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...so there we were, toe-to-toe in the hotel foyer. As he squared up to me, I was aware of 3 things. 1st, the woman who started it all had left! 2nd, the receptionist had picked up the phone and was gabbling away into it, presumably to the police or secutrity guard. 3rd, he hadn't brushed his teeth that morning.

I didn't fancy having to explain this to a local policeman, no doubt I would be in more trouble than he would have been, being a 'local'. I pointed out that he had, in fact, pushed in front of me, then turned away from him and walked up to the desk and checked out, leaving him angrily talking to himself! I made a swift escape into the pouring rain and headed east into Poland.

So, bringing you quickly up to date, I am now in Riga, the capital of Latvia, and once again, I am very impressed with what I am seeing. It is another very beautiful capital city. I will stay here for another day, then a quick dash up to Tallinn, Estonia, from where I will be catching a ferry across to Finland.

2 days ago, in Lithuania, I got stung by a bee. It got wedged behind my sunnies, and stung me just above the left eyebrow. My left eye has swollen up, making me look like Quasimodo. It's not a great look.

So, bye for now chilblains, see you all soon

Jon

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Ciao!

Well, as Jon has written, unfortunately we have gone our own ways, with me and my 3 wheels heading west in Greece towards Igoumentisa and a ferry to Itlay. I cannot describe how tough a decision it was to break away from the planned route. After many years of planning, and a very long time saving, it was depressing to realise how quickly we were getting through our money, and as jon said, it wasnt as if we were living it up! In short i have decided to consoldate my money into enjoying a 3rd month on the road, rather than scraping through the original route. I have decided to to try and not dwell on the enormous dissapointment, but rather look forward to spending some time exploring a country i have loved for many years, yet never travelled further south than Venice.
The obvious line has been to head west to the east coast of Italy and then spend a couple of weeks exploring this incredible country before reaching the Dolomites for a shower and a wash of my clothes...
I ending up blasting 180miles through northern Greece, after, like Jon, i found myself on a motorway, however, no-one else seemed to have discovered it, for many miles i was alone and it felt like i was in a "The day after Tomorrow", it got eery!. It was heading the right way, but was so new it wasnt even on my map! In 40 degree heat this was no easy feat, and my air conditioning seems to have been playing up recently...
I got to the port later that evening, and managed to get on board the Siren, basically a freight ferry. It certainly wasnt any "Pride of Bilbao"!
And so yesterday morning i found myself once againg on Italian roads, and I'm sure the Ape sounded and performed better for it! Another long day took me most of the way across the country, with my goal being the Amalfi Coast. Struggling to find either a campsite or even a hotel, i pulled over at a little restaurant, where they greeted me like an old friend and let me camp on the little front lawn!
This morning i was invited in for coffee with the family, before Giovanni called in his English speaking brother and elderly father, and proudly spent the morning showing me around his beautiful reconstruction of an ancient roman baths. Its a huge project, but is incredible and should be finished by next year. Its already on the list of places to return too!
Today saw me arrive a little hot and sweaty to the stunning Amalfi coast. A pizza, beer and and leisurely lunch time swim set me up perfectly for the last 20miles of cliff hugging roads to Sorrento, from where i am writing this. I have landed on my feet again, in a great little campsite, and am just about to go and explore...
As I said, i cannot descirbe what a shame it has been to go our seperate ways. Trying to be optomistic as usual, and looking at it as simply another chapter in this incredible journey.
Good luck Jon, I hope your miles are coming easily, and you enjoy every one of them.