Back in Black

Well I made it back! Have actually been back a few days but forgot to update the blog...well that and I was too tired after doing 650 miles in one day back from Berlin, so I decided to go for a few pints for the match down the pub on Saturday night ;-)

So it was certainly an experience...it's been quite a learning curve too in a way. I think I've learnt the following over the past few weeks:

1) Pack a bit lighter! Although I did use nearly everything I'd taken I only used my camping gear once for example. Think next time I should camp more! (would also save money, which leads too...)

2) Budget a bit better. I didn't budget at all on this trip and this resulted in my vastly overspending on what I thought it might cost. Got the credit card bill this morning - was a bit of a rude awakening to say the least! :-(

3) Concentrate on good riding roads / areas / scenery etc instead of destinations, and be a bit more flexible with the route perhaps. This turned out to be more of a major European city tour than anything else...now while it was cool, riding around major cities isn't all that much fun and is possibly better done by train or plane (yuck).

4) Go with more people. I would consider going on my own again and I met some cool people on the trip but I think it would be more enjoyable and cheaper with others to share it with.

So what were my most/least favourite things? Well, a random selection:

Favourite city - Munich without a doubt. Not too big to be unwieldy but big enough. And had a great, friendly feel. And good beer obviously.

Least favourite city - Definitely Milan. Didn't enjoy it here at all - though the "pub buffet" thing they have there is pretty awesome.

Best scenery - this would be on the road from Milan to Zurich through the alps - the SS36 - gorgeous.

Most boring ride - a toss up between the Paris to Avignon motorway slog and the same from Berlin to London (via the ferry).

Best road - I think this is still the road from Nice to Sospel - the D2256a - nice and small and very twisty! And great scenery...

So would I do it again? Definitely - subject to the points above. Quite like the idea of a East Europe tour - if nothing else it's cheap and beer is good!

While I remember

One thing I forgot to mention about last night was that whilst walking home I appeared to be walking down hooker street - and they seemed quite keen on me! I'd like to think it was because of my rugged good looks but it's more likely that it was because (a) I was on my own and (b) they wanted my cash ;-)

Anyway been out this morning to East Side Gallery - for those who don't know this is the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall and it decorated along the whole length with street art (and graffiti) which is pretty cool. It was rather a hearty walk though - feeling it already! Been very tired this past week so I'm tempted to head back home tomorrow - which will admittedly involve nearly 600 miles to get to Calais, the ferry and then a couple of hours back to London. But it is very tempting - could do with the extra day to recover from this ready for Glasto!

So, who knows where the next post here will be...until then!

Portugal 2 - 3 Germany

Ah well, the dream finishes here for Portugal! Quite loud out tonight but nothing on the Turkish fans in Vienna the other night...that was something else entirely!

Been a busy day today, basically been strolling around Berlin looking at the sights. Been to some of the usual suspects - Brandenburger Tor (again), West Berlin which seemed to be a bit rubbish (mostly crowded shopping areas it seems), Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust memorial (which was pretty cool) and the Jewish Museum (which was OK but not massively interesting). Oh and I also visited the Bachaus Museum - this place kinda chronicled the Bachaus institute/college (think that was what it was called). Seems that some stuff we kinda take for granted now (like tubular steel framed furniture) was first thought up at this place. So that was kinda interesting. Oh and on a side note - if you visit Berlin and want to visit a lot of museums, I got a 3 day pass giving free access to loads (but not all) of them for 19 euros. Pretty bargainous really!

As for Berlin itself - I'm not really sold on it thus far. Perhaps it's like most capital cities - and I'm sure London is the same - it can leave you a bit cold just due to the size and indifference of it all. But I have another day tomorrow so we'll see if it can oust Munich as my favourite place so far!

Managed to find the "cool" area tonight - seems the Mitte area, and the stuff north of the river from there is the place to be. Although most places seem to be cafe/restaurant combos which are a bit crap for watching the footy it did seem there were a few bars and whatnot around. After I managed to finally get away from the restaurant I ate in (service was v.slow and v.bad) I hit an Irish pub called (strangely) Oscar Wilde. Was pretty nice to find a "normal" pub after 2 weeks of drinking in continental bars and the like. Wish I'd felt up for socialising more today (and yesterday) - have felt pretty exhausted (been walking around for around 10 hours today!) and I have a cold now so that probably doesn't help matters. But not long to go so sure I'll be fine for the remaining time!

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Or at least that's what I've thought at various stages during this trip...

