Best of Europe 1603
Before we could get on the bikes today, we first had to fix a flat tire on one of the bikes. Thanks to the help of the hotel owner the bike was ready to go again after ten minutes.When we headed out of the garage the rain was already pouring down and it did not stop until we reached castle Neuschwanstein. We did a coffee stop there and bought some nice souvenirs, before we went on to castle Linderhof. As the weather was still bad, we decided to take the guided tour in the castle. After that we all just wanted to get back to the hotel in Erding.
Another great riding day is waiting for us. Our route today: in direction west to lake Constance and then directly into the Swiss Alps. Our spot for lunch is Säntis at Schwägalpe. A great spot to take the Cablecar up to have a good view over six countries, but unfortunately today it was rainy and foggy. We went a very short piece through Liechtenstein - where all the money is parked :-). A small tiny road, nearly a one way lane brought us up to Furkajoch for another coffee stop. Hochtannbergpass - nice wide roads built on spectacular stilts was the last pass to get to Jägeralpe in Warth. A hotel on top of the mountain with the cow bells ringing.
Today we left France to go back into the Black Forest. Already in the morning we had to put our rain gear on, before we went up to the mountain top called "Kandel", which is the highest in the middle part of Black Forest. We continued to Rothaus and had lunch at the local brewery. After some very nice roads we got to the border of Switzerland and made our last stop for the day at the Rhinefall, one of the largest waterfalls in Europe.
Today we slept a little bit longer and started on the bikes at 10 o'clock. We took some very nice backroads and stopped at the Haute Köningsbourg. From there we enjoyed over the river Rhine valley. We continued on perfect roads to Col de Bonhomme were we ate yummy homemade cakes. Col de la Schlucht, Col de Wettstein, Col du Calvaiere, Col de Fréland and Col de Bagenelles provided perfect riding. When we were back in the hotel we enjoyed the towncenter of Ribeauvillé
Perfect weather again, but almost too hot with 90 Fahrenheit. Everybody was ready to leave the hotel but our Ducati Diavel decided to take a rest in the van today.... :-). So we unloaded the spare bike and started 20 minutes later once again.. The first part on the Autobahn brought us to Ettlingen, where we went into the Black forest. Björn's hometown Bad Herrenalp was our first coffee spot today. Again yummy pastries .... a good strenghtening for the twisties which were waiting for us. At Mummelsee - one of seven glacial lakes in the Black Forest at 3.400 ft.- we had lunch and headed on into Rhine level land. We crossed the river Rhine and arrived in France. Ribeauvillé is waiting for us for the next two days.
The weather gods were smiling upon us ,another great riding day in the sun and a yummy picnic at a nice spot at the Jagst river was on our program today. In the morning we stopped at the monastery Schöntal, what a nice spot for taking pictures and having a morning coffee. The pastries are once more fabulous. Futher on, Claudia was waiting with a almost "ready" picnic with different salds, melon, cheese and ham. The afternoon brought us through the Odenwald to the little village Hirschhorn and than to Heidelberg, our destination for tonight. And now everybody went to to city Heidelberg to see the castle and is looking forward to the fireworks in the evening.
Perfect weather, sun and happy clients, exited to get their bikes out of the garage. 9.00 o'clock in the morning we headed out of Erding in direction to Au in der Hallertau. Famous region for hop producing - hop is used for producing beer. We had lunch in Eichstätt - a small university city. We visited the cathedral and stopped for a foto of Willibaldsburg. Further on through the beautifull Altmühl valley we finally ended up in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a well preserved famous medieval old town. A typical German dinner and the night watchman tour already waited for us.
What a great and sunny day to start our tour "Best of Europe". Everybody arrived safely in our start hotel in Erding where we met for the briefing and handover of the motorcycles. The next 8 days we will tour through Europe - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Heidelberg, Ribeauvillé, Schaffhausen and Warth. Clients from all over the world, America, Australia and Guatemala are joining us. We had a great dinner in the garden of Hotel Henry with very good food and typical bavarian wheat beer "Erdinger Weissbier" from the local brewery.