Speeding through Spain, France, Andorra, and Italy
It's time to bring you up to speed on ground covered...
Day 21 - Tarifa, Spain to Valencia - 8 hours, 480 miles. Yep. Just a day of freeway, enjoying cruise control and audiobooks. Arrived at 9pm.
Day 22 - Valencia to Barcelona - 3.5 hours, 220 miles. Late start and spent time waiting for an AirBnB host. Somehow this consumed the entire day.
Day 23 - Barcelona - Left the bike at a BMW dealership for new engine oil, final drive fluid, brake pads/fluid, and full 18,000-mile service and inspection. Verdict: Green's still fit for duty, as if there was ever a doubt. Played "tourist" for a day and met up with a friend, Ivan. He and I had met through a mutual friend four years ago when I was kicking off the South America tour in Buenos Aires. Ironic to see him during another moto trip on another continent. He had a wild hair that night to get his nose pierced. I thought he was just trying to impress the girl he was dating that night. As the third wheel, I tagged along as we roamed the streets of Barcelona until the wee hours in search of an open tattoo parlor. I thought, "Man, he's really going to great lengths to make this a memorable date." And thought we were sharing a sense of relief when the mission failed. But, even after the date was over, he got it pierced the next morning. Almost two birds with one stone. Note, this was the first in-person interaction with an English-speaker since the tire change in Casablanca 8 days prior.
Day 24 - Barcelona to Encamp, Andorra - 3 hours, 125 miles (that's supposed to be the trip average per day and is one of the shortest of this two week-period). Got a late start, which seems to be a trend. Arrived after dark..again...never good on a motorcycle. Sorry to say it, but Andorra was not anything special. Also, it was some sort of mid-week holiday, which made finding sustenance a challenge late in the evening.
Day 25 - Andorra to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France - 5 hours, 260 miles. Great to see the French countryside off the main freeways...and some snowy mountain passes.
Day 26 - Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France to Sanremo, Italy - 5 hours, 230 miles. A long day of riding, swinging through Nice and Monaco and also detouring a few hours into Col de Turini.
Day 27 - Sanremo to Genoa, Italy - 2 hours, 80 miles. Spent a morning touring the city and getting clothing repaired after a spill on Green.
Day 28 - Genoa to Vezanno Ligure, Italy - 1.25 hours, 60 miles. Just wanted to get out of the city...nothing special at this place. Temps are generally staying the same, but feeling colder away from the sea.
Day 30 - Vezanno Ligure to Lago di Garda via San Marino - 7 hours, 425 miles. San Marino, the hilltop microstate is a beautiful, tourism-dependent site. Chalk that up as the 45th nation ridden on a moto.
Day 31 - Lago di Garda to Balzano, Italy - 2 hours, 90 miles. Beautiful lakeside ride to the historical, Italian/Austro-Hungarian seat of the Tyrol province. Breathtaking passes and mountainscapes in the Dolomites. One of the best AirBnB hosts to date, Sara provided the first in-person English conversation in over a week, citing all the great nearby mountain passes and museums to see in Bolzano.
Day 32 - Bolzano - Left Green chained to a street sign all day. First day without riding in more than three weeks--since Seville. Ironically, the day prior, a friend had sent me a podcast about Ötzi, man dating back 5,300 years found in ice a few in 1991. No real motivation to send it to me or for me to listen, aside from it simply being a very interesting archaeological mystery. Turns out, the "Ice Man" was found near Bolzano, and the museum was just half a mile from my lodging. Had to see it! Amazing.
Day 33 - Bolzano to Trieste, Italy - 6 hours, 225 miles. Absolutely gorgeous ride through Gardner Pass in the Dolomites (one of few passes open in March, as temps are near freezing. I then swing through southern Austria before crossing back into Italy. Unfortunately, much of the day was nearly sub-freezing, rainy, and foggy. Arrived at Trieste after dark...again.
What in this 46 hours and 2,200 miles of riding deserves elaboration...well, lots of things. But to be honest, many others could better describe the most exquisite restaurants, picturesque vistas, and best lodging choices. I've had some friends compile a few notes, indexed in a searchable fashion found here. Enjoy.
From the Exp RWB perspective, it's been a rough two weeks. I've wrecked once, the body is tired, some gear has taken a beating, loneliness comes and stays longer than it goes, and the magnitude of this undertaking has become clear.