As you can guess I've made it to Berlin in one piece. Quite a nice journey - the road from Plzen in the Czech Republic was suitably twisty which was cool...a nice ride in fact. Strangest moment of the day came as I was riding up a twisty road up a hill toward the German border not far south of Dresden...at a couple of points as I rounded a bend there came into view a wooden hut featuring various scantily clad Czech girls wildly gesturing at the passing motorists to go over to them. I can't imagine what they wanted, a chat about the weather perhaps.

Speaking of which it's been a glorious day today...strangely getting hotter the further north I went! However before that I have to fill you in on the events since my last post!

Well I had a good wander around Vienna on Monday - I went to the Belvedere gallery which is world famous it seems...certainly it contains the fantastic "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt... I also savoured the famous Sacher Torte (basicallz chocolate cake) at Cafe Sacher - along with a tasty goulash soup and a couple of coffees. I then headed off to the Sigmund Freund museum. I have to say the museum itself wasn't much cop really but I did sit there for an hour in the library area reading a book about the history of psychoanalysis which was quite intruiging. After a quick bite to eat I decided it was time to head down the FanZone for the Austria-Germany match. Suffice to say that it was absolutely (and borderline dangerously) packed. Not an overly nice experience, especially as Germany won, but worth it for the atmosphere and being ribbed by a few Austrians about Englands lack of participation this year.

So yesterday I decided to head to Plzen via Ceske Budejovice. I have to say the latter of these was an absolutely beautiful place - lovely small (almost medieval) streets and a fantastic castle overlooking it all. Can't really do it justice in words but I shall be uploading the pics when I get back! Then Plzen - bit of a strange place really. This is where lager was first invented apparently and the old town is rather nice...but a lot of the surrounding areas are rather, well, industrial in nature I guess...well that and perhaps a touch of the earlier communism is evident. It was also incredibly quiet - which was kind of nice after the previous few days but was quite eerie as well in a way. I missed any tours happening at the Pilsner Urquell brewery so had to settle for finding a place to eat and drink - which I did, food being fantastic (kind of a spicy boar thing on toast for starter and beef goulash for main) and beer of course very tasty!

So after an early night (was shattered) it was off to Berlin today. As mentioned the ride here was pretty good - arrived at the hostel in good time (though seemed to be full of Americans, heh). Managed to get down to Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag so far...then walked down to the happening area for the match...which was pretty good, the Russians played really well and fully deserve their quarter final place methinks!

So tomorrow it's a lot more sightseeing - then the Germans take on Portugal which should be an interesting match - hopefully a good win for the Portugese (hope no-one can see my screen now!).

Vienesse Whirl

Made it to Vienna (or as it's known in Austria Wien) yesterday. But first I visited the site of the former concentration camp at Dachau which was the first the Nazis built and was used as a model for later camps. Was quite an affecting experience for obvious reasons...the conditions there were terrible. A serious lack of food whilst also being forced to do slave labour, serious overcrowding, mental and physical torture and killings make up for a horrific time if you were one of the unlucky ones to be sent there. Even being sent there you were lucky to be alive at the end after potentially a few days as human cattle on a train container with no food or water. Apparently the gas chamber at this site was never used but it looked terrible nonetheless. Worth visiting to get a glimpse of how terrible humans can be sometimes...

So after that I blasted down the motorway to here - would have preferred a more scenic route but I didn't have time for that unfortunately...not much to report on the journey except that they make excellent sandwiches in Western Europe - the service station fare here is so much better than the crap back home. I arrived here quite late so headed straight out, had a quite wander - it looks like this is going to be a beautiful city! Managed to find a nice restaurant with an outside table to had a dinner of sausages, potatoes and sauerkraut - very tasty!


After dinner I had a couple of pints in an Aussie bar to watch the Turkey v Czech Republic match - what a game! Turkey scoring 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to qualify for the quarter finals...amazing. But not as amazing as the absolute party on the streets afterwards - seems there's quite a bit turkish contingent here in Vienna who proceeded to drive around town in convoys, leaning out of windows and waving flags whilst sounding their horn and whooping like mad! Never seen anything like it, it was cool. ;-)

So - I have today in Vienna to explore and since I didn't get wasted last night I'm off out nice and early (9.20am)! Hoorah!

Now to get out and forage for some breakfast...

Well, well, well

So, an early night eh? I blame the Germans!

Literally...I thought I'd get an early night...maybe watch the match and sink a couple of beers. But oh no, Thorsten and pal had other ideas! To be fair we did end up in a cool bar but I really should have said I'd get an early night, but it seems a bit rude to refuse hospitality whilst abroad you know?

I was lucky enough today to be in Munich for its 850 year anniversary! Which was cool but too many people with a bad head...there were also these guys with these weird whip things that I think may have perforated at least one eardrum!

