Frank Lloyd Wright

For years now, in places I did not expect him, Frank pops into my life. At the MOA rally in Madison, Wisconsin I first read about Taliesin and knew nothing about the place, I just knew the general information that Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect. Carol and I rode out to see Taliesin, near his birthplace, to see what he was all about and learned that he was the father of modern architecture. I remember I was leery to spend the steep admission price to just view a building. Since then I ran into Frank near Pittsburg to see his famous house “Falling Water”; the building that brought him world fame and made him a much sought after genius. Yes, I spent another steep admission price to see Falling Water.
And again, here in Phoenix I run into Frank Lloyd Wright. Driving around the city, studying the map, Carol sees a Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and a Taliesin West site near Scottsdale and somehow we just had to see this place, too. I also saw that some good books were written about Frank L. Wright when I visited Borders the other day. Frank is mentioned in Eric Larson’s book “The Devil in the White City”. It seems that Frank has something to say to me but I am not picking up on it yet. I thought that maybe by writing this, something might bubble to the surface.
Frank was a short man, maybe 5.7 he always made sure he wore platform shoes to look larger than life. He wore a cape to make himself appear bigger. He wore a hat to give him height. He spent money fast and was in debt most of his life. He married 3 women and I do not know anything more about his private affairs but I know that when I walk into his buildings I get this feeling that I am home. Not that I like modern architecture, I do not in fact. Or let me say I prefer a house or home that is functional and warm and made so that if fits me. Like a shoe, it must fit without causing pressure spots. I do not really care what the outside looks like, it must feel right. F L W‘s homes feel cozy! They feel logical and have something that makes me realize that he knew something special. While his personality made people shake their head, his performance as an architect was unique.
I am told that Taliesin means shining brow. Frank Lloyd did not believe in putting a house on the top of a hill. Compared to a human face, his house was situated not on the persons head but was placed so that it appeared as an eyebrow on a face. Taliesin is a Welsh word meaning a shining eyebrow. He was adamant about using the natural environment around his houses and tried to compliment or blend in with Nature.
I am still wondering why I am so attracted to his style, his way of thinking. Maybe it will come to me. I visited Taliesin West, his winter hangout in Arizona, and I am posting some pictures here. He was an early snowbird, bought 800 acres of desert in Scottsdale, when it was cheap. He had vision, lived his own way, lived in a style he believed in and was an ego maniac. So why am I running into him all the time?

Off to Peru !

Well, what a nice guy, Wayne Lee turned out to be. After we spent 3 weeks exploring Phoenix, AZ and the surrounding area Wayne helped us load our bikes on the borrowed trailer for the next step on our schedule. This is not easy for Wayne, he lives about 2 hours away from here, yet he came in his truck just to help me load the 2 bikes. What a guy! Thank you, Wayne!
Loading a bike on a truck or trailer is always an adventure for me. I normally ride my bike to anyplace and only recently have I tried to get places via trailer, pulling the bike behind a car. I am not sure I like pulling a trailer although it is convenient. I miss the accomplishment of getting to a place via bike. A car seems a bit soft, too comfortable yet it is a good way to get your bike to a place you can ride. Canada right now is way below Zero and riding is not recommended. To trailer the bikes to warmer climates is a good alternative. And at least I can continue riding a bike rather than leaving it in the garage in Toronto, waiting for spring time.
I tried loading the trailer by myself but found this difficult, especially the bikes are packed tight like they are. The two bikes just about fit and we have only inches to spare on either side of the bike. I used 10 straps to hold 2 bikes in place. Did I overdue it? I believe better safe than sorry! I can drive the car now with the conviction that the bikes are loaded well and secured solidly. I use foam insulation, normally used for pipe insulation, as extra bumpers for areas that could chafe or rub. I tape all loose strap ends with duct tape so that nothing blows in the wind. I cover electric connecters for the GPS with electrical tape so that they are protected. I do what it takes to make the transport as safe as possible. Wayne was a great help. I could tell he has packed bikes for hauling before, he knew his stuff. Well, we are all set to go as you can see by the pictures. All loose ends are tied down, we are ready to go.
We are flying to Peru to see if it is possible for us to ride there in the future. Carol and I chose Peru because it would be the middle of a trip from the U.S. to Tierra del Fuego; let us see if we are not too old to ride those roads. This is a scouting mission and we will report on what I believe is a go or no go for a ride down to the Southern End of the world. We will keep all possibilities open; we are off to Peru!

