Archives: August 2008
In Which I Have Questions For Which There Can Be No Answers
August 31, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Mostar Route: Sučuraj - Drvenik - Metcovič - Dračevo (Bosnia-Hercegovina) - Mostar Happy anniversary to uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus Happy anniversary to uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus Happy anniversary dear Mike'n'Smaaaaanf Happy anniversary tooooooooooooooooo us Serious head on, today. This is besidetheseaside. I could have stayed on the coast south of Hvar, ridden the 10 miles or...
In Which I Send An Email
August 30, 2008 by Mike in Diary
From: Mike With (mikewith@hotmail.com) Sent: 30 Augst 2008 To: vanessa@XXX.nz ___________________________________________________ Dear Van Thanks soooooo much for tipping me off about Hvar. All those years you told us how beautiful it is. You were right. I promise I believed you! It's just that we never did anything about it. Like...
In Which My Ears Must Be Deceiving Me
August 29, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Sučuraj Route: Split - Dugi Rat - Makarska - Drvenik - Sučuraj A gentle ride, making sure that shock absorber survived. Time to reflect on the bizarre taste in music I have encountered in this country. Those of you who were at Warwick University in the mid-80s will understand what...
In Which I Feel Very Small
August 28, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Split Route: hotel in Split - campsite in Split Without wheels, I was stuck in Split town last night and found a bed in the cheapest hotel in town. (The most expensive hotel in town was still pretty cheap, relatively speaking.) Today, picking up the bike first thing from The...
In Which History Repeats Itself Repeats Itself
August 27, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Split Route: PrimoŠten - Trogir - Split What could be simpler? A quick run in glorious sunshine down a sublime coast road to one of the great destinations of the whole trip? Yeahhrrrrrright. Everything was fine on the road to Trogir, where I climbed to the highest turret of the...
In Which I Try To Catch Up
August 26, 2008 by Mike in Diary
PrimoŠten As close to a day off as I've had for a while. Catch up on clothes washing, try to get this blo- I mean diary up-to-date, swim with the fishes, read Croatia: A History, (wonder why I'm staying a second night in a campsite where my tent is pitched...
In Which I Don't Jump Off A Very Tall Bridge
August 25, 2008 by Mike in Diary
PrimoŠten I mentioned the war yesterday, didn't I? About how the traces are all too visible today. Here's what a Serb house looks like 15 years after it was abandoned. I have no idea how long things will stay like this. Maybe the in-your-face visibility of it will put a...
In Which I Can't Avoid The War Any More
August 24, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Ražanac Route: Ribena - Karlobag - Starigrad - Maslenica - Obrovac - Karin - Ražanac A small village on the coast; perhaps a dozen houses and a church. On my left hand side, stony-faced mountains. To my right, the turquoise and shimmering Adriatic is dotted with islands. I stop to...
In Which I Visit The Bourgeoisie
August 23, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Ribena Route: Mošcenička Draga - Opatija - Rijeka - Senj - Cesarica - Ribena Better get this out of the way first: I'm not really staying in a place called Ribena. But it's something like that. I rolled in quite late this evening without paying too much attention to the...
In Which I Get Tongue-Tied
August 22, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Mošcenička Draga Route: PoreC - Rovinj - Pula - Medulin - Labin - Mošcenička Draga I awoke this morning with an unfeasibly clear head, but only after I'd woken a handful of times with 50 Hells' Angels riding their bikes around my skull. Dragen spotted me. The campsite owner ambled...
In Which I'm Never Drinking Again. Again
August 21, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Poreč A day off -- cleainng my underwear and hoping it dried off before the "fifty Hell's angels" turn up. I also had a walk up here in the hill country above Poreč - a mixture of cute old houses and bland modern ones in a string of villages along...
In Which It's Me, Oh Kathy
August 20, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Poreč Route: Ankaran - Koper - Izola - Piran - Sečovlie - Savudrija (Croatia) - Umag - Poreč 25 years ago I came to Yugoslavia with my skoolchum Andy Blyth. We had InterRail tickets, backpacks and, in Andy's case, a 17-year-old's moustache. (He was still the one all the girls...
In Which Everything Is As Sweet As
August 19, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Ankaran I don't say this lightly, because I'm talking about a country that I think is as wonderful as any I've ever been, but.. Slovenia reminds me of New Zealand. (I have to point out that I've only seen a few miles of the former, and not that much more...
In Which I Get Out Of Italy Before The Italian Drivers Can Get Me
August 18, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Ankaran Route: Cavallino - Caorle - Grado - Monfalcone - Trieste - Ankaran (Slovenia) And another thing about the Cavallino campsite: something to chew over while I work the pain out of my back enough for me to be able to break camp and pack the tent and all my...
In Which There's a Book With A Happy Ending
August 17, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Venice Here's a happy little story. Way back in April, in a fantastically cultured and under-developed little town called San Jose, at the very southeast tip of Spain, I bought some books from a singular Englishman with a conspiratorial attitude, a secret past and a gammy leg. One of the...
In Which I Go Lala And Dipsy Over Po
August 16, 2008 by Mike in Diary
As I mentioned yesterday, I've been all over the shop in the last few weeks. Clearly, so has the site. But rather than take you on a whistlestop tour of Europe (when I hope you'd rather be taken on a tortuously stop-start, two-years-and counting, no bells or whistles motorbike tour...
In Which I Reappear. Just Like That.
August 15, 2008 by Mike in Diary
Venice Route: all over the place Hello. Remember me? I've not been here for the looooongest time: sorry. I blame Italy's ability to hide its cybercafes and, particularly, its wi-fi hotspots. But I also confess to: -- five airplane flights -- four ferry rides -- three-eeeeee French hens -- two...