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Spain


Rocks on the Spanish side of the pass. I drive quite carefully on these mountain roads so often ther... Spanish mountain scenery. Does that symbol mean a speed camera or a viewpoint? I think that answers that question. Views from the viewpoint. Views from the viewpoint. Views from the viewpoint. How about this one? This is from a rest area on the motorway, about 1190 metres above sea level. The view. The view. The view. Four Germans. Now that I'm down from the mountains, it's hot and sunny but with a strong wind from the West. The building on the left is my hotel although I wasn't certain of that when I took the picture. It's... I didn't realise I had booked a room this size. It's got its own lobby. Assuming I manage to repair the puncture, I want to tour Zaragoza tomorrow by bike. At first, this m... However it's one of the few hotels in Zaragoza which has free parking. In fact it's got more than it... There's so much space that I don't know which parts to use. There are two places designed for puttin... The Sun is still in the sky, even though it's half an hour later than when I took ... This is the first bike that I've had in about 30 years which doesn't have quick-release wheels. When... It's a funny little wheel. The bike is repaired so I'm on my way into Zaragoza. A hedge labyrinth. They have managed to get to the middle with bikes. The path along the canal started well but has deteriorated into this. Scenery. There's another path along the other bank but it looks similar to this one. After only 3.5 km of the stony track, I've had another puncture. This can't be anything to do with m... Rather than setting speed limits, the signs here prohibit certain postures. I thought the cycle lanes on this road had ended but it turns out that they had just moved to the mi... In some places there are bike junctions marked out between the traffic lanes. I don't know what this crowd was for. Over there is my first road of the day. 2nd January... Zaragoza has a uniform style for its street signs so all six of today's six signs will be like this:... Second of January Street. I like the bus map. The River Ebro. Traffic is quite light today, as I had hoped. Zaragoza Basilica, with four towers and eleven domes. A railway viaduct. When I saw this it reminded me of what the area around one of today's target road... Like quite a lot of roads in Zaragoza, the right lane of this one is designed to be shared by cars, ... Today's second road, 16th of July Street. 16th July... There seem to be benches everywhere in Zaragoza. Looking back towards the city. I'm back here but this time looking the right way, along 23rd of April Street. 23rd April... Zaragoza. One end of 11th of July Street. 11th July... The other end is quieter. An Aragonese flag. This isn't one of the roads on my list but it's pleasant. Zaragoza. Zaragoza. Zaragoza. On the bank of the Ebro. I didn't notice all the birds when I was taking this picture but a few minutes later when I was in t... Zaragoza Basilica. At the end of the old bridge. The Metropolitan Cathedral. The statue on the pedestal in the background is the painter Francisco Goya, who grew up in the city.... Zaragoza. You can see the stairs in the bell tower. A shady square with quite an unpleasant smell. Just a back street. 5th of March Street. The people on the right are having some difficulty locking the shutters of thei... 5th March... Not many of these shops are open at four o'clock on a Sunday. Another part of 5th of March Street. Some kind of warning alarm. Tourists queueing to enter the Aljafería Palace, which is now the seat of government for the ... It's open. The Aljafería Palace. The reason why I have come to this park... ... is to have a look at this path. If that sign says what I think it will then I could have done this whole trip something like 10 days... It does. I knew that this path was called 20th of December Walk but I had not managed to find any ev... A tree with some large flowers. This road certainly isn't being used to capacity at the moment. The last street of the day... 26th June... The zebra crossing goes round a corner. I thought this would be a paved road leading most of the way back to the hotel. Obviously not. A view from a proper paved road when I fould one. This looks like a milestone on the path along the canal. I only had to do 700 metres on the stones t... I passed this at the start of the ride and heard the metal clanging. At the time I thought the wind ... Back at the hotel, where I just want to show you how big the bathroom is. I took this picture from i... The breakfast room is much quieter today than yesterday when there were several school sports teams ... The view from a self-service petrol station which appears to be owned by a vineyard and is has their... A town called Cariñena. The coat of arms looks hand-painted. Strangely, it's completely different to the one at the other en... 5th of June Street. 5th June... Cariñena. Wiring. It's a bit messy in some places. Cariñena. In places, the scenery is flat enough to hide the fact that I'm about 1000 metres above sea level ag... A view from the car window of a lot of large airliners, including what look like some A380s and 747s... Just a street in a town called Altura. A public bench whose back is decorated with tiles similar to the street name signs. 25th of March Street. 25th March... Just to show that I did go into 25th of March Street. A view from a pass through a small mountain range called Serra Calderona. Serra Calderona. Serra Calderona. Gátova. Stratified red rocks. There will be regional elections on Sunday so I've been seeing a lot of campaign posters. The area around my next road had plenty of parking space but not much character. 30th of May Street. 30th May... It's in Catalan. From where I've parked, I can read this house's electricity meter. I'm now near to today's last target. The street where I've parked has these hoses embedded in the gr... Orange trees! The road on the left is 8th of April Avenue. I'm a little bit worried now because this is where I th... I'm searching for another sign but on the way I've noticed that the Spanish Green Cross Code doesn't... 8th April... 