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Journal - Germany, Switzerland, Austria & Italy Trip 2003
June 09, 2003 finally arrived. As always we wore our leather jackets and boots on the plane and had the helmets as carry on, just in case our luggage got lost. We left Calgary at 9:45pm, had a four-hour stop over in London, England and landed in Frankfurt Germany at noon June 10, 2003. My uncle Thomas picked us up from the airport and we were on our merry way to Bremthal, a little suburb close to Frankfurt. We decided to make our base with Uli and Martina (aunt and uncle) in Bremthal. It always takes me a couple of days to adjust to my old stomping grounds and the German language.
June 11, 2003 was a day spent visiting friends and picking up the motorcycles from the BMW dealer in Herborn. Exciting as well as scary. Reiner Bernhardt rented us two 2003 BMW 1150GS. I decided to go for the yellow one since it had crash bars around the cylinder heads. My GS came with hard side luggage as well as the top case, whereas Mike's GS just had the side cases. We adjusted the seat height to the lowest setting, but I was still on tip toes. After our trip I found out that I could have had an optional lower seat. But this way it made for some challenging riding. The half hour GS test ride in Canada the previous year did not really prepare me. I wasn't sure what to expect, but after my first high speed onramp to the Autobahn, the GS had no trouble doing 200km/hr. The GS is the easiest bike to ride, with the exception of the signal lights. For the first week I just never got around signaling to the right. But once you do get used to the BMW system it is hard to go back. Our friend Kalli had prearranged the rental deal and it was agreed on, 3400 Euro for three weeks and 6000km free, including insurance (1000Euro deductible).
June 12, 2003, we spent the morning at a market wandering around in soaring temperatures and listening to "Blassmusik". For the trip we decided to take groceries on the motorcycles and cook our own meals. 50Euro at the supermarket set us up with two weeks worth of meals. We also purchased two cell phones, just in case we would loose each other on the road. In the evening we packed our gear, which consisted of our usual, three man tent, sleeping bag, pillows, two chairs, groceries, stove, pots and pans, rain gear and clothes. Pointless to say that once my GS was loaded I had a hard time lifting it from the stand. Fully loaded we were each over 1000lbs. After a couple of stops I did not have the energy to lift it of the stand and we worked out a routine of Mike pulling on my right handle bar to get the bike upright.
June 14, 2003. The fun was about to start, we
crossed the border into Austria and started to get into the twisties. Being
the weekend we had to cope with quite a lot of traffic. With Kalli around we
got into the routine of stopping on the top of the mountain passes for
Kalli's smoke break and Mike's cappuccino, which as it seemed was the norm
for most motorcycle travelers. It also made for a funny picture, everyone
standing beside there bikes, chatting with there saucer and little
cappuccino cup in hand. We were amazed at the variety of motorcycles riding
together. The amount of motorcycles in the Alps and Dolomites is
overwhelming. The people with their cell phones in Canada would have a field
day calling riders in for inappropriate riding.
June 15 & 16, 2003. The only problem we had on the trip was our multi-fuel cooking stove, what a piece of s%#t. After countless frustrating tries (burning most of the grass around our camp site), we bought an inexpensive and reliable Bluet cooking stove with a propane canister. It worked awesome. Every morning we would get fresh buns from the store and have a leisurely breakfast, with Nutella, jam, instant coffee and instant lemon tea, while watching the sunrise behind the Dolomites. Kalli would show up about 9am and we were ready for another 12hr day of riding. We set out conquering pass after pass. Starting with Pso di Sella 2,213m, Pso di Gardena (Grödner Joch) 2,585m, Pso di Campolongo 1,875m, Pso Pordoi 2,239m. Descending into Arabba is awesome. The next day we explored Pso di Fazarego 2,477m, went to the base of Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen) 2,999m but were too cheap to pay the 20 Euro to go up. Instead we had a drink at the restaurant were I ordered a tomato salad. Turns out 8 Euro gets you one sliced tomato on a plate without any dressing! We decided to take a detour through the country side. The road was half the size of a single lane Canadian road. We were under impression that it was one way but soon found out that it was two way when suddenly a car came honking around the corner. We made the loop through Höhlenstein Tal passed Dobbiaco, Plan de Corones (Krönplatz) onto No. 244 heading south. After another descent into Arabba we headed over to Marmolada 3,343m. We hung out at the shore of glazier lake Marmolada on Pso. Di Fedaia 2,057m. Too much fun.
June 17, 2003. What a day it would be, and to
think that we almost missed this experience. The weather was looking iffy in
the Dolomites, so Kalli recommended a tour over to the Miran country side.
We headed west through a canyon. The steep canyon walls were protruding
above our heads and just wide enough for carving a twisty motorcycle road
through it. It amazed me that Kalli made it through Bozen without us getting
lost. We entered the flats of the wine country and came upon the famous
Stiflersjoch Pass (Passo dello Stelvio) 2,758m, which is located on the
border of Italy and Switzerland. We started to climb the pass and could not
believe the amount of switchbacks.
June 18, 2003. Our goal was to reach Venice via the back roads of Italy. Just leaving Pozza we encountered a bad motorcycle accident, which put a bit of a dampener on our moods and made us realize that we should take care riding in a foreign country. We picked our route through a few mountain passes (Pso di S. Pellegrino 1,918m, Pso di Valles 2,033m, Pso di Rolle 2,033m and Croce d Aune 1,011m) and started to descend into wine country. Traffic and the temperature started to increase. By chance we came upon this mountain pass called Pso di San Boldo 706m which had one-way tunnel switchbacks. Since the mountain side was so steep the Italian had built these tunnels (must have been at least six at each side) in which you change elevation and switch around. It was an amazing view. Getting closer to Venice traffic was one endless line and it was no point passing. From our research we knew that once we got onto the bridge leading into Venice we had gone too far, since there was no camping or parking in the water city. Therefore we turned around at the edge of the city and headed back over the bridge. After a good hour of searching (in a huge thunderstorm) we found a campground, which had a transit bus running into Venice. Trying to find your way around Europe is always challenging and really tests my temper. Luckily it is easier to pull over with the motorcycle then a car.
