Making my way back home.

With some convincing and only after everyone else had fit their luggage onto the bus, the surely Croatian bus driver and his assistant allowed me to load my bicycle. I took a seat and promptly fell asleep. We made a lot of stops, all of which I slept through except at the Slovenian boarder where they stamped my passport. And right on time at 10 AM we arrived in Venice.

Surprisingly easy I then caught a train to Milan a major rail hub in northern Italy and felt like I was almost home. The plan was to go to Lyon where we had friends or directly to Parpignon on the southern coast of France where Sarah was staying for the week to recover before coming back to the States. 

But I had one more hurdle to cross because when I got to Milan I found it was impossible to travel into France with a bicycle. The trains in Europe are not nearly as bicycle friendly as I had been led to believe. 

I was exhausted by now so I decided to book a room for the night in Milan and found a great little hotel. As usual the people in the hotel were very helpful and a great resource. Having learned by now how to out think the railroad people and with the help of the resourceful hotel staff I and the next day I disassembled the bike and used a lot of tape and some random packaging garbage from their utility room to disguise her as just another piece of luggage.

..... and here she is after the mornings effort, looking more like a cello than a bicycle. 

And after a day exploring and getting to know Milan and a few pictures  ...........

..... I made it to Perpignon in France and into the safety and security of family and friends.

I spent 3 days with Sarah and our friends on the south coast of France and swam, slept and ate and caught up on all of the news from home as well as regaled with stories of my trip.

 .........and I began to recover from what were more severe bruises than I had admitted to on the road in Slovenia.......

....... and the lump on my left hip was the size of an egg ...... so much for being the bionic man with my two titanium hip replacements.

With my beard trimmed and a haircut I then spent 4 more glorious days resting in Fleurie in the Bougeleis near Lyon catching up with Sarah in every way. 

Then finally booking a flight back to the USA on the 29th of August almost 2 months to the day of my departure I concluded the adventure.