April 2017 Distance: 4'000km Vehicle: BMW R1200RT
We started in March 2017 from Zurich where a very hot front was fortunatelly sweeping through central Europe. Plenty of sunshine and pleasant temperatures for motorbike riding were on, according to the forecast. We therefore decided to set off. Alexa had just bought her first helmet and with some borrowed motorbike clothes we were ready to go. Little did we know that the temperatures would soon plummet uncontrollably a couple of weeks later. How ignorant we were at that time. Nevertheless we did drive all the way from Zurich to Crete and back on two wheels.
31.Mar we set off on a Friday and headed south. If you leave Zurich and head south, don't forget to make full use of the Kodak-moment in Brunnen (location here). After that we headed to Ticino (the italian Canton of Switzerland) and crossed the border into Italy. We headed to the port of Menaggio, where one can catch the ferry to Bellagio. This is where Alexa saw lake Como and the place where we would be kite-surfing in the upcoming years. Little did she know that she would fall in love of this place in the near future. I had visited Como only in summer untill then.
left: quick picture near Brunnen
left: quick picture near Brunnen
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A penetrating wind turned our Friday afternoon bittely cold and made this place look alien compared to the busy hot summer months. We then headed to Lecco for a reinvigorating and warm pizza and slept in Valmadrera.
Left: cold Valmadrera right: waking up in Valmadrera |
1.Apr The next day we headed to Bergamo, then Verona, and finally Venice where we pitched our tent and went to bed.
2.Apr The next day we left all our biking gear in the tent, and headed to this picteresque town with its canals.
2.Apr The next day we left all our biking gear in the tent, and headed to this picteresque town with its canals.
We got back, packed the tent, and headed to Palmanova, Aquileia, Grado and in the afternoon in Trieste. The warm weather that evening receeded. The camping of Trieste lies at ca. 300m height and the air was filled with mist. Visibility was very low and so were the temperatures. We slept at a few degrees above freezing. That's when I realised that my summer sleeping bag was no where near enough good for these temperatures. I had to wear all the layers of clothes and go to sleep.
3.Apr we crossed into Slovenia and visited the Skocjan Caves, a must see in western Slovenia. Then the Predjama Castle, and finally the Sneznik castle. We then crossed into Croatia.
left: Sneznik castle
left: Sneznik castle
4.Apr there are two ways to cross Croatia from North to South. The fast ways is through the new E71 highway, the other along a wind coast-road with over 100 hunder curves. Being keen bikers we decided to avoid highways at all costs. We took the picteresque country roads and headed towards its national landmark,the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Here, you can either queue up with the tourists and pay a hefty entrance fee, OR (if you do your research) you can just park here, walk 20 metres direction West through some trees, and see exactly the same thing (don't tell anyone...!). At the southern end of the park is the nearest camping place. We pitched the tent and went for dinner. There we broke the 1st rule of camping: assume that it would start raining cats&dogs in 1 minute. That is EXACTLY what happened that evening. We went for dinner at the camping restaurant, a dark cloud covered the area, a ferocious thunderstorm swept through, and all was clear after a few tonnes of water had poured into our tent. We knew that the tent wasn't properly closed, but were also not in the mood of walking through torrential rain to close it. We just let it be and dealed with a wet sleeping bag later...
5.Apr we woke up to blue skies and sunshine, packed the bike and headed south to Sibenik and then Trogir, where we camped.
6.Apr we headed to Split and then to Makarska, where one can still see bullet-shots on the facade of the building in the main square. The weather was getting cold so we decided to get a warm tea in Makarska. After a border crossing into Bosnia (a 10km strip of Bosnia reaches into Croatia for access to the Mediterranean) and back into Croatia we were in Dubrovnik, where we camped.
7.Apr Leaving Dubrovnik behind us the next morning we crossed the border into Montenegro and visited Kotor. The lagoon can easily be mistaken for lake Como, it looks exactly the same, untill one tastes the water and realises that it is salty. That was the only difference between the two.
