Let’s go to Zaragoza

We stopped at a hip cafe - accommodated in a double-decker bus from London. After a drink and ice cream we started our search to exit Barcelona. We had identified the road Parallel as suitable. After the Columbus statue we drove inland. To our regret the way was peppered with traffic lights. Although it passed by Camp Nou, it could not spice up our speed. We were in crawling mode. Shortly after Barcelona we decided on our accommodation for the night. We were happy that they had a restaurant,at least we thought. But already during the check-in we had to realize that it was closed on Sundays afternoon. So we had to change our plan. At the nearby gas station we bought the ingredients for the dinner and started to prepare the dinner on our petrol stove. The dinner was saved.Our way towards Zaragoza began.

Since we left the coast, our routes had had many climbs. The altitude difference slowed us down a bit. Exceptions were the days when we rolled down valleys. On our first day away from the sea we continued without breakfast. To our surprise we did not pass any open bar along the road, so we decided to make a break in P. When we arrived at the connecting road, we found out that it was closed to cyclists and we had to ride up a hill on which the village was situated. After a few metres we reached the entrance to the village, where the village was praised as “ciadad de pais de catalunya”. The villagers did not want to help us in Spanish either and prefered to change the language to English or French - fragile. We only found one kebab shop in the village center that was opened. Thankfully we waited a little longer for the food, being happy to have found anything. But it tasted good. From the village we headed towards Lleida, but it was no longer in reach for us for the day. At the foot of the small town Ceveria we made a short stop, Katharina noticed that for her the work day needed to end. We cycled into the village and found a hostal for the night. It had a beautiful hall. All rooms were accessible from there. After we had refreshed our selves, we went on to search for dinner to satisfy our hunger. Thus, we got to know the sweet little town. Our walk led us to the main square and to the city wall. Unfortunately the Pulperia was closed. Thus, we ate quite well in another restaurant. At the end of the day, we had an ice cream and went afterwards to bed.

The next day we were rewarded with a slightly downhill drive to LLeida. In two hours we managed to ride 60 kilometers without problems and were already there at noon. On the local mountain of Lleida the old cathedral rises as a landmark. Since it is still too early for lunch, we drove up there. The cathedral has a pretty cloister, which is also the forecourt of the cathedral and offers a beautiful view over LLeida. Also a 60 meters high tower is part of the corridor and offers a wide view into the country. The cathedral was desecrated in 1800. In the meantime it was a military barrack and during the civil war a concentration camp. Instead of restoring the original state, the various tasks were documented and the traces preserved. This has appealed to us very much, as it does not try to make the history forgotten and it is also evident in the building. War damages have already been repaired. The way downhill into the city was a bit adventurous, we had to overcome a few steps, then we reached our destination, the pedestrian zone. We sit down in the first restaurant, an Italian one, and satisfied our hunger. The cocoa was excellent, the food good, but sparse. After lunch we continued in the direction of Fraga. The descent ended in LLeida and we had to make an effort again to overcome the hills. In the meantime the sun had hidden behind clouds. The landscape changed every 10 kilometers. In Fraga we wanted to decide whether to stop or continue cycling. Every kilometer cycled that very day would shorten the distance to Zaragoza the next day. We decided to cycle on, much to the chagrin of Katharina. Fraga lies in a valley that we crossed. We descended fast, but we had to climb 300 meters on the other side of the valley. The road was very busy, especially trucks. The motorway is a toll road in this section and that has an effect. We slowly crawled up the hill, past a turning point. Shortly after, the first drops began to tumble down from above. We put on the rain gear and Katharina’s mood was no longer the best. We continued uphill. Thunder joined the drops. After we reached the plateau we were cycling monotonously straight. There are not many stops along this route. At a gas station we stopped to put on even more rainproof clothes. The thunderstorm had come closer and Matthias was now a hot candidate for a moon flight, at least that was what Katharina articulated. We continued to ride further between fields. At the next gas station a hotel was attached, but it had already closed down. Nowadays a sign tells “cerrado” - closed. The petrol station employee said that the next sleeping place was probably at least 9, if not 20 kilometers away. A village was not far from the gas station. The villages have announcement signs anf there a bed was shown. We decided to take up the lead and turned of the road and entered the village. An old man was sitting on a threshold. He answered our question for a hostel to our joy with yes and hinted the way to the restaurant El Pillar. There we found a room in the upper floor, Düsi took shelter in the ground floor. After a shower, we dined well, while outside the thunderstorm raged. We enjoyed it very much to have a dry place and something to eat.

We continued our way to Zaragoza in sunshine. Nini bought breakfast in the small bakery of the village. It consisted of an almond milk drink and bread, Madleins and Pain de Chocolate that. We continued to cycle on. The road was located on a plateau with few villages around. The landscape was monotonous. We didn’t find a bar for the following 2 hours and so we stopped in the shadow of a train bridge to have a break. Afterwards we cycled on. At the village … we decided to have lunch. We sat down on a bench below of trees, located at the village square in front of the church. We got something to drink in the nearby shop and ate homemade bocadillos. After a short nap we continued towards Zaragoza. Our destination was a hotel on the former Expo grounds. In 2008, Zaragoza hosted the World Water Exhibition. We were curious to see what could still be seen 10 years later. The city entrance was tricky for us, first we landed on a car road, then we got stranded at a roundabout, which didn’t give a single hint to Zaragoza. After a chat with locals we found our way. We decided to turn on Google Routing and foolow the instructions to the hotel. The hotel had an ideal pool for us, about 20 meters long, but not too wide.

The Expo remains just seem to be left overs within the town. The water tower stood unused in the landscape. The bridge designed by Zaha Hadid seemed to be a construction site. To us it appeared to have no intended use at the moment. The park of the Expo had been preserved and was used by the population. However, it was unmaintained. The cable car was still standing, but not moving anymore. After a research it turned out that it was already closed in 2011. It hadn’t been dismantled yet in any case, but we were able to observe technicians. In any case, our conclusion was that from our point of view the potential of the reuse of the Expo was not existent. A world exhibition probably would need a different concept in order to be successfully reused.