SeMal (Sevilla to Malaga) 2021

 

 

This has been another trip of the improvised kind. We planned it just a few few weeks ago with no idea of what to expect (expect nothing) and it turned out to be way beyond our dreams. We had a week off and wanted to get the last sunshine before winter, and cycling is always a great way to explore places. I didn't know Andalucía very well, but Paul is fond of it (now I see why!), we checked flights and routes and came up with the SeMal, which would take us from Sevilla to Malaga via some incredible places.

Cycling Trip - Sept 21

We planned this trip 3 days before heading off, and surprisingly this last minute mini adventure worked out great. It was a combination of bits already cycled and new ones that we had in our radar for a while. 

GR 11 (Part 2)

If traveling abroad last year felt like a miracle, this time it was a mental endurance test. But, where there is a will there is a way... The original plan was cycling through the Pyrenees, but given all the uncertainties with changes from amber to red countries we decided to play it safe an hike instead. The obvious choice was the GR11. We did the bit from Candanchú to Espot a few years ago so that this year we did the Catalan bit with Andorra in the middle. It certainly provided a good change of scenery!

HCC + SM (Highlands Coast to Coast + Skye and Mull)

We were supposed to be in Spain, but oh well, when it's not destiny, it's just not destiny. The weather on day 1 was ridiculously sunny and hot for Scotland, so that it felt like being somewhere in Spain anyway. It was a last minute planning and preparing the route was more like a shopping trip...we can add a bit of this, less of that, what about this new one? 

Mini Adventures 2021

Caingorms mini trip

May 2021

There was a time when you would have got a day off, booked a flight, go to nice places and do nice things. Then Covid came, and you would have got a day off, and still go to a nice place and do nice things. Occasionally, you would even got sunshine and get burnt, even in Scotland. 

Skye Trip 2021

As soon as the Covid restrictions allowed traveling within Scotland, we got our hands on maps and weather forecasts and decided to head off to the West Coast for our annual spring mini adventure. We had been in Skye 7 years ago during our first cycle tour together and at the time it felt like there was some unfinished business up there. The idea of sharing this island with a trillion of other tourists always put me off, but with Covid around it felt this was the right time, it was now or never. The weather forecasts were promising so that at the last minute we ordered the Skye Trail guide book, with the idea of walking it all and wild camp.  

Day 1 – Getting to the start point (The Red Phone Box) – barely 2 km 

30 April 2021 

On this sunny Friday morning at 9.30am we said good bye to our warm flat and headed North, reaching Portree at 3.30pm. The bus was at 3.50pm, and when we realised that the long stay parking had a max of 12 hours stay we started panicking a bit, but soon found a spot in the community centre car park and made it in time. Being a bus driver in Skye must be the best job ever as all the bus drivers we met were always in a great mood! We were dropped at the Red Phone Box by Duntulm, the official starting point of the Skye Trail.