Europe Part 2

 

 

Our next port of call after Nice was Monte Carlo and the place is heaving
with wealth.  Particularly as the following weekend was the Grand Prix so
we had to ride most of the circuit.  We passed through in a matter of
minutes really and were on our way to Italy.  Its about 20 mins to the
border on some very elevated roads that runs through miles of tunnels.  We
passed the Williams Grand Prix team in convoy and they acknowledged us
recognising our UK vehicle registrations. We headed for Genoa and stopped just
outside in a sleepy town having ridden 200 miles and about 3 hrs to get
there.  We were in Country number 4!
Our plan in Italy was to first visit Palma and see a supplier to Grahams
company called Robbuschi.  Our host Stefano treated us to lunch and a tour
before engaging some colleagues to assist in planning our route.  We
realised that the plan to ride to Southern Italy and Scicilly to catch a
ferry to Tunisia would make us short of time so we had to re-evaluate our
route. This was a sad day for Martin and I as Graham would leave us in Parma and
head for home.  His humour kept our spirits up and he will be sadly missed.
(Cheers mate for all your help and it was a pleasure having you on board. Hopefully see you with some of the others for part of the US leg!)

Having re planned our route we decided to leave Parma and head for Northern
Tuscany as we knew the roads and scenery would not dissapoint. We were not
wrong!  It was a fantastic ride through the rolling hills all the way to
Florence.  We arrived at about 8.30pm very tired and struggling to find any type of accomodation.

Eventually we found something resembling a hotel and took it
regardless of cost.  After a quick shower we found a restaurant and dined
alfresco in Florence.  Not ideal with a mate but you cant be fussy when all
we have for company is each other.
The next day was a quick 200 mile dash back to Genoa where we would catch a
ferry to Tunisia.  The ferry would take 24hrs and we needed time to book the
crossing and sort out provisions etc.  We found a hotel in Genoa and got
busy planning Africa!
We met other bikers from Italy, Switzerland and Germany on the ferry and
picked up some good info from a middle aged German lady who has virtually
ridden around the world on her own and more than once through Africa.
Amazing!