10-country-tour through Europe
New job, new year, new luck, new holiday, new
reports
The last two years with big-C really cost me a lot of nerv. I made decisions for the future (like this one). I made a decision I needed to revise, but meanwhile I caught myself and started to live again.
And then there is a decision like “hold my beer”. And this one, that brought me to this trip cross Europe. It wasn’t planned as it ended, but anyway, it was a good one and I had a great trip, as you can read on the following pages. Do you say pages, when it is all on the same page and it’s only one single report written? Well, I don’t know and don’t mind, everybody knows what I want to say – I guess.
So, have fun with the report and the few pictures and feel free to leave a message in my guestbook, it feels a little lonely….
If you just wanna see some pictures, follow the link to the gallery, and you can have a sort out of more than 1.000 pictures.
day 1 – home to my parents’ place (196 km / 122 mls)
Friday 13th, means 17th, almost. Actually, it’s not even holiday yet but I have to work again on Tuesday after the long whitsun-weekend, before I start officially. Nevertheless, the motorbike is packed and I am off. Since it would be a bit too far to reach the first fixed stopover I’ve organized myself so that I can split it up a bit. So, before I really start going, I’m going to visit my parents, tinker or paint a little bit with my latest acquisition, actually do nothing for a while and then – oh dear, the weather forecast for Tuesday is really terrible. Anyway, I’m going to really get going on Tuesday after work.
day 2, 3 + 4
Last week I luckily found a place to park my new toy, em truck, and that’s where I am going today. All the angle profiles, inside and outside need a waterproof coat of paint and the weather is ideal for parking in the sun and diligently and finally, painting.

Not much else happened on Sunday and Monday. A few minor modifications were made on the motorbike, such as changing the wheels. For the hundreds of kilometers covering all road types, I don’t need to destroy 400 bucks on tyres for speedy road tours, the good all-road-tyres from Heidenau will be very good for it. And for sure, I need to use them, they are 2 years old already, I can’t remember when I had tyres that old, normally I use three to four pairs a year. And when you look close enough, you can still see the little holes, where the spikes were screwed in at the Savalenrally in 2022. But I couldn’t drive much, the last two years, what a shame. Of course, after I changed the tyres, I need to go for a little break-in lap. But I am not counting that towards the tour itself (mainly because I forgot to check how many kilometers it actually was), check the tyre pressure, fill up the tank, and then I was ready to go. I got kind of nervous. Most of the things are already packed. Luckily, I don’t need to carry my laptop from work, I gonna pick it up on my way back.
day 5 - homeoffice at my parents place and re-start to Eggenfelden (317 km / 197 mls)
The motorbike is almost completely packed, except a few small things like a toiletry bag. But I still have to some work in the home office today. When I unpack and set up my work equipment at around 5:30 in the morning, I realise that I have forgotten my charger for the laptop. Well, let's get started and see later whether we can remedy the power problem. I got a little nervous when I got a battary

displayed just after 8 a.m. that it would only last for another hour. That would be a bit short, as there were still a few things to organise. So, I tried everything possible and impossible to give the battery more life, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, fortunately, it wasn't until just before 11:30 that the laptop finally died and I was forced to call it a day - what a nuisance, hehe. After another relaxed lunch, I finish packing everything and then slowly set off. Rain, great, I don't like starting in the rain, but I had a goal in mind. So, I didn't set off just yet, but first made the motorcycle boots really waterproof with plastic bags and duct tape and then I was off. The gloves weren't what they used to be either. They were tight, and the inner lining had come off and as soon as you tried to put your fingers in with wet fingers, it became a problem because when you took them off the inner lining came off and everything was everywhere but not where your fingers were. So I still didn't set off, but I had a quick look where I could buy motorcycle accessories along the route. In Buchloe it was time. I got off the motorway for a bit, bought new gloves and continued on, it was only halfway. At 7 p.m. I arrived at the hotel. I actually wanted to fill up the tank, well, I did it, but not with what I wanted because the good Super-Plus wasn't available - poor Germany. As the hotel didn't have a restaurant I ordered a pizza. How come they only deliver if the minimum order is 15 euros? Oh well, bring some beer with you until we've filled up the 15 euros, then it'll be fine. But I took it easy and went to bed early. Tomorrow is the next big stage on the way to the first actual intermediate goal.
day 6 – Eggenfelden to Ptuj (SLO) (515 km / 320 mls)
So, today we have to cover some distance, still over 1,000 km to the first planned and booked stopover point of this little tour. The weather looked anything but tempting, which is why I immediately put on my rain suit. Rain wasn't forecast, but at 12°C it's still pretty draughty after a while, and the rain suit helps a bit as a wind stopper. First over the main ridge of the Alps, Tauern motorway, how boring, that doesn't help. Then on the south side of the Alps, finally sun, oh, damn, where is the rain cloud coming from. Good thing I was just taking a break anyway, so I could wait comfortably from inside until the downpour was over. Let's go on. Next break at Wörthersee. From here it's off the motorway, finally, and I try to find a few more bends. It shouldn't be that difficult, I'm not quite out of the Alps yet. But as the sun is shining, it gets quite warm in the rubber grommet, so it's time to get rid of it. A few kilometers further on, it doesn't look like

