Netherlands, UK, Veghel, Hastings, Abingdon, Edinburgh, 02 – 15 August 2017

Posted on Tuesday, 15-August-2017 by Chris Desmond

Rothrist to Veghel, first through the Swiss back roads and then onto the German autobahn, a ride I have done several times. This time endless road works and a broken down truck caused a miles long traffic build up, I managed to ride down the middle and get past, 8 hours and no rain.

Veghel to Hastings, another biannual  commute. Being a Saturday, very few trucks on the road but a traffic jam around Ghent with everyone heading for the coast. This time I paid 115 euro for my Eurotunnel ticket instead of the usual 66 euro, price gouging in the holiday season. Long queues of returning holiday makers meant I could not get the next train out, had to wait for an hour. Still no immigration check on the EU side only on the UK side.

A bit of excitement at the end when I ran out of fuel entering Hastings. I still had about 2-3 litres left in the tank but a long downhill stretch with a set of traffic lights at the bottom caused all the fuel to flow to the front of the tank leaving the fuel pump dry. A call to my friend had 5 litres delivered and on my way again for the last 2 km of the journey.

 

Hastings to Abingdon which is on the Thames near Oxford to visit a friend. This meant using the dreaded M25 ring road around London, its supposed to be a motorway but there are sections which resemble a car park hahaha.

Abingdon to Edinburgh, accident before Birmingham caused a 45 min delay and then 5.5 hours of rain, the last 2 hours fine weather, its usually the other way around.

Day trip to North Berwick at the mouth of the River Forth.

Day trip to Edinburgh city where the Fringe Festival was in full swing.

Edinburgh to Hastings, left in a drizzle which continued for two hours and then fine weather all the way back.

 

 

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Switzerland, Rothrist, 31 July – 01 August 2017

Posted on Tuesday, 1-August-2017 by Chris Desmond

Great ride from Turin to Switzerland over the St.Bernard pass. I went on a day trip by train to Interlaken to watch the Swiss National Day parade.

Swiss National Day parade, Interlaken

 

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Italy, Turin, 28 – 30 July 2017

Posted on Sunday, 30-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

Genoa to Turin, I planned a scenic route through the mountains, 200 km in 5 hours, great ride going up to 1000 m. I took the freeway just to get out of the built up area and then turned off into the mountains.

Turin – population 2.2 million, the old town has many piazza’s, pedestrian only areas and beautiful buildings. It was the original capital of Italy. There are trams, busses and one Metro line, cost of a single ride is E1.50. It is also the cleanest Italian city I have visited.

The Automobile Museum in Lingotto, it is one of the best I have ever visited, well laid out with English translations. Close to the museum is Eataly, an interesting Restaurant / Grocery store.

 

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Italy, Genoa, 25 – 27 July 2017

Posted on Friday, 28-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

Another ferry trip to get from Bastia, Corsica to Genoa, Italy, a 10 hour journey, departed at 2145 (45 min late) and arrived at 0715 (15 min late) the next day. Cost 34.63 euro that includes a discount of 7.50 euro from the previous trip, cheap compared to the other ferry trips.

Genoa, a big port city, population 1.5 million and the birth place of Christopher Columbus, the old town is well preserved and a good place to walk around. Public transport consists of Trains, Busses and one Metro line, I only used the train 1.60 euro a ride valid for 100 minutes on all forms of transport.

I took the train to Sturla station and walked to Boccadasse a picturesque village with a tiny rocky beach and from there walked along the Corso Italia a beautiful promenade along the coast all the way back to Genoa.

Passeggiata Anita Garibaldi, another great walk but quite different from the Corso Italia, this one is narrow and hugs the rocky cliffs around Nervi and it has a red carpet along its full length of 1.8 km. I took the train to Nervi station and as the station is in the middle of the walk I had to walk up to one end and then walk to the other end and back again.

 

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France, Corsica, Bastia, 22 – 24 July 2017

Posted on Monday, 24-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

At Corte I could not upload pictures to my blog and at Bastia the Internet at the place I was staying at was broken so I am catching up now.

From Corte I rode to Ajaccio, the birthplace of Napolean Bonaparte, more for the ride than anything else and then back through Corte to Bastia, should have taken a different route coming back but anyway great ride through the mountains regardless.

Note: Corsica is an expensive place, prices are almost double that of Sardinia and much more expensive than the mainland

Bastia, a port city, quite big and busy, not a bad place to wander around.

I visited the museum here, very few English translations, the most interesting part was the archaeological ship salvage of a Wine transport ship from 20-40 AD and the videos. After that the Cathedral and a couple of churches squashed between buildings.

