BMW US Fahrer Schule
Die ganze Gruppe war bereits am Vortag angekommen, um den Jetlag zu überwinden und am nächsten Tag frisch auf die Motorräder steigen zu können. Für einige war das ebenfalls der Plan – aber wenn man schon in Athen ist, kann man die Akropolis einfach nicht auslassen. Am Abend war es dann Zeit für unser Briefing mit Richie, BMW-Instruktor im BMW Performance Center in den USA.
Es gibt eine ganz besondere Form von Freiheit, die man nur auf zwei Rädern erlebt – vor allem, wenn diese Räder in Richtung des Herzens des antiken Griechenlands rollen. Unsere heutige Route führt uns von den pulsierenden Straßen Athens zum mystischen Heiligtum von Delphi, mit einem seelenberuhigenden Zwischenstopp im Kloster Hosios Loukas. Diese Fahrt vereint weite Kurven, beeindruckende Berglandschaften und zeitlose Kultur – perfekt für alle, die auf der Suche nach Nervenkitzel und Bedeutung sind.
What a wonderful day! After a delicious greek breakfast we roll along the coast with all it´s picturesque little islands on sweeping curves. We stop in a beautiful village to enjoy a coffee at the harbor, before we continue on to one of the highlights of our day: the Venetian castle of Nafpaktos. A place packed with history. You can feel it in the air. From Nafpaktos it´s just a few minutes further to the Rio-Andirrio bridge, which connects the Peloponnese with the mainland of Greece. The bridge is an engineers masterpiece! Not only is it almost 3km long, as the Golf of Corinth is growing a little every year, the bridge is designed to grow with it! At lunch we enjoy greek delights while enjoying the view of the bridge! Then we head to our final destination of today, our second highlight: OLYMPIA! After a quick shower Nikos is waiting for us to lead us around the ancient sight of Olympia, where the FIRST OLYMPIC GAMES were held in 776 BC. Goosebumps garantied.
Yesterday was an ancient history lesson, today we get a bit more modern history. On the program today we had a very nice ride through the mountains to get to Kalamata, the city of olives. After getting some twisties in we had a coffee stop overlooking a deep valley and then it was off to our modern history lesson. We went to the Open Air water power museum. The locals have been using water power for centuries here for many different purposes, tanning skins, milling wheat, distilling alcohol and what this one is famous for is the mill for gunpowder, the last one of these in Europe. The whole mechanical engineering in this is stunning and it's all still working. Afterwards we continued for lunch and made a short stop at a chapel in a cave, where we also took some action shots before reaching our hotel by the sea in Kalamata.
We start our day with a beautiful ride through the mountains, along the sea. The view down to all those sweet little islands and the beautifully blue water is just breathtaking. Yet we focus on our ride and the right riding line, as Richie and J.D. explained to us. The late apex! After a good ride we arrive at a cute cafe right at the beach of Neo Oitylo (fun fact, out of all the wonderful greek beaches our host Depi recommended this one to us yesterday, not knowing it was on our schedule already!). We enjoy a cold coffee, the sun, the sea! Should we just stay here? ... maybe not, we have some more highlights planned for today! Our lunch stop is right at the Dimitrios ship wreck. Before we sit down at the table we walk along the beach to see the mysterious ship up close! We arrive early in the hotel today, for two good reasons: 1. the pool of Kinsterna Hotel! It feels fabulous to jump in the cool water after a great ride! 2. we want to visit and discover the fascinating island Monemvasia. Some of us hiked up all the way to the top of the upper town, others went souvenir shopping in the little street, in the end we all meet up with a drink enjoying the breathtaking view! Oh! And we had Gelato of course! Now we are talking!
Today we have another highlight of the whole week ahead of us, a road quite recently built, high up along the coast. An absolute riders dream. We leave the stunning Kinsterna Hotel and make our way through the mountains, small but fun road, with switchbacks and sweeper curves, the wind is blowing hard though which doesn't make cornering all that easy. Short coffee by the sea where the waves are hitting the pier right in front of us. We are now all excited what is gonna follow, the "secret road". We head off and it's turn by turn of great asphalt, stunning corners and amazing views. Just trying to keep focused here because it's almost like a race track. We get lunch in Tyros with Martina who gets us insane amounts of food, something we got used to the last few days here in Greece. Food is a very important part of the culture and no one here is leaving hungry. We got a short ride left after lunch and have a stop high up at the castle overlooking Nafplion. Then it's onto the our seaside hotel in Drepano for a Dio in the water because it was a hot day and we deserved it. Tomorrow the grand finale of this trip!
Today it´s time to make our way back to Athens, where our tour started a week ago. Time flies when you have a good time, doesn´t it? Of course we do not take the shortest route but have some more highlights planned for today. Starting off with a wonderful mountain road, practicing all the skills we´ve talked about the last days one more time. After a joyful ride we arrive at the Container Cafe. Time for a short break and a hot drink. Or rather a "freddo" one? We follow a small twisty road and move on to the historical highlight of the day: Hidden in the green hills of Peloponnese lies the ancient Theater of Epidaurus, a masterpiece of Greek architecture! Built in the 4th century BC it it world famous for it´s perfect acoustic and elegant design. After our wondeful lunch at the harbor one more highlight awaits us, before we head back to Athens: the Corinth Canal! For more than a century the Corinth Canal connects the Aegean and Ionian seas and saves the captains around 200miles around the Peloponnese! After a week of riding together the group sticks together in perfection on our ride to Athens via the highway. Is it really time to say goodbye to our bikes already? Some of us for sure have a new bike on our wishlist! Christmas is coming up eventually :) In the evening we enjoy our last dinner and plenty stories about last week in a local tavern. What a fabulous adventure we got to share! And not only do we get to go back home with wonderful memories, but also with new friends! Who´s up for the next adventure in 2026? Are you ready for Gelato, Pasta and dolce vita in Sicily? Thank you for the unforgettable week! J.D, Richie, Michel and Joy!