The HIVE Tour - Episode 71 - Back home after 115 days!

It's been a long time since I recall myself waking up in the sea and since I'm an early bird I manage to catch the first rays of the sun struggling to make it through these clouds somewhere West of Albania:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 70 - 1st post COVID19 ferry trip reminded me how it sucks

 As you saw in the previous episode I waited for a later than late ferry at Ancona which is beyond ludicrous if you consider that this is the normality of the ferry companies for the last years. They don't give an F, they give you a departing time which is much earlier than the real one so they can cramp routes as much as possible as the ferry arrives, unloads and departs again. The good old days when the ferry was docked and you could enter even 2 hours before departure while the latter was accurate as a Swiss train are gone for good. Now they don't even sms you the delay as at least they used to few years ago.

The HIVE Tour - Episode 69 - Goodbye Italy!

My time is over here at Pugliano in Italy and I wake up to this view:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 67 - Bye Veneto, ciao Chioggia, hello Emiglia Romagna

I've written a lot about the farm I stayed here in Veneto but now that is time to leave it behind I have to praise it for one more time due to the generosity of its owner. Dear Lucia treated me with this really nice wine:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 65 - I gladly lost my way on this hike

As you might have already seen over my last posts my trip has brought me to this beautiful farm NE of Venice and since the beauty is not strictly limited to the farm but expands to the whole area it's a no brainer to decide to hike around. Even better when the hike starts from the farm itself which is such an eye candy:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 63 - Surprises during my stay at a Venetian farm

Not only the farm I've just arrived to stay here in Italy is located at a piece of heaven (more on that later but you can already check the link) but I also have a rather generous host. My only problem is that I have to squeeze my poor Italian to start cooking cause I am more than hungry:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 62 - From South Bavaria to Veneto via Austria

I'm finally "privileged" to be treated with some proper summer by the weather here South of Munich so I load my bike to move on South more carefree than I did previously. You know you experience a proper summer when you aim your stops under the shade of a tree like here at Bruckmühl:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 61 - Goodbye Baden Butenburg, Hello (again) Bavaria

My time here at Obersulm is over and I'm loading my iron donkey to head South (oups, better say horse, don't hurt its feelings). However, it looks like someone desperately wants to escort me:

 

The HIVE Tour - Episode 59 - Goodbye Netherlands, hello (again) Germany

Last day here in the Dutch South and in some sort of irony the weather feels like summer for the first time but I'm not gonna be here long enough to enjoy it as I have my bike loaded ready to leave. My dear diabetic companion ill stay home of course and as far as I can tell he doesn't bother that much about my departure, despite the great times we shared:

The HIVE - Tour - Episode 58 - Dutch time is running out

As my days are coming closer to an end here in the Netherlands I'm thinking how different the weather is this year compared to the last one when I was here exactly at the same time. I mean, I didn't expect a Mediterranean summer either time but at least last year there was some sort of summer, despite the breaks of winter. This year is just a random mix of all seasons. Literally, as long as Dutch winter is excluded. As I'm typing these words it's 10:00 am but there's absolutely no sun at all and I am wearing my brand new leather pants indoors, not only without sweating but feeling like that's proper stuff for this weather.

The HIVE Tour - Episode 57 - Dutching my days away

How many times have I commented on the weather? One too many already right? Apologies from a spoiled Mediterranean, your truly. However, it's impressive to see how the mood of all beings on earth is dictated at a certain degree from the weather.

See my friends here:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 56 - Riding from Heeze to Tilburg got me to the scene of an accident

Nice days oblige you to "Carpe Diem" here at the European North since weather is far from friendly and predictable. So, on this promising morning I decide to ride from Heeze to Tilburg here in Netherlands aiming to visit Oisterwijk Park first and then the mega store of Louis in Tilburg to do some motorcycle related shopping.

As I am enjoying riding on a nice day through some lovely neighbourhoods, after some km on the highway I meet a heavy jam. Not sure how policed (or punished) is filtering the traffic on a bike I use all my patience and just wait behind the cars hoping it's not gonna last that long. However, it seems to last forever and I'm often just sitting idle. No bikers around me at all to see how locals behave in such conditions and I don't want to be the ass acting out of local habits. Despite me being much more travelled than the vast majority of bikers I still act this way and no regrets so far. It's as simple as respecting a house that hosts you. Two bikers appear later and as soon as they start filtering the insane traffic I follow them and at some point I overtake them as the situation feels like it would eat up my whole day. Wondering how come and what is this craziness all about I get my answer as I witness this scene:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 55 - Ways to spend time during shitty and not so shitty summer (?) weather

I don't like complaining so I (hope I) won't focus on the meteorological side of things here in South Netherlands, if you follow my posts you're aware of that. Funny things happen when weather is OK enough to be outside though. Like this:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 51 - 3 countries in 1 day for the 3rd time in this trip!

