Headed South and Crossing Europe....

Ok….it’s been a while. I’ve been off the radar and on the road sans internet. It’s been nice but hasn’t been conducive to any updates. Here goes my attempt at summing up the weeks since then….

Greenblat:
-Hung around Czech Republic for a few more days before heading towards Barcelona
-Found myself in a killer rainstorm two-up on the bike with Kendra…blah
-Rode to Regensberg, Germany to stay at Anna Luisa’s again and actually see some of the town
-Rode through Germany in the rain and thunder…..scary few days
-Hit Switzerland and stayed with another couchsurfer (Melissa) for two nights
-Rode through some of the most amazing roads and mountains I’ve ever seen in Switzerland
-Hit Lyon, France and another Couchsurfer’s flat for a night and day in Lyon
-Rode for two days to Barcelona….boring
-Spent the night on the beach in my tent…..amazing
-Picked up Margot from the airport on the 17th and put the bike to the test with two people AND two people’s gear!
-Two nights in Barcelona and we headed for the south of France for beach time
-Two nights in Nice, France transformed my trip and my attitude
-Another day of riding and we were deep into Italy
-Spent a night in Genova, Italy
-Camped in Tuscany outside of Florence
-NOW in Florence for two nights in a hostel……
-Hitting the road for either Venice or Roma in the next few days!

So….that’s the bullet points….now on to the boring details.

It seems like months since my last update. So MUCH has happened since July 4th! As summed up above, I found myself stalling in the Czech Republic. Kendra made such a welcoming host that it was tough to leave. I used the weather as my excuse one day, but finally rode out the next come hell or high water….and yeah I found high water.

While at Kendra’s place I did manage to use a Fonda San Miguel recipe to make enchiladas for my Czech hosts. (thanks again Lauren) They were really tasty, but a bit spicier than most of us would have liked. I WILL make them again……awesome. My cooking has gotten better and I really enjoyed putting something together that none of them had experienced before.

I got on the bike and prepared to cross my path north by heading back south again to meet up with Margot in Spain. I ended up in the house of Anna Luisa and the company of her and Mark again. I had a great experience there and was SO glad that I returned….even if it did seem ridiculous to cross my own path. One morning I just sat at a sidewalk café drinking coffee thinking that yet again I was experiencing another trip high. Every day just seems to bring new simple pleasures and outlook. It was amazing to just be there an in the moment. I truly hope to return to Regensberg again someday.

I rode out of Regensberg into a hellacious thunderstorm, but rode late into the night and ended up staying the night at Melanie’s house in Oberdischingen, Germany again. She wasn’t home, but her neighbors let me in and I enjoyed a nice long sleep and shower the next morning before getting back on the road. Thanks Melanie!

From Ober I headed to Switzerland to soak up the riding and mountains. I arrived at a fellow couchsurfer’s house near Zurich and a party awaited. Melissa (my host) had a party going with Sangria and food and I enjoyed getting to hang with her crew of international travelers.

The next day Melissa took me around her town and we hit a photography museum and basically just hung out with no real agenda….pretty much like most of my trip. She was amazingly gracious and didn’t mind sharing her one room pad with me while I snored away and kept her awake. She even took me to her favorite Yoga studio in Zurich and insisted on paying for my session (it was damn expensive) and man was it great. It was exactly what my sore body needed. Amazing….yet again.

I sadly left Zurich and headed into the mountains of Switzerland. It was the most incredible day of motorcycling I’ve ever had. EPIC. The roads, the mountains, the tunnels, the views…..just epic. I took a few photos, but really not much as my hands were full with twisties and fun. Another day I will go back there and take more pics to share!

I ended the day in Lyon and another friendly couchsurfer greeted me with a floor to crash on. Marilyn (my host) is French, but spent time in Austin and dreams of moving there…..as you can imagine, we got along great. I spent the night talking to her about her time there and in Texas and the next morning she showed me some of Lyon. It was beautiful and somehow I forgot to take my camera. It was fairytale France really…..the stuff you see in the movies. I bought some postcards and maybe I’ll actually mail them someday.

I packed up from Lyon and headed to Montpellier. Boring….just slept in a crappy motel and tried to work out the cramps from riding for so long. I hit Barcelona on the 16th and found a spot on the beach to call my own. It was a relaxing day and night on the beach, but I was full of stress about getting Margot AND two people’s gear on the bike for a few thousand miles!

The next morning I found the airport and picked up a smiling face from back home. It was more than welcome to see Margot and instantly begin the “work” of traveling by motorbike. We packed up the bike and determined that stuff needed to go home. (a box is headed to Austin right now with my winter clothes) We hit Barcelona and instantly found a hostel with a sweet room for a good price. We unloaded…..threw on flip flops and walked the city. Barcelona is one cool town. Great architecture…..great sights and smells…nice beaches.

