9/6/05
Today was spent lounging around the Island enjoying my last day with Anna before she had to go to work at the Hotel at 8:00. We talked about her riding through Africa with me and joining the adventure on two wheels. She is going to try to sort things out tomorrow and if it works will catch a ferry to France to meet up with me in a couple days. So after saying our goodbyes and having hopes of seeing each other in a few days I headed off to catch the Ferry.
The Ferry didnt leave till 1:00 am so I killed some time at an internet café and had a couple slices of pizza before heading to the docks.
Once the ferry showed up I loaded the bike on board and went and found a couch to try get some sleep on the 7 hour ferry ride. I found a lounge that had about 5 feet of spare couch space, obviously every other cheap passenger who didnt want to pay for a cabin had the same thought I did. So took the fetal position on the couch, pulled my smelly biker jacket over my head and fell asleep.
Todays Specs
Weather: 80F cloudy
Distance: 0 miles Corfu and boarded Ferry to Italy
9/7/05
As they sounded the horn signaling we were getting close to the dock I tiredly rubbed my eyes and wiped the drool from my face. Not a bad nights sleep, the couch was actually more comfortable than it looked.
So as I jockeyed the bike out of the car hold I talked to a couple from Italy who were also on a GS and had been to Greece on holiday. So after the usual photographs and bike talk we headed our separate ways.
I really didnt have much of any idea where I wanted to head, I just have to be in France by the 12th to start getting the bike ready.
So with a northwesterly direction I meandered my way to just outside Rome, the weather was pretty crappy rainy and cloudy so I just kept my head down and did allot of miles today. I looked for a hotel but everything was about $40 - $50 so plan B, found a great farmers field and called it a night. I even managed to drop the bike while opening the gate, but no worries I am getting really good at picking this thing up.
Todays Specs
Weather: 75F rainy
Distance: 340 miles Ferry dock in Brindisi Italy to just outside Rome
9/8/05
After packing up my wet tent I headed into Rome to have a look around. I headed into Rome about morning rush hour so there was a little bit of traffic but not too bad. It was actually quite amusing as I seemed to have a swarm of scooters around me the whole time. We would start off at the stop light and off I would go then by the next light they would be right back around me with their little engines buzzing. I kinda felt like that cartoon with the big dog and he has the little sidekick that is always buzzing around him. After parking the bike I headed off to see some of the ancient sites. I will say I was quite impressed with ruins. We have all seen the pictures in books but I wasnt expecting them to be this grandiose. I will say the Romans really knew how to make a statement. I went to the mouth that could tell if you were a bulls hitter when you stick your hand it, and if you are it cuts it off, well yeah I didnt see the need to risk my fingers so early in the trip, so I just got a picture and moved on. The coliseum was impressive and quickly sent the imagination in motion. It started to rain and out of nowhere came about 200 people selling umbrellas, I am not sure where these people come from or where they store the umbrellas but everywhere I go once it rains these people are there, 4 euros for umbrella sir. I am a hardcore motorcyclist, what do I need an umbrella for, so how about 3 euros.
Well after seeing enough of the sights I caught a movie and had dinner. Before I new it it was 9:00 and I still hadnt thought about finding a place to sleep. So I headed to the train station to try to find a tourist office that could point me in the right direction. The tourist office was allot of help and off I went with a list of hotels/hostels that turned out to be fully booked. So about 10:30 I gave up and headed out of town when I came across a campground where I spent the night.
Todays Specs
Weather: 75F rainy
Distance: 50 miles Field outside Rome to Campground in Rome
9/9/05
After packing up and paying the bill at the campground, which I was quite happy about since they didnt charge me for the bike saving 5 euros, I headed north to Florence (or Firenze in Italian). The drive was quite uneventful and Tusacanny looked like it would have been beautiful in the Summer when the field were in full bloom but now with the rain and all the field plowed under it wasnt too impressive. Even at the peak season I dont think it would hold a candle to Ireland as far as beauty goes.
I did accidentally stop in Sienna when I missed a turn, which turned out to be a nice surprise, a great little town. I met 3 bikers from San Francisco who were over here for a couple weeks and did the bike rental thing. They had the right idea, do what you enjoy on vacation, if you only have two weeks go somewhere fun on a motorcycle. So after talking to them for a while I enjoyed some really good gellato in the center before heading to Florence.
Florence has to get the award for cleanest town in Italy, extremely clean with loads of cobblestone streets lined with expensive shops. I found a cheap hotel, well kinda cheap after talking the owner down from 50 euros to 35, but I still had to find a garage for the bike.
