Girly car dayz

its been over 10 days since I had Melinda picked up by the breakdown service.
But, I've not let that put an end to my travels.
After picking up the hire car, what a rigmoral.
It took from the early morning till 1900 to get the car sorted, but eventually I Did.
I arrived in Ljubljana a couple of days ago & managed to catch up with an old friend, Tina.
Not before I bumped into Ivan, the crazy Serb-Croat at the bar in the campgrounds.
I just wanted a quick beer before I had dinner and met with Tina.
He called me over to the bar and started buying drinks. He was on white wine, so I had the same.

But wait, let me go back a little. Since I last wrote, I caught up with a few old friends in Kassel,
I attended Thomas' birthday dinner, spent loads of time with Jay.
Rode from Kassel to Trondheim, Norway to begin my FHB-48.
On the way to Trondheim, I was involved in an accident. No damage to Melinda, apart from scratched crash-bars. Guess that's why they're called crash-bars. Can't say the same for the car, though.
Couple o' new doors will fix her up.
Yes, I came off. Yes, I believe the car was at fault.
No, my life didn't flash before my eyes, I was too busy trying to avoid a disaster.
I made it to Trondheim, performed a few minor repairs and rested.
The next day o started my ride, to Fucking, Hell and Bach.
It was pure hell, but worth every butt-numbing kilometre
Around 3,300 km.
and I bloody loved every single one of them.

After completing the FHB-48, I rested. Not before noticing a problem with the front suspension.
I think Melinda developed a leaky fork seal and/or a problem with the front wheel bearings.
Not too sure, the next day I contacted BMW breakdown, they picked the bike up on the Friday and have had it ever since (14/08/2015)
That night I stayed in the Pullman, Toulouse, next day I picked up the gay-girly-fiat 500c in which I'm now travelling and mentioned at the start of this entry.
A bit of a different ride to Melinda, but it has a convertible roof :-)
Next day I headed south to Lagrasse, near Carcassonne.
After that I joined Anna and the kids at La Mole, Katharina's place.
Stayed the night, then we all travelled together to pick up Jay at Nice airport then onto Genoa, Italy.
We all stayed there 3 nights and explored Genoa.
Next, onto Lake Como where we spent 2 nights. Took a boat ride around the lake and a few local towns, Cernobio and Como. Had an awesome lunch together.
The next day we went our separate ways, they headed to Zurich and I, Ljubljana.
I was to meet with an old friend, Tina, in town.
Before that, I met Ivan the crazy Serb-Croat who insisted on buying me drinks in large quantities.
I don't think I was in any fit state when I met up with Tina, but I never am :-)
Next day I headed into the castle and spent the afternoon being entertained by the walking tour. It was informative & fun. That evening I met a young Italian couple travelling by motorcycle travelling through.
Next day, I decided to join the bicycle tour of Ljubljana and met Chris, a retired Emirated Captain. We got on like a house on fire and had similar interests - beer
So, we hit the brewery, ate, took a tour and then proceeded to partake of the amber liquid
We also found a great restaurant and (influenced by beer) decided to travel together for a while.
Tuesday, we headed for Zagreb via Novo Mesto. Novo Mesto gave us nothing more than lunch and we decided to head East, over the border, to Zagreb.
We checked out Zagreb, decided we liked it and had a great time.
Following day we headed to Belgrade. Trying to find a campground here was no easy task. After a 90min border crossing we wanted nothing more than a few beers and a bit to eat. Searching for the campground, we crossed Belgrade 3 times and found 2 camps that either didn't exist or had closed 3-4 years previous. Bugger.
At our 3rd attempt, we were successful, but the entry road didn't look too promising. We arrived there many hours later than planned, but as we had nothing planned, it didn't really matter.
At least the bar was open and Chris had some grub in his van. Dinner was served.
Next day we headed into Belgrade, after a late start.
We had a bit of a look round, some awesome ribs, several beers then decided on a walking tour. The trouble was quite long, the guide knowledgable but a bit long-winded. We then had dinner in "My hat" traditional Serbian fare - absolutely awesome grub. We felt a bit wiped out by the previous days' drinking but nothing a couple more beers couldn't fix.
Finally, we managed to get a train back to the camp, had a goodbye bevvy then the end of the day.
Today we said our goodbyes. Chris is heading into Hungary today, I've decided to head to the Island of Hvar, Croatia. I have a friend down there who invited me a while ago. And I need some beach time.
I don't expect to hear anything about Melinda till Tuesday at the earliest, so a weekend on the island it is.
No real plans except to travel. Truly, I am living the life of Riley.

Moving but standing still...

I find myself still in Kassel. Not that that's such a bad thing, it's only been a couple of weeks and there have been plenty of good times as well as reminiscing.

After landing in Denmark, I rode straight to schwaförden and my mate Michi.
Here, we fit new tyres (12,000km +) it seems that Iceland managed to kill my rear one.
I also was able to perform the service and get Melinda ready for another 10,000-15,000 km around Europe. You may scoff at the big numbers, but to me they are only distractions, markers to be glanced at as they roll by.
The achievement is journey, the destination is mostly only there to give direction and make it easier to explain to others. There is no real destination.
Rambling!!!

Anyway, last weekend was the 30th anniversary of Samhain M/C and I convinced Jay to join me there. He even rode pillion, 254km each way. Quite an achievement for a novice.
From the moment we arrived our proverbial cups overflowed with kindness, friendship and drink. What a night. It's always a good time up with the club. With the good food, good mood, 300-400 bikers, beer, cocktails, camping, ceremonies, shots, fire-breathing strippers, burn-outs, a night to remember.
The next day we returned to Kassel, a little worse for wear & decided to visit the thermal baths for some much needed recovery.  As I learned in Iceland, there is nothing better than swimming, sauna, steam-rooms to help the body and mind heal.

This past week I've been spending some quality time with Jay, Bomb (Anna) and the kids drove to St Tropez last weekend.
I even managed to sit in on Jay's band practice a couple of times and just do normal stuff.

Enough of that.
I've started getting ready for the next phase of my journey.
I shall embark upon my first IBA of 2015. This will be my second attempt of the FHB-48. Hopefully
this time I'll be successful.   The ride: Fucking, Hell and Bach in 48 hours. Over 2000 miles. Last time I started in Bach, France rode across to Fucking, Austria and on to Hell, Norway. This time I shall begin my ride in the north and travel South. After reading a few reviews, this seems the most likely route that will be successful.

So, today I shall wash, pack Melinda, pick up a few supplies, and ready myself.
Another important part of my preparation was to replace the original seat on Melinda. The old one was extremely soft, didn't offer much in the way of support and became uncomfortable very quickly.
I got the name of a guy who reupholsters motorcycle seats from Tobias, a German biker I met in Iceland.
I guess this ride will be the ultimate test.

Tomorrow morning I'll be back on the road again and heading north so I may eventually head South.