Unfortunately some thugs took a shine to our helmets that were cabled to my bike at the beach one day. GONE….poof….$900 worth of helmets. I had no idea a cable that thick could be cut so easily! I was beyond pissed, but Margot helped to calm me down and we walked all over town looking for the moto shop that didn’t seem to exist. We found it and plunked down the cash for something we owned just a few hours before. We decided to get over it and not discuss it again as it just got me mad all over again. Needless to say….we’re carrying our helmets everywhere now!

I have MUCH to say about how cool Barcelona was, but I’ll just let the pics tell a bit of the story. We stayed a few days and headed towards the south of France for more beach time and amazing views. Riding the bike with two people is a bit challenging to say the least. It is made to take two people, but NOT comfortably. My extra cushy seat is good, but mainly for one person. We also tried to avoid the motorways headed back through Spain and France, but found the back roads to be more than a bit confusing and simply uncomfortable. Motorways are expensive, but sometimes the only way to get miles under my belt.

In two days we managed to ride from Barcelona to Nice, France with more than a few stops in between. We rode along the coast in Marseille and were overwhelmed by the cliffs and water. Truly breathtaking. That day and into the night we avoided the motorways along the coast and near Cannes we hit the coolest 30 mile stretch of road I’ve ever ridden. (yes Switzerland was beautiful, but France’s twisties took the prize for fun). I have NEVER had to concentrate so intensely for so long as I did on that short stretch of road. It was switchback after switchback and I couldn’t believe I was on it!

We did think ahead and booked a room in a fabulous 1 star hotel and rolled into Nice amazed by the sights. What a great town. The coastline of this town is covered with beautiful people and more to look at than we could handle. We chose Nice mainly because it had a KTM dealer and I needed a starter for the bike, but we were really glad we ended up there regardless. I did ride over to the KTM dealer, but they couldn’t be bothered with helping me to diagnose the problem unless I was paying them to do all the work……a total waste of time. I made the decision to kickstart the thing until it annoys me so much that I take it apart to replace whatever is stripped. At this point with the idle upped it seems to have no issue starting on the first or second kick. Bueno.

We took in some great food, beach time and energy in Nice and chose to move on to Monaco and into Italy. Monaco was insane….posh, expensive and confusing. Margot took a ton of pics as we rode around just taking it all in. We chose to move onto Italy and were glad we did. The roads along the coast are almost repetitive in their beauty. Serious mental pictures that I will take home with me.

I believe that I will leave most of the descriptions of the beauty to the photos….even though they fail miserably to capture how overwhelming it all is.

Details…..we ended up in Genova, Italy and without a place to stay. We rode around for almost 3 hours before finding a place that was sufficiently shitty enough (read CHEAP) and we couldn’t get off the bike and unloaded fast enough. My ass is NOT happy about the long rides! Margot seems to mainly have issues with her knees. Genova had pretty spots, but mainly seemed a bit dirty and overpriced. Late that night we walked all over looking for edible food and then right behind the hotel we stumbled upon a tiny alleyway-café where we got a more than enjoyable Italian man who said that Texans were his favorite kinds of Americans and that he’d spent time there 40 YEARS ago! We thoroughly enjoyed just sitting in that dirty alley until after midnight listening to the partying Italians around us on a random Wednesday night….good stuff.

The next day we got online to find campsite near Florence. Internet access has been almost nil since I left Germany so being prepared for the next city has been tough and annoyingly time consuming….but spending 3 hours driving around Genova convinced us that finding a place to point to the day before often makes more sense than randomly hunting upon arrival. The campsite was north of Florence in the mountains and a perfect break from the cities. We unloaded there…set up camp and went hunting for a nice Tuscan meal. We ended up doubling back to a restaurant called “Enoteca”! As some of you know, this is my favorite spot in Austin….so it was too good to pass up. Here we were in this fancy restaurant in the middle of a beautiful mountain valley in Tuscany?!? How did we get so damn lucky!? The food was AMAZING and the whole experience was almost loaded with guilt for just how good it was.

We crashed hard that night as the campsite was quiet…cold and cozy. We woke up late the next day and hit the showers…and the POOL! THIS is the way to CAMP! Everything was really just perfect.

So…that’s yet another impossibly long update. Sorry for the length, but I really haven’t even scratched the surface of what I’ve seen since the Czech Republic. We’re now in a Florence hostel and about to set out to see more sights here. One more night in Florence and we’re either heading for Venice or Rome. We’re thinking of taking a ferry from Southern Italy to Spain again….so it’s all up in the air. Update more when I can. For now just check out the pics as Margot has clicked off quite a few. I’ll add comments as I have time. Also....if you're viewing pics I suggest viewing from the set icons on the right hand side of the main Flickr page. So....view "Headed South" folder today. This will give you the pics in the order they occurred versus the somewhat random way Flickr "streams" them.

