South to the Riviera

We expected to spend most of the day traveling, including several hours on the autostrada.  But this central part of the day was bookended by some excitement, both planned and unplanned.

classic cars in Bergamo

We had noticed yesterday that the Citta Alta was setting up for a classic car and motorcycle rally.  Many roads to the upper town were closed in preparation for the display and rally, but Rob eventually found a back way up and we managed to park (there were many many more visitors' motorcycles there today than yesterday), to the annoyance of the local parking meister who claimed that we were blocking his driveway. Rob managed to soothe him, and so we were able to join the crowds eyeing the machines. 

Then back to the business of traveling south to the Mediterranean, mainly by autostrada which was painless but not very scenic as we made our way around Milan and headed towards the Italian Riviera, exiting at Alba to take rural roads.  

The Piedmont hill towns and vineyards provided eye as well as biking pleasure.  Since this was a Sunday, the number of motorcycles on these roads was high. As we neared our target of Finale Ligure, the fog rolled in and made travel on these narrow twisty roads a real challenge, especially given the Italian need to speed.

riding in fog

Another challenge awaited us.  Checking three hotels on the Finale Ligure waterfront we discovered that all were fully booked.  We looked farther inland, checked four more, and learned that tomorrow is a holiday in Italy and that the town was absolutely full due to this 3 day Memorial Day equivalent. Back to the autostrada at 8:30 pm with dusk descending, we exited at Savona, following the recommendation of one of the FL hoteliers. There we found two hotels booked but the third and last in town had two rooms left.  A big sigh of relief.

rde: Lesson learned: We have to pay more attention to holidays. Missed May 8 last year in France, leading to our trading cash-for-gas that day. Ditto on June 8. But this year June 1 in Italy? Darn, I assumed that a Sunday night would be a dead zone here.

Bergamo

Cappella Colleoni

Bergamo is really two cities:  Citta Alta, the upper Medieval walled section, and Citta Basso, the modern lower section which surrounds it.  Bergamo came under the control of Venice from 1498 to 1797.  The Venetians built the 16th century walls around the upper city to protect it from possible attack by Milan.

We managed to spend four hours in Citta Alta and another three in Citta Basso before returning to our hotel at 6 pm for a well-earned rest. We began the day by taking the funicular up to the popular upper city and strolled the narrow streets lined with shops, took in views of the surrounding countryside and hazy mountains, and tried to visit the Botanical Garden which was closed for lunch.  

Lorenzo Lotto's Portrait of a Young Man

At 3 we walked down to the recently renovated Accademia Carrera for 90 minutes of art immersion.  The Museum was founded by three private individuals including Count Giacomo Carrera whose collection formed the heart of the 1810 building.  The current collection is nearly all Italian artists and mainly Renaissance to1800. Many variations of the Madonna and Child.

Following our two hours of rest (and Rob cursing at "inscrutable websites" as he tried to pay some bills online), in the evening we decided to check out some local noisy activity. Turns out that there were several street events that more-or-less filled the entire, large pedestrian zone to our south, competing with each other to have the loudest music. We bought our cups of beer and wine and sought silence, finally finding it only when we returned to our room.

Today for the first time on this trip we didn't ride the bike at all. Instead we walked and walked and walked ... Not sure which I prefer, but it was a great day.

The Closed Pass

approaching Bellano and lunch

If you saw today's route you might think we didn't have access to maps and GPS, since it included a lot of backtracking. We traveled south from Varenna to Lecco on a road that included a number of long tunnels but was infinitely faster than yesterday's slow but scenic ride up the west coast of Lake Como. At Lecco 11 am we paused to to enjoy a lovely 40 minute lakeside walk. Then we headed off for a loop inland and northward into the mountains (one of several roads recommended in our Scenic Driving Roads of Northern Italy book), returning to Lecco at noon to check out the Moto Guzzi--the premiere Italian motorcycle-- factory and Museum, which turned out to be open only from 3-4.  

So north again, past Varenna to Bellano, watching for a market for picnic supplies. No luck, so we ended up (luckily?) enjoying another lakeside cafe lunch.  Then north again to the top of Lake Como and the San Marco Pass.  Oops! The pass is closed?  But Rob is persistent and asks a maintenance worker at the spot where the cars are turning around if the pass is really closed.  Not for motorcycles, he says.  Off we went, with no Italian cars tailgating us. 

up the San Marco Pass

It was a fine ride up and down.  We returned through San Pellegrino, noticing the large bottling plant, and on to Bergamo.  We had decided against using Booking.com to secure a hotel here, noticing the relatively inexpensive prices for the weekend, and after hearing from our Stresa host that Booking charges the hotel 18% of the room rate.  We arrived at the Excelsior San Marco and are now enjoying a relatively luxurious room for $130, compared to $110 for our last two modest hotels.