June 19, 2003. Venice, we expected a dirty and stinky city and were pleasantly surprised by its beauty. A bit at a loss we decided to buy the Grand Canal ferry day pass, which turned out to be perfect. We walked around the little streets of Venice, checked out the famous M….. Palace etc. Tired and happy we made the side trip to the city of masks, we left Venice behind.
June 20, 2003. It was time to make a mile and get to our next destination – San Marino. Every trip we try to combine with a motorcycle event. Our plan was to attend the World Superbike Race Round ? and ? in San Marino. We stayed at campground ? which was located between the ocean and the race track, close enough to hear the ocean as well as the motorcycle practice runs at the track.
June 21, 2003. A much deserved leisure day, since we had been on the road riding for 8 days with little rest. We strolled along the beach, went for Italian pizza, checked out the local motorcycle store where we picked up some oil for the BMW's and walk around town. It was a surprise to us that the BMW used so much oil. We each had used almost two liters of oil by this stage. After further research after our trip we found out that it was normal during the first 30,000 km of break-in.
June 22, 2003. Took the GS' to the track and parked them in secured parking for 20Euro (ouch) and then bought a day pass for 80Euro each including the Paddock. Track temperatures reached 50ºC and I decided to wear shorts and a bikini top. Little did I know that without a shirt I was not allowed in the paddock. Lets see, we are in Europe were everyone runs around topless. At Laguna Seca in California they had no problems. Through, I had to buy a Ducati tank top. The language barrier was a bummer, since anytime something exciting happened we were clueless. On the podium for race 7 was Rueben Xaus, Francesco Chili and ? and race 8 was ????????? Mid afternoon the heat got unbearable and we were glad to cool our heads of under some cold water.
June 23, 2003. Our goal was to reach the Ducati Factory in Bolognia. What a mess trying to find your way around Bolognia. Full leathers, the temperature was soaring in the mid +40ºC and we were hopelessly lost. We did make it finally and toured the Ducati museum in air condition. Tired of the heat, traffic and city smell, we made a decision to head north again into the mountains. To make time we got on the Autobahn outside of Bolognia and straight north to Lake Garda. In Italy the Autobahns have a toll, which is not cheap, but it gets you from point A to B faster. Late that day we set up camp on a terraced campground just outside of ??? overlooking Lake Garda. As the sun set, we decided go skinny dipping.
June 24, 2003. We took a stroll into town, had breakfast on a bench at the harbor and toured the castle. Restless as always we took the motorcycles and winded our way north along the lake shore. The west side of Lake Garda has many continues tunnels. In the middle of one tunnel it actually had a turn-off to go to a town. Out of fun we took a side road, climbing up the mountain side, which turned out to be one of the best finds ever. New pavement, no traffic, waterfalls, tunnels carved out of the rock. We passed through a few mountain towns and I wanted time to stand still. I will never forget moments like that. After an hour of climbing the road turned into gravel and the switchback were getting harder for me to handle without dropping the BMW. Exhausted we turned around, we had no clue where we were, but as long us we kept descending we would get back to Lake Garda.
June 25, 2003. One of the most memorable and long riding days ever. Fully geared up, the routing kind of laid out, we set of following the rim road around the lake. Halfway down the west side of the Lake Garda we went inland. Traffic is very light due to the twisty roads and the scenery is beautiful. We had a bit of fun with a couple of guys on ZX9's which could not get way from our big monsters (BMW's), even through they were cornering with their knees scrapping the ground. I love kicking sportbike riders butt on the GS, and that is coming from a Ducati superbike rider. When I think back to our trip it always comes to this moment. We were climbing another incredible twisty road to the ???? pass. Not sure if we were actually lost, since we hadn't seen anyone for a while. We came around a corner and there it was a feeling of being at the top of the world, the road turned into gravel, the tunnel ahead carved in the mountain side a BMW 1150GS Adventure was aluminum bags was parked right beside it. I was blown away, telling myself, this is why I ride. Please never let me forget this moment. How many people will ever experience this. We chatted with the Germans on the BMW's. Mike took a run through the tunnel to see how rough the terrene was since it was really dark. After some good picture opportunities, we spend the next few kms on the gravel hugging the mountain side until we hit the mountain pass restaurant. Here we run into another German on a RC 51, which we ended up talking to for a good hour swapping travel stories. Time was flying by when you were having fun, we pressed on concurring the mountain gravel roads. We couldn't find a campground until we hit Lake Como. I was exhausted after 12 hrs of riding, nine (9) passes and countless switchbacks.
June 26, 2003. The previous day had tired us out and we decided to set up base at Lake Como for four (4) days. Our holiday time was winding down and we decided not to head on to France, but hang out in Italy for the remainder.
June 27, 2003. So much for resting. We get bored too fast. Looking at the map for another adventure we scoped out a route into Switzerland. The moment you cross into Switzerland the roads and infrastructure improve and the road kind of gets boring. Boring because they are high speed corners, don't get me wrong I love long high speed sweepers, but the Swiss police is notaries for giving out huge speeding tickets. We still sped more then most people, just because we had become accustomed to the Italian way of riding. A quick stop at St. Moritz to check out the rich and famous and we were again on our way into Italy.
June 28 Trip along Lake Como south. June 29 Left Italy to Austria June 30 Left Austria to Germany July 01 Visited Friends July 02 Return motorcycles July 03 Return to Canada
This site was last updated 12/27/05 |
