Croatian Update!

Hello folks! Kind of went through a blog black-out there...busy getting ourselves to Croatia and onto the island. Finally feeling a bit more settled in at our new home in the small hamlet of Filozici. Our home is a nice, partially restored traditional two story with a big cellar. The second floor has yet to be finished as well as the fireplace. I hope we get that done soon, since winter will be moving in! You can see pictures in the Croatia folder, as well as a slew of Italy pictures. We have been helping Igor get ready for the winter; there is a ton to do. Chopping wood, prepping garden beds, distilling (and sampling!) brandy. Im writing you from the library of Grad Cres, the main city. It is about 26km from the place where we live. Not looking forward to the ride back, since 10km is straight uphill and the sun is setting!
It is not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. This is good, because I dont like being cold. It is also bad because it means we could have set our sights further and ridden more before winter settled in. At any rate, it looks like we will probably be here in Cres until things warm up in March. Seems silly to spend 5 months off the bike but I dont really know any other way to manage it. Hopefully the downtime will give me time to sort out the proper path to Asia and get the visas in the works. I am EXTREMELY relieved to know there is relatively close and cheap internet access. I was optimistic about making some income when I heard there was a griffon vulture conservation center neardby (finally put my biology degree to use?) but today I went by there and they are closing for the winter! Oh well...perhaps I can find a kitchen job or something here in the city, but prospects are looking dim. Going to have to brainstorm other ideas to increase the income. Or, as Benji would say, get multiple streams of income. Anyways, I want to go grab a drink and some dinner before it gets too dark and cold for riding home, so I must sign off! Plenty of new pictures for you to browse through, but you may want to wait until this weekend; I should have them captioned by then. Some of them definately will not make sense without captions.
I need to send out a few thanks though. Big thanks to the Cortis for hosting us and putting up with my shenanigans. Also a big thanks goes out to Brandy and Jacob, my first official donors! I will be sending part of it on towards World Bicycle Relief and hopefully I can figure out a graphic or a way to link it up and show you how much progress we have made. I think every $110 buys one bike. In anycase, if those two slackers (well, jake at least) could pitch in to keep the ride going and spread the bicycle love, Im sure some of you out there can spare a few bucks!
Okay, thats enough ramblin for now. Hope to be speaking through the interwebs again very shortly. Cheers! (Or, in Croatian, Jivili!)

Firenze and on

Phew. Quite a lot has been going on since i last wrote. We left Recco, visited the Cinque Terre and came on down to visit Benji in Firenze. Cinque Terre was a real adventure in itself, involving us poaching a campsite in an olive grove on a mountainside the first night. The next night we stayed in a very nice hostel ($$$) and met a real cool guy from New Jersey, Jimmy. Jimmy is a real blast and promised to name some hotdogs after John and I when he opens up his restaurant. Sounds very cool, but I have to wait to release the info about it until he approves! It was so neat that we met him in Cinque Terre last week and got to meet back up with him here in Firenze.
We spent a couple days with Benji and his parents; it was fabulous. We ate like kings and got to sleep in real beds and everything. Visited the local fair (felt like I was back in Raleigh!) and had drinks poured down our throats by Benjis cousin, Marco. He likes to call us his "little puppies". Tonight we will probably hangout one more time in Firenze (if we are still allowed in the hostel....). We ate lunch at The Oil Shoppe by recommendation of Julia and Jimmy. One of the guys who works there was excited about our trip and invited us to hang out with him and his friends tonight. Never pass up an offer from a local!
Tomorrow it will be back to San Casciano to visit the Cortis one more time and collect our belongings. Then it is onward to Rimini to visit the Italian goddess Claudia (my favorite girl of the trip so far...she was brave enough to ride on my rear rack all day!) and catch a boat to Croatia. We have just found out we got jobs at a small island in Croatia working on a farm. Sounds like there is alot of work to do before the winter settles in!
The hard part about this blog is I have too many stories to sit down and write them all. I guess if you want the real scoop you have to come visit me or wait to see if I return home! Anyways, Im trying to multitask too hard so Im going to call this post a wrap and get on to finding a ferry, making phone calls, etc. Until I get a chance to sit down and give you guys the pics and videos and a more thorough post, take care and keep reading. I really appreciate the comments and hope I can get the donations thing setup soon so we can start contributing to WBR. Ciao!

