As a footnote and reply to some of the feedback, I'd definitely recommend going to a WSBK or MotoGP race abroad (Monza, Valencia, Catalunya, Le Mans and Assen are amongst the highly rated locations). As far as the chain link fencing is concerned, the closeness of the track to the crowds at high speed parts of Monza necessitates some form of safety net to stop flying debris (though I doubt it would stop an F1 car at 200mph). Unlike some of the tracks in Blighty (Brands, Cadwell, Thruxton) where there is generally only a bit of Armco to separate rider from spectator. In any case, the chain link fencing was easy enough to climb over come track-invasion-time!
And I'd definitely recommend going down to the Alps for some riding (but try mid-June onward when the weather is likely to be less damp - which is what I'll aim to do next time!). Lovely views (don't look too long though!), lovely roads, lovely people (the Alpine inhabitants were amongst the most friendly to chat to), and fab places to eat and drink (a cappuccino overlooking Mont Blanc takes some beating).
And choose your travelling companions carefully! Bearing in mind that this was a trip that I'd planned on doing on my own anyhow, and Daz asked if he could come along. I know I'm a bit of an individual myself at times, but I wouldn't have got so pee'd off with Daz had he been close to being on time when we agreed to do something or if he could lean his bike over.
For instance, on the last two days I agreed to foresake my breakfast (which is a big thing for me as I need my coffee and croissants of a morning - Daz doesn't do petit dejeuner) so we could make early starts to get some mileage done before lunch. On each occasion, whereas I'd got the 'Bird loaded and warmed up and myself kitted up ahead of departure time, Daz ambles out of his room way past our intended departure time and then spends half an hour faffing around with his soft panniers, tank bag, making sure his Tomtom dongle is working okay, then deciding on what to play on his iPod... Last thing I wanted to do was plan each day down to the last minute, but when what plans we do make are just totally disregarded without letting me know it winds me up a tad.
And as for leaning his bike. One shouldn't criticise another's riding, but I've never seen anyone who can maintain his
strips on warm twisty auto-route slip roads (which have to be the easiest way of getting the bike leant over safely - I was touching hero blobs on the 'Bird and I'm no knee down merchant by any stretch of the imagination). All this meant that if I was leading, I'd gain half a mile on him as I whizzed around the slip roads and down onto the autoroute (then have to pull over and dawdle so he could catch up as at that time we agreed to keep together) or if he was leading, I'd leave a gap between me and him to allow for his bimbling nature, but even that kept getting closed up on to the point I was always running into the back of him
And it wasn't just twisty stuff - even steady-lean bends on 'N' roads were taken upright. And the ironic thing about this upright riding behaviour, and perhaps the bit that grated me the most, is that
he was the one who wanted to avoid straight roads as he was worried about squaring off his tyres
When all said and done, I'm not going to let such trivial matters spoil what was otherwise a fab adventure of 1700 miles in the eight days (of which three were sat down trackside soaking up the baking Italian sun!). I'd do a few things differently next time (for instance, I wouldn't worry about taking camping stoves to the Monza campsite when there are fab eateries and places for coffee there anyway) and I'm already looking forward to planning next year's sojurn to Europe...
PS Isn't it ironic that the 'Bird breaks down big style when I had the relatively short ride to Wales in Easter, but makes it all the way down to Italy and back without so much of a hiccup (save for the Tomtom cradle going do-lally that is)...
PPS Be prepared to hand over your driving licence to the lady in the paying kiosk at supermarket petrol pumps before being allowed to fill up. It happened to us in Grenbole (nowhere else mind, and we did visit a fair few petrol pumps) and it wasn't just because we were Brtis - the rule applies to all motorcyclists...
...puffy pink was though 
