blog.ghostfish.net

After resting an extra day in Sofia, I continued the journey into Serbia. The ride leaving Sofia, Bulgaria into Serbia and onward to Belgrade was much more pleasant than I expected. Likewise, upon arriving in Belgrade, I was impressed at the city’s quality. It is by far a nicer place than Sofia. As I rode around the city looking for the hostel I ran into Eddie who I met at the hostel in Sofia. He had heard about a music festival going on in one of the parks, so after a quick shower and chat with some fellow travelers at the hostel, we set out to roam around Belgrade and eventually make our way to the music festival. We ended up meeting a group of people from Belgrade also going to the concert so we joined with them and had a good time listening to techno and rock in the park. Unfortunately I only got a few pictures of Belgrade and didn’t get any of the main sightseeing bits as it was late by the time we set off. I set off the next morning for Budapest, Hungary. The ride was very windy which made it tiring and the scenery was that of Midwest USA, although I had a good time blowing through Serbian toll booths. When I arrived in Budapest, having studied the map a few times over, I managed to go straight to the hostel without getting lost. I stayed at a place called the Goat Hostel which was small but wonderful. It was already 7 PM by the time I got settled in so the night consisted of chatting up other people staying at the hostel as well as heading down the street for some Turkish food. I spent the next day walking around most part of central Budapest, snapping some great pictures of the city before packing up and heading on to Vienna. I would have like to stay in Budapest longer as it is a beautiful city and things are quite cheap, but a pressing service appointment at the BMW dealer in Vienna didn’t allow. So I arrived in Vienna last night, brought the motorcycle to the service center early this morning and am now “stuck” in Vienna for 6 days while they handle repairs. Tonight I’ll be heading to a bar to watch a friend, who I met in Stuttgart, play folk music with his band. Folk music + Vienna = ? (the answer has to be fun, right?)

After unplugging via island life in Santorini, supported by perfect weather, I’ve had quite the opposite experience since. The initial ride out of Athens was great. I was pleasantly surprised when I accidentally took the most scenic route through the immediate countryside surrounding Athens before connecting with the highway, but that was all the fun I would have for the day. Then it was rain, wind, mountains and traffic. I caught a clearing in the weather about 150 KM from my destination when the chain came off the motorcycle and locked up the rear wheel while I was traveling around 70 MPH (110 KM). The rear tire squealed as the bike fish-tailed to a halt in the middle of the highway and was immobile so it sat in its traffic lane. At that point the ADAC membership (the German version of AAA which offers coverage throughout Europe) came in handy, as well as the pay-as-you-go cell phone. But first the generic roadside assistance showed up, then an ambulence, followed by the police and no one spoke English. It was comical to say the least. After a few phone calls and transfers I was speaking with the ADAC Greek division and had the police tell them where we were at to send a tow truck. The bike was towed back to Larissa, the city which I had just passed through, and brought to the most perfect corner bike repair shop the size of what I would think of as a private i’s office. The shop was jammed packed with scooters and a few motorcycles, mostly disassembled. Of course the owner/mechanic spoke Greek only which made things fun. But within a hour he had a new chain delivered and everything fixed. So I set off from Larissa around 9 PM to knock out the last 150 KMs of the day’s journey, landing somewhere near Thessaloniki with the intent of finding a simple camping site as Thessaloniki lacks budget accommodation. I made it about 50 KM before the rain started again and came on strong so I hung out at a gas station for a couple hours before things cleared up a bit. By that time it was around midnight and I was pooped so I made it another 30 KM and pulled into a large rest stop station off and camped in the parking lot, tent, rain and all. I was up and down a lot through the night just weary of people taking things off the bike that I had laid out to dry, but once I got the impression it was a rather safe place I, to my surprise slept well. I comment quite often about carrying all this camping gear with me, which takes up over half my luggage space and is never used, but at moments like that it’s worth it; the tent kept me dry and a bit warmer, the inflatable thermal sleeping pad made the concrete quite soft and the two sleeping bags keep me toasty all night. I slept until 10 AM and, with stress levels near maximum capacity, made the decision at that point to skip the 1200 KM round-trip journey to Istanbul, which is completely out of the way with nothing in between, and negotiate Turkish traffic in a city of 16 million people (keep telling myself these things so I won’t be sad for skipping it). So I headed straight for Sofia, Bulgaria. When I arrived in Sofia, enjoying the chaotic traffic due to a visit from the Russian government to have a chat about energy, and again seeing something different than expected, I rang the hostel to find out they were fully booked for the night. But funny how things work out. As I was parked near the city center starring at the road atlas deciding if I wanted to continue on or what, a guy with a very similar motorcycle stopped and ask if I needed help. His name was Ilia and we ended up going across the street to grab lunch, his treat. Then the cook at the restaurant happened to know of a nice hostel just down the street where I ended up meeting a couple guys from the States, Brandon and Eddie. Then the three of us went out for a night on the town, Ilia’s invitation, with a friend of his, Evo. We went to a bar called Bedrock, which is what I would think of as a biker bar, live classic rock and hardcore patrons, and had an awesome time. So, after walking the city yesterday and going out to a couple bars with Eddie last night, I was going to take off for Belgrade today but am grounded due to bad weather and a hangover. To be continued…

