Into Italy and Beyond

Verona, Italy to Castellini in Chianti - South of Florence and camping

Left Verona and headed South on highways towards the Tuscany Region. Passed through Florence and on to Castellini in Chiant - a town I visited with my ex-wife and her family a few years ago. Wine country, beautiful fields of grapes and olive trees, and the town right out of a movie set. Found a camp site listing on my GPS and headed over to set up the tent, first time camping on this trip. Got a recommendation for a restaurant from the camp operator, and headed out to Osteria Ignorante! A beautiful location overlooking fields of glory, good food and a glass of wine. After dinner, a few kilometers back to the campsite and sleep, after listening to a few campers washing and banging their pots and pans clean. Must remember not to park too near the facilities. Met a nice Germany man and wife, who talked to me about camping on his bike years ago. 

Towards San Marino - Get the GPS mount fixed at BMW shop - On to Rimini (tourist trap) and hotel

My GPS mount (Touratech) was missing a big bolt that secured it to the windshield support, making it unusable. It had vibrated out on my last tour, and I never got a replacement. After breaking camp, I headed out back to Castellini, took a ride through the town and found a small restaurant for a pizza lunch. 

I found a BMW dealer on my GPS. East of my location, towards San Marino and on the path to the North of Italy that I wanted to follow, so I headed out across to find it. Seems that it is a BMW car and motorcycle dealer. I went in a explained what I needed and they sent out a small, quiet mechanic who proceeded to locate the part, and install it expertly in 5 minutes and said, no charge! I gave him 5 euros for beer and left happy. This is the second time that an Italian BMW dealer has stepped up to offer incredibly helpful assistance to a traveler, and much appreciated.

After getting the GPS mounted properly, I headed East to the coast of Italy and to San Marino. I actually didn't realize that San Marino is not just a city, but actually a republic (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino), a bit like Monaco. That would explain why everything looked to be exclusive and expensive. Like Monaco, it is built in a hill, and the roads wind up to the top, with top rated hotels and little else to see but shopping. I rode up and then down the hill and headed North looking for a reasonably priced place to stay for the night. It was dark before I found a place, in Rimini. It seems that this is an area of summer resorts, and many places were closed up for the year. I was happy to find a hotel on a major street in Rimini, with garage for bike and a small but modern room. It was dark, and I was tired, but I did get out for a walk along the touristy main street before diving into a restaurant recommended at the hotel for a cheap plate of spaghetti and a salad and glass of red wine. There was a huge dinner party near me, must have been twenty people all eating and talking away, which added a festive air to the night.

To Trieste (very cool city) via Venice without seeing Venice - and a room in Marta's loft Hotel

After a good nights sleep, I headed farther North and then East towards Venice. I have to say this area, along the coast was not very attractive to me, just a dreary road through gray, semi-industrial landscapes. I rode to Venice, but it was overrun with tourists and I turned around an left without stopping. I really do not enjoy large cities on this type of trip, and repeatedly find myself stuck in a place I do not want to be. I will need to develop another strategy for bypassing these time and energy wasters. More dreary landscapes and then finally, into the dark and mysterious Trieste, where I stumbled across Marta's Hotel, and a room in a loft style building. A lot of character, and a reasonable price, with a great location. Across the street, a cool cafe for a snack. It started to rain heavily so I retreated to my room, and then went out later to get some pizza to take back. No private bath, but the place was not crowded. The city was impressive to me, very Tribeca/SOHO/East village look, with a cosmopolitan flair to the people.  The rain cleared up the next morning as I rode out, up the long winding, narrow roads that had been so challenging in the rain and dark the night before. I dark and mysterious place I wouldn't mind revisiting some time.

To Ljubjiana, Slovenia and on to Zagreb, Croatia 

Minutes after leaving Trieste, I was crawling through some early morning rush hour traffic and a place where police had slowed traffic for some street line painting, when I realized I had crossed into Slovenia, a real non-event border crossing, which was fine with me. Now I felt like I was really getting into eastern Europe. What followed was 2 hours or so of cruising through beautiful fields on nice roads, and then a short climb through some medium sized mountains and then a ride into a nice city, Ljubjiana, where traffic was heavy. Hating cities, I stopped as soon as I could for lunch, it turned out to be a McDonald's restaurant, with a traffic cop directing cars into the parking lot. It seems I was a bit of an attraction with my big bike. After lunch I set sail south for Croatia, Zagreb to be exact. It seemed to take forever to get there, but by late afternoon I was in Zagreb, riding through some remote countryside and then into the metropolis. I rode right out after seeing the monstrosities of hotels they had (huge luxury jobs). I'm sure there are other options, but I could not be bothered, so I headed out of town and found a small hotel near an off ramp to the highway 1/2 hour south of Zagreb. The Martini Hotel was built on top of a restaurant. Got a room, ate a pizza, drank a beer and went to sleep after a short walk into a really creepy town-lette. After some eggs for breakfast, I was on the road, headed for Plivice National Park, claimed to be one of the great things to see in Croatia, with forests and lakes and streams and waterfalls.  After 4 hours I found the place and decided not to hike around, but to ride on after lunch to Zadar.

