Lakes and Austrian alps - SPTCN24055
On the first day of riding, we woke up to the sound of drops tapping on the window frames. But this did not spoil anyone's mood and in a few dozen minutes we were all warming up the engines in front of the hotel and set off for the first photo stop, which was the view of Wassenburg. Next in the plan was a boat trip across the Bavarian sea for the highlight of the day - a visit to the New fairy-tale castle of King Ludwig. But the weather first invited us to the lunch table. After an excellent lunch, the sun's rays invited us to the castle gardens. Later in the afternoon, we crossed the 98-year-old steamer Ludwig Fessler back to the motorbikes, which took us safely to Mozart's birthplace, Salzburg.
After a restful night, we as a group decided during breakfast to use the day for motorcycling that was intended for resting. So we quickly put on our equipment and all of us, also the van driver, got on our bikes and set off. We left the beautiful city of Salzburg and very quickly we reached the surrounding mountain roads and passes. First we stopped at the Salzburger Salzwelten Hallein, where we got a very exciting and informative tour through the mining tunnels. The highlight of the tour was the beautiful boat trip in a former salt chamber inside the mountain on a lake made of brine. As we walked longer distances through the mine tunnels, everyone got very hungry and we continued on to Obersalzberg in Germany, where we had a hearty lunch. After our bellies were full, we took the bus 800 meters higher to the Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) mountain station. Once we got there, we took the elevator to get another 125 meters higher to actually get into the historic building from Nazi times. On the terrace we had a very nice view of the beautiful Bavarian landscape. When we had enough of the beautiful scenery and architecture, we took the elevator and bus back down to the motorbikes. After a short exchange of experiences, we made our way back to the city of Mozart to the starting point at our hotel. To round off this wonderful day, we went to the best Italian restaurant in the city, where we ended the day with dinner and a cozy exchange of impressions.
Today we were woken up by rays of sunshine shining through our windows directly into our faces and we went to breakfast full of anticipation for the day. Shortly afterwards we rushed to our motorbikes and could hardly wait to set off after the morning briefing. We left the magical city of Salzburg and drove towards the Red Bull headquarters. Unfortunately we could only see it from the outside. We didn't let that spoil our mood, took some souvenir photos and drove on to our next stop, the viewing point over the turquoise blue Wolfgangsee. After we had our fill of the beautiful view, we drove off and came to the Kaiservilla, which we visited extensively and where we took a coffee break to recharge our batteries for the rest of the journey. We were all already looking forward to the world-famous town of Hallstatt, which we had only known from photos and postcards. However, our tour guide stopped at a parking lot at Lake Hallstatt, where our van driver had a surprise in store and invited us to a picnic with a wonderful view of the lake. At the end of our picnic, our guides positioned one of the motorcycles in front of the lake, where we took individual and a beautiful group photo. But now we drove to Hallstatt and we were thrilled, because the beauty we saw far exceeded our expectations. We could hardly get enough of it. Unfortunately, we had to move on, because one of the most beautiful passes in Austria, the Nockalmstraße, was waiting for us. We enjoyed the view, the curves and the beauty of this landscape, which cannot be described in words. But unfortunately we were slowed down because one of the motorcycles had a flat tire. Unfortunately, we could not carry out the repair on site, so we alerted our van driver, who immediately drove off to pick up the broken-down motorcycle from the Nockalmstraße. So we drove on to the next hotel in Seeboden on Lake Millstatt. The motorcycle group was already having dinner when the van driver arrived at the hotel and they gave him a warm welcome. Afterwards we ended the evening in a convivial atmosphere, sharing the highlights of the day.
After a long and very beautiful day, we perked up, looked out the window and quickly became a little worried about the change in weather. It was pouring with rain and after checking all the weather forecasts we knew, it was clear to us that we would have to change the tour. The planned crossing of the Alps via the Grossglockner High Alpine Road was not safe to pass with the motorbikes that day due to snowfall up to a height of 1000 metres and some of the roads were also closed. Nevertheless, we had an unforgettable trip because our guide decided to cross the Alpine ridge by car train from Mallnitz to Backstein. It was exciting because most of us had never travelled on such a train before, so we were able to gain this experience and watch how the vehicles were loaded in unison. After that, we got on the train, took our seats and enjoyed the journey, which allowed us to warm up a little. The journey took about 15 minutes. We picked up our motorbikes again and, because of the persistent rain, took the shortest route to the hotel in Kaprun, where we had lunch together and then had the afternoon free. Some went for a walk to get their favourite souvenirs for their loved ones waiting for them at home, others went to the hotel's spa area and others stayed in their rooms to rest a bit. In the evening we met again in the restaurant for a Michelin-starred dinner, where we had a nice chat and only then realised that it was our second to last evening together. We all saw this with a smile and a tear in our eyes, because on the one hand we were all looking forward to going home and on the other hand we enjoyed the time together as a group, which very quickly became a well-coordinated team in which we already saw each other as good friends.
On the last day, we were scheduled to return to Hotel Henry in Erding. Also on this day, we experienced extreme weather for this time of year, when the temperature did not exceed 5°C and constant rain watered us like flowers. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the drive through the Alps between the lakes. A nice place to warm up was a lunch break almost on the border of Austria and Germany with great soup and Hamburger. After a short detour caused by a flooded road, we all arrived in a dry garage and enjoyed the tradition of boot beer. Colleagues from Japan managed to shoot and edit a short video during the trip, which you can watch on the attached link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrkJ_ZJjkL4