Italian lakes

morning walk in Margozzo

This was our day to explore several of the lakes--Maggiore, Orta, and Como.  We started with a morning walk in Margozzo north of Stresa.  Rob remembers walking this town in 1996 though I drew a blank on that.  By the end of the day, having viewed 15 or 20 lovely lakeside towns as we rode, I doubt that I could identify any for certain.  Towns on the route of the Giro d'Italia race were decorated with pink balloons, flags, and street markings.  We successfully stayed out of their way.

Orta, the small lake to the west of Maggiore, provided us with another walk and lunch in Orta San Giulio, watching the Italian tour groups board the ferry to explore the nearby island.  Then a twisty ride to the top of Mount Mattarone with fine views, though becoming somewhat hazy.  Down from the mountain and on to the autostrada for 45 minutes to Lake Como.

approaching Varenna on the ferry

Traffic was heavy up the west side of the lake but the views made up for it.  At Menaggio we took the ferry across to Varenna where we had booked a room based on Rick Steves' suggestion that the town was worth exploring.  We were disappointed initially but later found a lakeside walk that improved our impression, though I would not consider it a highlight of the day.  

The lake district is quite stunning and the fine weather today made it even more memorable.

Simplon Pass

Wednesday May 27, posted late:  The weather is improving and got better as we traveled south.  We rode west along Lake Thun and south to Kandersteg where we took the car-train tunnel 15 minutes (no road exists here), then rode east to Brig.  Here we decided to try the Simplon Pass instead of a further car-train.  The pass was stunning despite our having to follow several slow trucks.

heading for the Simplon Pass

 

We found an interesting picnic site as we entered Italy and the weather warmed.  It seemed to be an advertisement for stone carving but served us well.  On to Stresa with a booked hotel in a busy side street near the lake.  We finished the day with an hour’s walk along Lake Maggiore.  We had last been here in 1996 and had taken the boat trip to the Borromean Islands then.  This is a major attraction of Stresa but we will miss it this year in exchange for some interesting riding. 

Borromean Island with its famous gardens

We have learned that a major Italian bicycle race may influence our choice of roads for the next two days.  Hopefully we can avoid the other two-wheelers.

Rain in Interlaken

Line at the laundromat

It rained off and on all day and the temperatures remained chilly.  A perfect opportunity to do laundry, but when we arrived the wait line was out the door, so we delayed that project until late afternoon when I was the only customer.

Rob had hoped to take a two-your afternoon ride despite the weather and did manage an hour in serious rain before giving up. Persistent?  We ended the day with a fine meal in the hotel restaurant.

Our planned route tomorrow to Stresa in the Italian lake district now includes a car-train tunnel since the high passes are still closed.

We have found Switzerland to be more expensive than we expected.  We did find some old 1994 Swiss Francs in our foreign money drawer at home and brought them along. We twice tried to use them but they are apparently so old that no one recognized them.  However, a stop at an Interlaken bank provided an exchange for our 70 francs (after the clerk called her boss for confirmation, since she also could not identify them).  After 2020 such exchanges will be denied.  

Basel to Interlaken

Tinguely's water sculpture outside the museum

Monday May 25, posted late.  We had intended to visit the Tinguely Museum this morning but found it was closed (Judy misread the site info).  It also turned out to be a holiday. Based upon past experience we expect to run into many of those in France. But Switzerland? So instead we walked along the Rhine for an hour and then departed Basel for a very non-linear ride to Interlaken. (I'll let Rob try to describe the route if he wants).

At 1:30 we stopped for a break in Beinwil, watched the lake ferry and sailboats, and decided to splurge on a fine lunch with view.  Fine, that is, until evening when the lunch turned against me.  

We have to stay off the freeways in Switzerland since we do not have a motorway vignette (tax card).  Back roads would be our choice anyway but it meant we had to go through either Lucerne or Berne.  Rob chose the former, and when he found us riding right through the center of town, he decided that it would be fun to revisit one of our favorite memory-spots (previous-&-only visit 1974). And so we spent an unplanned hour walking the waterfront, surrounded and jostled by huge numbers of tourists (mostly Japanese and some Indian) ALL taking photos, mostly of themselves.

