the border between Ukraine and Slovakia c? Deadly that there is a queue
forced to stand still for two hours.
we have with the drivers Slovak
return home after long days away from their families.
the van behind us there are two young boys blacks
raven-haired and strong hands of one accustomed to hard work. We
information on currency exchange, the conditions of
road and the possibility of obtaining supplies. In
? Car in front to us a child is consumed in a desperate cry
with the mother who can not explain this situation. D?
other hand knows what a girl's borders, controls, traffic and street
saying?
Even though all this sounds to us like crazy!
finally get our turn. We welcome an officer with his stern face of military
.
I go and I naturally give him my hand as I introduce myself.
Obviously he does not match and it starts with the routine questions.
But this time we do not check your luggage and that of
documents is very fast!
After the border we are facing a cartel? WELCOME IN SLOVENSKO?. There
affects both the content and the fact that he returned in
use our alphabet.
was in fact from Pakistan who met on sporadic signs
Publishing.
L? Urdu, Chinese, Cyrillic, and then it took us
in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.
Quest? Last we were accustomed to decipher, however, find these
? Signs? so familiar it makes us feel at home.
Slovakia is a small country, about 450 km long, a distance
us now seems minimal.
The roads are well kept and around c? Campaign is great. Cities are
small confetti, ordered, colorful and comfortable.
would be nice to stop and explore this country but unfortunately the bike
begin to give some sign of abating.
The front tire is completely smooth and the brake pads are
are almost completely consumed.
But the main concerns now are the shock absorbers and exhaust chain
Diego repaired in Kazakhstan and now
not want to hear reasons.
We can not complain because we've squeezed like lemons on
Kyrgyz mountains in Pakistan and not to speak of? No roads? Kazakh.
We spent the night at an inn d? Other times when we all lay with their whiskers and
bums to Santa Claus.
The day after the road runs under our wheels and
without realizing we are in Bratislava, the capital.
E? a beautiful city but we are looking for a mechanic to put his hand to where
chain red bike.
manage to find a place to lift the heavy
rear of the bike and where you can work in peace within? Shadow.
The owner brings a bottle? Fresh water, the greatest gift
great that we could do. As the curtain
Diego chain remains on the crown
game now because the meshes are deformed. I hear him talk to them
? Force lacks little, we're almost there!?.
Then he turns to me with a? Expression unconvinced.
Turn the center but we attracted by a sign? AUSTRIA?.
In c we now? Is only the desire to return.
Fill the tanks (because the gas is cheaper here) and we carry
the border.
no control here, we're home! PRAYER AND
FNVA? AMBASSADOR WIND
The streets of? Austria are known to be particularly spectacular
us motorcyclists.
There seems to drive the pile and is a godsend for the single ladies.
But the quiet is disturbed by an ominous sound that I hear too?
me when I approach the bike Diego.
E? the chain!
Sometimes we have a break. Now it is useless to try to bend it.
I remember those words spoken by Diego in Bratislava,
as a sort of prayer. In the evening we reach
Bruck an der Mur in Graz
50 km from here is in its international festival of street artists.
Housed in a family holiday home near a forest. The next morning the
know? Ambassador wind, an artist from Trieste
ambassador from the museum of Bora.
We told him about our trip as he face with his open and sincere
gives us a brief interview. We exchange mutual
? Good luck!?. Back on
road but the first ascent of the red bike chain
crashes. We have the
? Last link but it is impossible to repair!
What to do? We are missing a few hundred kilometers to go home yet
chain under these conditions can not just do it.
decide to pick up the pieces as you can and return to Bruck an der Mur
here the night before we noticed a dealer of Honda,
maybe we can buy the kit for the transmission, unfortunately does not have anything available and
their supplier is in Vienna but
is 200 km from here, a distance that we can not go
absolutely.
Also Friday and workshops here close at noon, ie between
20 minutes! Let the
? Last desperate in Graz where but we were never answered
, maybe they closed early.
The clerk puts the call on speakerphone and every
ringing phone is a stab in the stomach.
When all hope is now lost? Hallo? we hear from? else.
Incredible, have the kit and the mechanic is still in the workshop and we will wait.
go through the 50 km that separate the two towns with gasp
wincing every time you hear a strange noise or that you are
before a climb!
But luckily we can get to the dealer.
The mechanic seems to be a clown, tall, thin, her sweat pants to work
supported by suspenders and short above the ankle.
An expression seraphic but is troubled by seeing our bikes and
the path they had faced.
began a pilgrimage of people of the dealership to see the two old
dominator who defied? Asia and it came out,
all in all, winning. L? Press office take a picture of
executives with the two Italian riders, and of course, before all the
our legendary!
In half an hour the job is done.
We're back on the road but with an edge.
does not matter now if it starts to rain and if we stay for hours under the
? Water, because before our eyes there are the Alps and the mountains behind the
c? Is? Italy.
WELCOME IN ITALY
So come on!
As you climb the? Air gets colder and the rain intensified
to hail so strong that we have to repair the shed
while a curtain of ice prevents us from seeing a yard! When the ice disappears
resume the march even though the rain
not budge.
we do not see the sun for hours, perhaps tired of being pushed beyond their limits
from the clouds, he decided to leave.
We stop to drink something hot.
L? Moisture penetrates us to the bone and the temperature is lowered again.
We must make a decision.
The logic would dictate that we stop somewhere to sleep, but a sort of frenzy
controls our minds.
We are one step away from the border!
Let's continue our journey, we move slowly in the dark and the headlights of cars that crossed
create a star burst of light in drops of
? Water on the visor. A sign indicates
? BRUNICO? and another behind a curve? WELCOME IN
ITALY? even if we read? WELCOME BACK BOYS, THE EC?
YOU MADE?!
We have tears in my eyes from? Emotion, but it's dark, raining and we can not even take a picture
.
In that moment, however we do not care more than anything, we
full of joy and satisfaction.
continue to Bolzano where the next meet staff
Hein Gericke for a heartfelt thanks. Italian
On these curves, so familiar, perhaps due to the cold and fatigue
I seem to have? Hallucination. C
in the mirror? Is the sun, I do not know if? Sunrise or sunset, but
an intense color, warm light and a piece of land, perhaps
desert steppe.
There are yurts, and cattle that graze in the distance on
? Horizon of a galloping horse that comes close.
The horse seems to me to see a figure, a woman or a boy
waving an arm, perhaps a greeting.
Alberto and Diego
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