Malta via The Balkans

It's nice to now be in the part of Italy where they speak Italian.
I had rode in light rain for around 40 kilometers inside the Italian border when I stopped for petrol. More about that later. Every one was speaking German. It is the language of the area.
I was about five and a half hours on the bike with the temperature at 13c at its best and 6 on the mountain passes. Whoever invented heated handlebar grips should be made a saint. Also, before setting off on this adventure I treated myself to new riding clothing. In my world it was very expensive but today it proved its worth. I wore the jacket and trousers both with the removable lining in and left my jumper off so under the jacket was only a tee shirt and under the trousers boxer shorts. I was not the slightest bit cold. The rain was negligeable until the last 40 minutes when the heavens opened so I arrived at the hotel and asked the receptionist to take a picture of me as I dripped on the carpet. The rain stopped as I checked in.
They provided a special lock up place for motorcycles and just a I was putting my bike away 6 other BMW bikes arrived from Germany and Finland. This area is there destination.
When I fill my bike with fuel it shows on the screen how many miles can be covered with the tank now full, this is based on how you are riding which wasn't hard due to traffic. It said I could do 710klm which is 441 miles on 23 litres which is 5 UK gallons which if it were correct would equal 88 miles to the gallon. I think its nearer 75 which is still very good.
After posting this I'm off into town to a pizzeria I spotted when I went for a walk.
Just across the square from my hotel which you can see in one of the pictures is a church and like a lot of Italian churches it looks bland from the outside but inside it was beautiful.Read more