To Zadar, Croatia and a Youth Hotel in a beautiful marina

The ride to Zadar was unremarkable, lots of farm country, but pleasant roads and very few people. Zadar is on the sea, and the access road in very scenic. In a few hours I was in Zadar and looking at some luxury hotels, a very nice city. Riding along the shore, I came upon a marina, and found a Youth Hostel, and took a room - actually a bunk bed in a 4 bed room, but I was promised I would have the room to myself, and I did. I thought I had most of the hostel to myself, but a busload of young people arrived and took over the place, with lots of noise and enthusiasm, which was fine with me. I did meet one man in my dorm building, with a injured hand - he seemed a bit stoned, but was pleasant. I got some food and drink at a nearby grocery and ate in my room, except for a beer out in yard. I must say this hostel was beautiful and located in a stunning locale, a marina of the highest quality. I had to pay for a hostel membership, but the rate for the room was low, so in all a great find, and the bike was in a protected area behind a gate. 

To Split, Croatia and a luxury hotel.

Next day, a short ride along the shore to Split, a city I had visited years ago with my wife. I was only able to find a somewhat luxurious hotel in the this expensive city,  and then took a long walk though the beautiful ancient Roman palace walled city, for a meal of pizza and beer, before returning to my room for a good nights sleep.

To Dubrovnik, Croatia and camping.

Next day, another relatively short ride into Dubrovnik, a beautiful walled city, and I used the GPS to locate a campsite. It was an extensive camp development, with nearby hotels and restaurants. I pitched my tent, took a too-long walk and failed to find a good place to eat, so made do with some cereal and milk and had an early night sleeping in the tent. The campsite had great shower facilities, but I forgot my towel.

Into Montenegro and then Albania and staying at a gas station/restaurant/hotel for 15 Euros

Next morning, I headed south through the bottom of Croatia and into Montenegro and then Albania. I had intended to head East, but kept heading South, following the flow of the roads. Albania was intimidating to me, and alternated between typical countryside and absolute destitute poverty in towns.

At the border with Albania I met up with three Polish riders, who were very friendly, even offering to help patch up my ripped trousers when they saw the damage. They offered to duct tape the rip, but I declined, worried about the glue on the tape damaging the material, so I later used a safety pin, which was a failure.

Waiting in line at the border I was advised by a driver to visit Kosovo, since I was so close - and I decided to take this advice the next day.

Leaving the border donkey carts were everywhere, and some dead end roads left me in some terrifying neighborhoods, but all worked out well as I stopped at a gas station-restaurant-hotel and negotiated a 15 Euro room for the night. I have only been averaging 200 km per day recently, and was in no real hurry to make it to Georgia.

At the gas station I struck up a conversation with the attendant and he exchanged some dollars for local currency, and recommended a restaurant, which I couldn't find. I ended up at another gas station with a restaurant and had an excellent and inexpensive meal with meat and salad.

On to Pristina, Kosovo

In the morning I left Albania for Kosovo with a mind to visit Pristina, the capital city. At the border I was delayed while they processed by passport, and the border police were the friendliest of the entire trip, joling with me and offering to buy my iPhone. It seems that Americans are much admired in Kosovo after Bill Clinton provided aide during the was in the area.

In Pristina, I found a hotel quickly and checked in. I ended up talking extensively with a young man who worked next door for an insurance company, extremely friendly and helpful. He recommended places to see and to eat and talked a lot about the country. It seemed to me that Pristina was experiencing a building surge, but was now slowed by the general economic slowdown in Europe. Once out of Pristiana, the county is undeveloped as is much of eastern Europe.

To Thessoloniki, Greece via (aborted) ride to Serbia, and Macedonia

I left the hotel next morning and rode 30 km before realizing I had not gotten my passport when I checked out, so back to the city, wasting an hour over terrible roads and traffic.

