It's Not About the Tapas: Around Spain on Two Wheels by Polly Evans
After working at a leading London book publisher and as a journalist in Hong Kong, Polly Evans decided to set off on a voyage of discovery around Spain on a bicycle. From the thigh-burning ascents of the Pyrenees to the relentless olive groves of Andalusia, Polly found more adventures than she had bargained for. She survived a nail-biting encounter with a sprightly pig, escaped over-zealous suitors, had her morality questioned by the locals, encountered some dubious aficionados on the road, and indulged her love of regional cooking. Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly This story of a frustrated young editor who jumps ship from her deadline-laden job in Hong Kong and escapes to a biking adventure in Spain is spiked with moments of hilarity and broad humor. I set myself the target of a thousand miles and six weeks in which to cover them, she writes. If my tour took a few ups and downs, if I felt the need to let out the occasional primal scream, well, in Spain nobody would notice. TheyÂ're used to craziness in Spain. In fact, they positively celebrate it. Evans arranges her route through towns large and small (San Sebastian, Barcelona, Ronda, Oropesa, etc.). Her odyssey of pedaling, chowing and searching for quaint local color often reads like a picaresque, and her book has the same penchant for sharp caricature. Writing of a small town, she observes: A group of old men stood around the bar, their heads in a cloud of smoke, a carpet of cigarette butts at their feet, and discussed the issues of the day? ?So, weÂ'll see you at the park bench for the three p.m. sit-and stare session?Â' Elsewhere, she describes a rural woman carrying a sack of logs: I had the strong impression she had chopped them herself, quite possible with a mighty slice of her hard, bare hand. Readers who enjoy this vein of humor will delight in her book, and to her credit Evans often turns her wit upon herself. At one point she notes that her trip has made her look like a toasted whippet, something to do with being both gruesomely gaunt and burnt to a crisp. Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist A young Englishwoman leaves her unfulfilling job in Hong Kong and bicycles across Spain. From Basque country through Castile, Evans finds the Spanish hospitable, a nation rife with good food and dancing. Almost immediately she discovers that she lacks the physical stamina for riding her heavily laden bike through the Pyrenees' highest mountain passes. Nevertheless, she presses on, and her clothes grow too large for her newly lean physique. At her best when she leaves her self-involved narrative to give readers the opportunity to absorb the history and cultures of Spain's diverse regions, Evans' eye records delightfully unique sights, such as a group of vacationing female Spanish pensioners with their uniformly black garb and their bright, colorful hair rinses. With a young American writer, she learns about the flamenco tradition but never discovers a verifiable version of flamenco's origins. She finds vestiges of last century's civil war, but comes across few willing to talk about that grim era before democracy was restored. Mark Knoblauch Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved Review A hilarious account of an epic adventure around bike-mad Spain. -Daily Express Book of the Week From the Publisher After leaving Cambridge University and a job at a London publisher, Polly Evans moved to Hong Kong, where she spent many happy hours as editor of the city's biggest entertainment weekly. But fighting deadlines from an office chair seemed just too easy. So Polly set off on a voyage of discovery around Spain-on a bicycle. From the thigh-burning ascents of the Pyrenees to the relentless olive groves of Andalusia, she found more adventure than she bargained for, including nail-biting encounters with a sprightly pig, over-zealous suitors, and locals who questioned her morality, all while indulging her love of regional cooking. While she pedaled, Polly pondered some of the more lurid details of Spanish history: the king who collected pickled heads, the queen who toured the country with her husband's moldering corpse, and the unfortunate duchess who lost her feet. And wherever she cycled, she ate and ate. A funny and irreverent account from an engaging new travel writer.
Publication Details
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Binding: Paperback
Published by: Bantam Press: , 2003
Edition:
ISBN: 9780553815566 | 0553815563
302 pages.
Book Condition: Very Good
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