Life is good on the northern coast of Spain. We have a beachfront in a pueblo near La Coruña, Galicia.

Yep, you probably guessed correctly, topless is very much in vogue here...

We live in Buenos aires and arrived in Spain a month ago, after our 2 month 7000 K ride ... Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Mendosa, the Lake District, Bariloche, Santa Rosa, and back to Buenos Aires. I don't know which was more exhausting, that 7000 K or sunbathing on the beach here?

On the other breast, er....ah, hand.... Here in Spain we drive a (4 wheeler) somewhere almost every day and are leaving for Madrid Saturday. This is my 5th trip to Spain, driven north to south...east to west and never, never had a problem with the Guardia Civil, or anyone pretending to be the Guardia Civil... The real Guardia Civil seem to be well trained, serious about their work, helpful and very well respected here.

But, I will report in next week regarding our drive to Madrid. After Argentina and 5 other SA countries, driving in Spain is like a walk in the park. Drivers are polite in comparison.

I have met a few bikers here, mostly riding big BMWs or very big motor scooters ???, with full rally suits and boots, tail boxes and generally doing no more than 100 K on pristine asphalt on Sundays, but man have they got the gear. They are ready for anything. Sort of big fish in a small pond situation. I have noticed that most of them ride way way to fast.

Thanks for the heads up on the back roads approaching Madrid. Ride free xfiltrate


PS: I asked Elisa's uncle who was a Spanish "cold war player" about the triangular hats of the Guardia Civil, and he explained that originally they were designed as phycological warfare to instill fear in the population ??? but, today they are mostly for use in parades and the Guardia use head gear more appropriate for the streets today.

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com

We drove from Galicia (A Coruña) to Madrid without incident. Only saw routine police activity.... and ZERO fake police. We are doing back roads out of Madrid for return to Galicia..... will post with updates. xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com