Day Ten - Time to go home, Italy to UK in a day

I have rested well for the last two days, so the plan is to get home in one day, I am still in Northern Italy, its a long way, I could take motorway all the way, but I have some unfinished business in the Alps called "The Furka Pass"

I enjoy a luxury breakfast at my 4* hotel and get on the road at 9am and very soon I enter the Italian Alps


The temperature drops quickly to 14c as I climb, and for the first time in 9 days I have to zip up the air vents in my jacket, and actually put on the heated bar grips. Its August 2nd yet there is still a little un-melted snow around.
To reach the Furka Pass I have to go over the Simplon pass so I get two Alpine passes for the price of one. This is real motorcycle country and there are lots of big bikes on the road.


The views are stunning, I'm not certain but the could be the tip of the Eiger in the background.
At last I see the Furka Pass, a slim ribbon of tarmac clinging to the side of the mountain. The photo does not do it justice this was a really steep mountain side towering high into the sky above me.
I'm getting near the summit and am already above the clouds.
And finally I'm there at the summit, almost 8,000 feet above sea level
Its been a fantastic ride, but now I've got some serious miles to put in if I want to get home, I get down the mountain heading for Andermatt, I really don't want to go through the St Gotthard tunnel (which is just over 15 miles long) so I take to the old road before getting back on the motorway, I get through Basel and out of Switzerland into Germany and really push on to cover the miles, before cutting back into France towards Calais.
On the German Autobahn the bike indicated just over 140 mph, the Sat Nav shows 137 mph, not bad for a fully loaded tourer with a fairing the size of a barn door.

I ride throughout the day and into the night, stopping only for fuel and food, then back through the Eurotunnel and home, I get home at 1:15 am having covered 833 miles today and have been riding for 16 hours.

Its been a totally amazing 10 days, and through careful planning I don't feel like its only been riding endless motorways, I've touched new countries and cultures and have been completely blown away by the friendliness and hospitality shown to me by complete strangers.

Its been the longest and most exciting bike trip I've ever done and I am already planning my next one. In 3 months time my family are moving from UK to New York State for a 3 year work related posting, so look out USA here I come.

Day Nine - Ancona

For most of the day I am still on the ferry heading to Ancona, the cabin is comfortable and I get plenty of rest.We dock at Ancona at 3pm and I head North, I don't have a destination in mind only to eat into the distance to get home. At about 6pm I head for the nearest large town and find a real gem, Verbania, right on the shore of Lake Maggiore. It sounds more like a name of a town in a futuristic film, but this town is real old style European class.
Its the first week of the Summer holiday season and I try a few hotels but they are all booked up, eventually I get a room in a 4* hotel overlooking the lake. Its expensive but if I can get home in one day I wont have to find a hotel tomorrow.
Lake Maggiore

Day Eight - Athens and ferry back to Italy

My ferry arrives in Athens harbour and we are sent out into the Athens rush hour traffic just before 08:00. I stop for fuel, checking first that I can use my Visa card and am told OK no problem, so I fill up, when its time to pay the guy behind the counter says no Visa cards I complain and the two guys erupt into a very vocal argument in Greek, luckily I have enough cash to pay in Euro's and leave them arguing.

The roads in Athens are so slippery in the dry I see several locals easily spinning up the rear tyre in 2nd gear just off the throttle just for fun.

First stop look out for the Acropolis, even with the Sat Nav I get a little lost, I find a good place to park and get some breakfast.

Even at this time in the morning there are a lot of tourists.
Its my first visit to the Parthenon, one of Europe's Iconic structures and it looks magnificent in the morning sun.

There are lots of other items of interest to see
I spend quite a bit of time on the Acropolis and soon its time to move on, next destination is about 30 min South West of Athens, The Corinth Canal. So I hop on the Toll Motorway and am soon there.


The canal is 6.3 kilometre in length and was was started by the Roman Emperor Nero in 68 AD, he actually launched the excavation, personally breaking the ground with a pickaxe and removing the first basket-load of soil. The Roman workforce, consisted of 6,000 slaves but was abandoned when Nero died.


There were several other attempts to finish it, but it was finally completed in 1893. Its quite narrow and only one ship at a time can use it.



After that I head further West, crossing a far newer structure, the Rio-Antirio bridge, the worlds longest cable-stayed "suspended" deck bridge.

I've had a busy morning so I stop for lunch in a small town by the coast
I negotiate lunch with the waitress's broken English and order "a plate of mixed things" turns out to be delicious.
After lunch I have time for a swim, then off to Patras for my ferry that leaves at 18:00.