5.Apr we woke up to blue skies and sunshine, packed the bike and headed south to Sibenik and then Trogir, where we camped.
6.Apr we headed to Split and then to Makarska, where one can still see bullet-shots on the facade of the building in the main square. The weather was getting cold so we decided to get a warm tea in Makarska. After a border crossing into Bosnia (a 10km strip of Bosnia reaches into Croatia for access to the Mediterranean) and back into Croatia we were in Dubrovnik, where we camped.
7.Apr Leaving Dubrovnik behind us the next morning we crossed the border into Montenegro and visited Kotor. The lagoon can easily be mistaken for lake Como, it looks exactly the same, untill one tastes the water and realises that it is salty. That was the only difference between the two.
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We then crossed into Albania and visited my favourite camping place in all of Europe, located west of Tirana, called Pa Emer. No other camping has the breathtaking sun-sets one can enjoy here. Being in Tirana meant that we could devour my favourite Ayran.
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Albania is pretty small so after a brief ried we crossed into Greece. The first stop was Vikos Gorge, which is listed as the world's "deepest relative to is width" by the Guinness Book of Records.
Vicos Gorge is within the Vikos-Aoos National park, where lots of stone bridges were built in the middleages, at time where the only transport method was on foot or on donkey.
right: bridge of Noutsos (or Kokkorou)
Vicos Gorge is within the Vikos-Aoos National park, where lots of stone bridges were built in the middleages, at time where the only transport method was on foot or on donkey.
right: bridge of Noutsos (or Kokkorou)
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In Vikos there is also a scary cliff, this is not for the faint of heart. Left: cliff by St Paraskeui church right: Plakida bridge |
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We then camped in Ioannina (camp here) and temperatures started to drop again. I was expecting, now being mid-April, the temperatures to increase, but that was far from true. The camping place which right next to the lake, we pitched the tent 20m from the lake. The next morning a curtain of fog appeared that was so think that we couldn't see the lake 20m away. I promised Alexa blue skies and a warn sun, I did have egg on my face when all we saw was fog and freezing temperatures. We set off in the morning and went over a mountin pass, which connects to the highway. There temperatures drop even more and visibility was down to ca 50m, so I drove at ca. 40km/hr and we froze our nipples till we got out of this mountain pass.
We were now on our way to Meteora. A site with medi eval monasteries dating back to byzantine times, this is not to be missed.
We were now on our way to Meteora. A site with medi eval monasteries dating back to byzantine times, this is not to be missed.
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We camped at Delphi that evening. The temperatures were now dropping even lower and sleeping in a tent with a summer sleeping bag were becoming very uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Temperature was a bit above freezing in the night.
left: waking up at the Delphi camping place. The camping place advertised that it was a 4 star camp with a swimming pool, which gave me hard nipples just by the thought of dipping in. |
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Athens was now a stone-throw-away so we went to visit brother Phil, but not before visiting the most kitch-houses with ancient greek columns. Seriously, NO ONE builds houses like there, except for these two guys, and the house from the film: BigFatGreeWedding.
left: house GPS 37.9844, 23.681 right: house GPS 37.9848, 23.681 |
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a quick visit to the Nat Archaeological Museum to see the Antikythera Mechanism, the very first analogue computer, an insiring piece of modern ingenieuity which has always fascinated me. Countless mysteries surround this mechanism. Dissapointingly it was much smaller than I expected.
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A quick visit ot the Acropolis and then we were off to Crete. We took the ferry that evening and arrived on my island of birth the next morning. Temperatures were starting to get warmer. We stayed over at my parents in Herklion for a few days, and then headed to Chania, my favourite town in Crete. Temperatures were now thankfully getting warmeer.
