View from the Pillion - Road to Pamplona

The Hotel A Boira in Jaca is family run, simple but perfect for motorcycle touring. There is a large garage where we stow the bike. The family use the lobby/lounge as their living room, so kids and loud, Spanish TV are part of the scene. The family dog stays in the garage and guards the bikes. There is a group of fellow riders from England who came across by ferry from Portsmouth. They are just starting their tour and are up early and out by the time we come down for breakfast. It's a simple meal of croissants, the inevitable ham, cheese, cafe con leche and juice. In order to ask questions of our hostess, Peter uses the I Phone translation ap. This works wonders and causes a few chuckles. Translation is slightly odd, but understandable.

It is a faster, shorter ride today; more sweepers and less tight twisties, with beautiful views of an aquafresh-coloured lake in the valley far below and a stop at the Monastery of San Salvador de Leyre. You can easily do a tour of nothing but monasteries in Spain. The monks seem to look for lofty hilltops, that are reached by  steep, winding roads. Just the kind Peter loves. So he is happy to indulge my choice of tourist stop today. For a small fee we get our own key to the ancient church and are free to wander through the stone buildings and into the dimly lit crypts. There is a lot of historical information about the site, but nothing on how the monastery operates to day. We see one monk flitting through the sanctuary of the the church, but otherwise it's just a handful of visitors like us who soak up the atmosphere. It feels like a fortress and over the years the monastery has served its share of defensive functions. On the remote mountain, with still taller peaks looming behind it, the site is the start of climbing and hiking trails.

              

We head back down the mountain road to the valley and then do a series of miss-turns around the highway ramps, before reconnecting with the lesser-travelled road to Pamplona.
Video of a short run along the N-240 to Pamplona, with a stop at the Monastery of Leyre - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z71gMHtyczE

I don't know much about Pamplona, except that it's home to the infamous running of the bulls. So it comes as a surprise (I don't know why) to find it a charming, bustling, vibrant, city full of happy people who seem to spend an inordinant amount of time sociallizing in every outdoor space available. Maybe its the weather, unseasonably hot - 32C.  The roads in town are impossibly narrow for cars. The entrance to the town is pretty cool, on ancient cobbled streets, over a drawbridge and through a gate in the old wall. I am suspicious that this rustic cobbled street, busy with pedestrian traffic, is not meant for vehicles, but apparently we're on the right route and the GPS positions us perfectly beside the Hotel Puerta del Camino hotel which is situated next to the Portal de Francia, the gate we entered, which is the route for the pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. The location is in a beautiful corner of the historic city. We ae warmly welcomed and shown a secure parking spot in the garage for the bike. This hotel is very motorcycle friendly.

We spend the rest of the day exploring the old city, walking the route of the bull run which is well posted - to the bullring. From the top of the encircling wall of the city there are great views of newer parts of the town.  There are a lot of young people, students I guess, who seem to be enjoying the street life.                               

Pamplona is a handsome city with grand buildings, intriguing spaces, tons of history and great vistas from the top of the encircling wall.

We stop for a beer with a couple that we met earlier at the hotel. They have just arrived by ferry from the UK and are starting a two week motorcycle tour on a Honda VFR 1200. I suspect this is a less comfortable ride for touring than our BMW. We compare notes about bikes, routes and packing. Later we meet in the main square and during a brief period of drizzle, where everyone good naturedly clumps under the large umbrellas, we get advice from some locals to dine at a sideria - where hard cider is the speciality. This is a popular drink in the Basque country of northern Spain. The cider is poured from a height into glass. I find it a bit too dry for my taste - but when in Pamplona..... Food is served from a counter where you pick from the array of plates laid out under the glass covering. We each choose several plates to share - but none of us find the meal very satisfying. So we head to a patio on top of the wall that I had noticed earlier, and finish the evening with a couple of rounds of beer.

Our new friends are on their way by the time we come downstairs next morning for breakfast in the startlingly white dining room. It is a converted church, with a lofty high ceiling. There are only a few other guests in the vast room. Our cutlery clinks loudly in the vaulted space of the room and we find ourselves talking in hushed voices. It's  a nice quiet - and soon we will be listening to the throaty roar of the bike again.