P.S. Enjoy photos from Sofia courtesy of Eddie since I forgot to bring my camera along yesterday.

It’s been a nice rest for the past week. I spent a few days in a hostel doing little besides resting before Kristen met me in Athens where we spent a couple more days then went to Santorini, known as one of the most beautiful of the Greek Islands, and stayed in Oia. The pictures make it needless to say that Santorini was indeed beautiful, and Athens, even though not being what I had expected, was beautiful as well (at least from the right vantage points). Athens was reserved mostly for walking around and looking at the different Ancient Greek sights. Then the motorcycle came with us on the 8 hour ferry ride to Santorini which was perfect for putting around the island. We covered most of the towns and sights in Santorini as well as did a volcano hike, hot springs dip and donkey ride. Now back in Athens, we part ways tomorrow and I’m resting up and getting ready for the 2 day journey to Istanbul.

Around 1200 KM in 2 days, from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Athens, Greece, give or take a couple hundred KMs for taking the wrong turn on a gravel round-about in Fier, Albania due to the donkey towing a cart containing a mix of rusty Mercedes parts, same local produce and a selection of Versace sunglasses, kicking up dust covering the non-existance signpost saying “The Gravel Highway You Are Looking For Is This Way”. However, in all honesty, there is no getting around the fact that Albania is a poor country, there maybe more remnants of the war there than signs of reconstruction and that while they do have some stretches of wonderful highway, a majority of the major roads are nothing more than a patchwork of asphalt and massive potholes, BUT the people I met there have been some of the nicest I’ve met from anywhere in the world. Sometime around 9 PM, about 100 KM outside Durrës, I stopped to fill up at a gas station, asked a group of guys sitting inside the gas station cafe for directions and, even though no one spoke English, they invited me to sit down, bought me coffees, offered cigarettes and gave their best advice on how to proceed on my journey through Albania. I got this same warm welcome most all places I stopped for directions. And I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough gas stations as I traveled through the country, turns out there are more than anywhere else I’ve seen, and a lot of them are brand new and more like complexes than filling stations. Many have connected restaurants, hotels, cafe, bar, etc and the places are very very nice. I stayed at one about 20 KM past Durrës and the room was what you would expect from a top notch hotel, huge, well decorated and spotless, with a bathroom the size of most of the hostel rooms, only 30 euros. I could go on and on about the details, but I’ll just say the rest of the Albania travels were also quite an experience. And the coastal bits of Montenegro through which I passed on the first part of the journey were beautiful, Bay of Kotor, Budva and Saint Stefan. Podgorica, Montenegro, which I set as my destination, was not what I expected so I decided to keep traveling through. Yesterdays trip included the wrong turn in Fier, Albania, a long stretch of very bad and very mountainous road in the southern half of Albania, then some super nice roads, then some gravel roads, then meeting an Albania guy who lived in Detroit, Michigan for 6 years at a gas station, then crossing the border into Greece and deciding to pass through Ioánnina and head straight for Athens. 16 hours of riding yesterday left me wiped out and sore. Although it was an awesome day full of adventure and some unbelievable views in southern Albania and through Greece coming to Athens.

