Riding 2Up

13 September 2009

 Riding2up through Europe

Since our last update from Bulgaria we've traveled some equally amazing roads and meet some fantastic people. The language barrier in Bulgaria was not the only reason for our short stay in this poor country, it was still quite expensive and as you can imagine after almost 10 months on the road every cent counts. We have thus been camping far more often which is not without it's advantages. As a motorcyclist (with lots of stickers now on our Panniers) we are almost immediately welcomed into camping sites with people taking a keen interest in our travels.

So where have we been? Well I'll summarise for those who don't yet know we have a map of our travels; since Bulgaria we went to Romania, Hungry, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, back to Switzerland, to France, back to Switzerland and now we are in Southern France.

Quick Facts
How many kms traveled? 34,523kms
Where are we? Provence, France
What's the weather like? Gorgeous, cool in the evenings hot during the day but we know it won't last.
How many kilos have we gained? Pascal 6kgs, Arja - not telling
How many days have we had of rain altogether? 5 out of 293 days in total
How many photos have we taken? over 10,000!

There are already many photos of our time in Europe, for the most part we've been staying with acquaintances or family which has been really wonderful but after traveling quite a rugged lifestyle for sometime we sometimes lack the etiquette and behaviour common to western Europe. Small things like eating on the ground with our fingers, washing undies in the sink, snorting whilst laughing and wiping my nose on my sleeve or letting a fart rip whenever I feel like - it's better than keeping it in, right? But we do still leave our smelly boots outside and have a shower most days ;-)

On a more serious note, the reintegration into society is one thing we've been dreading for sometime and it has in fact been loaming over us like a black cloud. It's a common occurance amongst adventure travelers to find it an immense hurdle to re-adapt to their old lifestyles upon returning home and the difficult question when the trip ends is often, 'what now?'. It brings on a depression for most people just returning to work after 2 or 3 weeks of annual holidays but the low is even deeper and longer on such trips as ours and it's not easy. We don't want the adventure to be over so we constantly try to invent new adventures and ideas, which is good in some ways but it means we still are a bit in the clouds on most days.

As we left Hungry where we stayed with Agnes and Janos, a charismatic couple we met whilst camping in Turkey, and entered Slovenia I started feeling this pre-arrival low, knowing that Switzerland, family, friends, familiar ground, expectations were waiting for us. No matter what Arja said, I was completely negative and despite the excellent riding conditions, the amazing scenery and delicious food (if you know me, I get very passionate about good food and this usually cheers me up) nothing seemed to cheer me up. Down in the dumps in one of the most wonderful countries in Europe Slovenia was a shame, so we've decided we'll go back one day on better terms... perhaps on bicycles.

With the wind in our backs and the inevitable approaching there was no reason to put off the arrival any longer than necessary so we headed over the Alps in Austria via the GrossGlockner pass at some 1953m towards Innsbruck for some much needed new tyres. The old tyres were so bad there were visible slices from the razor sharp rocks, a puncture from Turkey, worn past the markers on the sides and flat on top after an incredible 19,000kms. If you want my opinion on tyres, Metzler Tourances are good and worth the extra money.

Switzerland is a wonderful country - well I can't say anything else as I'm Swiss, right? Wrong, it's because I'm Swiss that I can say what I like. It's clean, yes, the country side is spectacular, yes, the roads are great, ok so what, so are many other countries around the world. What makes it worth the visit? I kept asking myself as a tourist, what is it about Switzerland that makes it worth the visit? If we were in a rush we'd pass through Swtizerland in a matter of hours with barely as much as stopping for petrol. But there is something quite unique about Switzerland, even if Khadafi wants it stricken from the map (the current political situation as is often the case linked to money and petrol saw an altercation with Lybian president's son and the Geneva police force) it has the diversity of culture and the richness of language that isn't found elsewhere in Europe. Where can you meet teenagers that speak fluently four languages or more? They are conservative and rich but at the same time they are worldly and not pretentious about their lives and belongings (of course there are the exceptions in any generalisation...). There is a certain je ne sais quoi about the Swiss culture and lifestye that makes it one of the more attractive countries in Europe to live in. Also the distinct lack of expat Australians getting drunk on any given night (present company excepted) like in London or Paris is always a good thing.

As we have been welcomed open armed by many people on our three and a half weeks in Switzerland, no need to mention your names, you know who you are and know that Arja and I thank you all very much for your hospitality. It means a lot to share a little time and share our story with people, after all that's what our trip is about, making peaceful connections with people.

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