'Round the World with an Italian Supermodel
- Thread starter AntiHero
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Email sent. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Mordor: I have to wait 'till next year for Norway. See you around, hmmm....May?
Remember that you have also an appointment in Italy
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Sell it all and no more bills....
Otherwise, realize that, sorry to disappoint, a journey like this is far more difficult than it seems. I should have two threads--one for all the positives and one for all the negatives, just so that no one goes out and does what I'm doing and then wonders why it's so different than my trip seems.
HotIce: Oct. in the UK, then I'd like to find a cabin on some rocky, cold, deserted coast where 20 foot waves crash into the cliff under my window and threaten to wash me out to sea. Just to wake up and not be underwater would make every day a good day.
Will also head to Thailand/Vietnam to scope out riding there and get my spicy tolerance back up to where it should be. crazybiker: Body is way ahead of the ride report. Couldn't do half of what I wanted to do in Italy due to the customs delay wiping 3 weeks off of my Visa.
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Before I get to Austria, I've got some video from Italy. Nothing spectacular or particularly notable, just a couple of minutes of a 'day in the life' of riding. No striking edits, no lame ass music. Just riding along normal roads I encountered.
I'm running three ride reports concurrently--one on ADVRider, one on Ducati.ms and one here. Posting videos is always a crapshoot and every forum has its own one combo that works. So if you're curious, videos are here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9kD4lVAk7ImCEa2b0dk3XQ
Or enjoy this instead:
<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/DMOGUJ98ZNo?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/DMOGUJ98ZNo?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
I'm running three ride reports concurrently--one on ADVRider, one on Ducati.ms and one here. Posting videos is always a crapshoot and every forum has its own one combo that works. So if you're curious, videos are here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9kD4lVAk7ImCEa2b0dk3XQ
Or enjoy this instead:
<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/DMOGUJ98ZNo?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/DMOGUJ98ZNo?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
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Last day in Italy = rain all day through the Alps = no pics of Italy in the rain. And no pics of a very frustrated me dealing with a piece of .... Garmin. I'll say it now: .... Garmin. I've got two lousy Garmins (now one) and my experience traveling 7000 kilometers in Europe: stopping people on the street to play "where am I going" charades (because neither you nor I speak Czech) is more efficient. I'm serious. Garmin has caused more headaches than you could believe. How the hell does this company still exist with a product that navigates worse than no GPS device at all? I mean, Postal workers who go homicidal cannot possibly be as frustrated with their jobs as Garmin customers must be. Yet the company survives. Nuts.
With that off my chest: As you travel from Italy to Austria the architecture changes pretty dramatically. Now, I absolutely love how Italian buildings (especially 200-400 year-old ones) blend in with the landscape naturally. There's an organic cohesiveness to the whole picture, creating a rustic, charming, welcoming, warm, nurturing environment. The houses and buildings and churches in the Alps reflect a more protected, reserved--and perhaps guarded--sensibility. In Italy, structures camouflage themselves into the hillsides. Quite the opposite at the Austrian border, where a razor seems to have cut everything pointy and sharp, and everything--and I do ....... mean EVERYTHING--is neat, clean and precise. Oh yes, at times it's just so darling and cute you wonder if the whole country was built by Keebler Elves and Tinker Bells.
(In this particular Kincaid-esque environment, the Panigale looked as if was conjured into existence by Devil-worshiping Valkyries.)
With that off my chest: As you travel from Italy to Austria the architecture changes pretty dramatically. Now, I absolutely love how Italian buildings (especially 200-400 year-old ones) blend in with the landscape naturally. There's an organic cohesiveness to the whole picture, creating a rustic, charming, welcoming, warm, nurturing environment. The houses and buildings and churches in the Alps reflect a more protected, reserved--and perhaps guarded--sensibility. In Italy, structures camouflage themselves into the hillsides. Quite the opposite at the Austrian border, where a razor seems to have cut everything pointy and sharp, and everything--and I do ....... mean EVERYTHING--is neat, clean and precise. Oh yes, at times it's just so darling and cute you wonder if the whole country was built by Keebler Elves and Tinker Bells.
(In this particular Kincaid-esque environment, the Panigale looked as if was conjured into existence by Devil-worshiping Valkyries.)
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At this point I'd been riding all day, most of it in drizzle or deluge. The sun had already begun it's slide down the backs of the mountains, so sleeping arrangements and eating became a consideration I began to think about with increasing frequency. Europe definitely is not America. What a relief it is to not be assaulted by SONIC, La Quinta Inn, and SUPER 8 signs which would easily spoil the tranquil charm of the European landscape. There's a small price to pay for that, of course....and that's wondering, 'where the hell can I sleep tonight?"
And that's often a drain. You either make arrangements and then have to bust your cinnamon buns trying to get there, blasting by exits you'd like to stop and wander around in, so you can make your check in, meet the apt. owner or simply arrive before the lobby clerk locks the front door. Or you don't make arrangements, wander serendipitously all day, then fight off fears of minor panic when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, starving and cold.
Despite the need to figure out my accommodations I'd probably never, ever see this exact stretch of land again, so I pulled off, snapped the shots and...what do you know.
Who needs signs when there's a place or two that can be found off of every other exit? 30 Euros later had myself a bed, shower, an opened can of tuna and this view:
There might not have been any heat, but I picked up a bottle of Rum at the only open store in town (a gas station--yes, a gas station that sells liquor! I love Austria!), and toasted my good fortune.
