Reflection

Wow...
What a trip
3 months through Iceland, Scandinavia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe.
over 31,000 kilometers, 2 bikes, 2 mates, many good friends both old and new.
We rode some amazing roads: The whole of Iceland and the Faroes, Trollstigen, Laerdalstunneln, Geiranger, up to Nordkapp, Over the Pyrenees, The Stelviopass, the Transalpina just to name a few.

I knew it would be hard and it was, but it was absolutely worth it.
If I were to do it again, I don't think I'd change a thing.
but the ride has definitely changed me...I only hope for the better.

It could not have succeeded without Michi and MC Samhain and all their help with finding the right bikes and their help in preparation. Nor would it have been the same without all the characters we met along the way.

Lastly, it could not have worked without Scott.
He put up with my crap, I put up with his but in the end we came out the other end alive.

I think the one thing I take away from this trip, is that:

Old VW golfs never die, they just move to Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

My journey is my journey others may not understand, but that is ok. They travel their own journey.

We covered so much, but looks like so little

28 - 30 August : Schwaförden - BNE

28 August
Michi left for work early but Heike had the day off, so we were able to get our final lot of washing done. We also put up the tents to air and dry them for the trip home.
This evening was to be our Abschiedsfeier, or farewell party. War die Hölle los!
We washed our clothes and our bikes.  We wanted the bikes looking their best for their new owners, or at least prepared for storage.
Many turned up for the goodbye party. It was an awesome gesture and I was humbled by how many people turned out to say Tschüß. Michi put on the grill and many beers were consumed in our honour. Many more tales of the trip were told.
Was an awesome night.
Sometime during the evening, a mutual friend dropped by, he had told Dennis that he might be interested in one of the bikes. It didn't take much to convince him that mine was perfect for him. We shook hands and she was sold before he left for work. An unexpected bonus.

29 August
The next day We woke late. We rode the bikes into Sulingen to pick up some alcohol and tobacco for the trip home. On the way back we stopped off in the nearby fields for a bit of a photo-shoot of our faithful girls.
We packed our bags but they were over the allowed 23 kg, bugger.
For lunch Scott and I had some of the Ahlewurst and left-overs from the previous night.
That evening, we all ate together and Michi dropped me at the translation in Diepholz just before 22:00 hours to catch the train to Münster and onto Enschede in the Netherlands. Here I would have a 5 hour connection and then onto Schiphol. Here I caught up with Scott, had a couple of beers together at 09:30 and headed to check my bag in. The check-in was automatic, no-one to sweet-talk and my bag was too heavy at 28 kg (I needed 23).  We had to do some inventive re-packing to get my luggage below 23 kg, then we sent my bag on it's way.
And we headed to the departure lounge.  Security was strict bur fair, although helmets seem to attract a fair amount of unwanted attention. We eventually got through and to our gate where I bumped into one last person who I knew. One of my old boss' from my time in Saudi. Sheila. Man, what a small world.
The flights continued uneventfully, unfortunately didn't manage to grab a drink with Sheila.
At Abu Dhabi we had only one hour to make our connection and almost had to run, but we did make it.
On arrival at Brisbane international, I discovered I had lost my glasses...
We were picked up by Scotts g/f Tara and his parents. They dropped me home, I ate but wasn't tired. Eventually I went to bed and slept.
It was over & we made it back.

25 - 27 August : Kassel

25 August
Up Early, Breakie. Scott fixed up the camp, his round. Then off to Kassel, only a 2.5 hour ride. We caught a little rain on the way, but nothing too dramatic. We arrived in Lohfelden around 11:00 hours and Jonah was home alone as he was sick. So we got in contact with Jay, he was at Ronan's baseball game and we headed into Kassel to catch up with them. After a bit of mucking around, we eventually found the field and got to See Ronan's team play and win. After the game we all headed back home and caught up with Anna and Ian in the evening, they had been at a children's birthday party.
We all had dinner before Anna got home, after doing some shopping, some food plus a couple cases of beer.
We all sat out on the balcony, drinking and catching up till late.

