Best of Europe - for some a dream comes through! BOE2501
While most of the group arrived allready earlier, the rest came in this afternoon. Three of the early birds decided to explore Munich with Markus, one of the guides. Travelling to Bavaria's capital via train we started our citywalk at the Isar Gate, one of the entrances to medivial Munich, built around 1300. From there the route led us to Viktualien Market, to St. Michael and to Marienplatz, where we watched the Glockenspiel at the city hall. The church St. Michael, the Frauen Church, the "Michael Jackson Memorial, the Residenz and the Hofbräuhaus were on our schedule before we headed back to Erding. Oh, and I almost forgot about the "Bavarian Breakfast", which was aczually our lunch - right befor noon, where they traditionally stop serving it.
As we were allready told, we will have an easy but relativly long ride today. And we should be in Rothenburg by time not to miss one of its main attractions. But let's start in the morning. After the briefing we mounted ou bikes and one by one left the garage at Hotel Henry. Cruising through the Bavarian hills we got used to our "horses". Riding through Hallertau we learned where all the hops, which is needed for Bavarian beer, is growing. The plants are climbing up strings, up to about 12 feet. After a few kilometers on the German Autobahn we entered the Altmühltal - what a countryside! The river meanders through the valley, to both sides accompanied by hills dressed in lush green of trees and bushes, some of the small towns along the road look like out of a fairy tale. Latest at Dinkelsbühel we figured out why the road we are travelling is called the Romantic Road. Woodframed houses, some of them dated back to the 12th and 13th century shape the image of the little town. Finally we reach Rottenburg, a medivial town, fully walled. We got a little time to explore the place ourselves, before, after a delicious dinner, we started the tour with George, the night watchman. Listening to him, you felt like being transfered into Medivial Times, dealing with poor and rich, the 30 Years War, the plaque and knights and nobles. After one hour we were released and happy to live in the 20st century. What a great day and evening!
We had extremely good weather on this tour leg. All riders did well and we saw some incredible castles and rivers that told the story of medieval Germany and all its chivalry. We also enjoyed a lovely picnic prepared by Markus for our riders. Today's route took us to the Langenburg Castle, Schöntal Monastery, Castle Hornberg, and Hirschhorn Castle while riding through the river Jagst valley and then following the Neckar River all the way to Heidelberg as part of the Odenwald area. After arriving at our hotel on the Königstuhl (the area's highest mountain overlooking the city of Heidelberg), we took at fernicular train down to the city for a hearty German meal at Vetterns.
We say good buy to Heidelberg and leave the town for France. The first stretch took us on the Autobahn and after cruising along for a while, we hit a traffic jam, so we split lanes to get through and got even encouraged by a police officer to do so. About one riding hour South we went on the Eastern shoulder of the Rhine Valley, also known as the Black Forrest. Endless numbers of curves, interrupted every now and then by picturesque villages and the dense and dark forrest impressed everyone. The special guard rails for motorcyclists as well as the speedlimits showed that specially on weekends the area is one of the best known playground for people on two wheels. Later in the afternoon we crossed the river Rhine Valley and the border to France to get to todays destination - Ribeauville
Today was our "Rest Day" in France. That did not mean we stopped riding our bikes up and down the beautiful Vosges Mountain range here in Alsace-Lorraine. We rode about half the day and experience our first drizzle when we passed over the impressive Cole de la Schlucht where we had a bite to eat at the top. We also stopped at the largest castle in the region, the Château du Haut Koenigsberg which had magnificent views of the valley where our hotel was.
We left France today and said goodbye to lovely vinyards and great times. Over the Kandel mountain and into the Hexenlochmühle we went. Great turns and twisties on narrow roads challenged everyone. Happy faces galore. We saw our first rain in the afternoon, but arrived at the Rheinfall in Schaffhausen when the sun came out again. What a day!
Today was a wet but fun day. We left Schaffhausen and the Rheinfall at 9 AM and and rode along Lake Constance to arrive at Bregenz for lunch. We toured the open air opera house on the lake and that was surprisingly interesting for all of our guests. We couldn't stay for the Weber's current "Freischütz" performance that is filling the ranks at the Opera house, but had to settle for a nice meal the "Wirtshaus" on the Lake. Then came the afternoon: Across the "Bödele" Pass and into the Bregenzer Wald section. Then up and across the Hochtannberg Pass at 1660 above the sea and to Warth and Holzgau. Fun riding in the afternoon, lots of twisties and tunnels.
Strangers became a group of friends, and when the tour guide announced the final day of riding this morning, perhaps a tear or two welled up in our eyes. It's hard to believe that we've already spent a week experiencing adventures together, laughing a lot together, and seeing so many incredible things. But now back to today. After the briefing, we set off along the Lech Valley. The weather gods were kind to us, and it wasn't until we stopped for our planned coffee break at Plansee that a few raindrops fell. Without any rain, we then continued on to Linderhof Palace, where we immersed ourselves in the world of Ludwig II of Bavaria. The small palace was emblematic of his solitary lifestyle, and the furnishings of its few rooms amazed us. After a lunch break, which included a visit to the Ettal Abbey Church, we set off for Erding. We were able to test the performance of our motorcycles on a few kilometers of the German Autobahn before we reached on Country roads our final destination.
After a week of great experiences we have to say "good bye", but it should be more like a "see you again". Thank you for your friendship, for the entertaining evenings we had and the fun, riding together on all this great roads. We would love to see you again somewhen, somewhere and ride with you again - you never know. Safe travels, and keep the rubberside down and the shiny side up, All the best, Markus and Oliver