I left Ljubljana, Slovenia and made my way to Zagreb, Croatia. The weather was great all day so that was a nice bonus. I arrived in Zagreb and drove around the city for about 30 minutes before deciding that I didn’t want to stay there and would just continue on to my next planned destination, Zadar, Croatia. I don’t know if it was because I just stayed in a city, and I saw a few similarities between Ljubljana and Zagreb or that I just felt like staying on the bike and enjoying the weather, but I made my way back to the highway and made the journey to Zadar. I had a spot of good fortune as I ticked over 300 KM on the trip odometer, about 30 KM outside Zadar. The trip odometer is the only way to estimate how much gas I have left as there is no fuel gauge. I had just made most of the pass through the coastal mountains and planned on pulling into an upcoming gas station. The bike started to sputter about 500 meters from the station and literally ran out of gas and the engine shut off on the exit ramp as I then coasted right up to the pump. I continued into Zadar and found the hostel with only having to stop a few times. To be honest, it was pretty uninteresting as I drove through most of it, but the hostel was nice and relaxing and I couldn’t stand the beard anymore so I had a shave. I made the journey yesterday to Dubrovnik, Croatia. I followed the coastal highway, traveling about 400 KM. It was an amazing ride and Dubrovnik is a beautiful place. I spent the day walking around the “old town” which is surrounding by the original castle wall. I may stay for an extra day since I skipped Zagreb, or I may continue to Montenegro tomorrow, it’s a wait and see!

After leaving Venice I made my way to Bled, Slovenia. The day started off with crappy weather but quickly improved and the weather was perfect the rest of the day. The ride leaving the Northeastern part of Italy into Slovenia and all the way to Bled was breathtaking. The panoramics I took of Lake Bled speak for themselves, and also match all the scenery coming to the town. I was going to stay for 1 night but I arrived late and it was so peaceful there I stuck around for 2. Yesterday I made the hike around the lake and up to a near peak which is the place for the best views of the lake and where I took the panoramics. I also had a long chat with the girl that worked at the hostel about Slovenia and Bled. Turns out Bled is a through and through hockey town. Ice hockey is all they care about, so much that she was absolutely sick of hearing about hockey which I couldn’t help to get a laugh from, considering only a few hundred kilometers in any direction with even the slightest bit of west in it the only thing they really care about is football, and maybe cycling. This morning I made the short trip to Ljubljana and am staying at a hostel that was formerly a prison. It was highly recommended, known to be very colorful, unique and alternative. Tomorrow I’m off to Zagreb, Croatia.

I was having a hard time deciding where to go after Rome. After weighing a handful of options I settled on making the rather long journey to Venice (around 600 KM). The ride brought me through Perugia and was gorgeous up until that point, then the weather turned to shit. From that point on it was loads of rain, wind and cold temperatures. I put on the wet weather gear and stayed dry and clean while riding, but was a bit white-knuckled. When I got close to Venice the rain stopped and by the time I arrived in Venice things cleared up. It was around 9 PM after I crossed the looong bridge which connects Venice to the mainland and to my surprised reached a dead-end and a series of parking lots/garages. That’s when I realized that Venice is completely car, motorcycle, scooter and bicycle free. You park and either walk across the first bridge into the city or catch a water taxi or water bus to your desired destination. With no map and no clue of how the city was laid out (or that it was even an island) I wondered around a bit before asking for directions to the hostel. When the guy told me it was about an hour walk then I would be forced to take some kind of water transport because the hostel was on a different island I realized Venice was bigger that I thought. After I some more poking around I bought a 3 day water bus pass and hoped on the #2 and made my way to the hostel. It was late and I was exhausted from the day’s ride so I showered and cashed in, but first caught up with a friend staying at the hostel that I met in Florence, Danny. I also met a guy from Canada, Taylor, and his friend Kelci who with I spent the next day exploring Venice. What a beautiful city! As I’m leaving for Slovenia tomorrow morning, Venice was the crescendo of Italy for me. It is exactly as you would expect and in my case even better than I thought.

After the rain cleared in Florence I left for Rome. I made the journey on a minor highway that passed through Siena along the way. The views of Tuscany were yet again stunning and the weather added an exclamation point the day. With almost no hassle I navigated the traffic in Rome and made my way to the circa 1980 hostel. In the last two days I’ve covered a majority of the major sites in Rome and walked a large portion of the city (and took plenty of photos). It is a beautiful place, no doubt, but unfortunately I have to say my imagination had it pinned as being better. But again still wonderful!

On a different note all together, I’ve been on the go now for 180 days and just wanted to say thanks to everyone who visits the blog and makes it worth updating. I’d be lying if I said uploading all those photos (almost 1000 now) and writing posts isn’t sometimes a pain in the ass, but I get wonderful feedback that doesn’t always come via comments and that makes the effort worthwhile, so thanks again! A few stats to date if anyone is interested: 18743 visitors, 535403 hits, 480 comments, 72 posts, and 969 photos.

And a special message to my nephew Josh: Happy Birthday!