Riding the Pyrenees, with a trip to the Assen TT MotoGP thrown in
It had been 3 years since my last Alps trip, and in the interim I’ve been riding less and less. I can’t put my finger on exactly why – other things come up, nothing interesting to ride to, too hot/wet/cold, etc. I think I put on less than 500 miles last year, and had to replace the battery this year to even get the bike started. I was beginning to wonder if maybe I was ready to be done with riding. So I was more than a little curious to see how I would feel at the end of a 1900km, 8 day adventure. Would it renew my joy of motorcycling, or push me towards hanging up my helmet?
My usual partners in crime would be joining me on the trip, Peter (gasgauge) and Dave (NearlySeventy). In a departure from previous trips, I would not be doing any of the route planning. Peter volunteered (well, that’s how I remember it) to take care of all the routes and hotel choices. It would turn out to make the trip feel quite different – with no hand in the planning I really had no idea where we were or where we were going each day. I’ve got no complaints, Peter did a GREAT job on the whole thing, but it was strange to be such a passive participant this time.
I have to include a quick rundown on how I made the flights work – I’ve been playing the miles/points game now for about 5 years and have learned a few tricks. Although I didn’t use any frequent flyer miles for these flights, but I did some pretty creative bookings. When looking at flight costs back in February the prices were around $1,200 for economy from PHL to Barcelona and a return from Amsterdam (closest airport to Assen). Looking around for other options, I saw that if I left from Toronto instead of Philly the flights were around $500 – way cheaper! Conveniently the flight from Toronto stopped in Philly both ways – you’ll see why I needed this in a minute.
So first I needed to get a positioning flight to YYZ. Using a concept called “hidden city ticketing” I found a one-way flight from PHL to Bermuda that stops in Toronto for about $100. I’ll take the PHL-YYZ segment and NOT continue to Bermuda. Then I can pick up my “real” flight from YYZ to BCN, which just happens to have a layover in PHL. So yes, I did a r/t to Toronto to save money. The return flight, from AMS-YYZ, also stops in PHL. I’ll hop off the plane there and “miss” my YYZ flight, and drive home. All in, about $600 for the flights, or $500 less than the direct option. That savings pays for all the hotels on the trip!
We looked at a few motorcycle rental places in Barcelona – BMWBikeRentals, IMTBikes, and Hispania Tours. After several rounds and emails back-and-forth it was obvious Hispania was the best choice for us. They offered a full set of rental gear (I was not interested in schlepping all my riding gear around Europe), had excellent prices, and, most importantly, were easy and professional to deal with. Every email was answered timely and addressed the question, which is more than I can say for the other outfits.
This would also be the first trip where I would be leaving the DSLR at home, opting instead for a much smaller and lighter mirrorless setup (Panasonic GX85, 12-32 and 45-150 lenses). I had just gotten the camera a week before and test shots looked promising, so I was hoping it would be up to the task for some action shots as well as more traditional scenic/travel photos.
Tuesday, June 14th – PHL-YYZ-PHL-BCN
Had a short easy flight to Toronto sitting next to a fellow travel hacker, and the time went quickly as we talked about all the trips and tricks we’ve done. I met up with Dave at the airport since he was starting his trip from there – Peter was on different flights and was already on his way. We killed some time in the tiny Admirals Club in Terminal 1, then waited in “the dungeon” for our flight to PHL. An uneventful flight brought me back to where I started the day, and we got some drinks and snacks in the much larger and nicer Admirals Club in PHL Terminal A. While we were waiting for our on-time departure we got texts from Peter who was stuck in his connection in IAD looking at a 2-hour flight delay. Hopefully we’d all be able to meet up on arrival in BCN.
Large Admirals Club in PHL
Dave busted eating cookies
Fortunately our flight was not that full and Dave and I were able to each get 2-seat rows to ourselves. I’ve never been able to sleep on a plane – even when I’ve been lucky enough to get a lie-flat bed in business class - but at least I’d be able to get more comfortable with no one next to me. Speaking of sleep, I’ve always had great difficulty in sleeping the first few nights on a European trip, so much so that I got to experience my first panic attack a few years ago. I got zero sleep the first night in Munich on that trip, and when midnight came around the 2nd night and I was still awake things got…bad. For this trip I visited the doctor and got a scrip for some Ambien. I had never used it before, but did a test run one night about a week before the trip. Out in 10 minutes. Hopefully I won’t need it, but very reassuring knowing I have it if I do.
Coming in to Barcelona
Wednesday, June 15th – Barcelona
Eventually we all met up at baggage claim and split a taxi to our hotel in the Diagonal area of Barcelona. Their room was ready, mine was not. Left my luggage in their room and we headed out to find some lunch across the way at the Glories mall. Had a tasty – and cheap! – lunch combo of Iberian ham sandwich and cava and started to shake off the non-sleep jetlag a bit.
I knew what my first priority was in Barcelona – I stopped back at the room, changed into my bathing suit, and we took a taxi to the beach at Barcelonetta. Having such a great beach in the city is just fantastic! After a nice swim we walked up and down the beach checking out the sights, then over to Las Ramblas for more sightseeing. Dave and I had been to Barcelona on the last Alps trip in order to go the MotoGP Catalunya round, but it was Peter’s first time. By the time we finished dinner in the tourist center of Barcelona we were wiped out. Back to the hotel and I was in bed at 9:30 feeling utterly exhausted. By 11pm I was still laying in bed awake. Took the Ambien, started an episode of Futurama, and the next thing I new my alarm was going off at 8am. Score!
Diagonal is a nice quieter area of Barcelona
5 euro lunch of Iberian ham and red wine (Peter got the cava instead of the wine, which was the better choice)
Café by the beach
Barcolenetta beach
Scooter cops
Las Ramblas
Thursday, June 16th – Barcelona
This was our only full day in Barcelona. First stop was the Mercado de La Boqueria market back at Las Ramblas which was great to wander around in. Walked down to Barcelonetta again and took the cable-car ride over the harbor, then taxi back to the hotel. I left the other guys for another beach visit, then we met back at the hotel for to head out for our scheduled tour of the famous Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia church.
Mercado de La Boqueria
2 of the top 20 largest yachts in the world were in the harbor. Must be nice!
The area south of Las Ramblas were filled with hawker after hawker selling basically the same stuff. FCB shirts, sunglasses, pocketbooks, sneakers
There is a Ferrari rental place in Barcelona. For 99 euro you can drive the car 20 minutes around the heavy traffic by the beach. Um, no. There are pricier packages that get more driving time away from the city too.
View from the cable car
The yachts again
Sagrada Familia is an imposing presence on the Barcelona skyline
As is this giant phallus
Las Ramblas from above
The exterior of the church is like nothing else you’ve ever seen, and quite impressive. The inside, however, is just jaw-dropping. The light inside the church is stunning. No words can do it justice. If you are ever in Barcelona, pay the extra money to book a tour that goes inside the church.
Impressive from the outside, but nothing prepares you for the interior
Breathtaking
View from the tower tour
Long winding staircase down
Dinner was on a less-touristy stretch of pedestrian zone near the hotel where we had a great meal of build-your-own garlic bread, hanging beef skewers, and cava sangria.
Cava sangria
Make your own garlic bread. Bread, tomatos and garlic provided
Delicious hanging beef skewers
Great end to a busy day
Tons of walking today, sleep came without any aid. Tomorrow we pick up the bikes and begin the adventure!
