Thessaloniki

I headed back to Thessaloniki where my bike had been in storage. The aim was to collect it, get it serviced and then ride to Spain to catch the August eclipse.

I arrived in the middle of the night after a long flight first from Réunion to Paris Orly and then from Orly to Thess. Arrived at Thess at about 2am and got to the hostel about 4.

Spent the day in bed after I arrived.

As soon as I was able went the mechanics who were just round the corner from the underground car park where the bike was being stored. They told me they'd be there in 5 minutes so I had to run to the car park and pay for the storage. They were shocked to see me after all this time. The bike was under a cover but still covered in dust. Also thee was my biker clothes. This was covered in dust and had an odd smell. I think an animal of some sort had been there at some point given the smell. Anyway, the mechics helped me get the bike out. It was tricky because the lock was on and it can only be unlocked with a key and the key battery was flat. so they told me to go and they'd recover it later. Which they did. They next day I recovered the gear and took at all to the laundry. Cleaned the helmet and boots myself. They are all now smell free. They took a few days to sort the bike. I think they collected it on the Monday and said it would be ready the following Monday. I accidntally gave them the wrong contact details so they couldn't contact me and had to wait for me to visit them. That probably cost me a day. But it all went smoothly. It needed new tyres. They'd gone flat in the garage. And all the normal service stuff.

I spent the time in Thess working on new courses. Discovered a great Indian restaurant (Masala Heritage) which I made my regular. Also caught up with Juliet (an old schoolfriend from St Gilberts, my primary school - haven't spoken to her for decades. Lovely to catch up)Read more