Tag Archives: fine

Day 15 – The two Towers

Not many would put up with a campground like this – at least Germans, that is. And maybe I might have been upset, too, would we have been asked for some extortionist rate. But at 16.20€ this was the cheapest camp so far, by 10 euros. All we wanted was 50 m² to park and some electricity plus a hole in the ground. One could argue, we got even a bit more than that. No stink, no terrible noise. Ok, the mozzies, but that is not really the campground’s fault. I had recharged 70km of range – by that point we basically slept for free :D. Plus, we were very motivated to leave, so we were on the road by a record breaking 8:55 am!

First time I managed to get an Italian charger working with an app (no roaming 🙁 )

On our way to Bologna we hit our first traffic jam, but nothing to get upset about. A bit more annoying was the amount of research I had to do to find a way to get to a charge point close to the center without going into the Z.T.L. and risking a 87€ fine again. I had two good charge points marked, but by the time we arrived at the first one, both were marked as blocked. At least the provider’s app let me know before having to drive around in circles. We settled on a pair of chargers 5 minutes further out and for once, the app worked fine, at least. It even has PayPal support. Go ENEL X. I still can’t wait until the EU gets their act together and will legislate mandatory EU roaming for all charge point operators.

Bologna enchanted us right from the first couple of streets in. Very different in feel from Parma, the most noticeable change is the enormously wide arcades along many of the otherwise narrow streets of the old city center. It had a bit of an oriental or moorish vibe to it and reminded us of southern Iberia. The mood was different, too. Much younger, edgier. No doubt this was the result of the significant student population in the city of the western world’s oldest University (feel free insert your own “but actually … “ about this pop quiz level info bite at the next public toilet of your convenience. I am not Tom Scott :D).

Since we were so early, we had time for some sightseeing before lunch. Northern Italy, especially Renaissance era stuff throws out our sense for historical time and place a bit. Everything is bigger than it “should be” or looks too modern for its context. Us northern Europeans really were the primitive barbarians at the gates for so long. The Palazzo d’Accursio for example has an internal stairwell built flat and wide enough that horse drawn carriages could go directly up to the 1st floor to deliver the papal legate to their chamber added in 1587.  

like a supermarket, but yummy …

After a brief round through the next Duomo (photo ticket 2€ 😊 ), we strolled through even narrower lanes towards our lunch spot, window shopping at the many hole-in-the-wall shops offering fresh produce, handmade pasta or other delicacies. Bolonga is such a food town, we could probably spend a week here without ever boring our taste buds.

The lunch place was called Bottega Portici, located right beneath the landmark of the two leaning towers. The Bottega was a stark contrast to yesterday, and probably quite edgy for Italy. The idea is to provide top quality food but in a hyper affordable way. The result was absolutely perfect – at least for us. Via fast food-style self-service ordering at large touch screens, you get your pick between a few pasta options, sides and desserts. Then, you get your ticket and collect everything when ready. That way they can provide handmade tagliatelle with Ragu alla Bolognese for 7€.

the kids are waking up too early – could you tell?

Water is free, filtered tap by a large margin our favorite idea. There is no reason to cart water around anywhere in Europe in our book. The food was ready super quickly and the whole place had a real cool vibe – and clean restrooms :D. We decided it was time to call it. The days are getting warmer and we were looking forward to a quiet day at the only other camp along our route listed on Rustiek Kamperen (a Dutch site we used extensively on our last trip).

Of course, we could not leave before one brief detour via another Gelateria. From the Lonely Planet again, this one was another excellent recommendation, although I went for decidedly too much chocolate in my pick of flavours. The stroll back to the car, maybe with the exception of the last two blocks, was a similarly enjoyable experience. The shade and cool mood provided by the arcades was just our thing.

Fully charged once more, the last hour to Agriturismo Alba went by quickly. Once again, the wee ones fell asleep peacefully rather quickly. The camp itself looked like exactly the thing we were looking for in a site for a day off: A grassy patch with lots of trees around for shade and a lovely view across some wheat (well, some sort of grain) fields.

Day 320 – Homewards

And thus, the travelling part of this journey was over. Istanbul had been the last point for a long while, we then extended it to “after we’ve seen Gallipoli” but now, no matter how you looked at it, the travelling through Turkey was over. From this point onward, we’ll ride homewards.

On the last stretch to the border, Turkey was quite flat

On the last stretch to the border, Turkey was quite flat

Today, leaving Turkey and getting to Sofia was a “must”. We packed up early but still, we weren’t on the road as early as we’d liked. It was probably 10am already. Getting to the border between Turkey and Bulgaria didn’t take long. However, we got the first fine of the whole trip. Riding towards the border on a long straight road, we went at a 102kmh when the speed limit was 90kmh. Yes, we did speed…it was annoying anyway. There were only a few cars on the road and every single one of them was waved to the side of the road to receive their fines. It turns out that it is a common thing for countries in the EU to do as well. From now on, we saw police fining speeding before every border but we had learnt our lesson. Turkey remained the only country where we got a fine.

Last picture on the Turkish side. Bulgaria, here we come!

Last picture on the Turkish side. Bulgaria, here we come!

Spending all our coins in the town before the border, we were happy with the progress we made. Crossing the border before lunch time meant that we’d probably make it past Sofia today to camp near the border to Serbia. Standing in line, we got our passports stamped without an issue. Asking for the customs office, we got to the right place and they checked that our papers are in order and it’s the right bike. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. We had to wait for over an hour, closer to 1 1/2 hours before we could leave. When we crossed from Iran into Turkey, the staff put our information into the system incorrectly. So now, the computer protested and wouldn’t let them finish the process. Instead of copying all our documents, stamping us out and letting us go, they kept us waiting until the staff at the other border had corrected their mistake so they could finish their internal process. It had nothing to do with us or our paperwork and it was annoying as hell.

Having lost so much time rather unexpectedly, we were dreading the Bulgarian side. It is the entrance into the EU so we expected strict controls. However, all we had to do was ride through a spray of disinfectant (what?), declare if we had any cigarettes or alcohol and were sent on our way. Easy as. And so we entered into the European Union after four years away (not counting our single visit over Christmas).

Entering the EU, we noticed another step up in wealth

Entering the EU, we noticed another step up in wealth

From here, everything went smoothly. The motorway in Bulgaria is in a great condition, there are fuel stations and rest areas around and we made good progress again. It was unbelievably hot though. One of the things that struck both Flo ad me while riding north was how well off Bulgaria is compared to other countries we have been to. In Germany, Bulgaria is seen as one of those cheap countries you can go to for holidays but compared to most of the world, everybody is well off here. It was even a step up from Turkey. Europe, and the European Union especially, is a rich place and full of privilege; too often it is not really seen as such.

The corner of Sofia that we stayed in had lots of little places catering to our taste

The corner of Sofia that we stayed in had lots of little places catering to our taste

With the motorway under our wheels, we decided to push to Sofia despite being so late. We booked an excellent hostel online and with the place where we would sleep tonight determined, we set towards it. At around 6pm, we arrived at Moreto & Cafe which turned out to be incredibly lovely. After a quick shower, we walked around the block in search of food and found this corner of Sofia quite nice and interesting. It’s a pity that we don’t have the time and money to stay and explore but it’ll have to wait for another time.

The hostel organized a boardgaming evening that night and I ended up talking to people and having two cupcakes while poor Flo blogged. Then, we were too tired to participate and went straight to bed.