I know it's a bit late, but BigAl has just prompted me to post a resume of a recent tour which two mates and myself just completed.
We called it the Ancients tour because we intended to visit some ancient monuments on our journey... and two of us are on the wrong side of 50! while Scotty is just a lad at 36.
Our plan was to meet up in Ghent as the other two had caught a different ferry from me as they live in Bonney Jockland.
We travelled South as fast as we could in order to find the sun, as you all know, Belgium, Germany, Austria can be very much like Wales, wet wet wet!
As luck would have it the weather held until we were well into Austria where it turned for the worse. We decided to stop at Fussen as Scotty was dead keen to visit the Nueschwanstien castle, which he did the next morning at 7 o'clock before the guards arrived. He just took the bike right up to the doors for a photo before being shooed away by some jobsworth.
The following day saw us travel up over the Brenner pass in beautiful sunshine, the town at the top was buzzing with locals out for a blast on MVs Ducatis Ferraris et all.
We carried our journey South along the banks of Lake Garda to where we stayed for the next 2 nights in Bolzano. Spending our "day off" riding high up into the Dolomites along roads bordered by 10 foot snow drifts and stunning lakes so blue they looked unreal. There was sleet, snow, rain and it was freezing. We got back to the campsite and the first thing I wanted was a hot shower to warm me up. Then into town for some of the local "amber nectar".
Florence was our next stop. Travelled over some stunning roads that Steve(Raggitash of this manor ) had charted. We stayed the night in the campsite "Panoramico" in Fiesole, which was beautifully terraced so as to take advantage of the beautiful vista that is Firenze.
Our jouney then led us via Sangiminiano and its towers to Rome which was our next stopover for 2 days.
This was where the "Ancients" bit really started with visits to the Colliseum, Caesars tomb, Temple of the Vestel Virgins,(though we never saw any)Trevi fountain, Spanish steps etc etc. Spectacular.
From Rome we travelled south taking in the Amalfi coast and some beautiful roads once more, courtesy of Steve's meticulous planning.
Next on our agenda was Bari, a coastal port on the East of Italy. The road we travelled was the Via Appia which is a paradise for a GS rider. A thin ribbon of a road which hugs the apex of the mountains affording stunning views to all sides. Top road!
We bid our goodbye to Italy and were treated to a spectacular fireworks display laid on by the locals as homage to some saint or other. But it was a stunning display marking our sad goodbye to Italy. Onward to Croatia.
Dubrovnik, jewel of the Adriatic... what an understatement!
The city within the walls is virtually completely rebuilt after the war and it's beautiful. One can't imagine what it must have been like to live in the city at that time, there's not a wall that doesn't have bullet holes as a constant reminder. Hopefully those times shall never be revisited.
There is a beautiful piece of tarmac that runs the complete length of the Dalmatian coast, perfect blacktop, constant radius corners, excellent cambers .....AND NO CARS! It must run for 500 miles. Fantastic.
We camped for a couple more nights in Rabac and visited the colliseum at Pula before heading back over the Alps via the Grossglockner and hightailed it for home.
My last night I got split from the others and stayed in a hotel during a freak thunder storm which had water 4" deep on the roads. The GS had a bow wave like the Titanic. Didn't fancy a night like that under canvas.
All in we covered over 4000 miles in 11 days of riding and saw some stunning sights, rode some brilliant roads in beautiful sunshine.
THERE IS A GOD and he rides a motorbike!!!!!!
B1ff
Photos will follow once I figure out how to shrink to fit.
We called it the Ancients tour because we intended to visit some ancient monuments on our journey... and two of us are on the wrong side of 50! while Scotty is just a lad at 36.
Our plan was to meet up in Ghent as the other two had caught a different ferry from me as they live in Bonney Jockland.
We travelled South as fast as we could in order to find the sun, as you all know, Belgium, Germany, Austria can be very much like Wales, wet wet wet!
As luck would have it the weather held until we were well into Austria where it turned for the worse. We decided to stop at Fussen as Scotty was dead keen to visit the Nueschwanstien castle, which he did the next morning at 7 o'clock before the guards arrived. He just took the bike right up to the doors for a photo before being shooed away by some jobsworth.
The following day saw us travel up over the Brenner pass in beautiful sunshine, the town at the top was buzzing with locals out for a blast on MVs Ducatis Ferraris et all.
We carried our journey South along the banks of Lake Garda to where we stayed for the next 2 nights in Bolzano. Spending our "day off" riding high up into the Dolomites along roads bordered by 10 foot snow drifts and stunning lakes so blue they looked unreal. There was sleet, snow, rain and it was freezing. We got back to the campsite and the first thing I wanted was a hot shower to warm me up. Then into town for some of the local "amber nectar".
Florence was our next stop. Travelled over some stunning roads that Steve(Raggitash of this manor ) had charted. We stayed the night in the campsite "Panoramico" in Fiesole, which was beautifully terraced so as to take advantage of the beautiful vista that is Firenze.
Our jouney then led us via Sangiminiano and its towers to Rome which was our next stopover for 2 days.
This was where the "Ancients" bit really started with visits to the Colliseum, Caesars tomb, Temple of the Vestel Virgins,(though we never saw any)Trevi fountain, Spanish steps etc etc. Spectacular.
From Rome we travelled south taking in the Amalfi coast and some beautiful roads once more, courtesy of Steve's meticulous planning.
Next on our agenda was Bari, a coastal port on the East of Italy. The road we travelled was the Via Appia which is a paradise for a GS rider. A thin ribbon of a road which hugs the apex of the mountains affording stunning views to all sides. Top road!
We bid our goodbye to Italy and were treated to a spectacular fireworks display laid on by the locals as homage to some saint or other. But it was a stunning display marking our sad goodbye to Italy. Onward to Croatia.
Dubrovnik, jewel of the Adriatic... what an understatement!
The city within the walls is virtually completely rebuilt after the war and it's beautiful. One can't imagine what it must have been like to live in the city at that time, there's not a wall that doesn't have bullet holes as a constant reminder. Hopefully those times shall never be revisited.
There is a beautiful piece of tarmac that runs the complete length of the Dalmatian coast, perfect blacktop, constant radius corners, excellent cambers .....AND NO CARS! It must run for 500 miles. Fantastic.
We camped for a couple more nights in Rabac and visited the colliseum at Pula before heading back over the Alps via the Grossglockner and hightailed it for home.
My last night I got split from the others and stayed in a hotel during a freak thunder storm which had water 4" deep on the roads. The GS had a bow wave like the Titanic. Didn't fancy a night like that under canvas.
All in we covered over 4000 miles in 11 days of riding and saw some stunning sights, rode some brilliant roads in beautiful sunshine.
THERE IS A GOD and he rides a motorbike!!!!!!
B1ff
Photos will follow once I figure out how to shrink to fit.
)
onyack
