I have moved on to a place with Palm Trees and White Sandy Beaches.
That place would be the Emerald Isle.
…………………
These palm trees and other kinds are everywhere in this part of Ireland.
Just WHERE is Bob L now?
Don’t forget, over at WhereIsBobL.com there is a link to where I have been recently:
http://www.whereisbobl.com/whereisboblnow.html
This pic shows quickly where I have been since I left the states. Red is July, Blue is august, Orange is September, and Green is October. On the link above you can zoom in to see exactly where.
AIR BnB ADVENTURES
2018-10-21
As I have written before, Air BnB is a great resource. So is Booking. Sometimes, though, things end up being an adventure. And sometimes that adventure ends up being better than the original plan.
FAUX PAS Number 7,347
2018-10-20
OK, I don’t actually count them, and I am sure they are countless as I tend to be unaware. For example talking about how great one country is when I am in the next country who had been in violent conflict with said country. Clueless.
My favorite is when something comes out of my mouth, and as I am saying it, the tiny little part of my brain that is not a moron, the part way in the back, says: Did you REALLY just say that?
100,000 Miles
The Triumph hit 100,000 miles yesterday, somewhere in eastern France.
ITALIANS, I love ITALY and ITALIANS
2018-10-14
My plan was to go north from Luce, Slovenia, skirt west along the Austria Border, then continue west until almost to Italy, then figure things out.
I was well into this plan, then I stopped at a gas station after wandering around in the hills and tried to figure out my next route. West and north was the goal, but there were options and I could use some advice. I saw 3 bikes pull in to get gas, one had his helmet off so I decided to see if he spoke English. A little but he did not know the area I was asking about well. The other two, a man and his wife, tried to help, but helmets and ear plugs and limited English made my questions rather hard to understand. So, being Italian, they invited me to coffee.
SMILES EVERYONE, PLEASE
2018-10-13
Yup, another media reference, this one requires a Tattoo.
So, last I reported I was in Bosnia. I had been outside of the Schengen area for most of a month. I have also been outside of the “Smile Zone” for the same period of time.
Final SAN Post
Final installment of our Scandinavian adventure over at SAN’s blog.
http://specialagentnancy.blogspot.com/2018/10/norway-ex-machina-hotel-italian-race.html
WHAT DO BOSNIAN BANJOS SOUND LIKE?
2018-10-11
I keep hearing banjos. Is that a bad sign?
KOSOVO? WHERE THE HECK IS KOSOVO?
2018-10-10
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
To borrow my favorite line from the movie “American Pop”:
Kosovo? Where the heck is Kosovo?
The ride from Trigrad Bulgaria was great, for the most part. Stayed the night in a weird little place close to the Macedonian border. It was weird because I was the only guest, but they opened the kitchen for me. It was a fancy place, for $24. I had thought I was going to end the day at a small town, but I ended up at a big smelly city, so I checked Bookings and Air BnB. Not a lot of options, so I grabbed the first one far out of the city that had a high rating. $24 with breakfast is a high price for a hotel here, but what the hell. Being out of season, a lot of places that would otherwise be packed are completely empty.
I chose a route to Macedonia that was nice, some highway, some city but mostly twisty roads. In the southwest corner of Macedonia there is a National park and two lakes with a nice twisty road connecting them. The view is incredible, and the fall foliage rivaled New England. A little less red, but plenty of other colors.
EAGLES and DEVILS
2018-10-08
Headed to Trigrad, Bulgaria to meet Pri Mama Zarka, the owner of a Bed and Breakfast there. SAN had stayed here multiple times when visiting Bulgaria. You can read her stories on her site, but I wanted to meet this woman and her father. I went to Trigrad, a fairly small village in a beautiful mountain area. I asked various people where her place was, as Google Maps sent me to the wrong location. These people sent me all over, with some people waiving in one direction, some in another. I eventually found a person who called a young lady over who spoke English. It turns out Mama Zarka was in London, so some people were waiving to where her place was, some to where they thought London was, and some just waiving “away”. I was sorry I missed her, but I found another BnB across the street.
New SAN Post, Sweden and beyond
Yet again Special Agent Nancy put into a few words what it took me a novel to say.
I swear she could make a trip to the dentist sound like fun.
http://specialagentnancy.blogspot.com/2018/10/sweden-gin-to-hell-and-back-againand.html
WISHFUL THINKING APP, DANUBE RIVER CRUISE and BIKER CAMPS
2018-10-05
Note to self: Check the route for Ferries.
When I was leaving Sinaia, it was getting cloudy. The guy at the hotel asked where I was going, and I said Bulgaria. He said that it was supposed to have Tornados there. I used my phone’s “Wishful Thinking App” and put on sunscreen.
It started raining shortly after. It was not a hard rain, but with my wandering route, it did slow me down.
Continue reading “WISHFUL THINKING APP, DANUBE RIVER CRUISE and BIKER CAMPS”
I’M GOING HOME – Wherever that is
2018-10-01
With apologies to Tim Curry “I’m Going Home”
Well, wherever THAT is.
FRIENDLY ROMANIANS and the SERVICE INDUSTRY SNARL
2018-10-01
Romanians are friendly, in a cold New England cold sort of way.
You don’t see a lot of people smiling on the streets. More than in Lithuania though. People stare at you as you go by. Well, they stare at me, but I look out of place almost anywhere. And saying good morning seldom gets a response.
Once you break the ice though, they are great and very friendly people. If they think you need help, they will stop to help if they think they can. Otherwise, you are a pink unicorn.
Continue reading “FRIENDLY ROMANIANS and the SERVICE INDUSTRY SNARL”
PELE’s CASTLE
2018-10-01
Note to Self 1: Thinking it is Monday does not make it so.
Note to self 2: If going to a major tourist destination, check whether it is a weekend.
There were many places that people recommended I go to on this trip. One was Pele’s Castle in Sinaia, Romania. The other was the Peoples Palace in Bucharest. Since I had decided not to go to the Romanian Coast, which was a wise decision due to weather, I chose to go to Pele’s Castle and Bucharest.
TIBOR THE GREAT and SNOW
2018-09-29
I left Sighisoura fairly late, with no real plan. I was just taking side roads as much as possible and seeing where they went. I was roughly heading towards the Parcul National Munti Rodnei, a Romanian National Park on the Ukraine Border.
On one road, I saw an interesting monument of wood. I stopped, and there I met Tibor the Great, a Hungarian Armed Forces Officer, Retired. We talked about all things great and small. He explained that Transylvania, this area of Romania, is almost entirely Hungarian, and proud of it. They speak Hungarian, not Romanian, and follow traditional ways of living. The Monument was put up by the various towns in the area, and each town has it’s own wooden monument.
Tibor the Great
full size
SIGHISOURA, Romania
2018-09-25
As I stated in an earlier post, Sighisoura, Romania is the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for the story Dracula.
You can visit the room where he was born (how do they know that) for only $1.25
CANADIANS TASTE LIKE LAMB
2018-09-24
My hosts at this Pension were very nice. I mentioned that they invited me to dinner. They said that they were having two Canadians for dinner. I took that to mean that there would be two Canadians eating dinner with us. Well, when I got to the table, there were three place settings. Me and my two hosts. Where were the Canadians going to sit?
Remember, this is where Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler was born. Vlad was the inspiration for the Dracula story. His father was Vlad Dracul. Another wonderful Romanian man from way back. Maybe having Canadians for dinner was a tradition here. Romanian Goulash?
