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Europe III

jfink

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Joe
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Fink
Chuck and I are headed off for our third European visit. This time we are planning on traveling from Germany to Austria to visit the KTM factory. Then on through Lichtenstein, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Morocco and Portugal. Oh, and Andorra. How many of you have even heard of Andorra? Before I started this, I hadn't! Anyway, below is a screen capture of our general expected route. I will try to keep up with pictures and commentary. And if I say anything contentious enough, I am sure Chuck will chime in.

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The parts with all the cameras and places to stay and eat are routes from a friend who has been to Europe several times and has ridden these sections.

Chuck has already arrived in Ireland and is making his way across Ireland, England and western Europe and expects to be in Heidelberg on May 15th. I leave this evening (May 13th) and will have time to change oil and do a few other maintenance things to the Wing before we leave for the KTM factory on May 16th.

My Spotwalla Tracks: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1dd055cd613657578a&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes
Chuck's Spotwalla Tracks: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1dcff5cd5fbf457d31&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes

Europe II: https://www.twtex.com/forums/threads/europe-second-visit.117768/page-3#post-1577839
Europe I: https://www.twtex.com/forums/threads/europe.116859/
 
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Looking forward to seeing the pics and reports! :thumb: Safe travels!
 
Thanks everyone. I've arrived in Frankfort and am waiting for my ride to Heidelberg.
 
Let me know when y'all get to Gibraltar. There's a great place for lunch on the way to Europa point.
 
A friend of mine and his son just got back from a week in northern Spain and they had a blast. Looking forward to your photos and commentary.

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Such great riding, most people take a train to work, so the roads not crowed during the week. Been there five times, and each time I saw new places, and great roads.
 
We are in Austria right now. Good ride today, 45 to 50 degrees, some nice back roads but some crowded busy cities, as well. We stumbled onto a nice little place to stay, Stadler House, by reference from another place, Lubenslust in Moggers, who were booked for the night.

Winter weather is setting in all around us. Stelvio Pass is shut down at least until tomorrow. The Dolomites passes are close until the end on May. Ice and snow on radar in every direction. We are trying to find a place to hunker down for a few days to weather the storm pass. But don't know when it's going to let up.
 
We are in Salzburg! After changing our plans at least a half dozen times due to weather, we are pretty much back on our original plan. Today we visit KTM in Mattighofen. We are also planning on staying here for a couple days to let the weather pass. Hopefully, during this time I will have a chance to add some pictures.
 
Enviable trip!
Did you rent / brought a bike?
If you rented, can you share?
 
I was wondering how you were doing. Glad you got there safe.
Did you get to do Stelvio Pass? (edit: I just checked your Spotwalla and see you did not).
That is the one I was talking to you about with the tunnels that you have to wait for a green light before entering (and push the button to request a green).
I have always said I have no desire to go to Europe, but after seeing some pics and videos of that area, I have a bit of a desire (just no means) of doing so.

Be safe and have fun, hope to hear more at some breakfast.

@cdc, Joe (jfink) has a Wing that he owns that he shipped from the state and keeps it over there (may be selling it after this trip??).
Chuck (CThrall) has a bike he bought over there and keeps it stored there. Don't remember what or where his is.

They both know people that you can contact for rental.
 
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We have been very fortunate with the weather, even though the threat continues to be high. Our first stop in Austria, we had planned for a small B&B type place high in the hills. When we finally found it, the woman said she didn't have any openings, but her brother did further down the hill. The place was great. Good food, great views, very quite. Here's the view out the balcony. It's hard to tell, because of the haze, but the view is the valley below to the lake in the distance. It made me want to break into a verse from the "Sound of Music".
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That's our place on the second floor. The picture is from the balcony the furthest left. My room was the one without the balcony. I did have the benefit of a baby crib in my room, but the room was very comfortable and the food was EXCELLENT!
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Travel seems to be at a slower pace. Whatcha think, should I trade the Wing for a more sedate means of getting from one place to another?
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We are in Salzburg, but hanging out a few days, waiting for the rain to pass. That's our hotel on the left. If you look real hard, that's my bike in the "garage" in the foreground.
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Stelvio, the Dolomites and a few others are still on our list, weather dependent. We traveled through the Arlberg Tunnel to get to Salzburg, an approximately 10 mile tunnel between Innsbruck and Salzburg. That was pretty amazing. Yesterday, was the KTM Motohall. It is the curved silver building just right of center. When we went in, the "Frei" moto parking was almost empty. By the time we left, this parking lot was completely full. I had a bowl of chili at the restaurant just left of center. It was primary chicken, a green leafy vegetable and a light cream sauce. Nothing like any chili I have ever had.
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So far, we have been pretty fortunate. With all the threat of difficult weather, we haven't had much. It was a good call to go back to our original plan, although tomorrow and Tuesday have a high degree of wet weather in the forecast.

Most of you, who know us, know that we don't travel for the scenery, although it has been breathtaking. Chuck and I both enjoy meeting people and talking about our various interests. Case in point. Yesterday, we walked to dinner. However, here in Europe, the restaurants open late. So, we stopped at a corner pub around the corner. We met the bartender who spoke very little English and of course us, who speak very little German. But through all it, we somehow made friends and had an interesting discussion. Here I am with the bartender as we got ready to leave. I hadn't realized he had snuck in the Jack Daniels until I saw the picture. LOL
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Enviable trip!
Did you rent / brought a bike?
If you rented, can you share?

As Blupupher mentioned, we both took different approaches. Chuck bought his in Ireland through Wheat Wacker (Martin) on Advrider. I shipped my old Goldwing to Europe and plan to sell it here after our last visit this fall. Chuck will sell his as well. There are three main options for us Yanks to ride in Europe; rent, buy or ship. Each have their own benefits and issues. The best option is VERY dependent on what the plan is for riding. Short visits of 10 days or less, rental is probably the best, after that there are a lot of factors.
 
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