Over and out, A

straddlin' the border

How much can one man fit into a week? More than I thought I could, that's for sure. The pic above shows that I made it as far north as the border of Poland and the Czech Republic.

Greenblat:

-rode to Regensburg. Stayed one night and moved on
-arrived in Most, Czech Republic
-rode the bus to Prague to enjoy creepiest sleepover yet
-met up with group to climb a mountain
-conquered the mountain, slept like I never have before
-hanging in Most....

So. I left Oberdischingen, Germany on Friday with a destination of Regensberg, Germany in mind. This time I used the GPS and set it to "direct" and "no highways". Wow...what a difference it made! I ended up on amazing twisties and switchback roads for 5 hours! I would ride for 3 miles and be in another tiny village that looked just like the one before it.....The major difference between the villages there and the ones back home is that they are ALL clean and well taken care of....with amazing local luxuries that small towns back home seem to lack. I rode through fields of amazing bean-like plants riding up telephone pole height wire structures. They were beautiful and EVERYWHERE! I later figured out that it was all Hops. Yeah....like for BEER! Now I know why the stuff tastes so good......the plants are cared for as if they were made of gold. Amazing.

Through couchsurfing.com (CS) I found more cool hosts. Marc and Anna-Luisa hosted me by letting me stay in Luisa's apartment alone. So cool........right in the center of a beautiful town in a really cool 500 year old building. (pics are posted) It was quiet and perfect to unwind from the road. I had drinks in a rose garten with Luisa and watched Spain beat Russia in the Euro Cup semis. Then I slept like a baby and the next morning enjoyed chatting with Luisa as she got up especially to make me coffee and send me off with a smile. She's invited me back for my return that looks like it will lead me right through Regensberg on my way to Switzerland. I intend to take her up on the offer and spend a few days in Regensberg soaking up the scenery a bit more. Apparently it's one of the few decent sized towns in Germany that wasn't almost totally destroyed by bombings during the war. More than a few tour guides on CS have offered to show me around. Soon...

On Friday morning I rode off headed towards Most, Czech Republic to prepare for my weekend of hiking and camping. I arrived at Kendra's place who graciously offered to let me stay at her place and ride along with her to the organized CS trip up the highest peak in the the country. She was great and welcoming. We stashed my moto at her friend's place who had a safe garage to shelter it in and we rode the bus to Prague. Now....this is where it got interesting/frustrating. We met up with another fellow CS'er who offered to host us both for the night before we caught the bus to the base of the mountain with the rest of the hiking group. He was this Turkish guy who I'm now referring to as "Turk Diggler". As nice as he was....he was perhaps the most awkward character I've met in quite a while.

We got to his flat and were ushered in with a bow and a curtsy looking move. I thought "great....this is gonna be fun". He walked us into the smallest efficiency apartment I've ever seen. one room...one closet of a kitchen and one water closet. All the windows were shut and the blinds closed. It was hot....and it seemed that he and deodorant did NOT get along. He shows us the bed and explains that we can all sleep on it. A queen bed.....nice. I immediately have visions of my GLORIOUSLY spacious one man tent outside. Damn....I left it on the motorcycle. I'm screwed.

Kendra and I exchanged the glance that acknowledges the fact that we are definitely NOT going to enjoy our stay in this dungeon with the awkward (to put it mildly) Turk Diggler. We go out to have dinner with Kendra's other friends and reluctantly return to the flat knowing that's it's just going to get worse. I was having SUCH a hard time even breathing around this guy as his B.O. was about as bad as I've ever been exposed to. Diggler announced that he was taking a shower and I almost jumped up Toyota style knowing that if he didn't I might vomit in my sleep! So...we agree to all laying sideways on his bed to give more breathing room and the light goes out....but not before he attempts to amuse us with really odd youtube stand up videos on his cell phone. I can't tell you how stupid they were.....until Kendra awkwardly told him we were tired and had a damn mountain to climb the next morning!

We lay there while he sits up at the end of the bed surfing the internet or something on his phone for HOURS! I couldn't sleep....Kendra couldn't sleep and he simply just sat there at times staring at both of us. At 4:30 Am I get up to drain my system and there he sits in the dim sunrise light coming through the window just staring at me from the end of the bed. I ask him what's up and he simply shrugs his shoulders. WEIRD! Essentially neither Kendra or I slept more than 20 minutes all night and acted as if we were sleeping to quell the awkwardness of telling him that he was making us very uncomfortable.