it's going to be sunny anymore, and as I'm standing at the gas station, it actually starts to rain again and it doesn't look like it's going to stop for the next hour. So, I put my rain suit back on and carry on. There was still a small pass to overcome, and there you could see what was a small rain shower in the valley below, and up on the mountains there was a real hailstorm, the snow plow came towards me and a few meters later I saw the mountains of hail that it had pushed aside. But as it was still raining quite heavily, I didn't want to stop and get a photo to document it. Besides, it was still about 100 km to the spontaneously booked bed and breakfast in Slovenia. An evening walk into town for dinner revealed some really beautiful views of the town of Ptuj.
day 7 – Ptuj to Belgrade (SRB) (499 km / 310 mls)
Fresh juices, homemade jam, homemade sausages, quark and fresh fruit, wow, I could have slept in it. And freshly baked bread. Simply delicious. After this absolutely delicious breakfast, I continued on. Shortly afterwards, I was at the border. To be honest, the last time I saw so much barbed wire was at the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. But of course, there was free travel within the EU. After that, it got a bit boring again. I continued east along the Drava, few bends, little excitement, even crossing the border into Serbia was no problem after a few minutes of waiting. Shortly before Novi Sad, the skies opened again, so I preferred to take shelter for half an hour before tackling the last 90km for today. The sat nav led me straight to my booked apartment, where I was able to safely store the motorcycle in the underground car park. Even though the descent into the car park was an experience. Driving on serpentines in the Alps is child's play compared to that, especially since the road surface there is in better condition than this dirt road. I ate a little something - a monster burger with 400 grams of minced meat - and then it was time for bed.

day 8 – Belgrade
First planned stopover, I set off for the center at just after 8:30 in the morning, where I met Tobias. The search for breakfast was tough, we just couldn't find anything really local like we had hoped for, but maybe we were just too stupid. In the end we went to a restaurant

