It's Not About the Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels
Polly Evans (2003)

THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

It’s Not About the Tapas is a travel book by Polly Evans who, in a quest for a change of scenery, decided to take a six week trip around Spain, via bicycle.  She wasn’t an avid rider going into the trip, and one of the more funnier parts of the book revolve around her first facing the struggle of such a expedition.  She starts in the north in beautiful San Sebastian, and then she moved east, with a challenging ride over the Pyrenees mountains, down to Barcelona, further south to Granada, then westward across Andalusia to Seville, before heading back north through Toledo, finally ending up in the capital city of Madrid.  Her commentary as she goes covers both the local culture and the history of the region.  Her trip quite honestly is rather uneventful, except for a few brief moments with an energetic pig, but Evans has a nice self-deprecating sense of humor and a relaxed and simple writing style.   
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GREAT QUOTES:

“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.  They're used to craziness in Spain.  In fact, they positively celebrate it.  This is the land of the delusional Don Quixote, the obsessive Queen Joan the Mad, and the stark, starring Salvador Dali.  These are the people who have a festival during which merrymakers hurl truckloads of ripe tomatoes at each other, and another in which they run in the path of rabid bulls, all in the name of fun.  They drink whiskey mixed with Fanta orange by choice."
- Polly Evans, It's Not About the Tapas

INTERESTING LINKS:

  • Polly Evans has written a number of travel books, including a nice practical travel guide to see the Northern Lights.  Learn more about Polly Evans and the rest of her writing, at her own website.
  • ​Find out how to make your own tapas with the recipe book, Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain, by Penelope Casas.

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