The alarm FINALLY went off at 6 am and we POPPED out of bed in hopes that we might get some sleep on the 3 hours bus ride to the mountain. Diggler, of course, jumped into the kitchen to prepare an awkward meal to top off our awkward night. He made one big omelet with french fries and we choked it down while we smiled and thanked him for his efforts. He then offered to give us money for our trip and seemed sad that we were leaving. At one point he told Kendra that normally the only friends he had at home were the spiders and the ticking of his clock! That explains a lot I suppose. Regardless......it was the WORST night of sleep, or lack of sleep, that I've had on this trip and in recent years for that matter. It was perfect timing since I was about to take on the biggest physical challenge I'd undertaken in many years!

We got on the subway headed for the train station gleeful that we were rid of Turk Diggler and talks of how we should've just ridden the bike to the mountain and camped out somewhere on the side of the road. What a waste!

Well...the mountain. It was great. After a 3.5 hour bus ride with no sleep we arrived at the base of the mountain with 13 other really cool people. The group consisted of a handful of Czechs, a Ukranian, A Frenchman, another American and two Australians. I knew it was going to be challenging with little sleep, but my lack of gear made it even worse. I wasn't willing to buy it or carry it for one weekend so I set off with one pair of soft footed converse, a thin hoody, a dirty pair of jeans and a not-so-well-suited-school-backpack filled with everything from Nutella to a bottle of Vodka. NOT GOOD.

About 3o minutes in it was obvious to Kendra and I that we would officially be bringing up the rear of the group. The rest of the group seemed well geared-up and bright-eyed from actually sleeping the night before.....not to mention experienced hikers. Ugh...to feel like crap AND perform like it too...tough day. Regardless....we accepted the challenge of finishing and we DID! The sights were beautiful and the climb, though exhausting and extremely rigorous, was well worth the effort. We went from hot and muggy to COLD and windy rain at the top. The climb was about 16km long and at one point we were walking along the ridge of the mountains after the first serious climb for about 5 km. It seemed like a nice break until we looked at the last 2 km to the peak WAY out ahead of us! Steep doesn't come close to describing it. It was totally intimidating and ominous. Coming back down on slippery rocks made it even more challenging......shedding clothes as the temperatures increased rapidly.

We made it a little over half way down to the cabin that the group had rented for us nestled into a small valley. It was perfect.....totally archaic with a wood stove, no lights and dirty soft beds everywhere. It was perfect. I unloaded my pack and just laid there for abotu 30 minutes trying to NOT feel like the oldest guy of the climb. (yes...I later found out I was tied for the position) The group prepared a big kettle full of beans and pasta and we feasted and drank like kings! It was one of the best meals I've ever had. The mixed group mostly spoke the universal English so it was quite fun hearing about their travels. Unfortunately intense pain in my legs set in later and I was forced to sit most of the time, but it was really a great evening. I mean...I DID have scotch to drink afterall.

The next morning we ate leftovers, packed and cleaned up the house and walked the rest of the way down the mountain to the buses. It was a successful trip and one I won't soon forget. I was glad to have tested myself again, but next time I'll bring proper shoes and a proper pack. I'm certain the climb would have been infinitely easier for me with both. I'm considering doing more climbing back home......Stefan is already working on that.

Once back to Kendra's place we went to a bar to watch the Euro Cup final between Germany and Spain. It was a good game, but unfortunately it ended as expected with Spain as the victor. Oh well...I'll enjoy the positive vibes down there in a few weeks.

For now I've just been soaking up this small former communist mining town, Kendra's hospitality and her friend Lenka's Czech cooking. Good stuff! My allergies have been consistently horrible over the last week, but I hope they soon fade. I'm taking meds and praying for the end of the infection that has set in. Why is it that I only get this in the fall back home, but in Europe it's a year round issue?

Today I intend to use a Fonda San Miguel recipe (THANKS Lauren) to make a proper 4th of July meal with Tex-Mex!?!?? Ok....so the europeans think mexican food is exotic....and you know....I like the idea of cooking it again. So....I'm posting pics. I'll make comments as I have time. I hope all back home enjoy the holiday and get some outdoor time today.

Deutschland "Graphic" Design...

The Greenblat:

-ended up stalling in Paris as well....the hosts were just too good!
-changed plans from Italy or Spain to Germany/Prague and East because of a friend scheduled to visit me in Spain in July
-finally got out of Luc's house in Paris and hit the road last Tuesday
-found roads in Eastern France to be pretty damn fun
-hit Belgium, Luxembourg, France AGAIN and finally Germany that evening and crashed in a small hotel near the French/German border
-the autobahns SUCK when you're on a bike that isn't comfy past 80 mph!
-arrived in Oberdischingen, Germany at Melanie's house
-touring, relaxing and working?!

