Italy has been a revelation so far, .. so much style it's a wonder the people ever find time to leave the house, I really wish I'd brought my hair straighteners and I definately need larger sunglasses. We spent two nights in Trieste on the Adriatic Sea at a camping ground about 10 miles north of the town, ... it's quiet, it's cheap and close by is the 'Gonad Supermarket', ..... and that's just got to be special ;-).
In the village we've become minor celebrities, well I believe that's the case but my Italian is worse than my Russian. 'Crazy Bikers' seems to be the phrase most often used, ... but it gets us a huge discount on the marmalade croissants for breakfast each morning. Italy is great but the roads to Trieste have been boring and congested, .. or possibly we've just been spoilt when riding through the Black Forest and the Alps.
The Italian's seem to have a strange rule for Internet use. Our passports have remained firmly hidden in secret places until now, but here in Italy we have to surrender them in order to use the Internet in cafes and even then, use of the laptop is forbidden. We're resigned to dark cafe's away from the life and style in the streets outside and that's not really where we want to be, .. we're here to meet people and have fun but at least inside such places, .... Italian drivers are not trying to kill us.
I've had my first minor accident, although accident isn't really the correct word. A testosterone fuled local decided that my riding was too slow for the hustle and bustle of Trieste (I was following Alan of course ;-), and so he assisted my momentum with a shunt us the arse while I was already running at around 40mph, ... sweet. Internationally recognised signs were exchanged at the time and his wing mirrors were repositioned at the next set of traffic lights, ..... but diplomatic relations remain in tact and my 'gander' has now returned to 'chill' mode.
The bikes are holding up quite well but the front Michelin Anakee's are lumping up in wierd and wonderful ways. We've got enough tread to reach Volgograd and we'll probably need to replace them there, .. but like Elton John, .. we'll learn to live with the bad weave.
As for the budget, .. well,.. it's sort of holding up as we always expected to spend more money in Europe than in Russia, .... so we'll have plenty of time to catch up later. Thankfully, although we're a couple of days behind schedule we've had a few days courtesy of friends and well wishers and every little helps.
www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
In the village we've become minor celebrities, well I believe that's the case but my Italian is worse than my Russian. 'Crazy Bikers' seems to be the phrase most often used, ... but it gets us a huge discount on the marmalade croissants for breakfast each morning. Italy is great but the roads to Trieste have been boring and congested, .. or possibly we've just been spoilt when riding through the Black Forest and the Alps.
The Italian's seem to have a strange rule for Internet use. Our passports have remained firmly hidden in secret places until now, but here in Italy we have to surrender them in order to use the Internet in cafes and even then, use of the laptop is forbidden. We're resigned to dark cafe's away from the life and style in the streets outside and that's not really where we want to be, .. we're here to meet people and have fun but at least inside such places, .... Italian drivers are not trying to kill us.
I've had my first minor accident, although accident isn't really the correct word. A testosterone fuled local decided that my riding was too slow for the hustle and bustle of Trieste (I was following Alan of course ;-), and so he assisted my momentum with a shunt us the arse while I was already running at around 40mph, ... sweet. Internationally recognised signs were exchanged at the time and his wing mirrors were repositioned at the next set of traffic lights, ..... but diplomatic relations remain in tact and my 'gander' has now returned to 'chill' mode.
The bikes are holding up quite well but the front Michelin Anakee's are lumping up in wierd and wonderful ways. We've got enough tread to reach Volgograd and we'll probably need to replace them there, .. but like Elton John, .. we'll learn to live with the bad weave.
As for the budget, .. well,.. it's sort of holding up as we always expected to spend more money in Europe than in Russia, .... so we'll have plenty of time to catch up later. Thankfully, although we're a couple of days behind schedule we've had a few days courtesy of friends and well wishers and every little helps.
www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
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