A Life in Waiting

Well with a full battery charge, I feel comfortable enough to do a bit of writing on the plane.  The last time I tried this, I ended up in Munich with no battery left on my laptop and all my important information inaccessible on the hard drive.  Vowing to not do this again, I have typically refrained from using my computer during my many flights since that day.  However I feel comfortable enough with my knowledge of Madrid and the location of the hostel I’m planning on using this evening that I can spare a bit of battery life.

Forgoing my worrying over my motorcycle’s current condition/location, I am feeling quite good at the moment.  Not sure if it’s the excitement of continuing my adventure or the fact that I have gotten quite comfortable in traveling in this style and have a lot of confidence in what I am doing.  I’m not so much flinging myself into the unknown as I felt like I had done so when this whole thing began.  Not to say this has become routine, but that I have become very aware of my surroundings and my confidence is growing daily.

However the bike is still occupying most of my mind.  Let me give a bit of the back story here.  When I left my bike in Munich, I had contacted the local BMW dealership and repair facility and requested that I store my bike at their facility.  It apparently was a common request that they fulfilled willingly, for a fee.  So I got it into my head that ALL BMW dealers offer this service.  So four hours before my flight left Madrid for Helsinki, I headed off towards the Madrid BMW dealership.  After getting quite lost and frustrated, I finally arrived at the dealership only to find out that the repair facility was at a different location.  Not far, but on the other side of the major motorway that had given me so much trouble getting to this first destination. 

So I head back onto the road, get sufficiently lost again and finally locate the service center by driving down at least one sidewalk and heading down a few one way streets in the wrong direction out of sheer frustration (sorry mom).  Entering the BMW service department, I get what I think is a strong of good luck.  It appears that the service manager only speaks Spanish and I cannot get my point across as to what I need.  Turns out that there was a local man from Madrid, that had lived in the states for many years was in the room with us.  He overheard my struggles and offered to help.  I thought I was home free.  As luck would have it (and if you know me by now, my luck is only bad) this center doesn’t offer storage and will not give on the policy.  So the gentleman helping out suggested that I submit the bike for some service and be a bit late in acquiring it when the work was completed.  Seemed reasonable. 

So we spend most of my remaining moments before I needed to head to the airport filling out the service request forms and booking the bike in.  The manager states that the work can be scheduled for the following Thursday, and said that was fine and I was not in a hurry.  Once everything was completed, I requested that they call me a cab to take me to the airport and the manager refused!  Confused as to why, we inquired as to why they would not and he politely replied that they refuse to hold the bike until Thursday, but I can return Thursday morning with it.  And if I refused, they would charge me 50€/day storage fee.  Trying not to blow my top, I try to finagle a different result.  After too many futile attempts, I abruptly leave and thank the gentleman that had helped in the translation.  As I do not want to miss my flight, I do the one thing I can think of. 

Yep, long term parking.  My only hope here was that the fees for the long term lot in Spain were not as offensive as in NY.  Yup, you guessed it, I was dead wrong.  How does 350€ per month sound?!?  After I recuperate from the shock of the price given to me by the parking attendant, I ask the woman gently if she knew of any other option since the six or so weeks planned in Helsinki would cost me over 500€.  She then explained to me that at the airport near one of the arrival passenger pick-up points, there is an unofficial motorcycle parking area.  I thank the woman and with desperation setting in, I head to the terminal arrivals. 

I reach the area mentioned by the woman and do a slow drive by.  Just as she mentioned, there was a sidewalk area opposite the terminal that was under an overhead walkway that joined the terminal with the parking area.  On the sidewalk area behind a steel railing, a dozen or so motorcycles were parked.  With a small sigh of relief I drive a full circle and pulled into the section with the other bikes.  Now normally, I would not think to park a bike illegally at an airport.  But throughout Madrid and the rest of Spain, I and every other motorcyclist freely park on the sidewalks without any repercussions.  I remove all valuables, lock up the bike and hoped I would see it again.

After I arrived in Helsinki, I started freaking out about it being there.  So I found out a friend who was in La Alberca with me was going through the airport.  So I emailed him and asked if he could check on the bike for me.  He sent me back a message a few days later saying I have nothing to worry about.  That was four weeks ago. 

Ok getting ready to land.  I feel like I’m going to throw up…

Talk about a long travel day.  It started out with a two hour train ride from Helsinki to Tampere, Finland.  From Tampere train station a ½ hour bus ride to the Tampere Airport followed by a three hour flight to Frankfurt where I had an overnight layover.  When I arrived in Frankfurt the couchsurfer who generously offered to host me for the night, was waiting for me at the airport.  What a pleasant surprise!

I ended up going with him to a small German village that was only five minutes from the airport, where Carston (the couchsurfer) lived.  The village was tiny.  A guess of maybe two thousands inhabitants, it had only one market and one restaurant/pub that I could see.  We went for a nighttime walk through the town and I was amazed at how clean, orderly and attractive this place was.  Almost too nice.  Everything was perfectly in place and just spotlessly clean.  True German efficiency at work here.

As a most gracious host, Carston offered me my own room and bed after we shared a bottle of wine and compared travel stories.  After a restful night sleep, I hop on the early bus and head back to the airport where I now have six hours to kill waiting for my flight out. 