Breathe in, breathe out

Mmmmm. Italy. Definately my favorite country so far. Warm weather, warm people, warm focaccia. My goodness the focaccia. Anyways, I am writing to you fine folks from the villa in Recco where I have had the good fortune to spend the last 2 days. John and I had stopped into a cafe here for a bite to eat and a beer while dodging some rainy weather Saturday. While we were munching away we got to talking to a nearby lady. Mary is part English, but has lived in the area on and off for 30 years. She asked about where we stay and we told her the sad story that we usually are confined to dodgy parks and shady wilderness. Mary had the kindness to invite us to stay with her if we would like. Although we had only gone probably 20 km from Genova, we couldnt pass the offer up (i mean, come on...how often will this happen). Hung out for the rest of the afternoon and last evening went out to check the night scene. John was tired so I struck out alone. Gangs of hooligans were hanging around various dark corners of the city, some couples tangled up along the water (knowing well they could never do this at home). I was surprised to see so many young people when a larger city like Genova is only a hop and skip away. Anyways, I had a beer in one bar which seemed an older clientele, so I wandered around the corner to another. This one was much more my scene, with more drafts to choose from and a hilarious amount of underage people up to antics. After a little liquid courage I sat down at a nearby table and let out my meek request of "parlay inglezzi". Italians seem a bit timid to try out their English at first, but before long we were "making brendezis" left and right. Had a great night at Il Fonda and came back to Mary's. Had to climb over the gate because my fog prevented me from finding the latch. Proceeded to walk into Mary's room searching for the bathroom. She screamed, I screamed, I closed the door.
We both had a good laugh about that this morning and then Mary, John and I were joined by Mary's friend Frank for some lunch. Of course lunch ended about 5 PM and was followed by a rousing jam session (check out the video). I decided to go for a dip in the sea, so John and I headed down. After about an hour the other two joined us and we all went to the next town over, Sori. We had a wonderful time at a cafe restaurant and made many more friends here in Recco and Sori.
Tomorrow we head out for the Cinque Terres and then onward to Pisa and Firenze. I am very excited, but will definately be coming back to spend some time with these folks as soon as I can. The trip has been excellent so far, with even the setbacks (aka my shoulder) turning into opportunities to make better friends. I look forward to each day of travel, rather than dreading waking up and going through the machinations of work and living in a stable place. That being said, I sure do miss having that stability sometimes. It sweetens the few moments where I get to sit on a chair in a house and listen to music or write to you folks. And man do I miss having the ability to say "im hungry. I will go to carrburritos and fix that". Now it is more like "Im hungry. Nothing I can do will end this hunger, so I will just forget it". Fix it or forget it. Hunger aside, I think the hardest part of the trip so far is not quite homesickness, but what I would like to coin the term for; " Homiesickness". This is the state of missing ones' homies. If I could bring all the people I cherish so much to Recco, I would stop riding right away. But then again, the point of the travel is to keep things changing, so I am getting pumped up for visiting Benji, finishing Italy and starting the Croatia endeavor. We are not nearly ready for it, so I will be doing some research in my free time hanging with Ben. Must sort out visas etc. Then who knows how we get from here to Asia. It is way beyond me for now, but dont despair Wilds and Bethanne...Im still coming!
I really hope that you guys are enjoying the postings, pics and videos. I hear from some of you on a semi-frequent basis, but would love to hear from more. Post some comments, drop me an email or better yet your address and Ill send a post card. I miss you all very much and want to do my best to stay in tune and in touch. Also, for anyone feeling particularly saucy, come on over and join us for some riding!
Soon I will be figuring out how to make a donations button. The funds will help me keep riding, but 25% will also go to the charity World Bicycle Relief. They strive to provide bicycles to communities worldwide which can benefit from the amazing power of that personal mobility provides. It is super cool and can actually change lives in a way that I dont think anything else can. I plan to make some business cards in Florence and use those as a way to get people to come check out the website and hopefully get some more bikes out there.
K, I think that is about enough for now. Hobohighlander overandout.

Travel is a vanishing act...

My apologies to any readers that were left hanging-on after that last post for the supposed follow up. Im afraid the deep philosophical post will have to be delayed for a few more days as I tend to more pressing matters. Namely, trying to organize a shipment of parts to come on the plane with Benji so we can redo our drivetrains when we meet up with him. Right now we are in Lecco, north of Milan. Plan to head for the beach over the next days and then hop over to Firenze to meet up with Benji at the start of next week.
Also, as Courtney mentioned in the comments, I will be working on setting up a way for you folks to donate a little bit to the ride and also at the same time Ill be setting it up to direct some funds towards World Bicycle Relief.

Alas, I must let John have a chance to contact those dear to him and Ill stare at the map and try to figure out where we can sleep tonight. Hopefully we can find a couchsurfer soon and I can get a more thorough update. Until then, keep the pedals of life spinning!

P.S. Lake Como is pretty nice.

Swiss Pie

Where to start? A little lapse to the blog mainly because Ive been too lazy to update it, not because I havent been around computers. Been doing alot more couchsurfing in Switzerland, to great benefit. I hope we can keep it up through Italy. So Ill give you a recap from where I think I left off. I believe it was last Friday, leaving Basel.

Friday the 25th- Hung out in Basel until very late, about 5 PM. We only had to go maybe 50 km, so we figured it was no big deal. This wasnt a mistake really, but we did underestimate how quickly it would get dark. Got a little lost and ended up doing one uphill that we simply had to walk. Oh, also the granny gear on my bike isnt working, so I definately couldnt ride it. Must have been like a 12% or more grade. Anyways, we got over the mountain and flew down into Aarau around 9 PM. Very crazy descent in the dark (we had lights on mom). Got to Aarau and had to try to search out our host because Im an idiot and lost the paper I had written his address and phone number on. Eventually through some interrogation of locals and cryptic tidbits of information I recalled we found the place. We posted up outfront and no more than 10 minutes later Olivier showed up. Great guy, made us some tasty pasta, showed us around his flat and then gave us a TON of info on setting up a mountain bike trip up to Lenzerheide. Awesome.

