Hei there,
I am sorry for the the terrible blogging activity, but this year there were not so many available free connections.
Before describing our days through England and Wales...I have to say that the 9th of August my journey will be over....some problems to my knee and my ankle don't allow me to carry on the trip...I am very very very sad for this, because the journey to harwich has been great....but honestly I don't feel it would be a good decision to carry on in these conditions, also considering the tough days ahead with still nearly 1000 km to ride and, in september, an house moving to sort out.
well, in this moment I am not in the mood to talk to you about the trip made, I will post it once I will be back in Farges and I will recover a bit (I think that first of all some rest is necessary...I will also go to some doctors to see if it is possible to do something, since it is the second time that my ankles are soring)....
I have a plane to Geneva the 9th of August from Brussels. Tomorrow I will take a train from Utrecht and after a night in the airport I will pack my bike and take off.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
1st stage: Treviso-Dublin
Hei there,
I am writing from the Isaac Hostel in Dublin where we arrived this morning at 7 o'clock....it has been quite a long day: at 6 a m we were on saddle to get out of the airport and reach Dublin, but let me tell you the full story:
We found a driver to cruise us to the airport...the good Seba loaded the bike in the trunk of his truck and we arrived to Treviso...at 4 pm while the plane was at 8.30...eventually delayed to 8.44..we helped to clean the airport hall, but it was a pleasent waiting...
After the flight...our room was booked and clean: a full furnished floor at the Dublin Airport, where a group of jugglers was also staying...result: I felt like in a circus...only lions and elephants were missing!
At the weak-up call, no coffee and croissant, but the face of a policeman telling us it was time to get off the airport, because shops were opening, and no backpackers were allowed. No problems...at the early light of the Irish morning we were outside opening the boxes (no damages at the bikes), fixing the different parts of the vehicles, et voila...riding! few km to the downtown, no problems of directions, cycle paths perfect....just some rain but acceptable.
It is difficult to get back to the cycling rhythm. while Mauro goes on like a tank..I have to double check everything twice or three times,...always with the fear of forgetting something somewhere...well perfectly in Andrea's style I would say...I will get used to it, or better, Mauro will get used to it :)
The day was spent visiting the town, buying tickets for the ferry to Holyhead (tmrw), dreaming about the evening's Guinness which is waiting for us in a pub (I am not a big Guinnes fan, but it is compulsory, they say, so I will adapt to this situation!) and sleeping some minutes in the St Patrick Cathedral park....total km of this prologue were 40...which is not bad considering the 3 hours sleep of the night...
Now is time to look for a place to eat, so wish me good luck and have a good evening!
Cheers!
I am writing from the Isaac Hostel in Dublin where we arrived this morning at 7 o'clock....it has been quite a long day: at 6 a m we were on saddle to get out of the airport and reach Dublin, but let me tell you the full story:
We found a driver to cruise us to the airport...the good Seba loaded the bike in the trunk of his truck and we arrived to Treviso...at 4 pm while the plane was at 8.30...eventually delayed to 8.44..we helped to clean the airport hall, but it was a pleasent waiting...
After the flight...our room was booked and clean: a full furnished floor at the Dublin Airport, where a group of jugglers was also staying...result: I felt like in a circus...only lions and elephants were missing!
At the weak-up call, no coffee and croissant, but the face of a policeman telling us it was time to get off the airport, because shops were opening, and no backpackers were allowed. No problems...at the early light of the Irish morning we were outside opening the boxes (no damages at the bikes), fixing the different parts of the vehicles, et voila...riding! few km to the downtown, no problems of directions, cycle paths perfect....just some rain but acceptable.
It is difficult to get back to the cycling rhythm. while Mauro goes on like a tank..I have to double check everything twice or three times,...always with the fear of forgetting something somewhere...well perfectly in Andrea's style I would say...I will get used to it, or better, Mauro will get used to it :)
The day was spent visiting the town, buying tickets for the ferry to Holyhead (tmrw), dreaming about the evening's Guinness which is waiting for us in a pub (I am not a big Guinnes fan, but it is compulsory, they say, so I will adapt to this situation!) and sleeping some minutes in the St Patrick Cathedral park....total km of this prologue were 40...which is not bad considering the 3 hours sleep of the night...
Now is time to look for a place to eat, so wish me good luck and have a good evening!
Cheers!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
pre-leaving operations
At 3 pm with some dozens of hours margin on the flight, Gabbi "the drivah" is gonna pick us up at home to take us at the Treviso Airport where at 8.30 ryanair will decide whether destroy or not our lugguage and will bring us to Dublin.
Few images from yesterday:
- disappointment at the moment of the planned ride with my brother, when a big storm suggested us that it wasn't a very smart idea to take bikes
- yesterday's dinner with some of our best fans and promoter of the blog!