and ordered a huge pile of lunch, which was at least local food and tasted excellent. After we had finished eating, it was raining even harder than before, which is why we didn't get very far because we didn't have an umbrella. We spent about an hour lounging around and then the sun finally came out again. Off we went to the Belgrade fortress. When we got there we stumbled upon the preparations for a burger festival - main sponsor: the American Embassy, why would an embassy do this? Completely stupid, but okay. The castle itself is a fairly large complex above the confluence of the Danube and the Sava. Somehow the time passed quicker than we thought and so we made our way to Usze Park, where RAMMSTEIN was playing later. We lined up very discreetly next to the queue at the entrance and then elegantly mingled with the first to gain entry when the gates opened. We took our seats ten meters in front of the stage and had to wait until it started. As has almost always been the case in recent years, the pianist duo Jatekok and Abélard opened the concert with Rammstein songs played on the piano. 45 minutes later the time had come. RAMMSTEIN started the two-hour show with the RAMMLIED and, as always, delivered an excellent performance. And as befits a band that has been around for 30 years, they actually played a lot of old songs. I was in bed shortly before one in the morning, what a day - the pedometer says I've walked 23 km, it made me tired, seems I’m getting old.
day 9 – Belgrade to Sarajevo (BIH) (405 km / 252 mls)
Today, of course, I got out of bed a little later. First, I went to the supermarket downstairs to get something for breakfast. Then I packed everything up again and programmed the sat nav. At some point however, the stupid thing got on my nerves because, despite the instructions to drive on winding roads, it kept wanting to get on the motorway. I set off at half past nine and told the sat nav that I wanted to get out somewhere east of the city. Half an hour later, I left the city of untreated sewage behind me and the sat nav finally understood what I wanted. Winding roads! Towards the end of the stage, I got a little nervous again. The fuel gauge had been lighting up again for well over 50 km. But thanks to economical driving, I was using less than 5 liters and still had over 2 liters in the tank, so almost another 50 km. After I checked into my hotel in Sarajevo and walked into the city center for dinner, I roughly calculated the days against the distance I still had to cover and then decided to stay another night in Sarajevo and do a little inland tour the next day. Another beer in the hotel and then it was time for bed.
day 10 – Sarajevo-Mostar-Sarajevo (308 km / 191 mls)
I didn't sleep very well, it was far too warm and I couldn't open the roof window because the rain was pouring down all night, perfect weather for
motorcycling. Well, I took my time with breakfast and the weather actually got better. The rain radar was so good that I decided not to put on my rain suit. Good decision, the weather got better, the sun kept peeking through
the clouds. The sat

nav understood what I wanted today too, but I had to pay tribute to my skills and accept an unplanned return journey relatively early on in the planned tour because I just couldn't go any further. Maybe if there had been two or three of us, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it alone. And so it happened that it didn't take me a little more than three hours to get to Mostar as planned, but well over five hours. But this stretch to Mostar had everything. From mud, where I couldn't go any further, to the perfect "race track" where the tips of your boots kiss the asphalt when cornering. My lack of language skills almost got me stopped by the police. I mean, what's with that weird, loooong white line in the middle of the road? And what do round, white signs with red borders and numbers on them mean? The only reaction the police gave was "thumbs up", hehe, lucky. Simply brilliant. A bit like "the last little adventure there is to experience in Europe".
In Mostar I thought for a moment that the sun would still make it out, but that wasn't the case, which was a shame, but I did manage to grab an ice cream in the stream of tourists, so I could sit in a quieter corner and take in the scenery. Well then, I continued on. Stretched my legs a bit and did some sightseeing, and when I got back to the motorbike 20 minutes later, it started pouring - that was for sure. I put on my rain suit and continued on. It didn't stop until I reached Sarajevo. It's a shame, because just before Sarajevo on a small pass there was a small pig roast, the smell of which had lulled me to stop kilometers before, but when I got there it started pouring even more and I thought to myself that if I got off now, I'd be completely wet before I got to the hut, so I continued on. But I'll always remember the image of the countless suckling pigs rotating over the grills.

day 11 – Sarajevo to Pecs (HUN) (387 km / 240 mls)
Yesterday I studied the maps and decided that I wanted to make a big jump to Hungary. The route to Tuzla was very varied overall. Including a trip to the quarry - I have no idea how that happened – also I had to watch out for all kinds of animals. I mean, it's normal for

cows to run around on the road and you’ve have been warned by a sign, okay, and I am used to the vicious dogs that run into your motorbikes, but I hadn't been warned about bats until now. After Tuzla it got boring, so I took another short break to study the map and reprogram the sat nav, and hey presto, there were still a few bends. As I was rolling comfortably down one of the passes, a pensioner in his electric disability scooter actually came towards me, drifting up the pass, hehe. What does that tell us? I'm too slow. Nothing and nobody for miles around, and then this pensioner, not drifting of course, but at least 5 km to the next house in either direction, just very funny. It was lunchtime by now, and a sign along the road advertising for a restaurant and I turned off. But as there was a certain communication problem and it was not possible to pay by card and I didn’t have enough cash anymore except for a Coke, I got back on the motorbike. Shortly afterwards I was at the border with Croatia and driving became really boring again. Between the Sava and the Drava there is simply nothing but flat land. Well, I get that over with quickly and shortly after the border with Hungary I checked into my hotel.
day 12 – Pecs to Deva (RO) (473 km / 294 mls)
During dinner, I studied the maps again. I also calculated how many days I had left until the next booked destination. And since I somehow had time again, I planned the first big unplanned detour. A quick trip to Romania. Hungary is a flat and not very interesting country for motorcycling, which makes the Western Carpathians in Romania all the more appealing, especially since they are only a stone's throw away. Well, a stone's throw is relative when you look at the miles driven, but since 2/3 of them were on boring straight stretches in Hungary, that was also a quick drive. The industrial city of Arad just after the border in Romania was still a bit of chaos, but after that I continued east on a well-developed but very winding road. Before I went to the hotel in Deva (Diemrich), I took in a bit of culture at Hunedoara Castle in Eisenmarkt. Another highlight of today was when I once again evaded a police check, shortly after I shifted down a gear and swept through the curves at high revs and with a lot of noise.
day 13 – Deva to Satu Mare (360 km / 224 mls)

