CAS 2202 - Perls of the Adriatic Sea
A very warm welcome to the Pearls of the Adriatic Sea Tour Let the adventure begin - Split Andreas and Stefan will be your guides and we`re looking forward to explore the Balkans with its old history, good food and stunning roads and landscapes. So yesterday, the bikes arrived with Stefan to Split, and today everything’s set for the welcome briefing. Andreas is on the way to Split, he’s flying in from Almeria in Spain. Yeah, at every corner of the world you might find a Edelweiss Tourguide. We will have time to get known each other and I’m pretty sure there will be a lot to talk about, not only about motorcycles ;-) If you also curious about riding the Balkans, than just follow our blog and find out, maybe it’s also interesting for you and next time, who knows, your on this tour too. Let`s rock & ride …… Andreas & Stefan
Day 2: From Split to Hvar Just some lucky guys - the weather forecast wasn’t right Daily schedule done, ready for take off. First ride of the day, first challenge of the day - get out of Split and riding south on the beautiful cost road of the Adria. After Kučiće we went up a tiny winding road to the Cetina Gorge, a stunning few on top and some informations about the nature and also some background knowledge. As we were coming back down to the coast road we got flashed by the landscape and made your way down to Drvenik, where we had our lunch and were waiting for the ferry to get to the island of Hvar. A real pearl of the Adriatica. Only a half hour on the ferry and some kilometers to get out of the harbor and the next highlight was already there. Perfect tarmc, small winding roads, some switchbacks and after a while, nobody in fron of us. What else you need? Hhhhha - and of corse - no rain ! Because we had some time left, we went for a another coffee and up the mountain to see the Napolean Fortress - what a stunning few. Well, let’s do the last 3 km to the hotel and call it a day. I hope everybody was enjoying the day as much as I did…….. I’m pretty sure about it. All right, we`re off for dinner…..catch you tomorrow again….. Andreas and Stefan
Day 3: From Hvar to Dubrovnik A jumpstart in the morning. Well, today has two options. Start at 8 o’clock in the morning to catch the early ferry and be also earlier in Dubrovnik, or start later. I`m glad we took the early one, because it seams that we were just lucky with the weather. It must have been raining just a minute before, cause the streets were wet but we stayed dry and just made it to the ferry. Back on the mainland we enjoyed some coffee and made our way down to Ston. We drove through the Bacinska Jesera, some lakes who build a sea scape at the river estuary of Neretra (most important River of BIH with its 225km / 139mils. For about one hour we cached some rain, but never mind……… In Ston we had a walk around, looked at the Fortress with its Great Wall (5,5 km). It is the longest defense wall in europa and it’s also called the European chines wall, well some kilometers are missing to the one in China ;-) After another hour of coast riding we get to Dubrovnic, the most important development of the Croatian language and literature. Also it is the cradle of Art, mathematics, physics and poets. Dubrovnik stand for liberty, when the Ottomans try to occupy the city, the people took the worlds from Poet Ivan Gundalić: „Non bene pro toto libertas, venditur auro“ - Even for all the gold in the world - we`ll never sell our freedom! Let`s see what’s next in the surprise box……. Stay tuned and see you later Andreas and Stefan
Day 4: From Dubrovnik to Kotor The city of the holy cats Today we stared up side down, cause we just had 155 km and we`ve been to the old town of Dubrovnik yesterday already. So we took it easy this morning and started with some skinny dipping in the sea, had another coffee and went up to a viewing point to see Dubrovnik from the very top. What a stunning view…. Riding down the tiny road back to the coast and heading south. The border crossing was easy and so we’ve been to Kotor in the early afternoon. Because we had so much time, we took the panorama road around the fjord, had a wee coffee break in Kotor and continued on a very tiny read around the bay to Lepetan and to the hotel. Tomorrow is a rest day, but as it looks, the boys are hungry for some more riding, well let’s see what we can do……Andreas and me already have an Idea……. So if you want to know what’s happing tomorrow, than stay with us…….. Dinner time…..see you later Andreas and Stefan
Day 5: Rest Day Ride and Hiking See the place from the eyes of an eagle We started our rest day a little bit more relaxed and had a breakfast and some swimming before we got on the bikes and Paul into his walking shoes. The weather was good, well, we made the route based on the weather and so we drove first down to Budva, I call it Dobrovnik in miniature. Because in the mountains we couldn’t see the peaks so we thought, give it a little bit more time and it will clear up, and so it did. We discovered lovely Budva and its old town, had a coffee at the beach and seen the old harbor. The next destination was Virpazar at the Skardarsko Lake before we drove up to Lovcen Nationalpark - The highlight of the day. What a great scenery, if you up there, you can see the Kotor and the surrounding bays of the fjord. After 25 switchbacks and 160km later we were back at your hotel and had a big beer. - Call it a day. Tomorrow we`re off to Mostar, let’s see what we find out in Bosnia….. So far - so good, see you later…. Andreas and Stefan