After getting the bike sorted and getting some wine and I headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up. Well the shower in the hotel had some serious drainage issues. The shower was down the hall and across the lobby from my room, not an in room shower. So when I got out of the shower the bathroom had about ¼ inch of water, funny I thought, that all should have went down the drain, as I walked down the hallway still more water, and I even flooded the lobby, it was kinda a long shower. Well the hotel owner wasnt too happy saying it was my fault as he grumpily mopped it up, pretty sure I this wasnt his first time pushing that mop around the lobby. After my shower and some wine I headed off to dinner and I planned on seeing some nightlife but for some reason about 11:30 I could barely keep my eyes open so off I went back to the hotel to call it a night.
Todays Specs
Weather: 75F rcloudy
Distance: 230 miles Campground in Rome to Florence
9/10/05
Well one of the things I have always wanted to see was the leaning tower of Pisa and since it was only 40 miles detour off I went. I have always been intrigued by the leaning tower of Pisa I remember when I saw it as a kid I thought ahh someone didnt do there soil calculations correctly for the foundations causing uneven settlement over time and resulting in a lean to the right , ughmm Josh you thought all this when you were 7, yes of course, sure.
As I was riding to the tower I thought of all the cool poses I could do like I was holding it up from falling over. Well when I got there there was about 1000 other tourists doing the same poses I had planned, so much for originality. But I think I cam up with one that most people dont do.
Well the tower was quite impressive and definitely a must see when in Italy.
From Pisa I took SS12 north towards Bologna, this turned out to be one of the 10 best roads I have ridden on the trip, absolutely beautiful Tuscan scenery with a beautiful curvy road, my pegs were dragging around corners all day long. I cant tell you much about the scenery but the tarmac was in perfect condition. When the 60 miles of road came to an end in Modena (town of which a great Ferrari is named after) I had a huge smile on my face. It was just a short ride to Bologna where I found a campsite next to a large fairgrounds. After getting my camp set up I went over to the fair grounds where they were having a 10 political rally/music festival/home show thing, really quite weird. By 10:00 I was beat so I called it a night.
Now this is where the story gets weird. I truly believe that people are 98% good people and after spending the last 4 months traveling and not having and theft problems I have become kinda lazy. Well that changed tonight and I got a slap of reality.
About 3:00 a.m. I was sound asleep when I hear my tent zipper slowly start to open. At first I was thinking I was dreaming but all of sudden I sat straight up and see someone looking at me opening the tent. He must have thought the tent was empty because I scared the shit out of him when I yelled "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" He jumped back pretending to be drunk and in an accent said he thought it was his friends tent, and off he went. I laid there for about 2 minutes rubbing my eyes trying to figure out what had just happened. After I had woken up I got up to check the bike and my stuff. Sure enough they had rummaged my tank bag which I had left unlocked, camera missing, gps missing, my mind quickly racing what should I do. First put pants on, cant chase thieves in calvin klien underwear as I am not Robin Boy Wonder, next tie shoes, to head after them. I caught up to the two guys about 100 meters outside the campground, the street was quite lit up near the campground but at the end of the block was almost pitch black with only the moonlight to see by. Now for some reason I want to point out that they were both immigrants from Africa and didnt speak too good of English. I ran up to them and said "You just stole my camera and GPS" they had it down pretty good because one guy tried distracting me while the other guy slinked down the road, instantly seeing the ploy I went to the other guy and demanded my stuff back. He denied it for about 30 seconds till after threats of police and me being more forceful all of sudden my camera appeared in his hand. Ok one down, Now I want my GPS back, the reply was they didnt have my GPS, well same story after another minute my GPS appeared in his hands. By the time I got my GPS we had worked our way down the street and even though I still felt fairly safe I was becoming aware that one guy did have a bottle of wine in his hand (already having one run in with a bottle in my life, which ended up with me in the emergency room with 20 stitches) I decided that I would call it a night lucky to have my GPS and Camera back. It turned out after later inspection of my stuff that I also lost sunglasses and my pocket knife. I think of all the possible scenarios on how this could have turned out and feeling very lucky. If I hadnt caught them for another 200 meters down the street where it wasnt lit it might have gotten ugly or if I had caught them in the campground where other people where there to help, maybe they would have ran and I wouldnt have gotten anything back. Or if I just sat there and done nothing. Life is always full of different endings. Well this sucks because now I have to go back to being the paranoid traveler. But I will keep in mind one of my rules - dont bring anything with you that wont mind losing, it is only stuff.
Todays Specs
Weather: 75F cloudy with occasional sunny spots
Distance: 230 miles Florence to Pisa to Bolagna