Lucerne pedestrian bridge

Rain started as we departed so we suited up, and the 90 minute ride to Interlaken was a wet one and colder than expected. We're here for two nights luckily, since Tuesday's weather isn't promising for riding the Simplon pass into Italy.

Route des Cretes

The 55 mile Routes des Cretes forms the border between Alsace and Lorraine.  It was built by the French during WWI when Alsace belonged to Germany, and follows the crest of the Vosges Mountains on the western side in order to remain out of range of German guns. 

view along the Route des Cretes

The road is a popular destination for winter and summer sports including bicycling, motorcycling, hiking, dirt bike riding, and hang-gliding.  Today, a sunny Sunday, the road was busy with motorcycles, cars, and bicycles (in order of frequency).  We spent the day riding it--a real pleasure despite the speed of some passing two-wheelers.  The highest point is a mere 4406 ft., lower than the Santa Monica Mountains, but the air was chilly in the mid-50s so I plugged in my liner and gloves often and wondered at the hearty French and German hikers in their shorts.

Munster and the Rhine, with the cable ferry crossing

At the end of the Route we took the autoroute for an hour to Basel and our hotel, arriving in time to walk three blocks to the Rhine and through a bit of the old city, past the Munster and back along the river.  Sadly we are giving this city only a brief look since tomorrow we head south to Interlaken.  I've posted many photos today, in case you want to check the link.

Colmar

Canal area of Colmar

Colmar was a pleasant surprise since I had no prior knowledge of the city.  Our Ibis hotel was located a block from the car-free Medieval old town with its numerous half-timbered buildings.  This sunny Saturday produced hoards of visitors and many tour groups.  We spent the day walking the town and poking around the area, including the Little Venice section of canals.

The Unterlinden Museum was unfortunately under renovation and an expansion designed by Herzog & de Meuron and due to reopen in December.  Its most famous work of art, the Isenheim Alterpiece (1512-1516) by Grunewald and Nicolas de Haguenau (and Martin Schangauer's Madonna of the Rose Bower) are on display at the nearby Dominican Church.

Isenheim Alterpiece

At 5:30 we headed northwest for a look at some villages on the Alsace "Wine Road", stopping at three-star Riquewihr, also awash with tourists and numerous wine-tasting shops.

Black Forest Rides

According to Google Maps the trip from Bad Liebenzell to Colmar is 195K and should take two hours and 11 minutes via the A35.  Of course the A35 is not to our liking when so many other roads beckon, so the trip took the whole day. But the Black Forest towns and countryside are worth pursuing, and most of the roads were new to us.

Park in Bad Liebenzell

 

We started the day with an extensive German breakfast (included in the 85E hotel price) followed by an hour's walk around town which is gearing up for the summer spa crowd.  We were once told that spa treatments were covered by the national health insurance and we tend to believe this, given the number of "Bad" towns and the crowds that we often see in them during the summer season.

One reason for our slow progress

Most of the day was spent exploring numerous byways and villages, with a late afternoon lunch picnic in Bad Wildbad (not too far from our departure point).  Five-thirty found us in Freudenstadt, barely 1/3 of the way to our booked destination in Colmar.  A number of construction detours extended the trip which included a lovely ferry crossing of the Rhine, so we did not arrive until 8. C'est la vie.  We are briefly in Alsace-Lorraine for two nights before heading into Switzerland.

Preparations and departure

Bike plugged in to recharge the battery

Our overnight Icelandic flight from Boston to Frankfurt via Reykjavik went smoothly, though with little sleep achieved. We arrived at Stefan's yesterday with most of the afternoon and evening available to complete preparations for this year's eight week trip.  A few complications extended that job to this morning, but we managed an 11AM departure.

Our route, planned in outline form at least, will take us south through Switzerland and Italy to the Riviera, then west to the Dordogne and perhaps the Pyrenees , then up the Atlantic coast to Normandy, west to Paris for a math conference and back to Heidelberg.

map preparation

We made an early afternoon stop to purchase a riding jacket for Rob (price equal to two nights in a good hotel) but spent most of the day on scenic Black Forest back roads, ending in the little town of Bad Liebenzell.  This year we have mostly booked ahead for the first 3 weeks of our travels, unlike previous years when our "spur of the moment" style sometimes ran into the reality of filled hotels.

today's big purchase