Anyway I have a room reserved in Vienna which is cool...and should be there for the next Austria match which is hosted there! Looking forward to that...

Couple of thoughts - next time don't pack so much stuff! Haven't needed the camping gear apart from one night!

Also German bikers seemingly don't filter! That and there don't seem to be many of them around these parts...

Anyhow - tomorrow = Dachau (home of the first Nazi concentration camp) and Vienna!

Look what happened to me...!

PS - got this lovely shot done in the FanZone at Innsbruck...

http://www.mastercard-pricelessphoto.com/E08/pickup.php?i=7361316402531002

Munich 1 Stu 0

Ouch.

That's how my head is feeling right now after one too many beers last night! Wandered into some random bar last night in Munich to watch the Netherlands - France game and ended up hanging out with a nice chap called Patrick and his pals...until 2am. Which has kinda lost me some sightseeing time today but never mind, it was a fun night!

So it's been a busy time since the last post Euro Bike Tour fans! After Milan I headed up north to Zurich and managed to get a bed in a hostel there just off the main "football street" where they were showing the games on a series of large screens down the street leading to the Euro2008 Fanzone. Unfortunately I didn't get to the fan zone in time before it was full but the atmosphere was great anyway. I was lucky in that Switzerland were playing on Wednesday night so I managed to see that there! They lost unfortunately but that didn't stop me from drinking until the wee small hours with a group of Canadian lads and a chap from Leicester (a Leicester City fan unfortunately ;-). Zurich did seem like quite a picturesque place, just on the river...I didn't get to see much of it though due to football and drink!

Next stop was supposed to be Munich but as I was passing past Innsbruck anyway I decided to see if I could get a room there for the night. Luckily I did get one football-inflated priced room for the night. But I have to say I was blown away by the background scenery there. It was truly amazing - I thought Snowdonia was great but this was something else...and most of the peaks were covered in cloud so I didn't get the full effect. The old town here was really beautiful too - full of old narrow streets and character. I decided on this occasion to get to the Fanzone here early - what I didn't realise was that this would entail a 40 minute walk from the old town up the hill to the ski jump stadium! Coincidentally this time Austria were playing in the evening so I got to hang out with all the home fans. I wasn't sure about the setup here for the matches - it seemed a lot quieter and more organised - I kinda preferred the semi-chaos of the setup in Zurich! But it was great to be there all the same...

So finally I set off for a leisurely lunchtime ride up through the mountains from Innsbruck to here in Munich. Again the roads were great - lovely and twisty although quite busy on this stretch - quite a lot of bikers around too! I did have one "moment" on the way here when a MPV nearly turned left across me but luckily he saw me in time and stopped! Apart from that it's been a great journey so far and I've felt safer on the roads over here than back home strangely!

The bike has been performing brilliantly - think I might have to adjust the chain again before setting off tomorrow though. Oh and I did manage to snap the offside mirror off when I was taking the bike off the centre stand - it leaned away from me and I couldn't save it. In my defence it was fully laden though...

Anyway enough of this - I've got a city to explore!

It's bloody hot in Milan!

And probably the best day of the trip yet! Kicked off with a trip through Monaco (yes I went through the famous tunnel and possibly around the hairpin!) and the road there was great enough, climbing up and up and along the coast...really gorgeous and a perfect morning to boot! Then I decided to take a hilly looking road to Sagnon from the coast, well suffice to say that was the best road I've been on yet. Lots of switchbacks, very hilly and just so much fun...almost ground out the footpegs a couple of times around the bends (boots brushed the road a few times!)...probably the fastest I've ever ridden going round corners but it was so much fun it was harder not to!

Ended up chatting to a couple whilst eating dinner (on my own, nice) last night - the lass made the remark that there's something about motorbikes that makes you want to go off exploring. I've been thinking about this a fair bit today. The point I made at the time is that you feel a much greater connection with the environment and the overall experience than you would in a car which is understandable. However there's more than that I think - it's the freedom of being on 2 wheels - you can breeze past a lot of traffic, a lot faster than in a car. But you just feel so much freer and I think it's this that encourages the touring "spirit" - you feel like you can go anywhere and it makes you want to go anywhere - and everywhere!

Anyway made it to Milan today - it's been so warm since I arrived in the Med yesterday. It's no warmer than we get in the UK (sometimes!) but the air itself it so warm it doesn't make a nice experience when you arrive in a city in all your biking gear not knowing where you are! As mentioned previously you end up a sweaty mess in fact! Heh.

