PICTURES SENT 'LIVE' FROM THE GITS MOBILE PICTURE PHONE...

NOTE: The actual route 'the Gits' will be taking may vary from the published route due to varying factors (getting lost being the main one!)

Note 2 : Our apologise for the poor picture quality but these images are/were taken with a mobile phone camera
(better quality pictures taken on their camera will be posted upon their return)

LEG/STAGE ONE & TWO... FRENCH/SWISS BORDER (REIMS) - Received 5/5/05

LEG/STAGE THREE... LICHTENSTEIN  - Received 7/5/05

"It's rained every day so far!"

LEG/STAGE FOUR... ITALY  - Received 10/5/05

"Hi folks, here we are in southern Italy, day 8,1500 miles and 4 countries so
far! We've been through France, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and, 3 days in,
Italy. Its a long drive south from the alps and it stopped raining as we reached
Italy (and has been lovely ever since). Hotels are pricey here (hoping for
something cheaper in Greece and turkey!). Off to Brindisi now to book an
overnight ferry tonight then we will be in Greece tomorrow and quarter of
the way round!!!! We are both well and doing okay so far. 

More later...  Jane and Reg

LEG/STAGE FIVE... GREECE  - Received 11/5/05

In Igoumenitsa (the capital of Thesprotia and one of Greece's most important ports).

This is also country number FIVE (which means that the Gits have now completed the
exactly one quarter of their planned trip!)

LEG/STAGE SIX... TURKEY  - Received 14/5/05

"W ell this is day 12 and after 2000 miles we are in Edirne in Turkey a third
of the way round! It took us 3 days to get through Greece (longer than we
thought) due to twisting mountain roads (I had my eyes closed most of the
time!). We had a good time in Greece (the Greeks were very friendly and
helpful) and we eventually got through the Greek/Turkish border after an hour
and a half! We've just had a nice Turkish meal and we are off to Bulgaria (country 8) tomorrow".

Reg and Jane

LEGS SEVEN to TEN... BULGARIA/TRANSYLVANIA(!), HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA
Received 24/5/05

Hello everyone, here we are in Slovakia! 3200 miles, 3 weeks and country 10!
By our reckoning that makes us halfway round (not bad going for a couple of Gits like us!).
We are both very well but a bit fed up with the fine we got in Hungary for not paying the motorway toll!
Oh well you win some, you lose some!
Hungary, Budapest was great. Spent 2 days there, weather lovely (about 27 degrees).

We are now in Bratislava, pretty old town more laid back than Budapest.
Just happened to find the only hotel in town that likes bikers and
allowed us to park the bike in the foyer! It was a bit grim getting here
with a fierce cross wind on the motorway, but beautiful now. We will
probably spend another day in Slovakia up near the Polish border before
moving on to Poland on Thursday 26th.

More later - Jane and Reg

The bike parked up in the FOYER of the only hotel in Bratislava that takes bikes...
Received 26/5/05

LEGS ELEVEN... POLAND
Received 28/5/05

Here we are in Krakow, Poland (Country eleven).
VERY hot but a lovely city.

Legs 12 & 13 - LITHUANIA & LATVIA

Received 31/5/05

Hello all, we are now in Latvia (country 13) sheltering from the rain!!!!
After 4 very very hot days through Poland, slightly cooler in Lithuania (12)
yesterday it is now 20 degrees cooler and pouring with rain! we are in Riga,
Latvia and will be meeting up with a Latvian biker (who helped us find a
hotel) later on. we stayed 2 days near Krakow so that we could visit the
city - pleased we did as it was well worth it. then on up north towards
Warsaw and Augustow in the north of Poland. Poland was green and fertile,
but very flat! Roads fine ,except in the city ,as usual! then on to
Lithuania, no problems at border - passports and papers taken by polish
officer, checked and then passed to a Lithuanian officer sitting next to
him, who then checked the same and handed them back to us! stayed in Kaunas
that night, very quiet pretty town, saw a statue of man in all his glory! on
to latvia today, wasn't too bad this morning, in fact quite a relief after
the heat. passed through border okay and then on to Riga when it started to
pour! were just about to give up looking for hotels in the rain after riding
through the city and over the river several times when Evgeny, a biker
showed up and asked if he could help!! so we're meeting him later for a
drink and say thank you. done over 4000 miles and bike due for a service if
we can find somewhere reliable, maybe Evgeny can help again? then on up to
Estonia and Finland then the homeward run. hope everything is okay with you
all. love Jane and Reg xx
 

