A long way hame!

The way home simple it should have been.. simple it was not!
The masterplan was we we would be around 20 miles from Livorno station on  the final day which we were, in fact there was even enough time for a quick nip into Pisa for the obligatory photo's to prove Italians are bereft of spirit levels. Onwards to Livorno, naturally it would be sensible to signpost the station but not the Italians. Eventually we found it but without doubt the scariest moments I have ever experienced as a rider as we got swarmed around by very wobbly teenage moped riders there were 20 or 30 hovering around paying scant regard for any form of safety or self preservation. On arrival at the train we bumped into another Scottish tour and various classic car types heading to Holland.

Loading commenced, crash helmets off... and down about a dozen car transport wagons trying to hang on to your bike unable to sit upright without decapitation becoming inevitable. The rolling stock was worn but clean and on board facilities were spot on with a great dining car.

Like the UK the Dutch,Germans,Swiss and Italians use the weekend for track maintenance this resulted in us being about an hour late into Holland this coupled with utter chaos offloading the vehicles meant we missed our ferry connection from Amsterdam to Newcastle.

A lot of calls, head scratching and  soul searching allowed us to make  the decision to book onto the Harwich ferry from Hook of Holland. The 70 miles down in deteriorating weather had an ominous feel but to be fair it all went smoothly arriving in the UK at 05.30 am.

The 440 miles northwards was the most challenging conditions I have ever endured, there was a gusting south westerly wind making overtaking  a nightmare along with el wierdo gusts being lobbed out as you passed any HGV's. It took four stops for various forms of sustenance before we arrived back in Edinburgh around 17.00 with me feeling like I had been decapitated properly (even better than loading the bikes on the train).

In summary though, a great tour with the usual reprobates and a couple of additional ones. Roll on the next.