Croatian First Date

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Having the Bank Holiday week free I planned to get beyond my favourite touring area of the Alps and try something new. Slovenia and the top of Croatia seemed a good idea.

With just a week I had some distance to cover, but I still wanted to make each day enjoyable.

The plan looked like this.

Using the Hull-Rotterdam ferry, it was the first time I have seen disclaimer notices.

Day One - Rotterdam to Bad Hersfeld

A visit to a museum dedicated to Operation Market Garden and then a look at a couple of the DamBuster's dams.

The museum is located near Nijmegen.

The museum is not just a focus on Operation Market Garden but also looks upon the build-up to the war (even has the mitigation of the economic duress the Germans had after the first war) as well as the repercussions for the Dutch collaborators after the War.

An actual glider cockpit.

One of the most poignant parts puts you in the position of being an occupied Country and asks a series of 'what would you do?' questions. An example - the occupiers ask for all men who have had military training to declare themselves. Such declarations mean you are carted away to a detention camp but your family are saved. A discovered non declaration means death for you and all your family. What do you do?

You can leave your own liberation message.

Next stop the Mohnesee dam. Time to break the currywurst seal

And after the raid.

And then across country to the Edersee Dam

And again after the raid.

This reminded me of early years bathing with brothers

I stayed here in Bad Hersfeld, at the side of the Chinese which was handy

Guten morgen

Day 2 - South to Bavaria

The plan was to call in and see this chap.

It was a wet day

As I pulled into a filling station there was a drowned power ranger taking cover and literally emptying out his boots

On the outskirts of Ulm, a city between Munich and Stuttgart, is the final resting place of Rommel.

First the church.

And then the graveyard.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 3 - Bavaria to Austria

A steady ride into Austria, the Grossglockner Pass and then on to Gasthof Hochalmspitze to see The Grey One.

Into Austria, up the Gerlos Pass to the Krimml waterfalls.

A boring run down to Zell am See before the toll booths of the Grossglockner.

Up to this point the weather had been OK. This changed going up the Pass with the temp dropping down to 5 degrees.

All the facilities were shut The headlight was struggling.

So - I had a chat with one of the locals.

Going up - and coming down.

Then a good run to dry out to my bed for the night.

I could tell from the other guests I was in the right place.

 

[Mr K]

You had me at "currywurst"..

 

[(RIP) andrewgsadv]

Cooperman,
Interestingly I have been hatching a plot to ride down to see The Grey One , then onto do a bit of Croatia.
Looks like a brilliant trip you are having,hope the weather improves for you.
Awaiting the next instalment .

Andrew

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 4 Austria to Croatia (Rovinj).

Having being served with my free pint (+ a funded few more ) and a good 3 course meal, I got the gist from the other riding groups the weather had not been the best

Tomorrow it was forecast to come in the afternoon so the plan was to get the Nockalmstrasse in first before heading south. John did the honours by planning a route and downloading it onto the 660.

Whilst running around on Austrian roads in this region, you do have to admire how they have threaded the motorways through

The Nockalmstrasse was quiet and proved to be an excellent start to the day. A few hairpins but also lots of flowing stuff.

So next head south and into Slovenia.

Call into the skiing resort of Kranjska Gora before heading up the Vrisc Pass.

You know when you can't get a tune out of your head? Well for some reason I got stuck with a corrupted version of "That's Amore'.

When the moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie

Kranjska Gora...

The Vrsic Pass. Going up the corners are cobbled! Good job it's not raining

And then the Soca valley

Another border crossing into Italy. When in Rome

Before coming back into Slovenia and then around a corner into a big queue! The Croatian border. The problem was they were checking passports (I thought they were now part of the EU ).

No problem and I was soon on empty motorways.

Nearly there The Rovinj church tower can just be seen in the screen above the 2 cars.

Time to immerse myself in the local culture.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Rovinj Accommodation

I had booked a single room for a couple of nights at this place. Not on the doorstep of the Old Town, but an economical compromise.

On arrival I was greeted with 'Sorry Mr Cooper, but we have no single rooms left. Would you be hapy to take an apartment instead?'

OK - let's have a look.

OK - if I must. But let me check the fridge...

It's a deal

First check my mate is OK

Then

 

[GrinningGSer]

Ooh more please, lots more...please

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 5 - Day off in Rovinj

Or - on the binge in Rovinj

This is Rovinj.

The morning started with a mega thunderstorm and various rainbows.

I decided to walk around the headland into town. Through sweet smelling pines to deserted bays.

Across the harbour

Swanky hotels

And to the Old Town peninsula, where space is at a premium.

The streets are paved with a stone which becomes polished smooth.

Time to sample the fruit of the sea over a charcoal grill.

Rovinj is a very nice place

 

[rocky burns]

That pass is a must do for anyone going through slovenia

Great report keep it coming, recognise a lot of these places good memories pouring back

 

[Bryn]

Nice write up... keep it going

Interesting seeing Rommel's last resting place

 

[The Grey One]

That pass is a must do for anyone going through slovenia

Great report keep it coming, recognise a lot of these places good memories pouring back

And for those staying here! A lot of our guests do it as part of a "3 countries" day route from us. This can be as little a 150 miles all in. Add in the Mangart road and you have a perfect day on the bike.