The weather forecast actually predicted plenty of sun, which was interesting. Very cloudy, but at least no rain that the rain radar was promising, so I can get going. As planned, the best curves awaited me and I was clearly enjoying driving again in the Carpathians. The plan was actually to drive towards Baia Mare, but when I entered the valley the weather looked so bad that I turned off and added an extra 50 km and ended up in Satu Mare. The selected hotel was known to the satnav, but the streets in the city center were no longer known. So, I wandered around the city for at least three quarters of an hour until I parked the motorcycle, supposedly close to the hotel, and set off on foot in the heat of the city to look for the hotel. After I finally found it, to make matters worse it was covered in scaffolding and the hotel name was illegible. I was at least able to arrange with the hotel manager that I could park my motorcycle in front of the hotel. No sooner said than done when I came back from the shower, I noticed that the first drops of honeydew from the linden trees were already on the motorbike, so I quickly moved the bike, moved the chairs and tables to the side and stood under the parasol.
day 14 – Satu Mare to Svidnik (SVK) (281 km / 175 mls)
Breakfast and off we go. Last night I had the spontaneous idea that I could still drive to Belarus, I still have time. From initial research and checking with a former work colleague, this was not possible without a visa. Let's put that thought aside for now and get in line at the border crossing to Hungary. That took ages again, back into the Schengen area. But that's fine, I can’t change it anyway. It was sunny and

warm. When I finally continued after the border, I had all the ventilation slots on my motorbike suit open to cool down a bit. Suddenly a bee got lost in the sleeve of my jacket and stung. Good thing I don't mind when it itches, so I carried on relatively quickly. My destination for today in northern Slovakia was still a few miles away. The sat nav wanted to send me via Ukraine, but that wasn't possible at the time, I wonder why, no war in that area, so they should be happy about some tourists bringing some money. So, I worked my way along the border until I found a border crossing from Hungary to Slovakia. I continued north towards the Northern Carpathians or the High Tatras. I was in this area nine years ago when my travel partner and I set up our tents next to a tank in the "Valley of Death". Since I had the tent with me, I planned to do it again, but the rain that had started to fall prevented me from doing so. In the hotel, the thought from last night came back to me, and a little internet research later, it was clear that Belarus was possible. The border regions of Brest and Grodno can be visited visa-free for 15 days with a simple letter of invitation. So I quickly typed a few emails and looked at what was possible.
day 15 – Svidnik to Brest (BLR) (448 km / 278 mls)
I had the most comfortable bed since I started, but the heat in the room was too much of a good thing, and opened the window but then it was too cold because the sheet didn't really help as a blanket while it was freezing outside. The breakfast was delicious though, and when everything was packed, there was still no answer to my inquiries from yesterday. So I called one of the agencies. The conversation ended quickly because the good lady couldn't speak any English. But it was enough to say that I should write and she could help me with the help of a translation program. And she helped. Anyway, I got a little nervous because I didn’t get anything back from her, before that I had already covered the first 200 km. But finally, I got the invitation letter. There was a catch: the invitation letter had to be issued the day BEFORE entry, which means that in the worst-case scenario I wouldn't be allowed into the country until midnight. So, I built a few detours into my route to the border and had to choose between the left and right thunderstorm just before I reached my destination. The roads
dictated the middle and so I got a bit of both thunderstorms. Shortly
after 6 p.m. at the exit from Poland and being polite I went to the back of the queue, but it took less than two minutes before someone came out of the queue and said that motorcyclists in Belarus
are always allowed to go to the front. What a joy. The barrier opens and I pass through. Ah, there are EU citizens there, I have to go there. I