 

Finally on my last day I rode around Cape Corse, the peninsula sticking out at the top of the island, the Eastern side  has the beaches and the Western side has the cliffs and is very windy, I nearly got blown over the cliff a couple of times hahaha, scary ride. There was also a huge bush fire which went on all night and was visible from the ferry as I departed the island that evening.

 

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France, Corsica, Corte, 20 – 21 July 2017

Posted on Friday, 21-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

Sassari, Sardinia to Corte in Corsica. First stop out of Sassari was Castelsardo, a seaside town full of tourists for some pictures and then on to Santa Teresa Gallura which is where the ferry leaves for Bonifacio, Corsica. Good ride to the town where I arrived at 1200 and had lunch then to the tiny port at 1300, still 2 hours to go before departure at 1500. I bought my ticket online from Moby in advance for 48.35 euro which is quite expensive for a one hour journey. You can buy your ticket at the port and people were arriving to catch the ferry right upto when they started boarding at 1430.

Bonifacio – perched on a cliff, packed with tourists, took a few pictures from the top and rode along the coast which is very crowded with lots of traffic, not what I expected. Finally turned off the coast road for the last one third of the journey to Corte and from there it was a good ride through the mountains.

Corte – a fairly large town in the hills with a university campus, one main street with a few expensive cafe’s and not much else.

 

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Italy, Sardinia, Sassari, 18 – 19 July 2017

Posted on Thursday, 20-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

Cagliari to Sassari isn’t very far so I stopped at a few places along the way to take pictures. First the Nuraghe di Barumini, next Arutas Beach, white sand, small and crowded, next Santa Caterina di Pittinuri a small seaside town with a rocky beach, next Bosa another seaside town and finally Alghero, you guessed it, a bigger seaside town. The ride was through the mountains with endless curves, motorcycling paradise.

Sassari – one of the nicest places I have been to in Italy. The old town is well preserved with many small piazzas, cafes and restaurants, great place to wander around.

 

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Italy, Sardinia, Cagliari, 16 – 17 July 2017

Posted on Tuesday, 18-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

I took the ferry from Palermo to Cagliari, booked on Tirrenia, cost 132.47 Euro, expensive for a 12 hour journey. I actually paid an extra 20 euro for a seat without thinking, there was no need because you can sit anywhere and there are lots of places to sit, even in the so called Reserved First Class seats, no one checks and I should have known that having been on so many of these ferries. I also bought a meal in advance for 8.90 euro which is quite reasonable and this is worth it as you pay 20% more on the ferry itself. The ferry does not run everyday and it was quite full, so book early if you are in a car and want a cabin. I had to stay an extra day in Palermo because the next ferry was on Saturday but that worked out quite well.

The ferry departed on time at 1930 and arrived on time at 0730 the following morning and the sea was flat, did not even feel like we were moving. I checked in at 1730 and there was a long line of cars stretching out of the port and into the road, get there earlier if you are in a car. If you are on a bike you just ride around the cars to the front of the line and there were at least 30 bikes on this ferry.

Cagliari, capital of Sardinia and another ancient city. I had to get another SIM card here as the credit I had on my old one got used up when I was on the ferry, turn your Data off before you get on the ferry. Plus it was going to expire in a few days anyway so no great loss. The new SIM is valid for 1 month and cost 20 euro, 100 min of talk and 4 GB data. I should have bought the original SIM card for 3 months instead of 2 months but at the time I did not know that roaming charges would be abolished in the EU.

 

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Italy, Palermo, 12 – 15 July 2017

Posted on Monday, 17-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

Palermo – founded 2,700 years ago and the biggest city in Sicily, a great place to spend a few days. There was of course a festival in progress……

I was lucky enough to be taken on a tour of the Collesano area by a friend. This is where the Targa Florio race was held for many years and also visit the Targa Florio museum, a great day out in Sicilian countryside.

 

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Italy, Trapani, 10 – 11 July 2017

Posted on Wednesday, 12-July-2017 by Chris Desmond

On the way from Agrigento to Trapani I stopped at the Valley of the Temples, the most impressive structure was the Temple of Concordia, the rest was a jumbled ruin. The best way to see the place is to park at the bottom of the hill and take a shared taxi to the top cost 3 euro and walk down, its a straight road about 2 km, then try and find your way out back to the car park, there are no signs hahaha.

Next stop was the Stair of the Turks, a natural wonder.

Trapani – lots of beaches and tourists here.

 

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