Day twenty seven

 

After a good start this morning, leaving the Condal hotel in Girona at 09:30, it turns out to be a long day. Still on the road at 20:00 and nowhere to overnight. I sit in a MacDonald's with a coffee wondering how to proceed. I wanted to wild camp after not finding a campsite but being on the industrial outskirts of Barcelona there is nothing remotely suitable. Batteries are dying so have to keep this post short. 

Earlier I had followed Google maps directions to a campsite called camping Roquetes, it was the only one in the vicinity, all the rest were on the coast. I was taken on a 3km climb off my main route and then told to turn off onto a dirt track. It was steep, sandy and very difficult to push the bike up and I was still 1-2km away from the campsite. Halfway up the track I saw a notice that said it was private and it looked very similar to the last campsite up a dirt track that refused tents. There was no Internet reception here and a large metal entrance gate was locked. I decided not to risk it again and turned back adding 5km to my daily total with nothing to show for it.

In the afternoon I see a sign for a Burger King and decide to stop there for lunch, if only to compare it to my last MacDonald's experience. The setup is much the same with a digital menu that hundreds of kids have touched giving Covid every opportunity to multiply. I choose a simple cheese burger and lemon drink, milk shakes are not on the menu and that was what I was mainly looking forward to. There are few customers but once again they are all under 30 I guess. The burger arrives and it looks good for 2.50 euros. Much thicker than the Big Mac burgers and it tastes like beef. It was certainly better value than the Big Mac but it too was dry. It would seem juicy burgers are a thing of the past. The last bite I cannot stomach and it goes in the bin with the rest of the packaging. Both outlets are nothing like they used to be. Their food has really gone downhill and the prices have doubled. It is clearly for the younger generation who grew up playing there as kids enjoying a day out with Mum and Dad. Now that generation is managing the outlets.

Later ... In a pension.

I discover I am further away from Barcelona than I had first thought despite having ridden over 75km today. I check Booking.com while having my coffee in the McDonald's and find a cheap pension in the nearby town. I ride the 2.5km to it in the dark and for a change it is mostly downhill. However when I arrive despite my booking confirmation it is all shut up. A guy exits a door that appears to be connected to the pension. No one speaks English here but my few words of Spanish suffice. The guy indicates that sometime a 'guy in a red shirt' will arrive. Sure enough 20 minutes later a guy in a red shirt arrives and takes one look at the bike and says no, no!

The entrance door and hallway appear to be too narrow for the bike. I explain that I have paid and that I can remove the luggage. He consults with a colleague. Eventually they agree to take me on and I squeeze the bike complete with luggage through the doorway, along a corridor to a right-angle turn and into a restaurant area where the bike will spend the night.

Cheap places on Booking.com are often like this and I have had some bad experiences in France, Switzerland and Taiwan possibly due to language, translations and these basic places living on a shoe string.

When I retrieve my baguette from the bike's pannier the pension owner smiles, obviously all is forgiven and he probably thinks, poor soul, give him a break.😂

All's well that ends well!

Anyway it beats wild camping and I may even get a breakfast. 

Tomorrow looks like a short uphill section then downhill all the way to Barcelona, so I could be in Barcelona by lunchtime.

A garden centre that I passed today with some really wacky trees.