So before I get to bed a couple of observations about Italians. They appear to be v.similar to UK drivers - i.e. they like to drive fast and they are a bit crazy/idiotic (delete as appropriate). And so far I think I prefered the French! ;-)

Favourite discovery in Milan - the fact that there exist cafes where, for the price of a drink, you can help yourself to an all-you-can-eat buffet. And we're not talking your typical crappy party buffet - this is proper, and proper nice food!

PS - this post written on a slightly less crappy PC than yesterdays - have a flat screen monitor today - the luxury!

It's rather nice in Nice!

Well it's been a busy 2 days!

Rode down from Paris to Avignon yesterday...due to slowness and a dodgy wing mirror I didn't get to Avignon until 9pm or so - thus missing the first half of the match! Zut alors! But managed to get a room in a cheap n nasty hotel for the night, a pizza and a couple of pints so mustn't grumble.

Spent this morning having a quick wander around Avignon itself - it is a very pretty city/town, but rather small. So once again didn't set off until 12.30 or so, however this time the distance was roughly a third of the last trek from Paris so though I'd be in Nice well before tea time...well, think again. A combination of taking the wrong turns, a thunderstorm and an accident on the autoroute meant I didn't arrive in Nice until gone 8pm...and then I had to find somewhere to stay which I reckon took at least another hour. The upshot being that I won't be seeing much of Nice, though what I have seen has been lovely - and rather nice and warm! However I did get some tasty food and another couple of pints whilst watching tonights match (thought The Netherlands were a tad fortunate and vice versa for the Italians).

So to combat me arriving tomorrow in Milan at a ridiculous hour I've decided to leave at around 9am tomorrow...with any luck I might even be able to watch both of tomorrows matches! Fingers crossed in any case...

Oh and no photos for a while due to lack of memory stick to PC ability...well that and the fact I'm not even sure if this PC has working USB - I think it might be from the stone age!

While I remember...photos!

Oh and I've added a new set of photos on my flickr page - a few more tidbits on there for perusal!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chem0/sets/72157605481619625/

While in Paris...

Well I've made it to Paris...although only after being passed left and right by crazy filtering French bikers down Avenue de la Grande Armee and round the free-for-all that is the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe. It was certainly an experience!

Spent yesterday in Normandy - by sheer coincidence it also happened to be the anniversary of D-day! (I know I should have known that beforehand but I'm rubbish with dates like that...) Cue me arriving at the campsite in Bayeux on Thursday evening which was full of WW2 "geeks"...there was some impressive machinery about yesterday though and I had the privilege of arriving at Omaha Beach at just the right time to see a memorial ceremony featuring a number of veterans from the d-day landing! It's pretty amazing to be walking along this vast beach and trying to imagine the carnage of that morning 64 years ago. Anyway the whole coastline is pretty awesome and highly recommended - and being around there on the anniversary was just the icing on the cake.

So tomorrow it'll be a 500-odd mile trip down to the south coast of France - probably Avignon - best not have too many bieres tonight methinks!

Au revior!

Route update

Well it appears the route has changed already - I'll now be going anti-clockwise as I can then get free accomodation in Paris ;-) And Maastricht sounds pretty nice so would be good to pop there on the way back...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=London+W12+8DW,+UK&daddr=calais+to:caen+to:Paris+to:Marseilles,+Bouches-du-Rh%C3%B4ne,+Provence-Alpes-C%C3%B4te+d'Azur,+France+to:Milano+to:Zurich+to:liechtenstein+to:wien+to:prague+to:Berlin+to:Maastricht,+Limburg,+The+Netherlands+to:Brussels+to:calais+to:w12+8dw&mra=pi&mrcr=13&sll=47.989922,8.085938&sspn=13.948367,41.132813&ie=UTF8&z=5

Ferry is also now booked...I sail at 11am on Thursday 5th June! Scary stuff...

Keeping the dream alive!

Cheers for stopping by! I'm going to (hopefully) blog my impending European motorcycle tour as I go round - 3000 miles and 11 countries...supposed to be going in 3 days and I'm not as organised as I need to be!!

Here's the proposed route if you're interested:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=w12+8dw&daddr=Calais,+France+to:brussels+to:Eindhoven,+North+Brabant,+The+Netherlands+to:berlin+to:prague+to:vienna+to:munchen+to:vaduz+to:zurich+to:milan+to:monaco+to:marseille+to:paris+to:le+havre+to:portsmouth+to:w12+8dw&mra=ps&mrcr=14,15&sll=47.92394,8.004045&sspn=13.96411,41.132813&ie=UTF8&z=5

Will have another update soon with news about how the preparations are going! And maybe a pic or two! ;-)