John

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 6 - Croatia back to Austria

Destination - another night at the 'GreySpitze'

The weather had now turned for the better

I was heading for Lake Bled, but first a few hills to get over.

Down to Lake Bled (nice but v tourist).

In or out

I had seen a couple of things back in Austria which I wanted to check out and so I abandoned the mountains and went for a Karawank (tunnel ).

It started off OK.

But the heat and fumes got to me.

Gmund is enroute to Malta and the GreySpitze, and is (I'm told) where the initial production of Porsche started. There must be some connection as it has a Porsche museum.

Then on the road up to Malta is an 'Oldtimer' private collection of cars. It's not often open so the photo's are taken in between window licks

Time to go - another free awaits from the Grey One

 

[Glyno]

Im enjoying this this one thanks.

 

[Dean]

Looks like a great trip , and very nice pictures,

Thanks

 

[dave hendy]

Good write up and photos wish we were there!

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 7 - Austria to Nuremberg
Or - 'Broadsword calling Danny Boy'

Remember this film?

And this cable car fight

Well, today the plan is to call into the 'Where Eagles Dare' Hohenwerfen Castle at Werfen.

First - some bad news at breakfast.
A rider from one of the groups staying at the hotel had an accident yesterday on the Grossglockner.
Fortunately it sounded as though the bike came off worst with the rider spending an observation night in hospital.
It was really good to see the support given by John and the hotel which makes the Hochalmspitze a reassuring base for biking tours

Todays route is the flowing 99 road north towards Salzburg.

Probably my favourite photo of the trip

The Castle is in the distance just over the bike. Here it is a bit closer up.

BUT - no cable car This was filmed somewhere else in Austria. And I was all ready to reenact the scene

At this point I had not decided where to stay the night to split up the trip back to Rotterdam.
I wandered up the street in Werfen until I found a bar with WIFI, whipped out the laptop and did some Booking.com surfing, deciding to stay in Nuremberg.
This fit the bill due to location and history.
Also I've always mixed up the Nurbergring racing circuit with Nuremberg so it would be good to clear this up.

I booked this hotel, good value and well located just outside the City walls.

Free parking.

Plus the best breakfast of the trip

So, a night on the town awaits

Hang on... I thought these were Boris bikes

What a fantastic city

I didn't need the tourist map to sniff out the alehouse

Good range of whiskeys

Not sure about the complimentary budgie seed

Outside was a statue dedicated to closing time

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

What a terrific write up. I would never have thought of doing something like that in a week or, if I'm honest, even going through Germany. You've opened my eyes & created a new need in me.
Great pictures too, though I was surprised to see that they still seem to lionise Rommel.

 

[roadrider]

Really enjoyed the write up & photo's, thanks for posting

 

[MickTheSaw]

Brill it reminds me of mine and BigD's trip in July only in reverse...
Nuremburg first followed by the Swanky Hotel on to the grossglockener and BMW Garmisch
Keep em coming
Mts

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 8 - Nuremberg to Rotterdam

Another reason for choosing Nuremberg was to understand it's location for the post war trials of the Nazi leaders. Why here? Why not Berlin/Munich/Hamburg/Stuttgart?

Well apparently the Palace of Justice was one of the few remaining buildings left standing and capable size-wise of accommodating the trials.

The building is on the outskirts of Nuremberg. I called in for a look in the morning, but too early for it to be open.

I was really impressed with Nuremberg and will have to make sure I have more time to explore when I return.

I now had a steady days autobahn riding ahead of me. I do enjoy these roads as the discipline is so good. For me it's a case of no rules producing better behaviours. Cars can come from nowhere in the outside lane doing some terrific speeds and consequently you do not get any hogging of the outside lane - it is literally for overtaking.

The best car was a Mercedes AMG that made a superb noise as it came flying past. I overtook it in a set of roadworks and sprinted off up the road and waited looking in the mirror. Sure enough a spot appeared in the outside lane which quickly grew into a fantastic roar as once again it disappeared into the distance.

I'm not that often taken with new buildings, but going past Frankfurt airport this did leave a positive impression.

So - my quick trip comes to an end

I was really pleased with Slovenia, probably because you still feel as though you are in the Alps.

Croatia has a different feel. I got the impression it had started developing with 70's/80's concrete 'boxy' buildings, but understandably stalled. However based upon the increasing number of tourists (I talked to one German biker who got caught in the end of week northern exodus traffic jams) it will not be long before things start to change.

For some reason I thought it would be cheap, but I realised this is not the case when looking for accommodation. Having said that I was staying in a busy location and the food/beer cost was not exceptional.

So maybe now is the best time to see the original Croatia

Finally, thanks go to Micky for sorting the ferry booking and the Grey One for accommodating me

Thanks for reading and posting the comments.

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