Alien Desert Plants

As a man born in the temperate zones of Europe, having lived always in the Northern Hemisphere, I know nothing about the desert and the plants that grow here. I might as well have landed with an alien spaceship on a new planet. Everything seems so new to me. It must be a left over subconscious feeling after seeing the movie Avatar.
I do not recognize one plant. Sure I know what a cactus looks like and a tree, but I wanted to learn the difference between a Palo Verde, an Ironwood and a Mesquite Tree during my guided tour of the Sonora Desert. All three trees are of the legume family by the way. The specific weight of Iron Wood is greater than water. Iron wood does not float. Mesquite wood is used to flavor food. Palo Verde uses its bark for photosynthesis.
Chris Adix (christopher.a.adix@wellsfargo.com) was our tour guide. For about 2 and ½ hours we trekked on foot thru a small section of the Sonora Desert. Chris showed us why we really need to avoid the Teddy Bear Cactus (Cholla) since it is very brittle and sections break off easily and cling to you. It seems the barbed pieces easily pierce the skin. They are clingy like a Teddy Bear, hence the name. And yes, they itch and hurt for hours after you get rid of the barbs. Some barbs are so small they burrow into you and you will have a difficult time removing them if you can even see them. A barrel cactus, on the other hand is comparatively harmless, since it just stands there. Yet, don’t sit on this barrel. Some barrel cacti have bent barbs that can be used as fish hooks, hence its name, fish hook cactus. Some barrel cacti always twist themselves towards the sun and are called compass cacti. But watch out for the Teddy Bear Plant.
Strangely, though, the packrat, a rodent living here, collects the broken pieces of this Cholla cactus and brings them to its midden. I learned that midden is a dump site in archeology, and packrats pass their midden on from generation to generation. These fallen off pieces are needed for the propagation of the Cholla plant and the packrat aids in distributing the seeds of this cactus.
Chris told us that the creosote tree is the oldest living plant on earth. There is one in the Lucerne Valley in California that is 11,700 years old. The typical smell that reaches your nose in the desert, especially after a rain, is the smell of the creosote tree. The natives used the small leaves to make herbal tea which helped for some ailments.
Prickly pear cactus is edible for humans (you need to burn off the barbs) and for Javelinas as well. Javelinas are not pigs; even though they look like a pig. We did not see any animals (only a cotton tail bunny) on our short trip but I was overwhelmed with the knowledge Chris shared. He talked a lot but somehow I seem to remember many of the things he said. He has a natural way of sharing what he knows. He is a great guy and guide. The stories about the Saguaro cactus, about how they grow, how their blooms are harvested as food, how much water they can hold, etc are amazing to me.
The whole trip into the desert was a new experience. I like to know what is edible, what is ornamental and what is medicinal when it comes to plants. This trip into the desert gave me a totally new appreciation for the people who lived here and how they survived in an area that seems inhospitable yet offers free food and drink for the person who can find it or knows what to take or where to look.
We saw petroglyphs that were 1000 years old, just lying on the ground. People have been here for millennium living off the land. I am the new comer, I am learning slowly. I find it amazing and interesting to be able to live in this alien world, this section of the planet is so strange and so different from where I grew up.
My trip to the Botanical Garden of Arizona just a few days before was not as informative as this guided tour with Chris. Send him an email if you want to have a tour of the desert here in Phoenix, this guy is good.
Even Chris is still puzzled as to why the rattlesnake gives birth to live offspring and another snake that looks exactly like the rattlesnake, makes a “rattle” sound but is not poisonous, lays eggs and hatches them. Two snakes, both look alike and are often confused, both live in the same environment yet are so different from each other. There are a lot of stories here; there is a lot to discover. AZ is worth a trip, the best month would be late March or early April. I think I am coming back someday.