Greenblat can just navigate away from this page now as this update is LONG and random and full of my 'feelings' and all that stuff. If you want details of the trip itself then skip to the part that says "rant over"

OK....so nothing all that crazy to report. I uploaded new pics to the flickr page days ago and I'm just now getting around to talking about them.

I'm on week ten out of the comfort zone and things are going well. While in Paris it occurred to me that my trip has already been a total success. I made it this far....I've come to amazing realizations about my existence, my yearning for adventure, the world, my relationships, my habits (good and bad), my failures and really just life in general. Maybe there shouldn't have been that much for me to realize, but it's how I'm feeling about it now. Just time to remove myself from all that I've known has given serious perspective.

Ultimately I think the thing I'm happiest with is that I've met some of the coolest people on the planet. yeah yeah yeah....all this sounds like almost totally expected and generic talk of 'finding myself' or whatever, but I mean it. I have a feeling that the real benefits of this trip will hit me when I'm home, but so far I already feel a real sense of accomplishment and like it was worth the effort, risk and simple craziness to get here.

I could go home tomorrow and call this worth the effort ten fold........how does it get better? It's funny, but I have a suspicion that it will continue to get better as I move on. I really feel like I'm just starting to get into the rhythm of solo-traveling and enjoying the ride. Of course most that know me likely know that I'm goal-oriented and can sometimes forget what comes after the initial goal is reached......and this trip was about the goal of getting here.....once here the goal seemed lost. It's the whole "be careful what you wish for" scenario. Every day I try to think of a goal for the day....and now my goal in the morning is to NOT have a real goal. No hurry....just wander. It's ridiculously difficult for me and has shown me just how ineffective I've been in life. I've taken on battles and NOT finished the war over and over. Is this what everyone does or is it just me?

All that being said, I'm feeling ridiculously motivated and fit to create new challenges for myself. BIG ONES. I've begun 2 business plans for projects when I return to Austin. I previously thought I just might not come back home for a while if things fell in my lap here, but nothing has made me appreciate Austin more than being totally removed from it.....oh yeah, and the people back home are also part of the equation. ;)

It also occurred to me that maybe this blog is mainly just good for me and not benefiting those of you that are taking the time to read it. Maybe it is annoying to hear me ramble on about how great it is....and not acknowledge that many parts and stages of this European excursion are rather difficult and filled with stress!? Ok...so it's not that bad, but yeah....parts of it are hard for me to deal with. Yeah....I've NEVER been alone this long in my whole life. Of course sometimes it seems that there are constantly people around me, but to be without all my old friends and support system is tough to do. I miss the faces big time. Many days have been spent without speaking to anyone that speaks english....rather isolating, but always makes me smile when I realize that. I also obviously find it hard to move on from place to place mainly because I don't know where I'm going to sleep that night....or where I'm going to shower or eat or any of that. How ridiculous is that? Isn't that the main point of the entire trip? duh. But...it's still hard to do. I stay in comfy houses with people I get along with and it's hard to move on. In fact...the places that I've stayed in the longest are still emailing me telling me to come back!?! Every day I sleep at someone's house I wake up and think that I am imposing and that I am a burden to have around. Amazingly all of my hosts have told me that they benefited from having me around and wish that I'd stayed longer! That feels amazing, but it isn't conducive to me accomplishing much in the way of riding time, camping and/or the 'work' of the trip.

There's also the financial aspect...I'm broke. Yeah....I'm here, but I have financial responsibilities back home that are still there and amassing. I'm investing this money/time in something bigger, but I had no idea how much the stress of money would stay with me along the way. I like to present myself as a guy who doesn't really care about money or being 'ahead', whatever the hell that means, but not knowing if my cash will get me across another border is a heavy weight on my head. I'm not as laid back about it as I try to let on. The cash being spent here is important....it could help me start a business, it could buy a house, it could buy ALL my friends a nice dinner!, but will it get me home in good health? Will it be worth spending this time away? I've been told that some might think that what I'm doing here and writing about here might be for the wrong reasons. It's been said that maybe I'm doing this to prove something to others....to show that I can do my own thing. Maybe I am trying to prove it , but if I am, it's to prove it to myself.....I don't think I really have anything to prove with my friends. They know I'm nuts, but they also know I'm worth the effort and can follow-through when it counts. Yes? No? Feel free to email me if I'm off base here. I actually NEED blunt feedback and criticism from my friends sometimes.

Ok...rant over. On to the details of my trip.

I left Paris sad to say goodbye to Luc and his welcoming home, but it was time and I had no more excuses to stay other than NOT getting to visit the Catacombs after 3 tries! Anyway...I rolled out later than expected and found myself in the beautiful French countryside in no time. The sights truly were breathtaking. I need to get that camera hooked up to my helmet somehow. I wish I could share more of it. By dusk I was freezing my ass off on the bike and looking for a camping spot. Nothing seemed decent and the further I pushed on the colder I got and the more convinced I was that what I needed most was a hot shower.

