual, I have no plan and no itinerary. Where to go tomorrow I decide tonight.

I spent one full day in Lisbon. A wonderful and unique city. Of course, one day is not enough for the capital of Portugal. Only a general picture and that is thanks to the guide Sergey, who tried to cover the vastness in three hours.

The Atlantic coast of Portugal leaves an unforgettable impression and there are many places where sitting on a high rock, on which the huge, foaming waves crash with thunder you can think about eternal and feel the power and scale of the ocean.

One of them is Cape Cabo de Roca, known as the westernmost point of the European continent

Although it is quite a popular tourist place and you will hardly be able to sit on the edge of the cliff alone, talking to the ocean tet-a-tet, but I strongly recommend you to come here. If you will be in the capital of Portugal, it is very close - 30 minutes by car or moto.

An iconic place. A huge sheer cliff, a lighthouse, a precipitous shore, a granite cross and a boundless ocean surface.

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The second very popular and no less famous place is Cape Nazare, located near the town of the same name and the famous beach.

The mecca of crazy surfers who like to ride giant, the largest waves in the world, reaching a height of 25 meters or more!

Here, as on Cape Cabo de Roca, there is a strong wind all the time, but the waves are not always there. I was not lucky this time, although I am not a surfer at all, but just to look at it. ))

There is also a lighthouse on a huge rock, two wide and long beaches on either side of it and even a small museum dedicated to the legendary conquerors of the highest waves on the planet.

And the town of Nazare itself is very interesting and authentic, especially the elderly women in short colorful skirts selling fruit in the central square. )

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Moving slowly north, I reached Porto, the second largest and most important city in Portugal. The city is very colorful, with a rich history, inextricably linked to seafaring, trade and winemaking.

I have long dreamed of getting to the valley of the Douro River, it is a little north of Porto, beyond the mountain pass — the birthplace of the famous port wine

Not the port wine that stood on the shelves of any rural store during the Soviet era. All these cheap Solntsedars, Agdam, 777 and other drinks, called bormotukha have nothing to do with real port wine, just as Soviet Champagne has nothing to do with real French Champagne, for example.

Port wine (vinho do Porto) is a fortified wine aged in oak barrels and produced in the legislatively fixed region of the Douro River Valley according to a clearly regulated technology.

I left my motorcycle in the parking lot for one day and traveled with my guide to the wineries. With tasting, of course!

One of the wineries surprised me the most. This is a large Quinta da Aveleda estate with vineyards, wine warehouses and production, owned by the same family for several generations.

It wasn't so much the wine itself that surprised me, but the grounds of the estate with its beautiful English garden, mossy paths, two hundred year old sequoia trees and wine cellars with classical music playing constantly.

(41.208327, -8.308599) It turns out that the wine aged in this way becomes more refined!

On this day, we drove more than 200 km along winding mountain roads that follow the bends of the river with breathtaking views of terraces with vineyards, neat houses and ships sailing along the river.

It's a pity that you can't take a lot of wine in a motorcycle!))

A leisurely 12 days and an imposing 3,000 km across the Iberian Peninsula completed my motorcycle travel season. After passing Portugal from south to north, I turned around and drove back along the official tourist route "National road N2".

This N2 road passes through the most picturesque areas of Portugal, crossing it from top to bottom. Its length is 739 km, and if you arrive at zero km, then at the tourist office you will be given a special book in which all the main attractions are marked and along the way you can put seals in this book confirming your conquest of this, apparently legendary road. According to the type of Route 66 in the USA. At the finish line, they may award a diploma and a medal, but this is inaccurate, since I drove only about two hundred km along the N2 and turned east to Spain.

Not conquered, that is.)

Late in the evening I reached the very interesting and unusual city of Salamanca.

In recent years, I have often been to Spain, I have driven it up and down more than once, but I came to Salamanca for the first time. And it's strange, such a beautiful city!

One University, which was founded in 1218 and looks more like a royal palace, is worth it! And besides it, there are countless temples, bell towers, narrow streets and courtyards in the Arabic style.

In general, Salamanca impressed!

Recommended for a visit, so to speak. ))

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