Sunday, July 24, 2022

Bandidos

 

The Bandidos is an international Harley Davidson motorcycle riding club. I ran into some of them this morning when I was at the seaside resort of Empuriabrava buying some cookies and marmalades and went to my favorite cafe for a coffee and croissant (in 90 degree weather). They were scattered around the terrace, sporting their tatoos and motorcycle club t-shirts and vests.

I approached one of them to ask about the club and where he was from. He was from Andalusia and the club is international he told me. I approached another and he told me the club originated in Texas but is now international with thousands of members including members who have come for this event from Australia. He was from France. Upon further questioning I discovered he was from Nice. I've visited Nice several times and told him that my parents had come to Nice after WW II and my mother became pregnant with me there. You were made in Nice! he exclaimed.

I didn't take any photos -- I felt too shy (a missed opportunity, I know). But I did find their club on the internet when I got home and this video. It is their formal club motorcade entrance to Empuriabrava the day when they arrived. In fact, they came whatever way they wanted from all parts of Europe, and it seemed that this was their last day and they would all be headed home.


If you like this post, you might like my book: No Regrets: A Life in Catalonia, available at Amazon.com, UK, ES, all the Amazon sites, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and good old-fashioned brick and mortar bookshops.


2 comments:

  1. Very interesting. It must have been exciting to hear from them - from where they live, etc.

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    1. I expected them to be mainly from other countries and was surprised to find the first one was Spanish. I had seen three of them here in Figueres some days before. I was crossing the street and they were waiting for the light and I went ruum, ruum, to them and did my hands like the handle accelerator and they waved. From the writing on their backs, I thought they were Austrian. So yesterday I learned that they had come from all over. I suppose those three had ridden down together. I think the French guy said there were 4,000 of them at the gathering.

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