Next, I covered the same ground on the way to the Serbian border, where I was stopped by the border police and told that I could not enter Serbia, because my entry into Kosovo was not at a recognized border crossing. This, the guard explained was all politics. I was forced to turn around and, once again, return to Pristina and then head South through Macedonia and then to Greece, instead of East to Bulgaria, my planned route. This was not really a problem for me. The actual ride from Pristina to Greece was unpleasant, as I had a late start, many detours and covered the same road two or three times, wasting half a day. The result was I arrived in Thessoloniki, Greece very late and struggled to find a hotel. I finally found a high rise hotel in the middle of the city, parked the bike on the sidewalk right in front of the lobby and got a very small room for too much money. The good news was the location was nice, with lots of restaurants and people walking about in the evening, and I had a great meal at a kabap place, then found an excellent ice cream place too.

To Istanbul, Turkey and the craziest roads and traffic and a nice hotel on a steep hill street

To Karabuk, Turkey (actually Safranbolu) (after a very bad escape from Istanbul that wasted 1/2 a day) - finding all the rear shock oil on the ground next morning and 500 miles to go! A great hotel with a nice restaurant and friendly staff.

To Samsun, Turkey and lots of fun finding my hotel and a scary underground parking garage

To Trabzon, Turkey and even more fun finding the hotel and a really scary underground garage

To Georgia via Batumi and then on to Tbilisi with a broken rear shock absorber, and worlds worst drivers and roads and the Europa Hotel and Indian Restaurant and no Vera (She was in Batumi on vacation)

Tbilisi - Resting for a few days, meeting up with Vera. Seeing her new apartment. Fighting with her. Walking all over Tbilisi. Experiencing diarrhea. Fighting some more. More walking. All in all a very trying experience that made me want to never go to Russia.

Flying home from Tbilisi via Istanbul (3 hour flight, 7 hour layover) to New York (11 hour flight with screaming babies, bad food and a full plane), taxi home at 12:30 am.

Planning to return to Tbilisi to repair and retrieve the motorcycle.

New Day - New Country - On to Italy!

An early start, and right into the climb to Stelvio Pass. I should have known from the first hairpin turn that this would be a challenge....and it was. These hairpin turns are incredibly tight and very steep uphill climbs don't make it easier. It takes all my concentration to get the entry of each turn right, and I have to force myself to remember to look "through" the turn, not into it. By keeping my head up and focused ahead I sweep through the turns. Then it's a short blast to the next turn and do it all again, and again. There are signs with numbers for each turn, supposed to be 38 of them on the way up, but it seems like 138 to me. I am not really enjoying this, as my bike is loaded with too much gear, making it a real handful in the turns, and much of the weight is up high - it wants to fall over in the turns. Sport bikes out for a blast are passing me. Touring bikes with passengers are passing me. I survive this ordeal of course, and get to the top of Stelvio Pass, and there is not very much up there to see, some cafes and restaurants, and an increasing number of other riders of all types. The ride down, after a brief rest is much easier.

Somewhere around here I crossed over into Italy, and started moving South, after a day of traveling East to get out of Switzerland and into Italy. Now I am in the North of Italy, lake country with beautiful valleys. Prices are now reasonable, away from the insanity of the Swiss Franc.

I stop at a beautiful restaurant for lunch and then continue on towards Verona, which takes the rest of the day. Verona is a huge touristy city, and I am not in the mood, so I get a room at an Ibis Hotel on the outskirts. That evening, I find a nice restaurant for pizza, beer and salad and ride back to the hotel with a buzz.

Euro Trip II - On the Road

I awoke in Andermatt, Switzerland - a great town to sample some Alpine mountain passes on a motorcycle. Lots of bikers, bicyclists and hikers and the stores and services to take care of them in this town. Typical high Swiss prices, I spent $35 on pizza, salad and a beer in a bar and $120 for a hotel room, but the access to Furka,  and other famous mountain passes in the morning was worth it. In minutes I was riding in high alpine meadows, and then up to the thin air and tight turns of the Alps.

