DAY 90

After a good breakfast in Preveza we biked south for about 20kms before we came to a T-Junction where Charlie turned right and I turned left. His plan is to Island hop his way to Crete. My plan is to head towards Athens where I can get a ferry to Turkey. If you're ever in Ireland Charlie,give us a call and we'll find some bar that sells Ouzos. I continued on down my scenic road with the coast on my right hand side till about 5pm,when up the road in front of me pedalled two more touring cyclists. Brothers David and Fred from France were half way through their epic journey of biking to every capital city in Europe. It was going to be dark in an hour so we all camped up on the beach and spent the evening chatting over a fine sized bonfire. We didn't leave our camp till about 11am the morning. I hope David and Fred see Dublin before I do.

DAY 89 GREECE WOW....

So before I left Italy I called into the Cathedral in Bari where St. Nickolas is buried and thanked him for the best present of my life-the little blue bicycle I got when I was 6 years old. Then I hopped on the overnight ferry to Greece. Country No 7 greeted me with open arms. Within an hour of arriving, I was blown away by everything.-The welcoming waves and hoots of horns from passing vehicles, the scenery,the mountains, the food and the all important great surface on the empty roads, And everyone I met was so friendly and welcoming.I was sitting on a park bench at the top of a hill admiring the coastal scenery when I spotted another touring cyclist coming up the hill and heading in the same direction as me. Charlie from Austria was a giant of a man and is 1 week into his 3 week trip of Greece. We got some lunch and made our way towards Preveza. Considering you can get a twin room for the price of two hostel dorms and Charlie had no tent , we went looking for a cheap hotel. The paint was peeling off the walls in Hotel Avra and considering it didn't boast any stars, it seemed within budget. We hit the town with vast quantities of food and even vaster quantities of ouzos(the local drink). Ouzo is great fun on the night of consumption but an utter torment the following morning. All plans of leaving Preveza the next morning were abandoned. Instead Charlie decided to get an new tattoo. We went for breakfast at lunch time,lunch at dinner time and dinner at 10pm. We were wandering around town after midnight , when we came upon a punk/metal venue with a kicking band on stage. This seemed to be one of those 'Greek Only' clubs. We managed to slip past the steep 15 euro entrance fee and were the only two non-Greeks in this club. We decided on 2 things;

1. No Ouzos!!

2. We'll keep a low profile.

I'm not too sure what Charlie's interpretation of a low profile is,but he quickly had the shirt off and was hopping around the dance floor like he was been electrocuted. More people were amused with the 6ft tourist with the shaven head (apart from pony tail and locks) and about 10 facial piercing and covered in tattoos than what was happening on stage. The after gig DJ had everything from the 'Dead Kennedys' to the 'Sex Pistols' coming through the speakers. We jumped around like crazy. At least we had no Ouzos!!

DAY 83

We finally crossed Italy and I'm camped up on the east coast next to the Adriatic sea. I'm only 25kms from Bari and from here, I'll get a ferry on to the next country. This is my seventh night in a row of sleeping in bushcamps, so I'm quite looking forward to rolling into Bari (the locals will probably smell me before they see me-running water is way better than babywipes). The past week has the legs a little stiff, but not uncomfortably sore. They wouldn't want to be sore- The mountains in Greece are twice the height of these in Central Italy. Last night I camped in the middle of a giant meadow. Today was a glorious day of downhill free-wheeling with the wind at my back through a region similar to the burren in Clare. It even had a few dolmens, loads of beehive huts and stone walls everywhere.And also got to visit an Unesco world heritage site- Castel del Monte. By 11am tomorrow I should be in Bari. I'm in bad need of a shower,a plug socket,wi-fi and a ferry heading south east. I dont know where yet. It depends when they are leaving. I'll go to Albania,Corfu or somewhere in Greece. I just need to head south east (the opposite direction to Ireland)

DAY 82

Tonights accommodation has no roof, but the best of views. I'm camped in the remains of a derelict house in what seems like a village abandoned hundreds of years ago. This place reminds me of the abandoned famine villages on Achill Island and Co. Donegal. Todays road summited at about 950metres. Thats not far off Irelands highest peak,Carantoohill, though theres no roads up there. We're crossing Italy from West to East and I reckon we're over the worst of the mountains now. So tomorrows diary should all about the downhill.-I hope tomorrows diary is all about the downhill.

DAY 81 RAIN,RAIN,RAIN,RAIN,RAIN

Today first the first time on this trip,I pushed the bike uphill.It was just too steep to cycle. Last night I was camped in a field full of orange trees. Tonight, the rain is hopping off the roof of the warehouse I'm camped in.I'm tired-Good night.

DAY 79

The original plan was to pedal south and around Naples and see Pompeii,but that plan changed for 2 reasons;1. Naples has the sea to the east,Mt Vesuvios(1277m) to the south and a complex network of motorways to the west and north. Biking on motorways is best avoided in Italy. Unlike at home,many motorways dont have a hard shoulder,so its no place for a bicycle.2. I hear ye are getting snow at home. Well, for the first time on this trip,I had to put on sun-cream. It was a day for the shorts,a T-shirt and the shades.
So, if ever there was a time to swing east and make an attempt to cross the Apennines mountain range,its now.(Or tomorrow to be more exact)

DAY78

ROME- Its been a full week since I updated this blog and the past week is now a blur of all the best things. I stayed at the best hostel since the start of the trip. "The Freedom Traveller" near the train station had it all and the soundest of people seemed to be in this hostel.Most interesting of all was a Japanese guy , Hikaru who had cycled 23,000kms from Japan to Rome and he's only half way through his trip. I got new tyres for the bike (That tyre I got in Cahors gave me about 10 punctures,so I put it in its rightful place-the wastebin),a new camera (as the old one was on the blink) and a heap of other bits and pieces.Cities don't come much better than Rome. It has it all. Genevieve came over for the weekend and our time was spent wandering through all the sights.Rome has got the Vatican,the Colosseum,Paethlon,and just endless sights.Rome is basically one huge,noisy museum full of priests.Its almost a case of overload on sights. I'd often go 50km or 100kms out of my way to see a particular monument, but in Rome,its a case of seeing mind-blowing sights within 2 blocks of each other. I'm camped up in a forest 100kms south of Rome where a river meets the sea.