I rolled through the Belgium border feeling like I was getting away with something (ghost town border huts are weird) and almost immediately into Luxembourg and then somehow back into France. I think I hit the wrong button on the GPS and it was sending me directly south again. So...once I found gas, (I was running out and WAY into reserve) I pushed on into Germany and my first stretch of Autobahn. It began empty and tunnel ridden. I had a huge smile and realized that 95 mph on a dirtbike isn't the best idea. I slowed down and started searching for a motel. I found one in a tiny town and took whatever they could give me. Surprisingly I knew how to ask in German for a single room and knew how to ask how much it would cost. The hotel owner was nice enough to store my moto in his personal garage and bought me drinks in the hotel bar while we watched Germany beat Austria in the Euro cup soccer game. It was a great time to hang out with this local gang who thought I was crazy to have come all that way to have a beer with them! :)

The next day it was a long ride through Autobahns and my first real rain. The rain suit worked perfectly except that I felt like a dufus with huge boot covers on.....I bought some made for a giant apparently. Michelle will be happy to know that they STILL smell like a plastic factory and MUST be double bagged in plastic when not in use or everything smells of them!

I managed to get through the rain and crazies on the Autobahn that blew by me in the rain like I was sitting still and I finally got off the highways and onto the coolest twisty back roads I've ever ridden. WAY off into the hills of Germany it starts to feel like someone prepared the picture perfect roads just for me. I'm determined to stay OFF the autobahns and huge motorways for the rest of this trip. We'll see if my patience for stop lights and tiny villages can remain.

I made it to Oberdischingen that day, albeit late to a great dinner prepared by Melanie. (I'm still there right now) Melanie is a new friend that I met in a hostel in London. She kept bragging about how good her flat was here in this tiny village, so I decided to take her up on the offer of crashing with her. Her place has been great....I've had plenty of space and time to take a vacation from my vacation and get some work started. Melanie is a teacher and works most days. While here, I've been trying to plan out how my return to normal life will proceed....it always interferes doesn't it? Anyway....Ober has been great. Melanie's mother has cooked up some amazing meals...as has Melanie and I need to get out of here before I start getting fat again. You'll notice in my pics on flickr that I've shown a bit of what I've seen. Great quiet towns...farms..rolling hills....good beer....german music...the whole deal. What I'm constantly amazed by is how much the people, even in a tiny village like this one, want to learn english and practice it with me. At least I got that English thing going for me.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Stuttgart, at my urging, to see the Porsche museum. I can say that this was by far the BIGGEST disappointment and humorous part of my trip. We drove over an hour for ONE SMALL room of cars. Maybe 15? A few engine cutaways and a few trophies....like 20. What the hell? They are building a new HUGE museum across the street, but the website doesn't let on that the old one is a total joke. Anyway...skip Porsche if you're ever out this way. We headed directly over to the Mercedes Benz museum and it was just as amazing as the Porsche museum was underwhelming. I had no idea they'd build SO many types of cars. The technical stories will ensue for the motorheads when I return....and I'll post a few MB pics later.

I've met some new friends using couchsurfing.com and will be heading off to Regensberg, Germany tomorrow and on to Prague the next day. A new friend has graciously invited me on a hiking/camping trip to the highest point in the Czech Republic, so I'll be joining a group of people for some nature this weekend. We leave on a bus out of Prague early Saturday morning. The bike will have to stay alone! I'm hoping it's there when I return. I'm told Prague is NOT Germany and you can't leave your keys in it running outside like I could do in Ober.

On another note....apparently I CAN cook. I once worked in a kitchen in a nice restaurant in Canada, but it's been MANY years since I took on the task of preparing an entire meal for a group of more than two. Tonight I was asked to cook a mexican feast for my hosts while we watched Germany play Turkey in the EuroCup Semi-Final match...Melanie, Bernhadt, Corrina and Michael were all keen to try some TexMex. The hard part was really trying to figure out what ingredients were at the supermarket. Ever try to make Tacos al pastor without cilantro...ahem...I mean corriander? Uh yeah...not so simple. Anyway...I made a mexican baked rice casserole using german sausage because I couldn't find Chorizo (go figure) and it was SO much better than I expected! The al pastor tacos were pretty damn good...if not really weird, but the germans didn't know better and ate them all up quick. I literally had to show them how to roll up a tortilla. I've actually been cooking quite a lot on this trip. Perhaps this is the real reason why I've lost 7 lbs? No queso equals nothing to eat in my book. :) I hope to continue this trend back home.