Leg 14 - ESTONIA
Received 1/6/05

Hello there! We have free access to a terminal! Evgeny came up trumps and
got us a service for the bike so we spent another day in Riga, dodging the
rain! However today was brighter and we made good time through Estonia and
are now in Tallinn ready to sail across to Finland tomorrow. This is country
14! brief walk into Tallinn old town to have a look round and something to
eat - very pretty, we must come back again. more later, love Reg and Jane .
 

Picture outside Staburags (World renowned restaurant in Riga)

Leg 15 - FINLAND
Received 2/6/05

Another free internet site. Thought we may as well make use of it while we
have the chance! Caught the Nordic jet line catamaran from Tallinn to
Helsinki this morning, a lovely bright sunny day, nice and warm, and then
with the aid of tourist information at the ferry terminal we found a hotel
out of the centre,15 minutes by tram!! It had a washing machine and tumble
dryer so we took the opportunity to do some washing, about time !!!! Then
went into Helsinki for something to eat and a wander. now folks, after
nearly 4500 miles and 32 days we are in country 15 - 3/4 of the way round!!
On the homeward run now, downhill all the way. not bad for a couple of old
Gits, eh? By the way Reg is a bit miffed as he got stung for €14.90 for a
pint of flat lager and a glass of red wine!!! Oh well, we've been spoilt the
last few weeks with very cheap living, back to the more expensive west
now! Take care, see you in a couple of weeks!
 

Leg 16 & 17 - SWEDEN & DENMARK
Received 4/6/05 & Received 7/6/05

Hello there, we've found another internet site here in Copenhagen! We
travelled through Finland from Helsinki to Turku and booked on the overnight
ferry to Sweden, went into town for lunch and to pass the time and then it
rained, and rained!!!! Spent the rest of the time in the ferry terminal ( oh
yes we had a walk round a church too!) but then we met up with a few more
bikers waiting too, so the time went a bit more quickly. Got to Sweden at
6.30am not much happening in Stockholm at that time on a Sunday morning, so
quite an uneventful exit apart from heading north instead of south!! That
rectified we made tracks to the middle of Sweden, ending up by a large
inland lake at a town called Vadstena. Raining again on Monday morning and
eventually ended up in Hasselholm, found the tourist information office, it
was closed, Sweden's national day, everything was closed!!! Cold and
overcast again today so we went to Malmo and then across the Oresund bridge
(the longest road bridge in Europe) from Sweden to Denmark. We noticed the
difference straight away - Sweden seemed so soulless but the Danes are very
friendly and helpful, the place feels alive!! Saw the little mermaid and had
a riverboat ride in the sunshine - wind still cold though. however we are
now in country 17 and definitely on the homeward run, downhill all the way now!

Take care, see you all soon, love Reg and Jane xx
 

Reg looking disgruntled as it's a Bank Holiday and he can't find any bars open!

Leg 18 - Germany
Received 9/6/05

Hi folks! Since we last communicated we have travelled through the rest of
Denmark to Riba, the oldest town in Denmark, then down through Germany - a
hard day past Hamburg and Bremmen - then found a small town to spend the
night.
 

Cold this morning (but pleasant now).

Leg 19 - Holland
Received 10/6/05

Yesterday Holland over the Zider zee almost to Amsterdam. Staying in
a town called Volendam near edam! Off to Belgium today - the 20th
country!! Then home on Sunday - should be home about 2pm all being well. we
are both still well and keeping fit.

Gitesse Jane in Volendam, Holland

FINAL LEG - Belgium

Well folks... WE'VE FINALLY DONE IT!

20 Countries, nearly 6,000 miles and all in just 40 days!
We're feeling quite proud of ourselves but are REALLY looking forward to getting home.

We've enjoyed it but a quite relieved that it's all nearly over.

See you all soon and thanks for all the emails and text messages of support!

Reg & Jane

SHOULD BE HOME AROUND 2PM on SUNDAY 12th JUNE!

PS. We are in Gent in Belgium enjoying some Leffe Brun!