Instead of taking the usual way back onto the mainland, i.e. via Athens, we opted for the unusual way of taking a ferry from Chania onto Kythera (were the mechanism in the museum above came from). We took the ferry from Chania and arrived at Kythera late in the evening. We disembarked the ferry and it was pitch dark. After a 30k ride direction south we arrived at Kapali, and looked for the camping place. It was too early in the season so we just pitched the tent in the garden of a house that looked empty, but was definitely not abandoned (we thank him with all our hearts). The next morning was cold, but the sun did rise and temperatures got pretty warm at mid-day.
Diakofti port on Kythera Diakofti port packing the bike
From the port of Diakofti, in Kythera, one can take a ferry to the port of Neapoli, on the Peloponnese. A short ride direction norht and we were in beautiful Monemvasia.
From the port of Diakofti, in Kythera, one can take a ferry to the port of Neapoli, on the Peloponnese. A short ride direction norht and we were in beautiful Monemvasia.
Monemvasia rock Monemvasia village Monemvasia castle
After that we visited Sparta and the statue of Leonidas, the leader of the 300 mighty spartans.
We then headed to Olympia to see where the ancient Olympic Games used to take place. We then headed to Patras and cought a ferry for Ancona. Our days in Greece were sadly over.
We then headed to Olympia to see where the ancient Olympic Games used to take place. We then headed to Patras and cought a ferry for Ancona. Our days in Greece were sadly over.
After disembarking the ferry in Ancona, the weather started to getting colder for every inch that we headed North.
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First stop was Urbino, after that was Siena. I wanted to arrive at Siena while it was still day so that Alexa could see the the famous Piazza del Campo, the main attraction at Siena.
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I collapsed from exhaustion after reaching Siena Piazza del Campo, Siena Siena Cathedral
In Siena we went to the camping place and were a little bit disappointed with the prices. Tent + bike + 2 adults ca 40 Euros, which was more than a cheap hotel. Feeling a little bit stingy, we decided to camp in a field for free. We drove along some narrow roads looking for a place to pitch a tent. The area is full of hills, dense wooded area, and houses, so finding a place to pitch proved harder than I thought. I ten found a narrow dirt road and decided to have a look. It was pitch dark, the only light coming from the motorbike light. Suddenly a big fat dog walked right infront of the light. I told Alexa "this is a strange looking dog..." to which she replied that it wasn't a dog but a wild boar! My heart skipped a beat, I did the fastest u-turn I had ever done on the bike, making sure I didn't lose grip on my boots, otherwise I would have risk falling off the bike and become the dinner of a wild boar, and drove straight back to the camping place. 40 Euros at that moment didn't seem as much money at all, compared with the safety that the fence around the camping place would offer against wild boars. Best 40 Euros ever spent!
The next day we set off early in the morning and headed to Florence.
In Siena we went to the camping place and were a little bit disappointed with the prices. Tent + bike + 2 adults ca 40 Euros, which was more than a cheap hotel. Feeling a little bit stingy, we decided to camp in a field for free. We drove along some narrow roads looking for a place to pitch a tent. The area is full of hills, dense wooded area, and houses, so finding a place to pitch proved harder than I thought. I ten found a narrow dirt road and decided to have a look. It was pitch dark, the only light coming from the motorbike light. Suddenly a big fat dog walked right infront of the light. I told Alexa "this is a strange looking dog..." to which she replied that it wasn't a dog but a wild boar! My heart skipped a beat, I did the fastest u-turn I had ever done on the bike, making sure I didn't lose grip on my boots, otherwise I would have risk falling off the bike and become the dinner of a wild boar, and drove straight back to the camping place. 40 Euros at that moment didn't seem as much money at all, compared with the safety that the fence around the camping place would offer against wild boars. Best 40 Euros ever spent!
The next day we set off early in the morning and headed to Florence.
Ponte Vecchio Baptistery of St. John Florence Cathedral
A very short drive is Pisa and its famous leaning tower.
