Category:
Articles
Created: 02 October 2005
Words by Andrew
After watching "The Long Way Round" I decided that visiting my friend in Athens could be done by Kawasaki rather than Boeing. So I bought a big map, got out a marker pen and worked out how to get there. Due to work commitments it turned out that I would have leave UK on a Monday and try to get to Greece for the Friday night. Via France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. Errr, that's more countries than days?
The weekend would be spent in Greece, and then I could return via Italy and take 2 weeks to do it. Lovely. I hoped to take in Florence, Pisa and spend a few days in the Alps - I have seen too many articles in mags about the Alpine roads, so I had to check 'em out.
As it turned out, the trip was a huge success. I made Greece by the Friday night, and spent the weekend celebrating a wedding (yes, a traditional Greek one) and recovering from it. The trip down was breath-taking, I didn't really know what to expect from the lesser known Slavic countries (hence this was the shorter leg), but they were fantastic and highly recommended.
The return trip took in all the sights I'd planned (although I'm using that term very loosely) and despite a change of plan that saw me in Grenoble for 4 days instead of Switzerland (it was raining so I headed south) I rode the roads of travel features and of my dreams. Met some great people and saw some great places.
You know gang, the rest of the world isn't very far away. You don't need a GS to get there, nor do you need much money or language skills. Just a tent and a passport. These are the photographic highlights.