8th of April Avenue. On the left is 8th of April School. This is where I will be staying tonight... Benidorm Bus Station. Seriously. An Algerian van. It seemed exotic at first but actually to get from here to Oran, where this van was... There doesn't seem to be a way to get from here up to the hotel. I drove round to the front of the building and found the hotel entrance there. The room is larger an... The view from my window includes glimpses of the sea... ... and also of some mist-shrouded mountains. From the corridor I can see some of the rock formations which I drove past. Benidorm by night. That sign looks huge. It's further away than the big building. It's a grey morning. Water running down the road. People come here on holiday? I was apprehensive about driving through this water but I couldn't really avoid it because there isn... 12th October... 12th of October Street. On the short walk between roads 139 and 140. Road 140: 7th of July Street in La Murada. You may remember that I chose not to count ... 7th July... Some front stairs in 7th of July Street. I've found a big pipe. This should have been road number 141 but there's a problem... ... it's been renamed. The current image on Google Street View is from two years ago and shows signs... It's been well and truly renamed though. There are now three signs with the new name and none with t... Scenery. 14th December... 14th of December road in Balsicas. I'm now in a town called La Unión, near Cartagena. It must have been a mining town. This square is a bit scruffy but the purple flowers on the jacaranda trees brighten it up. 7th of March Street in La Unión. 7th March... Tiles. Just a view with a flag. My next town: Puerto Lumbreras. A view from a bridge in Puerto Lumbreras. This should have been the Southernmost point of the trip b... More jacarandas. As well as the bridges, there is a road across the river bed. Given how much rain has just fallen, I... The back of the Town Hall. Its front is in my next road. 19th October... 19th of October Street. The Negratín Reservoir. I'm only going to show it to you from this angle because... ... I'm not standing there. The little markers on the steps show heights above sea level. Looking downstream from the dam. A village called Hinojares. I know the view of Hinojares is impressive but I don't think the overlook car park needs to be this ... Whatever writing was painted on that information board has long since faded away, leaving just the B... This is 1st of May Road in a Huesa. The first of May is the most common of all dates so I could have... 1st May... Huesa manages to retain some colour despite the rain. A view across olive groves. Near the town of Vilches. 6th February... 6th of February Square in Vilches. Today's last road, 5th of July Street in La Carolina. 5th July... My room tonight has an old-fashioned feel. This is the lobby. It's reminiscent of that palace where I stayed in Slovakia, but on a much smaller scale and in the h... After opening the curtains, the shutters, the windows and the blind, and poking my camera through th... ... and this view of more olive groves and a battery recycling bin. This morning they are repaving the market square. This hotel is not staffed in the mornings so I've got to let myself out. It took me a moment to work... It's common for blocks of flats around here to have garages on the ground floor. Some of them are ca... An electoral campaigning car. San Eurfasio Park in Andújar. Andújar. A vacant shop with tiled walls and floor. Andújar. The first of my three roads in Andújar. 19th April... The wall opposite the one with the name sign looks like this. 22nd of July Street. 22nd July... I having a wander round Andújar on foot rather than using the bike. Andújar. 12th of August Avenue. 12th August... Another part of 12th of August Avenue. A map. A house with stained glass windows. The plaque on the walls says who the architecht was. A view from a service station as I move from a hilly olive-growing region to flat arable land I don't know what has happened to the cover over that part of the car park. It's strange to see oranges just lying around on the ground. The end of a set of modern terraced streets in a little town called Pedro Abad. For some reason the ... Several of the roads in this estate are named after dates and there's quite a lot of overlap with th... 6th December... This morning I walked across Andújar to visit a 19th of April road. I knew I that this one wo... Pedro Abad. 28th February... 28th of February Street is giving mixed messages about who to vote for. The 1s on these signs are so badly written that Google Maps actually labels this road as the 34th of... I'm now in Córdoba. It's the biggest settlement that I will be visiting today but I'm only he... I should have checked where I parked my car. I don't want oranges falling on it. These weren't the only traditionally-dressed people I would see today. On the outskirts of Có... This road is named after the 7th of May. I'm now half-way through my time off work and the current s... 7th May... Córdoba's bullring. Okay. No fruit has fallen on my car while I was away but a second line of parked cars has formed, bo... I'm now making a detour off my planned route to visit a 29th of March road near Seville. I didn't kn... The tree trunks have been painted white. The road on the right is the one which I've come to see. 29th March... 29th of March Street in La Algaba. With that, I've recovered from yesterday's Tomás López García nonsense and I'm ... La Algaba. This is the second time today that I've seen signs saying that the Camino de Santiago is crossing my... Feria and its castle. There is an old tram outside tonight's hotel. The empty building across the road has an external spiral staircase. In case you're interested, here's my view. I hadn't expected to see storks in Portugal. I associate them with Eastern Europe and I don't rememb... There's one. This is a town called La Albuera. It's market day in La Albuera. The road to the left of the clock is 16th of May Street. I haven't go... If that's one of the babies, it's quite big. 16th of May Street is the road on the right. 16th May... Another part of the market.