26 August
All up and breakfasted together, then it was off to Kassel to check out the Herkules, then out to Fritzlar to explore the "mittle-alte" (Medieval) city. Whilst there we all grabbed an ice cream to keep the boys happy. We checked out the Dom (cathedral) and the playground. Then back home. Anna had recently picked up a BBQ so Jonah and I assembled this and then after Anna and Jay cooked dinner on the new grill we ate outside. The weather was great and It was an awesome evening.

27 August
Woken up by the boys. I walked Ronan and Ian to school and we said our goodbyes.
I headed back home and got to hang out with Anna. She showed us what they had planned for their house renovations for next year. Much work, good stuff. She left for work around midmorning. We waited around the house for Jay to return home for lunch and we ate together, Left-overs from the BBQ. Then he treated us to a spin in his toy. He had acquired his father's Sunbeam tiger, Developed partly by Carroll Shelby, it was basically a Sunbeam Alpine body with a Ford V8 squeezed in. I can't for the life of me remember if it was the 4.3 L or the 4.7 L.
Whilst riding around, we also picked up some "Ahle Wurst" for the rest of our trip...it was Awesome.
Eventually we hit the road around 14:30, we were heading back to Michi's and where it all began in Schwaförden, we arrived around 17:00 hours and sat around talking and drinking till late.

22 - 24 August : Berlin

22 August
Up late today - We were due a sleep-in after our late arrival.
After checking-in, it was time again to do some washing after breakie with Scott.
Then we headed out to meet up with a friend of mine, Mercedes. Luckily it wasn't too far or difficult to get to her place from where we were staying.
We spent the afternoon on her balcony, drinking and catching up. Then back to Mahlow where we had dinner at a restaurant there but missed the last bus back to camp. T'was ok and the walk would do us good.

Berlin Camp

23 August
Up early today, then we caught the bus & train into Alexander Platz Where we began our Walking tour of Berlin - bei Sebastian.
First we checked out Alex Platz, then the Fernsehertürm, The Dom, Jewish Monument, Branderburger Tor, Beer, The Reichstag, Die Mauer, and Checkpoint Charlie. Then it was off to Mehrringdamm S-bahn station for Curry-wurst (the best in Berlin). Then back to the Gedächtniskirche for some reflection and then on to Neukölln to meet up with another mate of mine - Brian. On the way, we stopped off in Weserstraße and had a peek at my old apartment, then on to a cool new bar at the next corner. Neukölln has been quite gentrified since I lived there. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Many new businesses, pubs, restaurants but hand-in-hand with this gentrification the rental costs have sky-rocketed.
Anyway, while we were sitting in this bar, We say Brian walk on by, I wasn't sure if it was him at first and got Scott to stick his head out the window and give him a yell. Sure enough, it was Brian. We arranged to meet up after dinner and went our separate ways.
Scott and I headed off to Tschüsch - a cool, new, Vegan, Alternative, Indian restaurant that had popped up. It was Awesome and Spicy! Whoop...
Then it was time to catch up with Brian at Simone (bar). It was one of his mates' (and mine) birthday that evening, so it was drinks time! Brian left early (as he was moving house this weekend) but we stayed, managed a lock-in and left sometime after 02:00.
Took an Uber as there was no Bahn for the next few hours.

Alex Platz

Marx

Die Mauer

Dinner, awesome

The wee small hours

24 August
Up late around 10:00.  We had no desire to make breakie today and headed across the road to Mahlow See and try the restaurant over there. It was breakfast...
Then it was back on the bus and bahn as we were heading over to visit my mate Dawn. We caught up with her for a chat over coffee and then headed back to Neukölln for food. Dawn had recommended BBI - Berlin Burger International. Coincidentally, we had walked past and considered this place last night, but it just looked too small. No tables inside, it was quirky, with a few rickety beer tables/benches out the front. The burgers surprised us both, they were big and very tasty. It was just an Awesome place, unpretentious. One of the best places I'd eaten anywhere.
Then it was back to Mahlow with their crappy bus connection, there was a 45 minute wait for it, so we made the most of our time by having a beer at the Chinese restaurant. Then it was back to Camp and a few beers in the evening with Scott.