Park Up And Party

I last talked to you from a roadside hotel having just completed 650 kms of wind-battering, motorway riding. A somewhat plastic hotel breakfast had me back on the relentless tarmac of the A62 which led me straight into Portugal withing the hour. Besides the immediate and obvious difference that transforms the flat open plains of central Spain to the rolling, substantially greener hills of Portugal, my introduction to this Atlantic-exposed country was the tuneful hooting and enthusiastic thumbs-up from a BMW driving, young driver who seemed very excited that I was riding in his national lands. This was followed by an overly persistent, large man trying to sell me an iPhone 4 while I was filling up at a motorway service station; he finally understood my unwillingness to buy at my 11th and slightly louder "No!"

Covering 500 kms in very good time, I arrived in Cascais on the coast, west of Lisbon, at 3pm where I met up with an old workmate who has been living there for some years. I have been to Cascais a couple of times previously and it was really terrific to be back as it is a marvelous place; spacious, marsh-mallow cobbled streets and pavements, excellent fish restaurants and the clear-skied heat of the sun lessened by the constant ocean breeze. An extremely pleasant evening in my friend's newly acquired town-centre restaurant had me cheering my decision to break up my journey to the South with this stop-over and a pleasure to experience, once again, the warmth and friendliness of the Portuguese.

After catching some fish for the restaurant at the local market, I was back on the road heading south again, on the final pre-party leg of my trip.

An easy run and I arrive at the villa about 4pm ... a huge place, already full of 10 people (5 couples), all long-standing friends of the birthday boy.
A warm and cheery welcome was soon followed by a well-earned dip in the pool where I could have stayed for a week.

I will be here until Thursday so won't be blogging as I also know all these wonderful people very well and have done so for many years. Once this party starts, it will not stop. Oh, here's the jolly gang ...