roll to the control booth and immediately get a scolding. Oops, I saw the green light at the booth and missed the red light 15 meters before. Many apologies later, the border guard checked my papers and an hour after arriving at the border I set off for the Belarusian border post. Well, the worst case scenario happens, the invitation says the next day, and the young border guard probably wanted to make a name for herself and sent me to the back after consulting her colleague. Judging by the conversation, the older colleague would have let me through, but in the end the young one got her way. Bad luck for me. At 11:50 p.m. I report to passport control again. The young lady looks at her watch and then gives me an angry look and sends me away again. Well, it was worth a try. Okay, my passport was finally stamped at 12:02 a.m., and then I went to customs. While I was waiting, I had a few conversations and heard a few stories. One of them was that every vehicle that goes to Belarus has to be x-rayed, and I was able to watch this game. Even the motorcyclists were required to have their vehicles x-rayed. That could be fun, because the queue is quite long. Well, two hours later, when a customs officer finally takes care of me, I think to myself that I could have saved myself the trouble of booking a hotel. But after a quick look in my suitcase I was allowed to drive on without an x-ray. I was at the hotel at 2:45 a.m. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so I deserved a quick beer. 3:15 am, lights off, good night.
day 16 – Brest
It's not surprising that I slept a little longer. The breakfast buffet was great and shortly after ten o'clock I set off to explore the city. The fortress in Brest has an eventful history, once under Polish occupation, then the headquarters of the Wehrmacht for the Eastern Front, and later occupied by the Russians. There is no admission fee to the complex, just a small fee for the archaeological and historical museum on site, I think that was the equivalent of 1 euro fifty. Due to the size of the complex, I spent a few hours there before I "got lost" in the railway museum on the way to the center. Very nicely set up, the technology made visible by cutting open entire steam locomotives to show the inside, I've never seen anything like that before. Very nicely done. But here too there is the small drawback, as in the fortress, everything is only described in Russian, which is a shame, there could be a bit more to do with that.
day 17 – Brest
Another day in Brest will take me to the train station today. An architectural masterpiece from the outside, but somehow stuck in the 60s on the
inside, but stylish and fitting. It was interesting that the new part of the station is obviously not in use and everything is still handled via the old platforms. You quickly see everything there, then it's slowly back towards the center.
Gogolia Street is my next

destination. Forged street lamps in all possible and above all impossible designs make it very interesting. I don't know how many there were in total, but I think around 40, sometimes I just had to laugh, very beautiful and entertaining. The Brest sports complex with stadium is also located along Gorolia Street. All doors open, free entry, well, let's go, since we're already there. I continued towards the pedestrian zone. I really want to buy a sticker with the Belarusian flag, or the oval ones with BY for the car, but I haven't found any. Dinner was a funny experience. I had chosen a really nice restaurant. But they didn't speak any English, so I ordered food and beer with the help of our cell phone and a translator. I would like something warm with meat, what came? Beef tartare, grrr, fine... But the story for the beer was even better. They said we have Paulaner and local beer. Well, then of course I take the local beer and type that into the translator - "local beer - NOT Paulaner", and what did I get? Right, Paulaner, grrr... On the way back to the hotel I wanted to get an ice cream, there were always long queues outside the ice cream parlor, but I was unlucky. They close at 8 p.m. and it was already 8:01 p.m., even the Belarusian guy didn't get anything, despite all the fuss and shouting. Well then, off to the hotel, I got another beer from reception and then slowly started packing. I want to leave a little earlier tomorrow as I have to cross the border again, but it probably won't take as long to go back in to Poland, as it did to get here.
day 18 – Brest to Bielsk-Podlaski (POL) (142 km / 88 mls)
After a hearty breakfast, I set off towards the border shortly after eight o'clock. When I entered the country, I learned that motorcyclists are always allowed to drive past, but even in Belarus there are always heroes who prefer not to let you pass. I had to wait about an hour until another motorcyclist came along. After a bit shouting and swearing, the "officer" from Harley-Belarus cleared the way and we could