- packing while watching the Tour de France time trial
- Swiss inspiration on red bag
I hope it will be possible to update the blog with a daily post, but all depends on the conditions we will find in any case "hei oh, let's go!"
Few images from yesterday:
- disappointment at the moment of the planned ride with my brother, when a big storm suggested us that it wasn't a very smart idea to take bikes
Thursday, July 24, 2014
1st-transfer: Farges-Padova
Early to bed, early to rise....to be in line with this sentence, I spent almost the whole night awake...you know that I am bit emotional for this things and my reaction is: laying in the bed, with eyes opened all night long..normal? I don't know, but that's it.
First surprise at the final tightening of the suitcases: the camera died...the problem was quickly fixed. It is incredible but the the best tool to repair broken stuff today is the credit card. A new camera will be the witness of the trip, and the owner of the shop where I bought it is now counting euros in his pocket.
Second surprise in Geneve it was not raining this morning, I cannot tell the same thing of Venezia at the landing...pouring rain that soaked the box of the bike (not good because it started to be opened on all sides..). In this case to fix the problem I am not gonna use the credit card, but some tape that will wrap the paperboard box hopefully until my arrival in Dublin. Tomorrow everything will be fixed.
Before leaving I had a coffee with some people at work...one of them is Irish and he warmly suggested to wear a raincoat or a scuba suit, once in Ireland...ehm ehm ehm....I guess he wanted to communicate me something, but I hardly understand what he meant...wait and see always keeping in mind:
Thanks to Piero and his super Honda Jazz (you can see it in the picture with its mouth opened soon after having puked the box out of its huge trunk)
for the lift to the Geneva Airport and mia Su-Rella who came to pick me up in Venice...and found me in great shape offending in the order:
- the weather;
- the airport crew who handled the bike as it was a dead whale
- the pavement (too narrow for the bike)
- the weather again
- the car whose seats were not already in the right position to host the bike
- the parking gates which were closed and I had to run to the counter to pay the parking price....
I am sorry for that
As I said in the beginning: early to bed, early to rise :)
Cheers!
First surprise at the final tightening of the suitcases: the camera died...the problem was quickly fixed. It is incredible but the the best tool to repair broken stuff today is the credit card. A new camera will be the witness of the trip, and the owner of the shop where I bought it is now counting euros in his pocket.
Second surprise in Geneve it was not raining this morning, I cannot tell the same thing of Venezia at the landing...pouring rain that soaked the box of the bike (not good because it started to be opened on all sides..). In this case to fix the problem I am not gonna use the credit card, but some tape that will wrap the paperboard box hopefully until my arrival in Dublin. Tomorrow everything will be fixed.
Before leaving I had a coffee with some people at work...one of them is Irish and he warmly suggested to wear a raincoat or a scuba suit, once in Ireland...ehm ehm ehm....I guess he wanted to communicate me something, but I hardly understand what he meant...wait and see always keeping in mind:
for the lift to the Geneva Airport and mia Su-Rella who came to pick me up in Venice...and found me in great shape offending in the order:
- the weather;
- the airport crew who handled the bike as it was a dead whale
- the pavement (too narrow for the bike)
- the weather again
- the car whose seats were not already in the right position to host the bike
- the parking gates which were closed and I had to run to the counter to pay the parking price....
I am sorry for that
As I said in the beginning: early to bed, early to rise :)
Cheers!
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Loris Batacking capuffizo Packing!
Hi!
less than one week to the departure. Precisely on Thursday a plane will take me from Geneve to Padova. I have not been working out my bike for one week because of some time spent in the workshop (thanks Bikes & Buddies website) and some rest necessary for my legs before the tour.
Today, Sunday the afternoon was dedicated to the packing of the whole bike for the trip...not trivial, I have to confess...and more than that, I am not sure of what I will discover when I will open the box at my arrival in Dublin, after two flights click on me!...I hope that the result won't be a bike pot-pourry! I just cross my fingers and pray that the aerport operators will handle with care!
Here below some images of the packing....fortunately photos hide sounds...otherwise you could hear also the amount of swears said while working on the box!
Cheers!
less than one week to the departure. Precisely on Thursday a plane will take me from Geneve to Padova. I have not been working out my bike for one week because of some time spent in the workshop (thanks Bikes & Buddies website) and some rest necessary for my legs before the tour.
Today, Sunday the afternoon was dedicated to the packing of the whole bike for the trip...not trivial, I have to confess...and more than that, I am not sure of what I will discover when I will open the box at my arrival in Dublin, after two flights click on me!...I hope that the result won't be a bike pot-pourry! I just cross my fingers and pray that the aerport operators will handle with care!
Here below some images of the packing....fortunately photos hide sounds...otherwise you could hear also the amount of swears said while working on the box!
Cheers!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)