A very short drive is Pisa and its famous leaning tower.
We then tried to find a place to stay. Most camping places were closed in April, so we decided to drive East to the beach and try our luck there. It was already dark when we got there. After a lot of searching and driving around like a headless chicken, we found a camping "for caravans only", hey perfect place. We pitched our tiny tent (we were the only tent there) and went to sleep. There were no showers there as it was meant for caravans so we gave in to the fact that we were going to be a little bit stinky.
The next morning temperatures plumeted even more. Suffering from stiff nipples and wearing all the clothes we had with us (clean and dirty, we were too cold to care) we overtook Milan and slept in Como town. In Como it was ca. 8 Degrees but the biggest problem was the wind. The definition of "hunchback weather" was right there, it was so cold that just by seeing the open-pit showers and the wind blowing through, let alone that we were the only people to have checked-in in this weather, we said who cares about showering! We slept in the freezing cold and dreamed of a warm cup of tea the next day.
The next day is when the real adventure started. Cold in southern Switzerland means extra-cold in the northern part. We drove North towards Gotthard Tunnel. The highway goes up to 1100m altitude, where temperatures plummeted to -1, but hey at least it wasn't raining. Thank God the tunnel is always warm so we could warm up after this ordeal. On exiting the tunner, to our complete surprise, it was snowing! Temperatures were also at -1 but this time this weird unknown white stuff was falling like a snow cannon. It was like Santa Claus was about to show up on his sledge and give out his presents. All we could do was bite through this bitter cold head back home to Zurich. The highwas desends the mountain from 1100m down to the Zurich plateau, which lies at 400m. I was expecting it to stop snowing on our desent, but unfortunately Murhpy's-law always prevails, it was snowing in this God-forsaken land all the way till Zurich and it was almost May for heaven's sake! I drove the rest of the way (ca. 100km from tunnel exit till Zurich) and made it in one piece. I can now confidently say that I have riden The Beast on snow! OK I admit it, I was driving like an old nun. To no surprise we were the only bikers on the road and received lots of weird looks from passers-by. Driving into our garage and walking into our warm and cozy home-sweet-home was the most relieving feeling ever. Since there was no shower when we camped in Pisa, if my calculations are correct, we hadn't showered in 3 days, and my God you could smell it! That when I discovered that when you don't shower your body gets used to it and after some point you don't stink as much... or so I thought! How wrong I was. The truth is that your nose gets used to it and you don't stink to yourself, but believe you me when people see you they swerve around you like a homeless guy in rags. Anway, we had finally made it by plowing through the snow and made it in one piece. Being Alexa's inauguration bike trip I'm sure she found it an exhilarating experience.
This mini ice-age did not stay forever though, this is not Iceland after all. A few weeks later the summer was in full swing and the white blanket that covered the road in the end of April had all disappeared into thin air.
The next morning temperatures plumeted even more. Suffering from stiff nipples and wearing all the clothes we had with us (clean and dirty, we were too cold to care) we overtook Milan and slept in Como town. In Como it was ca. 8 Degrees but the biggest problem was the wind. The definition of "hunchback weather" was right there, it was so cold that just by seeing the open-pit showers and the wind blowing through, let alone that we were the only people to have checked-in in this weather, we said who cares about showering! We slept in the freezing cold and dreamed of a warm cup of tea the next day.
