Preparing our 5.000 km trip to Italy (Sardinia) in June 2004
 After our last year's memorable and long , we decided to take a shorter 5.000 km trip in 2004.
We shall travel to Italy, taking the opportunity to attend Italy’s MotoGP on June 6th. Besides attending the race we will enjoy watching the many "tifozi" cheering their champion , on board his new Yamaha M1, racing in a championship that promises many emotions and certainly some surprises.
On our way to Italy, first we shall visit before a 2 day visit to the beautiful Italian city of , only a few kilometres away from the .
Then we shall visit , for 3 days, and take one of to Olbia, in , where we intend to spend one week bathing on the island’s Mediterranean warm water beaches. My brother-in-law Manuel Carreiro and my sister Annie shall meet us at Sardinia since they preferred enjoying one extra week in the South of Spain, when returning to Lisbon, instead of visiting Italy with us.
At Porto Torres, in Sardinia, we shall take one of bound to the French city of Marseille, from where me, my friend Carlos Paz Ferreira and our wives, shall return back to Lisbon, whilst Manuel and Annie will head to the South of Spain.
This year trip will be about 5.000 km long only and should last 17 days.
Click each red zone of the map to zoom
| DAY | ROUTE | DISTANCE | ROAD-BOOK
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| 1 | Lisbon, Badajoz, Madrid and Zaragossa | 909,2 km | |
| 2 | Zaragossa, Andorra La Vella, Pas de La Casa and Perpignan | 457,1 km | |
| 3 | Perpignan, Nîmes, Toulon, Génoa and Firenza | 935,8 km | |
| 4 & 5 | Visit to Firenza and attending Italy's motoGP at Mugello |
| 5 | Firenza to Rome | 340,7 km | |
| 6, 7 & 8 | Visit to Rome and the Vatican |
| 8 | Rome, Civitavecchia and Ólbia (Sardinia) | 77,8 km | |
| 9 to 15 | One week beach holiday at Sardinia |
| 15 | Ólbia, Porto Torres (Sardinia) and Marseille | 126,1 km | |
| 16 | Marseille, Montpellier, Perpignan, Barcelona and Zaragossa | 992,7 km | |
| 17 | Zaragossa, Madrid, Badajoz and Lisbon | 805,2 km | |
 Trip preparation calendar: |
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| 06.02.2004 | - | To increase anti-tefth security during the trip I installed a Yamaha alarm. |
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| 14.02.2004 | - | After many Internet researches I decided to buy GPS that I hope to install soon in my FJR 1300A - |
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| 22.02.2004 | - | I received today my GPS 2610 and order with audio and power cable to GPSCity, a specific for the FJR, as well as one audio cable (Part. 172) to connect the GPS to the bike's sound system. I also ordered a for the 2610 . |
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| 13.03.2004 | - | Today I installed the new GPS Garmin Sreet Pilot in my FJR. to see al the details and many pictures from this installation of mine. |
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| 18.04.2004 | - | , a very nice fellow from , who knows Sardinia very well, had the kindness of posting on-line for us a with the best places and beaches to visit in that island. Such great fraternity only happens in the motorcycle world ! |
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| 07.05.2004 | - | Today I got my FJR/A from the local Yamaha dealer Horácio da Silva Garcia, after a complete bike overhauling. |
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| 13.05.2004 | - | As I always do while travelling in Europe, I only book the hotel at the final destination, where I usually spend a week holiday. So, after many Internet searches and a lot of hotel inquiries, today I finally booked the charming resort where we shall stay at Sardinia, in Costa Smeralda - the . |
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| 18.05.2004 | - | We shipped our bikes, bound to Lisbon, dully packed on cradles specifically made for a safe bike transport.
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