Though I sort of glossed over it--the day had started out--and continued to be--rather miserable (I skipped some parts, like spending 45 minutes trying to get gas (that's 45 minutes after finding the station), for instance.) and then, viola....the clouds opened up to sunshine and just like that, calm gorgeous peace, a bottle of rum, some delicious tuna (I had two cans that night) and a warm sleeping bag inside a very cold room with a view that will go with me to my grave.
Lesson #278: Misfortune is a temporary condition. Stopping is what makes it permanent.
It's easy to lose the resolve to continue moving in the direction we want to go, thinking bad times will continue forever. Fight the fatigue. Ignore the hopelessness. Awful neighborhoods, terrible weather, rainy days, bad luck and stinky farts are only temporary--so long as we continue moving.
And that's often a drain. You either make arrangements and then have to bust your cinnamon buns trying to get there, blasting by exits you'd like to stop and wander around in, so you can make your check in, meet the apt. owner or simply arrive before the lobby clerk locks the front door. Or you don't make arrangements, wander serendipitously all day, then fight off fears of minor panic when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, starving and cold.
Despite the need to figure out my accommodations I'd probably never, ever see this exact stretch of land again, so I pulled off, snapped the shots and...what do you know.
Who needs signs when there's a place or two that can be found off of every other exit? 30 Euros later had myself a bed, shower, an opened can of tuna and this view:
There might not have been any heat, but I picked up a bottle of Rum at the only open store in town (a gas station--yes, a gas station that sells liquor! I love Austria!), and toasted my good fortune.
Though I sort of glossed over it--the day had started out--and continued to be--rather miserable (I skipped some parts, like spending 45 minutes trying to get gas (that's 45 minutes after finding the station), for instance.) and then, viola....the clouds opened up to sunshine and just like that, calm gorgeous peace, a bottle of rum, some delicious tuna (I had two cans that night) and a warm sleeping bag inside a very cold room with a view that will go with me to my grave.
Lesson #278: Misfortune is a temporary condition. Stopping is what makes it permanent.
It's easy to lose the resolve to continue moving in the direction we want to go, thinking bad times will continue forever. Fight the fatigue. Ignore the hopelessness. Awful neighborhoods, terrible weather, rainy days, bad luck and stinky farts are only temporary--so long as we continue moving.
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Cozy:
I woke up a few times during the night and went outside once or twice in my underwear just to let it all sink in, incredulously.
Awoke to the smell of salami three flights up. Don't need a study to tell me how closely connected the olfactory nerve is to a stomach empty.
And for the first time the whole trip I was witness to (and the recipient of) a painstaking, careful and lovely meal prepared and presented perfectly. Neither crumb, not fingerprint, nor smudge was present. We're talking Michelin-level attention to detail without the fuss or the expenditure.
I woke up a few times during the night and went outside once or twice in my underwear just to let it all sink in, incredulously.
Awoke to the smell of salami three flights up. Don't need a study to tell me how closely connected the olfactory nerve is to a stomach empty.
And for the first time the whole trip I was witness to (and the recipient of) a painstaking, careful and lovely meal prepared and presented perfectly. Neither crumb, not fingerprint, nor smudge was present. We're talking Michelin-level attention to detail without the fuss or the expenditure.
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Oh yes...and first night I can remember when my bike slept in a garage.
The nasty sound that it makes in the morning while freezing cold (I'm guessing it's a cam chain tensioner thing) was not so nasty being indoors. Garage good, esp. when there was snow on the mountains that wasn't there the night before.
And the one I posted before as if it was an arrival, when it was actually my departure.
The nasty sound that it makes in the morning while freezing cold (I'm guessing it's a cam chain tensioner thing) was not so nasty being indoors. Garage good, esp. when there was snow on the mountains that wasn't there the night before.
And the one I posted before as if it was an arrival, when it was actually my departure.
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The pictures below might seem to suggest that I'm secretly working for the Division of Travel and Commerce for Austria as part of their "Austria Travel 2015" Campaign, but I assure you I am not. I think I alluded to it before, but I'll just go ahead and say it again anyways: Austria is the most beautiful place I've ever seen (sorry Death Valley, I still love you more).
Sometimes there are not enough adjectives. Sometimes there are not enough superlatives. And sometimes, sometimes there are not enough expletives to describe mouth agape.
Do yourself a favor and click on the pics to see full resolution. Disclaimer: Those at risk for Tourette's avert your eyes.
Sometimes there are not enough adjectives. Sometimes there are not enough superlatives. And sometimes, sometimes there are not enough expletives to describe mouth agape.
Do yourself a favor and click on the pics to see full resolution. Disclaimer: Those at risk for Tourette's avert your eyes.
My uncle just stayed on the Irish coast and described it almost exactly like this.
Austria, huh? Well then, g'day mate! Throw some prawns on the barbie!
Good choice! I might suggest somewhere on the Devon or Cornwall coasts as well. UK, so familiar and easy enough for a Yank, unless you really want to work on your language skills. And since they're on the Atlantic, you don't get super cold winters. Plenty of rocks, wind and waves for some splendid isolation...
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Very nice hope the weather is being kind to you
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Just got back from a trip from Austria on a Austrian house wife . Your going to get sick of seeing stunning country side .........and rain . Get up to the Nurburgring do some laps .
Looks like I won't be needing that extended Visa after all. UK here I come!
There you go! You might try to get up north before the season gets too much further along. I'd bolt for Cumbria myself; the Lakes should be awesome this time of year. Not jealous at all...
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Beautiful pictures Dennis! Thanks for sharing, makes me miss living in Germany.
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