Monday, October 18, 2021

Colonia de Sant Jordi: Apartment 1, Day 3 of 3

Bike Route: Colonia de Sant Jordi to Cala Figueres Day Loop, 32 miles, 1200 feet of climb

This was a strange ride. We started out on the bike path along the coast in front of our apartment, heading south and east around the port and beach. The path quickly turned into jeep roads and dirt trails winding through dunes and backwaters just off the coast. For one stretch, we rode through the hard sand on a beach, in and out of the water.

A few miles from the start, our route took us through a gate, turning inland, on a gravel road. Eventually, we rode through the middle of a huge farm, with what looked like a large manor house and guest houses on the right, and stables and paddocks on the left. We continued down a straight road through the middle of fields of hay and grains. We did not see a single animal or person, but everything looked neat and taken care of.

At the end of the road, we found ourselves in a small round crossing, with four pillars marking four roads, each pillar displaying a white and blue tile illustrating a farm scene. We turned left and headed straight down another gravel road for about a half mile, then came to an intersection with a small paved road. We turned right. At this point, we had still not seen any people, animals, or cars.

About a half mile down that road, we came to a complete halt at a 12-foot-high steel gate. We had just dismounted, looking for a way through or around the obstacle, when the gate swung open and a voice started talking. Ken and I quickly scooted through as the voice continued in Spanish. Safely on the other side, I told the voice, "No comprender. Habla Ingles?" The voice responded, "No, beautiful girl," and then continued in Spanish while the gate closed behind us. As we scanned the wall next to the gate, looking for some indication of what we had just escaped, we saw a sign that said, in five languages, "No Entrance."

We have searched the internet trying to find out where we were and why it was fenced and how we ended up inside the fence. We can't find any information. Our best guess is that some extremely wealthy person owns the property but doesn't live there full-time, and maybe has not been there during the pandemic.

That was exciting.

We continued to Cala Figures, a little fishing village on the southeast coast, had lunch and ice cream, cycled through a park on the coast near the town, and then took main roads back to our apartment.

The private property on which we trespassed had a most excellent restored water-pumping windmill.

The lighthouse as viewed from our terrace, just as the sun began to set.

A majestic final sunset from our terrace.