I spent 1/2 the day riding passes and then headed East to begin my ride into Italy, but I was navigating poorly and traveled way too far East before dipping down South to cross the Alps, so it was late in the day that I arrived near the base of the mountain that would take me to Stelvio Pass into Italy. I finally found what looked like a new, luxury hotel/Spa and took a room without even asking the price - then worried over a beer and snack what the price would be. The room was modern and had a fabulous view of meadows and old buildings, and there were quite a few guests. Once again, one of the most trying parts of the day was the final moments of the ride, looking for a place to stay, worrying about the coming darkness, hungry - and wrestling with the heavy, overloaded bike on an unpaved steeply sloping parking lots. I couldn't even get the bike into the indoor parking garage - the driveway was steep gravel - so I parked outside the hotel with the cars - and worried all night if it would be all right and if it would start if it got cold over night.

Things worked out fine, the price of the hotel was about Euro 40, the bike was fine and it started right up. On to Stelvio Pass - a challenging ride up a big mountain with lots of tight hairpin turns.

Euro Adventure Part II - The East of Europe and Beyond

Earlier this year I shipped my motorcycle to Germany, and then flew over to ride it in Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Austria. I rode for a month and returned to the US in June. A friend was planning to return to her home in Tbilisi, Georgia. I always wanted to ride in Eastern Europe and Russia and hearing about her home in Georgia I thought it would be great to visit her and then continue on into Russia later.

I spent the Summer of 2012 planning the trip. My rough plan was to ride South from Germany, play in the Alps for a while, riding the high mountain passes and then continue South and East into Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and then head East and across to Turkey and into Georgia - a trip of 3500 miles or more over one month.

I have a friend in NY who returned to her birthplace in Tbilisi, Georgia  - after staying in the US for ten years, working. She owns an apartment, and has offered me a place to park my bike when I get there.

On September 11, 2012 - yes, the anniversary of the Twin Towers Disaster - I left New York and flew to Germany, to pick the bike up in Heidelberg. After two days to rest, change the oil and load the bike with all my gear I headed out, alone again on the roads of Europe.

After two days of chatting with other bikers at Stefan Knopf's Motorcycle B&B Facility in Heidelberg, I was in no hurry to get on the road. The fact is, I dreaded riding alone, as I found it a lonely experience on my last trip. The riding is not bad, it's stopping that gets to me. Eating all my meals alone, and walking around new towns, no matter how pretty, is not as much fun with no one to share.

At Knopf's facility, I had found lots of interesting characters including a man who had built a custom sidecar motorcycle rig so he could continue a world tour, even after a serious traumatic brain injury from a motorcycle racing crash that required 10 years of recovery.

I met couples that were touring together on rented or newly purchased bikes, men from all over the world who were taking a few weeks to travel around Germany or Europe for a holiday.

I had found an interesting subculture - folks who routinely ride to experience the adventure of seeing Europe on two wheels.

I took secondary roads through Germany, preferring to stay off the Autobahn except where it made it easier to traverse cities or boring countryside. In a few hours I was in Switzerland, and stayed the first night in Andermatt

Getting to the End of Part One....

I left my luxury hotel in Bolzano in light rain and headed North towards Innsbruck, a city I thought I had been to in an earlier life. Getting to Innsbruck proved a bit of a test, as the temperature, which had been hovering in the high 50'sF now started down as I started up into the mountains again. I passed several motorcyclists on the way up, and then noticed I was alone on the road. The rain, light and no factor now turned into a pretty good snow fall. The road was just wet, as it was not really very cold, but visibility was reduced to about 10 feet, and I was not having a great ride at 10kph. The road started down and I had a challenging ride down to the valley floor, again. Finally, I made Innsbruck, with heavy rain falling. It was lunchtime, and too early to stop for the day. After dodging the slippery wet tram tracks for a few minutes I parked the bike in downtown bustling Innsbruck and had a great hot lunch in a beautiful (of course) restaurant, where my soaked riding clothes and boots left huge puddles on the seat and floor.

After lunch, unable to see a reasonably priced hotel nearby,  I headed out of Innsbruck towards Salzberg, Austria - last visited in 1997 on my Euro MC tour of the Alps with Beach Adventures.

It rained, very hard, all the way to Salzberg. I stayed on the autobahn to maximize the terror of riding with huge trucks and crazy Austrians in Mercedes. I made it to Salzberg, and took the first hotel I came to, at the airport. Turned out to be a classy place and they only had a suite available, so I took it for $85 Euros and had beer and pizza at the bar before turning in to my luxurious room.

The rain must have been too much, because next morning, I checked out, hoped on the Autobahn and drove all day back to Heidelberg, where Stefan at Knopf Tours put me up for two nights while I unpacked and cleaned up the bike and changed my ticket for an early return to NY.

Friday morning, a month after arriving in Heidelberg, I was shuttled to Frankfurt airport and onto a plane for Zurich and eventually JFK. A short train to a taxi and I was home for dinner with the family the same, long day.

