We started our first Europe bike journey, from Lisbon to Corfu (Greece), on June 1, 2001, one day after my silver wedding celebration with my fellow travelers and family living in Lisbon.

After a bad night sleep due to the excitement of starting the "great adventure" on the next day, I met with my fellow bikers – my brother-in-law Manuel Carreiro in his BMW K1200LT and my good old friend Carlos Paz Ferreira in his Honda Varadero XL1000V – at Palmela service area, in the suburbs of Lisbon. We had breakfast and, at 9:00 AM, we started our long trip. Because at the time I own a Yamaha TT600R, for this tour I had to rent a Honda Pan Europeanr ST1100 (without ABS) at A.A. Castanheira / Budget, in Lisbon.
We had lunch in a motorway restaurant near by Madrid that we passed by at 3:00 PM under a very high temperature and bright sunshine. One hour after passing Madrid we were caught by a heavy rain, that forced us to stop under a bridge for sometime. On that day we made about 860 kms, spending the night in a small village between Saragossa and Barcelona.

At 9:00 AM we were back on the road in direction of France, where we stopped in a very nice Courtepaille restaurant at Narbonne for lunch. On the afternoon we restarted our trip in direction of Italy. Despite the good weather we had during our entire trip, this day we had strong winds when passing by South of France A8 highway. This made Carlo’s driving conditions very hard because of the Varadero low wind protection. He had serious difficulties to follow the other two more comfortable and powerful motorbikes. Besides that his Varadero tyre pression was bellow the recommended limit, what made things horst. He only found it out after arriving Corfu.
In this same day we also took the wrong direction and finished at Marseille city center by mistake. We lost about one hour to get out of the city. Despite everything, we continue our trip to Italy, crossing the border at about 8:00 PM. We stop for dinner at a small village near by Genoa where we intended to spend the night. Unfortunately we were unable to find any hotel there so we head Genoa. Because it was weekend, all the hotels in the Italian Riviera were fully booked. We only managed to find a place to stay on the way for Milan. By chance, at 3:00 PM, we found the Kappa Motel, an authentic Italian "love nest" in Casei-Gerola. We were so tired that we couldn’t appreciate this motel sexy ambiance rooms, with mirrors and "neon’s" everywhere (even in the ceiling above the bed), duly equipped for great latin loving nights. On that day we made more than 1.300 kms.

Because we need strength for another long day riding, on this day we left the Motel at about 10:00 AM, in direction of Bari, our next stop in the South of Italy We crossed all Italy at a considerable speed, only stopping for lunch at a motorway self-service, in a Auto-Grill restaurant. Since this was Italy’s Moto GP day, we passed by lots of motards running at very high speeds (Moto GP fever ...)
We had dinner in the road, arriving at Bari on nightfall. We were so tired that we stopped in the first hotel we found. The hotel was very old and decadent. After parking the bikes in the garage, more like a “catacomb”, we managed to have a good night sleeping. The next morning we found that the hotel not even serve breakfast, so we had some sandwiches and a coffee in the hotel’s bar.

Early morning we head Brindisi, a port in the South of Italy, from where we took the ferry to Corfu Island, arriving at the island in the next morning.

We stay two weeks in Corfu, at the excellent Akrotiri Beach Hotel, which was very well located near by the sea, in the wonderful northern village of Palaiokastritsa. Fortunately the weather was great during all our staying, allowing us to tour almost all the island. We liked very much the northern side of Corfu Island, with many small and wonderful bays and beaches. Besides, at the time he were there, it was tolerated to ride without an helmet so, time to time, we could enjoy some great rides full facing the wind. Although dangerous, it was very pleasant.

Back from Corfu we disembark again in Brindisi and, at 7:00 AM, we were already in our route back to Lisbon. We crossed Italy from South to North in only one day, making a total of 1.180 kms, passing by the always driving demanding mountain routes of Northern Italy, with many tunnels and curbs. This day the collar of our white T-shirts turned black due to the pollution inside the long tunnels. This same day we also faced a curious coincidence. We were refueling in a service area near by Florence when we heard somebody calling us. It was a couple friends of ours from the Azores that were also touring Italy by bus. By an incredible coincidence the bus stopped at the same service station we were. No doubts that the World is really small !
We spend the night in Ventimiglia city near by France border. There we had an excellent dinner at a seaside restaurant, with a wonderful sight to Monaco’s city lights in the horizon.

In this morning, before starting our journey, our friend Carlos, which is always very careful, noticed that his Varadero oil level was bellow the limit, perhaps due to the extra speed he had to push his bike to follow us in our fast passage by Italy. After stopping in a service area to fill up his bike engine oil, we were back on the road in direction of Spain and Portugal, throughout the South of France.
In our way we stop by Monaco to visit this beautiful Mediterranean city. While entering Monte Carlo and because of o long truck that enabled me to turn in the right entry, I lost contact with the other bikers for the first and unique time during the whole trip. Thanks to the mobile phones we were together again in Monaco city center 30 minutes later.
After visiting Monaco we were back on the A8 in direction of Spain. At France and Spain border our friend Carlos had a stupid and minor accident. We stopped there to exchange some money and, certainly due to some fatigue, Carlos felt down with the bike while stopped. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt but his bike’s plastics and helmets had some scratches. Being so careful and cautious, Carlos was “sick” with it, not that he hurt himself but for the damages he caused. After this episode we head Barcelona and Saragozza, stopping in Lleida - a Spanish city between Barcelona and Saragoza - where we spend the night at the Hotel Lleida, a very comfortable and reasonably priced hotel at A2 Spanish motorway. On this day we made about 850 kms.

Early morning we were back on the road for our last 1.100 kms before arriving Lisbon. When passing by Madrid we had some difficulty finding the direction of the N-6 motorway to Badajoz. We stopped for lunch after Madrid, passing by Spannish “Estremadura” under a very high temperature (about 40º C). We arrived at Portugal’s border at about 4:00 PM and took A-6 and A-2 motorways in direction of Lisbon, where we finally arrived at 7:00 PM.
I and Carlos were tired but delighted to finish our first Europe great tour safely. For my brother in-lay Manuel it was just another trip he enjoyed very much among many others he made already through Europe, being therefore an excellent "teacher" in this first mototourism adventure of ours.