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I was not able to do as good a job with the blog as I had hoped due to several reasons. Lack of time and internet access, confusing blog interface and my fat fingers fumbling with my netbook. After our time in Switzerland we had a  fabulous time in Austria along Lake Constance and an amazing narrow and twisty road up to our remote hotel in the Alps among astoundingly beautiful scenery.  On our final leg back to Erding we enjoyed a more  good roads and a tour of King Ludwig II’s Castle Linderhof.

Switzerland

The weather has continued to be great and we have made some great friends on the tour. It just gets better and better! We visited a waterfall, the largest in Europe I beleive then on to the Alps. The roads and views are spectacular. The days are a blur and to make things worse the dates on my pictures are off as my camera has jet lag!

France

Yesterday we crossed the Rhine and entered France. Our stop for two nights is Ribeauville in the Alsace region. This town of 5000 is a little younger than Rothenberg, settled around 1300 and incredibly beautiful. Today is a “rest day” which means we do not travel but our Italian Guide Alan took us on a 220 k loop on roads that rival anything in NC or TN, in fact one of the roads is called the Dragon of France.  I can’t pronounce or even guess at he spelling but it means “alpine pass” and it has been part of the Tour De France. Switchback after switchback today. All the passengers decided to stay in town and shop and the pace was even quicker than yesterday and not without a little drama. All made it back safe and sound. Tomorrow Switzerland!

Catching up

No internet Saturday at the hotel in Heidelberg and we were too busy to post anyway! Another fantastic day of riding having a blast on the RT. 3 other RTs in the group and 5 GTL 1600s. Also a V-Strom a Honda NCX 700 and some GS 650s including the one the tour guides are riding, WE are going only 150 to 200 miles a day but stopping often for pictures, coffee breaks, photos, guided tours or to climb a tower for some awesome views. So far the food has been great!.

WE arrived in Heidelberg around 4:00. It was Saturday and there was a free concert in the square a block from our Hotel. The Zum Ritter Hotel is the oldes building in the city, the only thing that survided a fire in the 17th century! Saturday night there was a huge fireworks display on the river Nektar.

From Heidelberg we jumped on the the A5 autobahn for about 30 miles but this section had a speed limit and in fact seemed to me to be about like a US Interstate.

But once we exited we began to climb into the mountains and were soon on some fantastic roads. It was Sunday and the German sportbikers were out in the thousands. They all waved but never the cruisers or dual sports or scooters. Our guide for the day was Italian and he rides like a famous one we all know.

 

 

 

 

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