Saturday, 26- Woke up, took the bike to see if we couldnt get the granny gear working. I figured it was the chain, having over 2000km on it now. Replaced the chain to no avail, so I had to ask the mechanics to look at the front derailleur. They did some mojo and got it to work, but not for long. Going to have a look at it today and try to fix that. Anyways, finally left Aarau even though we hadnt found another place to stay until Sunday night. Rode about 60 or 70 km to right outside Zurich and hobo camped in a patch of woods sandwiched between a farmers fields.

Sunday, 27- Woke up, cruised through Zurich and followed the north shore of Lake Zurich down towards Murg. Somehow on this trip we always stumble upon crazy events, and today was no different. As we were riding generally southeast we noticed more and more people out on bikes and rollerblades (hahhaah). There were refreshment booths and games on the sides of the road and no car traffic. Moms rollerblading with strollers, all kinds of goofy. Found out that the event is sort of a Critical Mass ride mixed into family sunday, called SlowUp Zurich. Got through that mess and headed down to Murg to meet up with a fellow named Lars.

About Lars' Residence- Lars had told us that he lived in an old factory redone as apartments. John pictured something like in the movie The Specialist, with a grizzled lonesome assassin living in a large, bare factory. I though of some ritzy loft housing. When we got there, I was gloating that I had assumed correctly. Then we phoned Lars and he came down front to greet us. He told us to bring the bikes around to the back where he lived. We commented that the apartments looked pretty fancy and he told us to wait until we saw his setup. He opened up two giant steel doors and we walked down a dark corridor. I kid you not, this was like some serial killer type stuff. He opens another door at the end of the corridor and BOOM. It is a MASSIVE old factory room. There are piles of antiques and other forgotten treasures being stored in one half, 2 tennis courts on the other. Along the side is a sort of shanty-esque kitchen, 2 bathrooms, shower, laundry and the rooms of Lars and Michel. Ive never stayed in such a cool place. I cant believe they actually live here. And the rent is so low I felt violated for what I had paid for the last year.

Back to our adventures, Mon. 28- Left our luggage (or the majority of it) at Lars' place and rode our bikes the 50km (which magically morphed into 65) to Chur. We were going to stay with a forester named Andri. I told him we would probably get there at 530 to 630. He contested that we couldnt ride that distance in that time and said he would see us whenever. He was closer to correct than I was. If it had really been 50km and not 65 we may have gotten there around 7, but instead we arrived around 730. We dialed Andri....no answer. Again. No answer. Starting to think he was in the shower or something. He had expected us to take longer himself, so I didnt think he would have abandoned all hope. Eventually we get a hold of him, about half an hour and probably 25 phone calls later. Gasping, he told us he was playing soccer and the girls on the sideline had failed to inform him that his phone was ringing nonstop. Went on back to his neat little studio, showered, ate, drank beers. He had spent some time traveling through central asia, so I picked his brain a little about that. Apparently getting into Russia isnt as hard as I had thought, if you know how to do it. Andri had work early in the am and we wanted to get to the slopes early, so we called it a night.

Tues, 29- Got up around 7, had some muesli and coffe and headed for the bus up to Lenzerheide. About 10 CHR saved us the 15km and probably 500m climb from Chur to Lenzerheide. Rented some sweet Specialized Stumpjumpers and headed onto the lifts. Had a great day of ripping down the mountain, eyes watering, stupid grin pasted on my face like a kid with too much candy. Check out the videos. Had quite a spectacular crash on the last run of the day (it is ALWAYS the last run it seems). Luckily nothing broke as far as I can tell, although my shoulder is pretty damn sore. We got back to Andris apartment around 7 PM, had some dinner, talked a bit more about his job with the trees, drank vodka and ate horse jerky. Pretty solid Tuesday.

Wed, 30- Andri had to go work in a forest in Davos, higher in the mountains so we got up about 6am. Because of my shoulder, we couldnt ride back down to Murg to get our stuff like we had planned. We had to take the train. Being good citizens of the world, we paid our fares and got on board. Next time Im not gonna bother....30 bucks wasted. Nobody even checked. Got into Murg about 8am and just kind of putzed around. Went down to the store, but it was closed from 12-230 so we detoured to "the garden". "The garden" is how Michel refers to the amazing piece of property that he just took ownership of. For about 200 CHR a month he has a house on the lake with a garden and a full orchard of fruit and nut trees. I could get used to living there. We chilled by the lake awhile then got some groceries and returned to the factory to make lunch. Restful afternoon of reading and such before John and I went under the blade and refreshed our haircuts. Vast improvement...I was starting to look a little frightening.

Thurs, 1 and Today- Just chilling out, eating, resting the shoulder and doing odds and ends.

So that brings you up to speed. Ill leave that to soak in today and then later tonight or tomorrow Ill do a post that talks a little more about plans for the next section, concerns, preparations and deep thoughts.