I'm about to leave Le Mans behind after 3 weeks that flew by like the wind. This city marks a turning point in my trip. When I arrive here early July I was exactly 2 months on the road after 5500ish km, on a trip that is bound to last 4 months. Anything after it belongs to the second part of this journey. I totally luck out on the weather as the rain that was bound to fall today occurred last night so now it all looks much better than it could be. I "au revoir" my smiley hosts and their cat, and I hit the road on much better conditions than I expected:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 49 - Enjoying the sweetness of rural France

I've cycled you around Le Mans, I walked you around its center, how about riding with me some km North of the city? Let's go:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 48 - Cycling up to Arche de la Nature park SE of Le Mans

I have a nice day waiting for me, I am at South end of Le Mans and I am given the choice between 4 bicycles to ride around the city. I consider myself a lucky guy and I pick the following one:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 45 - 3 countries in 1 day for the 2nd time on this trip!

One of the first world problems of such a long trip is finding places to stay. While I'm not gonna imply it's not a 1st world one, trust me it's a time and nerve consuming pain in the ass if you don't want to see your budget going out of control. So as long as I remain a self financed HIVE powered traveller (hence this trip is aptly baptised) I have to check myriads of listings trying to find the most value for money ones, the most conveniently located, cancel unresponsive hosts etc.

I've made the mistake to spend less time in Croatia where things are beautiful but not necessarily overpriced if you stay away from the hot places so I arrived in the expensive North earlier than I had to. And while Germany while not being an exception still offers attractive slots of accommodation, France, Belgium and Holland do not.

After browsing places to rent for ages instead of working on my pictures and videos to deliver the best content possible I finally find a place near Dortmund from a lovely lady which is affordable as it is her new listing. Not the most convenient as I should drive all the way to Eindhoven after that but I can't waste more time on this instead of what I have to do which is publishing my content here.

The gods of travelling do their magic on the same night and as I wake up next morning I get an offer to sit a house in Le Mans (yep, the French Acropolis of racing) for the EXACT same dates. The pros of being a handy and trusty guy. First I'm like "YES!" and then I'm like "if only I had slept without booking first". However, even more luckily, the host has a very elastic cancellation policy so this won't cost me anything except the extra fuel to make it all the way to Le Mans (650ish km). I write a super polite letter to the lovely lady host, I get those 830 euros pending to come back to my account and get ready for a huge change of plans. From 200km NE going 650km SW instead.

It's a lovely morning here in Bad Münstereifel and... tell you what? Among the things I will miss is this amazing "sodastream". For those who might not know, it's a device allowing you to make your own soda at home. The quality depends on the quality of your water of course and this place in Germany has one of the best I have ever tried. (If only I knew what I'd face on that matter in Le Mans but more on it later). Busy loading the bike I forgot to picture it but you can look it up.

My view as I start rolling my bike out of the garage to make it all the way from Germany to France:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 42 - Goodbye Rheinland Pfatz, Hello Nordrhein Westfalen

My last day here at Medard has come, world's least known village/town maybe but I find bits of interest wherever I go. Besides, I am not a "Mykonos" or "Ibiza" guy. So now I walk parts of the area that I haven't yet and I must say that Germans have a taste when it comes to road warning signs:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 39 - Walking the least attractive German village (so far)

My first morning here in Medard has just begun and that's what I see as soon as I open my eyes, in other words bedroom view:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 38 - Very Murhpy's Law on my goodbye to Essen and hello to Rheinland Pfalz

I pack my things here in beutifull Wittelsberg and get ready to leave this scenic region of Essen in Germany to move South West in Rheinland Pfalz. The weather is expected to be rainy (if not VERY rainy) so I keep my camera in my bag and wear my rain gear. I hate it but better dry than wet. I'm also low on fuel so I mark the closest fuel station on the map and set my route accordingly.

I want to say at this point that I found less gas stations in Germany than I expected. Though my bike has a very long range ( the pros of a large tank and a very efficient engine) there were a couple of times that I reached my limits as I tend to empty my tank before I fill it up.

I am on the same block with that fuel station here in Fronhausen where I face... this: