Hi honey...I'm home!

3003 miles or 4834 km later we arrived back in Blighty late last night.

We had an absolutely amazing, amazing time but for now there is too much 'sorting out' to get done before we get back to work tomorrow :o( So, for the time being here is a quick video of some of our trip:

If you're scared of heights you might want to look away now!......some of these drops were sheer faces of 500-1000 or more meters.

'Eloisa goes to Tuscany'
(via The Alps, Italy, Holland, Belgium, France, Lichtenstein, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg).
Sound on.

Half way!

Well, we have made it this far, San Gimingnano, just south of Florence, we have ridden over 1600 miles through 8 countries (Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria and Italy) so far, through hot sun, thunder storms and snow, above the cloud, over mountains, along autobanns, through valleys and vineyards and we have pitched our tent in various odd spots along the way, but tonight we have a treat....a hotel room, a real bed and internet access, though trying to figure out blogger in Italian is probably more testing than anything else we have encountered along the way! :o)

Thats it for now, Ill leave you with an image from my phone (the only thing I can get uploaded here). of the Grossglockner in Austria.

That's it....

.....I only have this morning at work then it's a quick dash up the motorway in the afternoon to Harwich and I'm off meandering around Europe for two weeks on two wheels!

Can't wait!

I'm gone......

Back sometime! :o)

Around Europe in 16 days!

So what is it that has had me away from my computer the last few days and kept me so busy that I have barely managed a blog post at all?

Trying to plot, plan and pack for a holiday is what it is....this is no ordinary feat of packing though, none of the 'stuff a few things in a rucksack and hit an airport' stuff.....nope, this required a little more organisation, ok, months of organisation to be more precise because on Friday Fletch and I will set off for 16 days touring Europe on Eloisa (a big adventure motorbike for those of you not familiar with her).....and I can't wait, in fact it seems like I have been waiting for months but finally, at last, it's almost the allotted departure day! :o)

'Eloisa'
Packing for two adults, camping on a bike, is somewhat challenging from here and there but we have the right gear and having had some practice in a past life we finally got it all together last weekend, all I have to do now is be patient until Friday night.

Patience is not my forte!

So, the plan? Well there isn't one really other than to hit as many countries as we can without arriving back home more knackered than we left! We sail from Harwich late on Friday night (after a days work and a 120 mile ride) and arrive in Holland about 8 hours later, after that it's 400 or so miles hard riding to Germany and the Black Forest and then who knows....we could end up anywhere, though looking at Italy's current heatwave I'm somewhat dubious about going too far south in leathers!

We have one or two 'must do's' along the way, Stelvio Pass on the Italy/Switzerland border (see picture) is one of them, the second highest road in the Alps. Ok, a bit terriying scary but there's not much point in having a big off road bike and only doing the Autobaan now is there?! Aside from that Europe is our oyster for two weeks....bliss, new places, new countries, a good bike, good food, a good man and no work....what more could a girl ask for?! ;o)

Stelvio Pass

I have no idea if I will manage another post before we leave or if I will make it to a cyber cafe somewhere along the way but if all else fails I'll be back in 16 days to bore you with way to many photos no doubt!

Only 50 hours to go....not that I'm counting! ;o)

A microcosm of life!

Far be it from me to provide any cause for derision of women by the male of the species but I couldn't help but laugh at a small incident I was witness to today while I hauled the white van from hell along it's route. An incident that probably for you guys out there just about sums up we women in one hit! ;o)

I was sat in a lay-by on a country lane having a sneaky fag around lunch time just enjoying the sun and daydreaming when a couple, maybe in thier late forties, meandered by on bicycles. These were not 'sport cyclists' more the 'we're getting old and unfit and should make an effort before we have heart attacks' kind of cyclists. The woman appeared to be the fitter of the two and was maybe 10 revolutions of a wheel ahead of her partner, who was the more overweight and puffing along at the rear looking for all the world like what he most wanted was get off his confounded machine and have a pint.

They were nearing a fork in the road and he shouted ahead to his lady "left or right?" to which she responded "I don't mind, you choose".

So he did.....and shouted back "left then" and carried on pedalling for all he was worth.

At this the woman looked over her shoulder back at him and said "I don't like the left route......but it's ok, you can choose"!!!!!!

The look on the guys face said it all, a mixture of exasperation, frustration and then resignation, he didn't say another word (probably for fear of saying exactly what he was thinking), his shoulders slumped and with a roll of his eyes he turned right!!

Need I say more!

Hells bells....

....and little fishes! It's getting on for a whole week since I last darkened this door, ok, so I know it was probably a blessed relief for you all but just the same it's most unlike me! Whatever happened to the 'a post a day for a year' woman of the past??

She got busy is what...particularly busy this last week, very busy in fact!

Busy what with you maybe (or maybe not) wondering, well I still don't have the time to go into detail but I will soon I promise! :o)

What's in a name?