One week later I am adjusted to the NY time and rested from my travels and planning my return!

Gut Fahrt,

After Bilboa, Spain

From Bilbao to Porto, stayed in great Parador on the way. Bilboa beautiful. Ibis hotel downtown. Roast chicken late at night while the town partied all night on wine and tapas.

Porto, Portugal - hated it, one night is a bad hotel. City is huge, dirty, poor, run down, ugly, old. People seem unhappy and surly. Beggar girl harassed me relentlessly. Long walk made me tired and hurt my feet. Nuke this town.

Ride across Spain for two nights in ETAP/Ibis cheap hotel 10 km from Barcelona, stayed in another OK Parador en route- got a haircut and walked to Sagrada Familglia and art museum, exhausted.  Autoroutes in Portugal had tolls every 10 km. All electronic, so I didn't pay and drove 130 kph! After Spanish border, waved over my caribinieri for routine stop, asked for papers, gave license, asked where I was from, amazed - move along. Worst truck traffic ever seen on long no passing through the Spanish desert 4 hours from Barcelona. Nothing is Spain worth seeing between coasts.

Ride back to France, Nimes, Mediocre Ibis hotel in suburbs, with broken elevator.  Nimes sightseeing next day.

Ride towards Chamonix, through wine country, passed through Chateauneuf du Pape region, through Val d'Isere, fantastic Alpine roads.  Stayed in Combleux, at Arvis Hotel per tourist office info, quiet place needs work but nice people. All these fancy towns are ski resorts, dead in summer, except for bicyclists and hikers, lots of them. Most shops closed. Still too early for heavy tourists.

Into Chamonix/Mount Blanc next morning then on into Alps, across Col du Grand St Bernard, lunch on Italian side, dropped bike in parking lot after a bad idea beer. Rode all the way to Milan suburbs, night in motel with food trapdoors. Rained all night.

Got parts to repair drop damage in Navarro at FrideMoto, a great BMW dealer with a very helpful service and parts department, rode North and East no good roads, lots of traffic to Bolzano, Hotel Alpi (shabby town, expensive hotel). Rain at night. Dinner was a kebab and beer. Saw one hundred caribinieri traffic cops pulling over cars and trucks everywhere. Looks like a revenue thing. Italian drivers the worst tailgaters. Too much truck traffic on small roads. Tiring drive. Two small passes.

Plan to go North to Innsbruck, Austria tomorrow.

Andorra-Spain-France-Spain

I am in the Pyrenees. From Andorra, I wind through mountain roads all day, really getting a workout hauling the bike around all the turns. I stop only to eat and pee. An AdvRider advised me to go to the area around Pau, France - so that is my target. After a great ride in the mountains, I arrive in Pau and there is no there - there.  Pau has little to offer for me, and I feel I have ridden too far North into France when I really should have headed into Spain, but I did get to ride the mountains.

The next day I leave Pau, and head for San Sebastian via Pamplona. I don't spend any time in Pamplona - a much bigger city than I imagined, as I am aiming for San Sebastian, where I find a camp site in the hills that overlook the Atlantic Ocean. The campsite is geared to RV's - with small sites very close together. The family next to me (Dad, Mom and two teens) are German and the boy likes to play electronic music on his computer - I want to kill him.

The facilities are terrific - hot showers, and a laundry, a bar and restaurant where I get a burger and beer for dinner. The washing machine takes two hours to wash my clothes. I had to take the time as my fancy Rukka pants were really stinky. Euro 5 for wash, Euro 2 for dryer - and the pants were still wet.

I have perfected the technique of strapping my wet laundry on the back of the bike to air dry as I ride. Very scenic.

Next day I head for Bilbao, site of the Guggenheim museum. I have an expensive lunch at a cafe (exquisite food) and take a room at an IBIS hotel with underground parking. That evening, out of food in my room and wanting to see some people, I wander out to a nearby square, and see that the place is really alive, lots of families hanging out at cafe's with kids running and screaming. Everyone is having red wine and tapas on the street. I find a place that sells roasted chicken, and try to order, but lost in translation I end up with a whole roast chicken to take back to my room. I am able to eat half, and the rest is wasted. Worse, I realize that this isolation behavior is not healthy. There is a lot of activity out there, and I am not participating by hiding in my room. I feel self conscious eating alone, and the language barrier is real for me. My actual experiences with Europeans while limited, have been OK.