Oh...some might ask why I've changed my route from Italy/Spain to Germany/Czech Republic....? Well...after extending the invite to everyone to join me for a leg of this trip it looks like I finally have a taker. My friend Margot from Austin has been looking for a way to put her Spanish studies to use and has decided to fly out to Spain to meet up with me in July. I also hope to see some of Italy with her. FUN.....anyone else want to join?? Anyone that wants to rent a moto and ride along?? Jeff? Mark? Chris? Kenneth? Anyway..so instead of having to see Spain twice or double back north from Italy to Germany and the like, I've decided to just head east until it suits me and then give myself a few weeks to get back through Bavaria, maybe Austria and certainly Switzerland as I'm told the riding there is intensely amazing.

Ok...gotta run..getting up early tomorrow! Updates to follow...sorry about the enormous length and rambling nature of this one. I've been quite lax about updating this and things start to add up.

Zen and the art of motorcycling Paris...

I hit Paris with a loose chain and a bit of a loose head. More on that in a minute.......I'm going to give a wrap-up list for Greenblat because apparently he can't be bothered with my long ramblings: (from now on this is referred to as the "Greenblat")

-Found places to stay with Kevin's friends
-couch surfing here is pretty damn good
-replaced chain and sprocket on bike on Friday - met really cool guy (Christophe) with moto shop
-saw sights via motorbike
-riding a motorbike in Paris is INSANE AND FUN!
-met cool friends out Friday night....went to bed at 7:30am the next day
-ate good French food
-drank lots of scotch and wine
-Parisians don't sleep....kept me up all night Saturday too
-Visited Cliches (for Mark) Louvre, Eiffel, Jim Morrison's grave, Notre Dame, Arch, pretty stuff, parks, Catacombs, various museums...more to follow....
-replaced back tire on Motorbike
-new Parisian friends had a party for me under the Eiffel Tower...FUN
-Likely headed to Italy or Spain in the next few days....yeah, it's that undecided.
-I'm allergic to Paris...worst allergies in ages
-I like Parisian food better than London's food (sorry Frankie)
-still alive...maybe more so than normal

I rode into Paris almost a week ago and was amazed by how beautiful the French countryside is. It kept a smile on face almost the entire 3 hour ride from the coast to the center of Paris. I was able to crash with Yann and Emily...friends of Greenblat. They rocked and helped me through a stressful Friday as I tried to get a new chain and money to fix my bike. It was a crazy day of finding my way, but it worked out.

I met Christophe and Florian of www.scootngo.fr just up the road from Yann's house. Christophe spoke great English and helped me figure out what I needed, offered his shop space and tools, his help and PLENTY of hospitality. Christophe really went out of his way to help me with the sprockets and chain and then again (today) with a new rear tire mounted and balanced. What a difference it's made to have someone's help and place to work. I can't say enough about his generosity! Again....more cool people no matter where I go.

Yann promptly took me out Friday night and got me drunk at a party and then an all night club. It was drunken hilarity for sure. The good part was that we stayed out until 7:30 am and were able to sober up enough to ride across town with empty roads on Saturday morning. Yann led me on his scooter down the river along all the picturesque sights and even through my crazy exhaustion I felt wide awake just taking it all in.....amazing. Thanks Yann!

After a few hours of sleep on Saturday I met up with some friends from the night before for some Paris museum roaming. (Mai, Albane, Sophie and Antoine) The experience was unique for sure. In Paris modern art can mean a nitrogen-powered-beer-bottle-canon, a HUGE pile of trash and even a man staring at a wall. Thought provoking and I'm considering taking up the practice of art now. ;) The day ended in horrible allergies, but I kept going.....

I ended up meeting Yann at a party at Luc's house. Luc is another friend of Greenblat and Slutsky's. Luc has an amazing house and in the course of the night offered to let me crash with him for a few nights. (I'm still there) Luc's hospitality has been amazing as well. He took me to Pere-LaChaise (huge famous cemetery) near his house. We sat and soaked it up....absolutely beautiful place and a great walk for both of us. Luc goes there often and said that it's his favorite place in Paris. I also took the stroll to see Jim Morrison....he says "hey" to the fans back home.

Last night Sophie, Mai and Albane all through a little surprise going away party for me near the tower and it was a blast.....these people know how to party and make one feel welcome. Paris and I will rendezvous again!

Today I worked in Christophe's shop all day on the bike and internet to update this. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to Spain or Italy in the next few days.....more fun to follow.

The draw of comfort and friends....

It's confirmed. Tomorrow I finally leave for Paris! I bought a eurotunnel ticket and at 12:20 my time, I'll take the chunnel train under the English channel headed for France. My hold-ups were numerous, but the main ones were crappy weather, delays for my euro moto-insurance and entirely too accommodating hosts.