drive ahead to customs. And there we were. And we were standing. And four hours later, we were still standing. Nothing was happening, nothing at all. The authorities decided to play a bit of dominoes with office containers, and there was simply no processing for that long. The only change was a small forest fire, which the border guards then went out to put out. But whilst they were fighting the fire still no processing for border crossing. When we finally got going, we got through quickly. We motorcyclists, now 9 in number, slalomed our way to the border on the bridge. There we were again. The Poles already had enough to do with the processing and simply closed again. But finally the waiting time passed and in the end we arrived at the Polish customs to enter Poland. There were three cars of EU citizens, and the Belarusian motorcyclists lined up with me for inspection. It all went pretty quickly. The customs officer came over and wanted to look at my panniers. First suitcase - clothes, second suitcase - tent and camping equipment, and she said, "Now all we need is the kitchen." I laughed and said, wait, now in the third suitcase, there are washing-up things, pots and pans. She also laughed spontaneously and pointed to the tank bag. "The camera is in there" “Yes, right.” “Did you take any good photos?” I pointed out the link to my website, which she then photographed and said that she would look at it. Let's see if she really does and leaves a message. Ten minutes later, the entry papers were ready and I could go on my way. It was now 4 p.m., I won't get very far today, but that doesn't matter. Shortly before reaching my planned destination, I passed the place in Sarnaki where one of the first V2 rockets hit the ground during a test in second world war - quite an enormous thing when you look at the original replica.
day 19 – Bielsk-Podlaski to Morag (380 km / 236 mls)
Today we're going back to Masuria. It's just beautiful there. Both in terms of the landscape and for driving. OK, you might not be happy with a sports motorbike or a lowered car, as there are still some unpaved roads or cobblestone roads, but with a BMW like mine, you're in the right place. I was in the area nine years ago, and the highlight was the Wolf's Lair and the Führerbunker, or what's left of it. This time, too, I didn't want to miss out on culture, so I first made a short stop at Count Lehndorff's castle. There's not much left of its former glory, but if I understood correctly, it's currently being restored. A few kilometers later, the next bunker. Army High Command - Mauerwald Museum. An observation tower offered views of Masuria that you wouldn't otherwise get, even if it's not necessarily a good idea to climb the 200 steps in your motorcycle gear. I left the Führerbunker behind and continued on towards my second destination of this trip. In Morag I checked into my room, had a delicious meal, drank a beer and stretched my wings after another exhausting day.
day 20 – Morag to Gdansk (119 km / 74 mls)
I was woken up far too early because the curtains, if you can call those scraps of fabric a curtain, obviously don't stop the sun from shining into
the room shortly after four in the morning. I still don't understand the point of these things, what's going on with those guys putting

that on the wall? When the caretaker started making noise with his bush cutter in front of my bedroom shortly after half past six, I was finally awake. Well, whatever. It's not far to Gdansk, my second booked destination. I will meet Andreas there for the Mystic Festival. The room is booked, but can't be occupied until 3 p.m., so I actually have plenty of time. Andreas is arriving by train and is scheduled to arrive at around 12 p.m. That should work out about right with my route. I was already there at half past eleven, and when I asked if the room was ready, I was told no. Unfavourable, because I had to change and maybe take a quick shower. An hour later, Andreas had arrived in the meantime, we asked again if the room was ready, and lo and behold it was. I was able to spread out, shower, change my clothes and then we trotted off towards the festival grounds. First we got a beer and explored the grounds, what is where; where is there beer, where is there food, what are the stages like? Oh yes, did I mention that we got another beer straight away? I don't think I need to write much more about the festival today (or the next few days) - it's a festival, cheers!
day 21 – Gdansk
If you're in Gdansk, you have to go into town. As the festival doesn't start until 3pm, we have a bit of time to look around the city. After a
hearty breakfast, we set off. We walked past the market hall to the basilica. Stupid ideas often have immediate consequences and so,

