It’s been 30 years since I was last in Porec. Unsurprisingly the place has changed and my memory isn’t as good as it used to be. I found the marina, which smells the same as I recall. There’s a photo in a box at home of me fishing off the jetty at the far end of this photo.
Day 6 started where day 5 finished, inVerona, I said goodbye to Rob, and then again and again as we kept bumping into each other in the lifts – good luck Rob, hope to read lots about you for a long time to come. I popped into Verona to see the sights – well didn’t bother with THE balcony, but I did see the arena. They are obviously preparing a new production of something Egyptian
The plan was to pootle around Lake Como this morning, visit the MotoGuzzi factory on the way around and then make my way over to Trieste near the Slovenia border via Lake Garda. Well, that was the plan, but it changed at breakfast when I saw a Yamaha Tenere parked next to my bike and then met the rider, Rob. Rob is in the second week of a 2+ year round the world trip – Europe, east into The Stans, Russia, Mongolia, across to Canada, then south to Argentina. He tried it two years ago, but had to be flown home when he broke his leg riding off road in Mongolia. Brave lad, and only 25 years old. Rob has a blog http://www.memybikeandi.co.uk/ and a more active Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Me-my-bike-and-I/869721646402771?fref=ts check him out.
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Or the title could be Der, Der, Der, deeeeerrrrr, de, Der, Der…. Today’s route was planned by the British film industry.
The reason I wanted to go to Fussen was that it was used in the filming of The Great Escape, and in particular Steve McQueen’s famous jump (or rather Bud Ekins’ jump)
To some extent, my route through Europe hasn’t been too well planned, it’s just something to get through before the interesting stuff down the Dalmatian Coast, Turkey and beyond. The goal for day 3 was to ride the Romantic Road from Wurzburg to Fussen, I’d done a little research, not much if I’m honest.
Weather today has been glorious, and so have the roads.
I’m not a militarist or a nationalist, but given that I was passing so near to Ypres it would be wrong of me not to visit the Commonwealth Cemetery to pay my respects. So peaceful, but so horrific. The number of tombs for which there is no name, and the number of names on the walls who don’t have a grave because there bodies were never found is a sobering experience – ‘Their name livethfor evermore’
For my own benefit I’m going to try to post as often as possible – in part to get used to using the WordPress app on my iPad, in part to used to downloading images and backing them up whenever I get wifi. I won’t be writing essays, just a few words and some pics.
Setting off was difficult – last minute appointment to get my Hep B jab (thanks Sister Greenhalgh), computer and scanner deciding to go on strike (hope no one asks me for my MOT) and, of course, saying goodbye to Eejay and India. Still, it happened. Around 9:30 on April 20th 2015 (for the first time in my life I was early!)
Preparations are put on hold as nostalgia sinks in… (Who said “you’re wasting you time”?) My obsession with motorbikes and India goes back a long way… to 2001
Everyone wants an Enfield Machismo,
Far Off Places 