Jay and Catherine Rad have been GREAT hosts here in London. Jay is a filmmaker and convinced me to hang out a bit longer to work on/act in a short film he was putting together for a contest. I decided to take him up on the offer and stay until Monday and then head to Cornwall to see Sam (from a few weeks ago) this past Sunday. Unfortunately Sam headed to France on holiday early with his family, so I was forced to forgo my ride out to visit him. I stayed with the Rads while I sorted out my insurance for the border crossings ahead.

I was unable to find moto insurance here in the UK, so I've ended up paying $350 for 9 weeks worth of US euro-only insurance. Crap. Well...at least I'm covered for now and I'll be headed out on the road legally!

Filming with Jay was great fun and I learned a bit. It was an impressive professional setup and has definitely made me want to do some filming of my own. More on that soon...

Beyond the hold-ups, I got to hang out with Frankie and friends a bit more, drink pints with Nick and friends, check out random pubs with Jay and somehow ate a $15 burger and fries (chips).
I've got clean laundry, a motorcycle and at least enough dough to get me Paris.

I managed to contact some friends of Kevin Greenblat (Yann and Emily) and look forward to meeting and hanging with them tomorrow night. I'm a bit intimidated since French is the language I'm most confused by, but I'm going for it regardless. I hope to update this soon.

I can't believe I stayed in London so long...in NYC so long....and now it's been almost 7 weeks since I left home. Other than moving away, this is definitely the longest I've ever been away. Time is flying and yet I feel like my trip is just getting started...

more to come.....

Take that you thieving Brits! Yeah.....it's locked up a bit more securely. Sure the left Pannier rack is now bent and the case is scratched along with a few other bits, but overall the bike is riding fine. I took Monday night's happenings as a sign that I can't be quite as laid back about my bike's security. Locking it to itself will not be enough it seems. Human selfishness and lack of moral code is insured against by a simple piece of technology. Punks.

So today I'm doing a bit of procrastinating....and trying to get myself back on the road. I'm not feeling like a very successful traveler today. Even though I'm out here and I'm taking it all in, I haven't felt the open road lay in front of me in over a week and I need to get back out there. People trying to steal my bike doesn't help either....made my entire trip feel pretty vulnerable to attack.

I know that the next few days/weeks are finally uncharted territory as I don't have any plans to see friends or stay with anyone. I guess I keep saying it, but my comfort zone is being challenged and exposed again. I'm actually surprised at myself at how hesitant I am to just move forward. I just realized that it's the alone part that has me hesitant and not readily seeking new adventure....that I'm sure of. Just having a partner on the road would make it endlessly easier and exciting to take on strange places. I guess that seems obvious to most, but the reality of it just hit me while I tried to analyze my laziness. I'm on this trip for that reason I suppose. Yeah....I'm exposed.....I like people....except you people that decide to screw with me about saying all this. :)

I'm planning to leave tomorrow if I can get a few things in order. Wish me luck....it could be a while before another update.

Thieves

Yeah....don't adjust your sets. I'm awake and it's 4am my time. Some assholes just tried to steal my bike! I was up late working on some writing and took out my contacts, closed the computer and closed my eyes. Within 5 seconds I heard a noise outside. I glanced out the front window and there were 3 fuzzy white figures around my bike trying to drag it off. Instead of having the presence of mind to put my contact back in before reacting (so that I might get a good look at them or come outside with a bat to kill them), I banged on the window. They dropped the bike and scattered like little boys. I finally got the window open and yelled "Assholes". After I yelled it I realized I mainly yelled because they'd dropped my damn bike. I don't blame them for wanting it.....because it's cool as hell, but DAMN how stupid could you be? It has a huge obvious cable lock on the back wheel and the handlebars are locked to one side with the key. Did they really think they'd carry off 400 lbs. of motorcycle with 3 guys for more than a few feet? In the RAIN? Dumbasses. Surely they cased it before they came to get it at 3 am on a Monday night in the rain? Did they decide to ignore the lock? They didn't get 4 feet away before they were dead in the water.

Anyway....I'm up and wired and I'm pissed. I slowly got dressed, picked it up out of the street and put it on the sidewalk. It's now locked to a light pole, but I'm still worried that they'll return with proper tools to get rid of the lock. I'm going to try to pass out now and if it's still there tomorrow then I'll figure out a more fitting way to secure it. I kind 0f doubt those guys will return though....at least I hope so. That would likely take much bigger guts than they seemed to have when they scattered so quickly with just the tap on a window.

Maybe this is a sign that it's time for me to get out of London finally!?!?

Oh yeah....and I'll give you a heavy English pound if you know the movie the pic is from (without using the internet). I'm totally gonna go Swayze on their asses next time!