Pottering About at Panni’s…

Willi had decided that he no longer needed his bike…!!

He had agreed to sell it to a friend of Panni’s in Limassol, and after delivering the bike, Willi hired a car to drive around in on his last few days on the island… He booked a ticket to Bangkok via Amsterdam, with a view to spending the next few months in South-East Asia, which he knows well, having visited there on many occasions in the past…

But before he left Cyprus, he wanted to put the final touches to “Willi’s Wall” at Panni’s Motorcycle shop…

Panni has a resigned look on his face as Willi works on his wall...!!

While he had waited for my arrival on the island, he had spent some of his spare time gathering all the stickers and badges he had collected over the past few months in Europe, and many that were left from his South American trip last year…

He then began working on “Willi’s Wall” in Panni’s workshop, and this is the end result…!!

Willi's Wall... Including a little Barbie Doll that he almost always carried on the back of his bike...!!

He has ensured that he will not be forgotten anytime soon…!! Not only by his “creation”, but also by the huge amount of kit he left behind for Panni to sell for him… Panniers, Jackets, Tank Bag, and other odds and sods…!!

Panni drew the line when Willi asked him to sell his used boots…!!

Panni was not impressed with my choice of spanner to assist him with the repairs to this bike...!! Looked like a perfectly good one to me...!!

Our trips to Limassol, whether on our bikes or in Willi’s little rental, always involved a trip to visit our friend Panni… He has been very helpful to both of us, and if ever you are on the island, whether on a bike or not, and need advice or help, he is the man to go to… His premises are on the main road leading into the northern part of town, after taking the very first sign for Troodos… Turn left off the highway, and ride about a kilometre down the road, and then look for the bikes parked on the pavement…!!

One of the first things you will receive on a visit to his workshop, is Panni’s famous “Frappe”… A cold mug of coffee, whipped to a froth with milk and sugar…

Panni's legendary "Frappe"...!! You gotta have one of these...!! Forget the stuff you can buy in a restaurant... They just don't measure up...!!

We rode around Limassol, where Willi showed me where the best bookshop in Cyprus was… While I browsed inside, he sat at a little umbrella covered food-stand, and munched on a few sandwiches…

Willi’s driving left my nerves jangling, as he zig-zagged through traffic, constantly trapping us in the wrong lane, and then caused havoc when trying to correct his errors…

Had there been a reliable bus service on the island, I would have left him to drive home alone on more than one occasion…!! My shouted warnings only caused him to laugh loudly, and remind me that he had covered about 5 million miles without wrecking a car….yet…!!

Heaven help him when he gets to Vietnam… But then again, he will probably feel right at home in the midst of the madness and mayhem…!!

©GBWT 2010