The next day is when the real adventure started. Cold in southern Switzerland means extra-cold in the northern part. We drove North towards Gotthard Tunnel. The highway goes up to 1100m altitude, where temperatures plummeted to -1, but hey at least it wasn't raining. Thank God the tunnel is always warm so we could warm up after this ordeal. On exiting the tunner, to our complete surprise, it was snowing! Temperatures were also at -1 but this time this weird unknown white stuff was falling like a snow cannon. It was like Santa Claus was about to show up on his sledge and give out his presents. All we could do was bite through this bitter cold head back home to Zurich. The highwas desends the mountain from 1100m down to the Zurich plateau, which lies at 400m. I was expecting it to stop snowing on our desent, but unfortunately Murhpy's-law always prevails, it was snowing in this God-forsaken land all the way till Zurich and it was almost May for heaven's sake! I drove the rest of the way (ca. 100km from tunnel exit till Zurich) and made it in one piece. I can now confidently say that I have riden The Beast on snow! OK I admit it, I was driving like an old nun. To no surprise we were the only bikers on the road and received lots of weird looks from passers-by. Driving into our garage and walking into our warm and cozy home-sweet-home was the most relieving feeling ever. Since there was no shower when we camped in Pisa, if my calculations are correct, we hadn't showered in 3 days, and my God you could smell it! That when I discovered that when you don't shower your body gets used to it and after some point you don't stink as much... or so I thought! How wrong I was. The truth is that your nose gets used to it and you don't stink to yourself, but believe you me when people see you they swerve around you like a homeless guy in rags. Anway, we had finally made it by plowing through the snow and made it in one piece. Being Alexa's inauguration bike trip I'm sure she found it an exhilarating experience.
This mini ice-age did not stay forever though, this is not Iceland after all. A few weeks later the summer was in full swing and the white blanket that covered the road in the end of April had all disappeared into thin air.
Saddest day of my life. Me selling/betraying my bike.
All these years, always learning from experience, I had mainly used the bike for the one long bike-trip of the year, which always took place in summer. I would then park it outside my house in Zurich and promise myself that I was "definitely going to used it again" which was a statement as true as Trump's hat "Make America Great Again". Yes, that's how much I lied to myself. Now owning a car and a bike makes the bike almost obsolete. Around November time when the forecast predicted snow I would park the bike in a garage and let it hybernate. This phenomenon would happen every year. I therefore, after the April trip, knew that this was the last time I would be using the bike for 2017. This moment of truth hit me as soon as I parked the bike on our return to Zurich. I then took the heartbreaking and extremely tough decision that, since the bike would just be sitting there till next year, to betray (another word for sell) the bike. Yes, you heard correctly, I took the blunt decision to sell The Beat and become a civilian, a normy, a loser, a guy with no potential in life any more.
I tried to hold the tears when selling The Beast, remembering all the good moments we shared together, after spending 6 years and 60'000km on its saddle. Good guy old friend, it's been emotional :-(
Main Challenges:
-sleeping in ca +3 to +5 degrees in a summer sleeping bag in Trieste, south Croatia and Ioannina.
-encountered a wild boar while trying to find a place to camp in a field near Sienna (yes there are wild boars in N Italy and yes I subsequently pooped my pants).
-endured a 20 hour ferry from Patras to Ancona and almost died of boredom. Biking is better than rolling your thumbs.
-drove on snow.
-don't drive a motorbike in Switzerland without checking the forecast, it can snow in May even at low altitudes.
Good parts:
-Alexa's first motorbike trip.
-visited Venice, Dubrovnik, Pisa, Florence, Delphi, Athens, Crete, Monemvasia, Kithira.
-Alexa discovered Pourakia & Mastiha.
Main Challenges:
-sleeping in ca +3 to +5 degrees in a summer sleeping bag in Trieste, south Croatia and Ioannina.
-encountered a wild boar while trying to find a place to camp in a field near Sienna (yes there are wild boars in N Italy and yes I subsequently pooped my pants).
-endured a 20 hour ferry from Patras to Ancona and almost died of boredom. Biking is better than rolling your thumbs.
-drove on snow.
-don't drive a motorbike in Switzerland without checking the forecast, it can snow in May even at low altitudes.
Good parts:
-Alexa's first motorbike trip.
-visited Venice, Dubrovnik, Pisa, Florence, Delphi, Athens, Crete, Monemvasia, Kithira.
-Alexa discovered Pourakia & Mastiha.