409 steps later, we found ourselves on the tower of the basilica. Amazing view, and just in time. Because no sooner had we taken our photos than a whole school class flocked to the small viewing platform, so that even though we would have liked to have looked for longer, we preferred to flee downstairs. We continued to the Neptune fountain and joined the queue for the photo with the other tourists. "It's pretty busy here, let's go into a side street and have a beer." No sooner said than done. The search for lunch then led us past the Second World War Museum and we were back at the festival just in time for the doors to open, where we watched bands like Gutalax, Bruce Dickinson, High on Fire, Machine fucking Head and many others.
day 22 – Gdansk
Second day in Gdansk, google spit out something interesting that we wanted to see. "Cemetery that isn't a cemetery", well then. To get straight to the point, it is a cemetery. First, we went to the Hagelsberg, from where you have a beautiful view of the city and the shipyard area. When you're already up there, you walk through the fortifications. Here too, like in Belarus, they could definitely label one or two things in English or German, otherwise it's no fun. Now for the search for the cemetery that isn't a cemetery, that was once again, "there's a way, you have to go that way" and ends in big detours and loops until you get to where you want to go. Yes, then we were at the cemetery and after we saw it we quickly passed the camping area for the festival. Hmm, yeah, well, no, I'm glad we're in our hotel after all. After a short lunch we went back to the festival where we were treated to some great shows today with Insomnium, Paradise Lost, Accept and other greats.
day 23 – Gdansk
It's supposed to be a respectable 21°C today, and the first day where no rain is forecast. We wanted to take a look at the “Speicherstadt”, but that was only semi-interesting, so we got through it very quickly and thought about what to do with the rest of the morning over an early beer in a side street. Since we've covered quite a few kilometers in the last few days, we decided to relax and put our feet up. I took the opportunity to pack up the motorbike as much as possible before heading back to the festival after lunch in a basement restaurant. Lord of the Lost, Bring me the Horizon, Enter Shikari and Dark Funeral, among others, provided entertainment today.
day 24 – Gdansk to Bitterfeld (DDR) (629 km / 391 mls)
The festival is over, now I just have to go home. Andreas has an Uber, I can drive myself. We set off at 9 a.m. Diagonally through Poland, mainly federal highways from Gdansk to Frankfurt an der Oder. From then on I head onto the motorway. To Bitterfeld, where I can stay overnight with a friend. Boring German motorway and a total of almost 630 km today. Phew, just before 6 p.m. I had done it.
day 25 – Bitterfeld to home (CH) (752 km / 467 mls)
Last day, last stage, this is going to be another act of violence and probably the longest stage by far on this 10-country tour. Monotonous

on the motorway, how annoying. As long as I'm fit, I'll try to cover as much distance as possible before the first break. But it's just more than tough. After around 480 km, I stopped off at my dad's place in Kraichgau. I quickly reloaded, got out my camping equipment, put in my work computer, stretched my legs a bit and after a coffee and fresh strawberry cake, I continued on. Another 270 km. The few kilometers through Kraichgau away from the motorway did provide some variety, but that doesn't make it any better when you know that another 250 km of motorway follow. And to avoid a fine, I turned off just before I got home and actually visited the 13th country on my 10-country tour and drove through France so that I didn't have to take the Swiss motorway.
Summary
The conclusion of my 10+3 country tour is absolutely positive. Despite the rain and the temperatures being anything but summery, I was finally able to have a great holiday without anyone making me feel guilty or criticising the activities we had planned together or anything else. The concert in Belgrade was amazing. The festival in Gdansk was almost relaxing due to its manageable size and the impressions I took away from this tour are something no one can take away from me. And to all those who have been giving me a hard time over the last few years saying that they can ride much faster and/or better than me – fuck off! Maybe you can ride faster – I can ride farther.
25 days on the trip, 16 days on the motorbike and 6.481 km or 4.027 mls, maybe more maybe less, I don’t know. Every way round I try to calculate the result is different, than when I put in the driven kilometers and compare it with the miles from the sat nav. But who cares, I had fun, and that's what I ride for, and I hope you had fun too, following my little tour cross Europe.
Best regards
Ecki