Day 6: From Kotor to Mostar By By you Big Black Beauty With a laughing and an crying eye we said goodby to Montenegro. I think this little country left some gorgeous memories in our hearts. The beauty of the landscape with its coloring leaves….yeah it could have been somewhere else, maybe Vermont in the Indien summer. But we`re still in Europe and fall is knocking at the door. From juicy green to faded brown, from shiny golden to bordeaux red, no pictures can actually shows what we have seen today. The roads were almost empty and the only few drops of liquid sunshine we caught today were not worth to even talk about it. Once we were on top of the mountain, the last picture of the Kotor Fjord was done, it was already time to leave Montenegro and go into Herzigowina. As we followed the river Tebišnjica, the longest Kastriver of Europe, the time was flying by and we had some lunch on the Bileca lake. Our final goal for the day was Mostar with its biggest arc bridge the Stari Most, a must see when you’re around this area. Well the balkans are so full of history, you will not believe if you not seen it with your own two eyes. And just because our throat was so dry today, Andreas had a feeling about it and surprised us with some boot beer and snacks. Thanks for that buddy, well done. Some pics about what was goin on today……enjoy. See you later, keep calm and ride on Andreas and Stefan
Day 7: From Mostar to Zadar I`m happy when it rains - cause if I`m not happy, it rains in any case. Well so far we been lucky with the weather, today - mmmh we`ll see. We found out, that there’s something with Andreas and Boarder Crossings, or let`s say it this way, they don’t get on well together. So that’s the reason we gave him this morning a half a hour up front, before we got on the bikes. Since Paul told us that he has an tracker in his suitcase, we always know where Andreas is and funny enough when he gets to the boarder we can sea him - not moving for quite a while - everytime. Maybe its just because he looks a little wild……… Anyway, start from Mostar with a little rain, try to avoid the darkest bits, and still caught enough for the rest of the tour. We drove by the Bûsko Lake, but as the water was coming from the top, we kept on riding. As we were navigation through the dark clouds, suddenly we got lucky, down where the Krka goes into the sea, the sun came up and all of a sudden it was warm again. Just some km left to Zadar, we jumped out of the rain gear and continued riding, when it stared again out of nothing - raining like cats and dogs. So we had enough and went direct to the hotel. Tomorrow is rest day, let’s see what will happen there, and maybe we will go out for a drink tonight. But that will be a secret……. Thanks for following us and off we go……tomorrow or after tomorrow we`re back with some new stories. Andreas and Stefan
Day 8 Zadar Rest Day A rest day don’t have to be a day for rest, you can but ……. As we arrived last night at the hotel in Zadar we’ve been all a little bit tiered from riding in rain. But after the dinner, some of us, went out for some party. We just got into a beach party with live music, some drinks and a hell of a fun ;-) Today everybody was doing his own thing and so we met again at the pool. Andreas took care of some requests……well it took us some time to find, but finally we got lucky and found some Cuban Cigars……. Hanging out at the pool, drinking and smoking and laughing…..what else can you ask for. Our international group, Argentina, Canada, United Staats, Spain and Switzerland became a pack. Yeah, we could go now and steel horse together. - We are family….. Now we all get dressed up and go to find some nice restaurant, and than we see…. Stay with us, cause the tour ain’t over jet……the best things mostly happen when you don’t expect them….. Rock`n Ride….. Andreas and Stefan
Day 9 Zadar to Split It’s crazy how time is fleeting It feels like, that we just started the tour and now we`re facing the last day of riding. But not without some more adventure - Michael knows what I’m talking about ;-) and also lovely roads with stunning veiws. The Krka National Park at the beginning and some surprise for lunch was the idea of the day. We’re lucky that it all came together. A little stop here and there, the Visovac Monastery, also known as the Mother of God Island from 1445, some pics from few points and at lunch time a fantastic Pick Nick with a natural surrounding - what else you need? As we were riding through the back country on very tiny and also almost empty roads we made our way back to Split. Last but not least we arrived at the hotel in split all together save and sound and had enough time to enjoy the marvelous view from the roof top bar where you can see the old town and the sea. So the farewell dinner was coming closer and we let the days reminisce and had a hell of a fun to bring back all the memories we experienced together. We all came as stranger and now we`re leaving as friends. Thank you all again for the fantastic time we had together, Andreas and me, we really enjoy the ride with you guys and as they say…….you always meet twice in life.. So take care, keep calm and ride on…… Andreas and Stefan