As my ass has gotten quite sore sitting here on the floor (the only place I could find power), I am finding that I have written enough today about my adventures.  The only thought going through my head right now is wondering how my bike is.  Is it still there?  Has it been the subject of theft, towing or some other act?  I’m sure it’s fine, but I can’t get it out of my head that I am going to arrive and find my lock and chain attached to the railing with nothing on the other end.  Man would that be a miserable way to begin an adventure.

Wish me luck and hopefully I’m stressing for nothing…

I spent from February 25^th until April 8^th in Helsinki.  Turns out old man winter never really showed up this year.  He decided to vacation in a bit further south, in the Germany region.  So Finland was quite dark, unseasonably warm and rainy.  A bit dark too.  I was quite disappointed as Maria’s father Raul, has some very interesting winter toys I was hoping to try out this year.  Think windsurfing on ice with speed skates.  Perhaps next year.

Otherwise the time was spent working with Maria at the Dog Hut and getting certain things with Bluu dealt with.  Not really much fun as there was a lot to do and most days were quite filled.  We did continue on with the tradition of family dinner Sundays and I was also given quite a treat for my birthday.  Maria contacted my mom and got my favorite desert recipe for her mother to make.  Enough to make one a lil homesick. 

All in all a good couple of weeks, albeit a bit stressful.  I am quite excited to be back out traveling again, with a long list of things I want to do.  If I can accomplish just half of them, I will be one happy guy.

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get myself to write about my past experiences.  Given, my time in Helsinki was rather stressful and busier than one might expect, but I still should’ve had time to write about my five week journey from Munich to Madrid.  But every time I sat down to write, I was overwhelmed by the amount of things that happened and the lack of being able to remember all the details.  And as hard as I tried, I couldn’t find a way to summarize.  It seemed pointless to write sparingly about certain events that I had such detailed memories and experiences. So here we are yet again with another attempt to chronicle my journey through Europe and keep it from being (constantly) referred to as “A Post in Waiting”.  Thanks Ria!

So here’s the skinny of my last motorcycle trip broken down into a cute little timeline.

Jan 28^th-Flew out of Helsinki to Munich where my bike was patiently waiting for me.  Stayed with Klaus who had hosted me last time I was in town.

Jan 30^th - After picking up my bike from the BMW dealership and getting it prepared for the first time, I headed off to Cologne, Germany in near freezing wind and rain.  Also first experience on the Autobahn!

Jan 30^th – Feb 7^th – Partied in Cologne for Carnival, one of Europe’s largest week long parties.  Stayed with about 40 other Couchsurfers, most of whom were on average ten years my minor.  Spent one night in Belgium and a day in Maastricht, Netherlands to see a different style of Carnival.

Feb 7^th – Feb 8^th – One night in Paris.  Didn’t see the Eiffel tower, didn’t go to the Louvre.  But man, did I have a blast driving through the traffic of Paris.  One of the most exciting things I’ve done so far.

Feb 8^th – 12^th – Bordeaux, France.  Man what a beautiful, fun city.  I would live here.  Large city atmosphere, with a small town feel.  Plus some of the most amazing architecture.  Stayed a few nights in a 200+ year old home and then another few days with an 8person family just outside the city.  Drove through miles and miles of vineyards and took a daytrip out to Europe’s largest sand dune, Dune de Pyla.

Feb 12- Daytrip to San Sebastian, Spain.  Such an amazing costal city.  Absolutely amazing.  Wish I spent more time here.

Feb 12^th – Feb 14^th – Bilbao, Spain.  An hour past San Sebastian.  Very cool industrial city turned artistic center.  Did some riding along the coast and a good hike out to an unforgettable point with 270deg of ocean view.

Feb 14^th – Feb 15^th- Madrid, Spain.  Scheduled lunch with the group for Pueblo Inglis, the English language immersion course I taught at for a week.  Had Spanish paella for the first time and got to see a private showing of Spanish Flamenco.  One of the most difficult cities to drive in.

Feb 15^th – Drove out to La Alberca, Spain just outside Salamanca.  Wow.  Some of the most amazing mountain roads I’ve ever ridden.  These roads were designed with motorcycles in mind.  Drove through countless olive groves, and villages with populations of under 100.  Beautiful.  The trip took twice as long as I kept stopping to take pictures that do little justice to the area I was in.

Feb 15^th – Feb 22^nd – Pueblo Inglis in La Alberca.  About the most fun one can have while working for free.  Had a semi-private villa with maid service, 3 excellent meals a day and an endless supply of Spanish wine for the price of… talking.  Excellent program designed to help Spanish business professionals gain more confidence with their already high level of English by forcing them to speak and listen to English 24/7.  Made some great friends, some of whom I will be visiting with very shortly.  The afterhours were spent dancing and singing and just having a great time.

Feb 22^nd – Feb 24^th – La Alberca, Spain.  As I was quite exhausted from the previous week, I spent two nights in the quiet village of La Alberca. 

Feb 24^th – Feb 25^th – Drove back to Madrid and met up with a few Australians that I had befriended in La Alberca.  Went out for some oxtail and drinks.  Following day had difficulty finding a place to store my bike for my upcoming trip to Finland.  Last minute decision to leave it at the airport.  Madrid is still holding strong as the most difficult city to drive in.

Feb 25^th – Flew from Madrid to Helsinki as funds were running low and had some business to attend to.

Feb 25^th – April 8^th Helsinki

Now that wasn’t too hard.