June 7th, 2018 – Jerez, Spain to Portimão, Portugal: ~300 miles
Vy and I make it into Portugal.
Did you miss Day 5? Vy and I head to Gibraltar to make friends with some monkeys..
Jerez is a special place in the world of motorcycling – and that becomes clear when you show up to town and are greeted by Bibendum, aka the Michelin Man.
In town is the Circuito de Jerez, home to the Spanish round of the MotoGP championship. Recently added to the complex was a statue of Spanish motorcycling legend Angel Nieto. Nieto won Spanish championships in the 50, 125, 250, 500, and 750 classes, and he had international success with the smaller bikes. A superstitious man, he liked to say that he had “12+1” championships. Unfortunately, Angel passed away in 2017 when he was hit by a car while on a quad. The track has since officially been renamed The Circuit of Jerez-Angel Nieto and a memorial statue was erected soon after.
The Jerez round of the 2018 MotoGP season was a month prior to our visit, but there were still some signs around the track.
Maybe someday I’ll get an invite to a press launch that’s happening at Jerez. Until then, I suspect that this is as close as I’ll get for a while.
We stopped in Seville for a little sightseeing and lunch. This is the Triana Bridge, built in 1852 as the first solid bridge in the city (replacing a floating bridge made of boats that lasted for 700 years).
Nearby was this fascinating statue of Antonio Mairena that someone was cleaning. Mairena was a famous musician who specialized in traditional flamenco and was a bit polarizing as he was very traditional in his beliefs of what was “true” flamenco and what wasn’t.
Man’Go is a great name for this piece of equipment.
In Seville, there are dedicated “MOTOS” sections at the front of major intersections so that 2-wheelers can filter up to the front around cars and get a head start at each stoplight. Nice!
This is the Maestranza, short for the “Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla.” As you can probably guess from the first three words, it’s a bullfighting ring. What you might not be able to guess is that it seats 12,000 people. It’s approximately 250 years old.
Vy’s Lonely Planet came through again, giving us a quality recommendation for lunch.
It was a tapas restaurant called La Brunilda, and everything we had was amazing. Special mention goes to the tuna tataki with couscous and vegetables.
Our last moments in Spain (at least for a while) were enjoyable as we had minimal traffic and a windy two lane road.
The one bummer about entering Portugal via a back road is that the signage isn’t particularly impressive.
In fact, the road we took was so small that Google suggested that we go a different way.
Birds had made homes on just about every power line alongside our back road.
We pulled over to investigate further and a resident popped out to say hi.
The stop I was most excited about today was the abandoned São Domingos Mines. The tiny signage didn’t make them easy to find!
The area was mined by the Romans way back when, but modern mining started in 1854. It was a prominent source of copper ore for 50 years, which is part of the reason why the terrain is so vibrant.
This was the first location in Portugal to have electric lighting.
It’s also the first location in Portugal to have a Baby Jack portrait, I assume.
It’s long been abandoned, but I had a blast exploring the area.
After World War I, the mining priority shifted to pyrite for the creation of sulphuric acid. This would end up ruining the area as water required for the purification process got contaminated and basically turned into the acid itself. The Portuguese government debated implementing laws that would force mining companies to pay to clean up the contamination, and they responded by closing the mine in 1966, leaving the area in ecological shambles and putting a tremendous amount of locals out of jobs. Almost five decades later, the water is still red.
The old mining company headquarters have been converted into a hotel, but we couldn’t find it, so we continued our ride west.
As the fuel gauge dropped towards empty, I realized that I couldn’t see any fuel stations nearby on the BMW Motorrad Navigator. So we stopped in the next small town to ask a local where the nearest gas station would be. Having spent the last five and a half days in Spain, I was used to speaking in Spanish (not that I know Portuguese, anyway). I asked an older lady for her help but she couldn’t understand me. Vy could at least make out that the woman was saying something along the lines of “you’re in Portugal, speak Portuguese.” I apologized (in English) and moved on. Thankfully, we encountered a gas station that wasn’t on the GPS just a few minutes later.
That got us enough fuel to make it to our next stop, Praia da Marinha. The Michelin Guide calls it one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in Europe.
Presumably, that rating jumps to top-5 when Baby Jack is on it.
Though it was the end of the day, I was still surprised to find that the beach was basically empty. I wasn’t complaining! The sand was soft and the cliffs were steep, and it was a wonderful place to relax for a bit.
Vy went about her usual climbing…
…and then snuck under a rock which got us to another portion of the beach.
Baby Jack and I took a nap, caught the sunset, and then got back on the road to our last stop of the day.
This adorable speed sensor responds dramatically differently if you’re a speeder or not. If you’re over the limit, it shows your speed in red. But if you’re a good citizen, it shows your speed in yellow and then flashes you a green happy face.
By the time we got to Portimão, most restaurants were closed. We decided to try something that we usually sample once in different countries – McDonald’s. We like to see what’s different in each market. Portuguese McD’s have offerings like “Chicken Bites” instead of chicken nuggets, a “Mediterranean” burger, “Chicken Cheese” sandwich, and the “McVeggie,” which includes a quinoa patty. I got a Filet-O-Fish, Vy got the gross (I assume) veggie sandwich, and we got some “country style fries” (basically thick potato chips) as an excuse to try every sauce we could.
Tomorrow, we head north towards Lisbon!