Yesterday as I went about my boring business I happened upon a small incident that caused me to laugh rather too heartily....it was the sight of an old neighbour,


this guy is not in my list of top 10 people...or even top 500 for that matter, but I spied him in the local town, having not seen him for years, walking his dog.

Sonny Jim fancies himself as a bit of a 'lad' and 'up for it' yada, yada, yada, he patently isn't (and never has been) but in an attempt to fulfill his own fantasy maybe, his dog is a very large, long haired German Shepherd. Ok, so each to his own, nothing wrong with the dog in the right hands and none of this so far had been particularly amusing.....what was amusing however is that this rather handsome creature, on attempting to effect an escape down the road ahead if it's master, was forcefully called back......by the name 'BUTTERCUP'!!!!

Well it made me laugh anyway!

Rain, rain go away!

Given the recent monsoon season we seem to be suffering of late here in the UK, this seems an appropriate response!

All done, dusted and drilled!

Today marked my final visit to the dreaded dentist and the completion of all the work that needed attending too, only a filling this time but a damn big one.

But what was special about this particular visit was something else....the fact that for the first time in my life I plucked up the courage and went alone, completely unchaperoned, no friend, no father, no partner...just me, all by myself and dealt with one of my biggest fears! :o)

TFIF!!!!!

Apologies for the suggested expletive up there but it's heartfelt on this occasion so I'm going to allow it this once!

It's been a bloody horrible, horrible week for one reason and another and I thought would never come to an end but it has and finally it's Friday, so I have every intention of spending the weekend escaping and trying to forget it!

TFIF!

Have a good one guys. :o)

Rockin' awards

Well, I'm astounded, I got an award for blogging! Someone thinks 'gemmak' is pretty bearable (blush) and gave me this beautiful pink badge to prove it....that someone is 'Justitia', she and me go back a fair way in the Blogger world, well back to our beginnings here at any rate. Thank you Justitia....my first ever award thingy! Ohhh. :o)

This is what she said about me:

Gemmak Heh, she'll probably kill me because now she has to choose 5 female favs! Gem was the first ever person i read on Blogger, and we've remained in contact ever since. I love her blog for the ever changing templates, gorgeous photos and sheer honesty :)

........So all that remains is for me to do the honours and nominate my own favourite 5 girl bloggers ......sorry guys, this one's just for the fairer sex!

Lisa: Because without her my blog would never have gone through so many transformations, design-a-blog would never have taken off and through her 'dog and cat' blogging years ago we became and remain the very best of friends....oh and it's still Lisa's blog that keeps me changing!

Anna: Because her blog is sometimes magical, sometimes sad but always full of 'Willow'....an inspiring lady.

Misadventurous Melissa: Because her blog is always somewhere between, hilarious, horrendous and informative and because she deserves a medal just for dealing with what she does professionally let alone writing about it too!

Idgie: Because under various guises she has always been one of the most well written and entertaining bloggers there is out there.

and finally Karine of 'Graybar'. This is posthumously awarded as Karine sadly died sometime back but her blog was probably one of the most inspirational pieces of writing I ever read and the lady herself was completely amazing.

Ok, off you go girls, you are duly awarded and have to take the baton now....post your pretty pink badge and choose your own favourite five women bloggers!

In vein!

(Clickable)

To foe

Swirling, black but lightening bright,
your choking, swirling tendrils wind,
numbing, in your silence you pervade, invade,
You are not friend, you are but foe.

All enveloping, unrelenting,
you touch the soul, you take your hold,
a fight forever fought, forever lost, forever won,
lost and won a thousand time or more.

You take no prisoner, you take but strength,
your distraction winding through and through,
days to decades in dark frustration,
each battle won for merely brief sojourn.

Silence is your ally, for no one sees,
there is no outward sign, there is no outward scar,
but you are there, you co-exist,
you warp with fear, all beauty lost to you.

A fight borne bravely, misunderstood, or understood,
not seen not heard you take control,
your stark frustration, your blinding strength,
in fear you move to blinkered, baying hold.

National Motorcycle Week

Yes I know, it seems to be 'national somethingoranother' week every week but this time it just happens to be one close to my heart, National Motorcycle Week.

The aim is to promote the positive aspects of motorcycling (though the government might have you believe there are no positives), to make it safer, to make it accesible and to highlight to those who aren't involved what the 'biking' malarky is all about.

I am not about to bore you further with the bike thing, it's just one of those things you love or you hate but I might ask you, if you have a few minutes spare, to take a quick look at THIS, which perhaps brings home quite starkly one of the biggest problems those of us on two wheels face. That is not to denigrate those in 'tin boxes', for I too belong to that group and have been guilty of a lack of concentration myself but maybe, if we just take a second or two longer and try to do as the clip says the likes of myself can breath a little easier out there and make it into old age!