Copper Mines and a Helping Hand

We had a visitor here at our rented house, Wayne Lee from Edmonton, Alberta. He and Irene, his partner, rode up last week and told us about some good riding roads on the East side of Phoenix. To get there, though, we have to ride straight across Phoenix or use a belt way around the town. We decided to use the belt system; it seems shorter in time because it is mostly highway. Still, it took us about 2 hours just to reach the east side of Phoenix. The weather forecast for this week is rain and low temperatures, snow possible over 4000 feet. But yesterday, Sunday, the sun shone and even though it was cool, it was not cold. So, off we went to explore the other side, which on the map looked like good riding. Wayne also told us about a huge Copper mine that has to be seen to be believed. Again, we wanted to just ride for the day and be back by nightfall.
After reaching Apache Junction, we were due for a soup and saw a typical diner and perfect stop for a break. Before we went in however, I saw a fellow rider having trouble starting his bike. He was frustrated and when I asked him some basic questions he answered but I could tell he wanted to find the solution and ride away. The battery had enough juice, the lights were on, but when he pushed the starter, not a sound. No grinding of the starter, nothing. We checked for loose cables, checked each fuse in the fuse panel; tried this and that but nothing. He needed a tow. I offered to take him or his partner home on my bike but they both wanted to stay with the bike. I loaned them my cell phone and they called a buddy to toe them home. We went inside and had our soup to warm us up and after about 3o minutes were ready to move on. This poor fellow still sat and waited for his friend to pick him up. I ask again if he wanted me to call a road service, if he wanted me to ride one of them back to their home but no, they preferred to wait for their neighbor. I felt so helpless and frustrated; I really thought starting a bike, any bike, even if it was a Harley like he had, just needed 3 things: fuel, spark and air. Well he had all three but the bike would not start. I wish I could have helped, it would have made me feel like a hero but I can only say I rode away not knowing anything. Too bad, it would have been nice to help.
The road Wayne told us about was busy, a lot of riders were on their Sunday ride and even cars were in abundance. The speed limit was 55 miles/hour and there were police watching at strategic spots. Some spots were curvy and while the scenery was rough and very Western, I was disturbed by the destruction of some of the hills. I could tell a large amount of earth had been moved by an open pit mining operation. Yes, it looked neat but somehow so wrong to see this in the mountains of Arizona. To me it looked like an ugly scar on the rugged landscape. The mountains taken away were replaced by the remaining dirt which was terraced into mountains. It looked so false, so ugly it disturbed me. No matter what the rest of the day would bring, I could not get over the scars inflicted by man. These are huge copper mines, I know we need copper and yes, it is in nowhere land, not much around, just some small, decrepit looking mining towns made out of old trailers that look abandoned. Yet, I felt ashamed that this would be allowed to happen. I mean whole valleys were dug up, huge mountains were removed. Sure there is lots of space and on the whole it might not mean much; except for me it looks ugly.
We reached about 5000 feet in altitude and it turned cold enough to turn on our heated grips. Being in the middle of nowhere, we realized we needed to watch our gas. Lucky for us we found one gas station open and filled up and left for ‘home’. The trip back, again, was mostly super slab at 70 miles per hour plus in the HOV lane.
It was a strange day, we rode for about 300 miles that day, the roads were ok, some even beautiful but seeing the environmental destruction inflicted by man, overshadowed the experience.
Yes, I know we need copper!

Use it or lose it

If you rest, you will rust.

And we started to rust after 3 months of hardly riding our bikes in Toronto due to winter weather. Sure we rode a little but not enough to keep sharp in our riding skills. Going to BMW Open Road in Newmarket does not count as a ride, does it? Nor does going to a motorcycle show in downtown Toronto make us better riders. We needed to ride to stay in shape and not rust. So what to do? We rented a beautiful home in Surprise AZ for a few weeks this January and towed our bikes all the way from Toronto to Surprise, near Phoenix, AZ.
We left at -12 Celsius with snow on the ground and it took us 4 days of driving, taking only Super Slab Highways. We even spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day on the road to get away from the non-riding weather. We reached elevations of over 7000 feet and the temperature kept hovering around the minus 10 degree Celsius mark for most of our trip to Arizona. Only when we descended from the Northern Plains of Arizona and dropped to 1500 feet here in Phoenix did the thermometer climb to 68 degrees. For all the folks in the North Country let me tell you, 68 degrees F feels like heaven.
After we got settled into this large, luxurious home (3 bedrooms, pool, 2 car garage, etc. -actually bigger than we needed), we cleaned our machines, cleaned the car and cleaned the trailer( borrowed from Tom Stewart , an Ontario BMW Club member) and set our sights on riding to Sedona, AZ .
Yesterday we got started not too early, the nights are still cold here and we did not want to freeze while riding too early. So we left the house at about 9 AM. We took the back roads. The map showed some twisties on Rt. 89A and we were not disappointed. A stop at Prescott for a warm soup was most welcome. The sun shone but not strongly enough to warm us. Our bodies ached from inactivity and not riding for so long, we had started to rust and while we calculated 2 hours to get to Sedona, it took us almost 4 hours. OK, we diddled, we stopped in Prescott, we stopped in Jerome and all this ate away at the time. The road itself, twisty in some spots and with snow on the side and possibly black ice made for careful riding.
During our drive to Surprise, the cold weather took its toll on Carol’s bike battery and we had to recharge it. We now wondered if we would have any trouble while out riding but I can report that all is ok, her bike started every time.
We arrived in Sedona at about 1 PM, took a look around, decided that we have to come back here and visited the Art Village of Tiaquepaque. Somehow we are always attracted to Art Galleries, to the representation of the unusual. Tiaquepaque is a great example of what we like. We rode around some side streets until we got to some dirt roads that looked too dangerous to ride. I inspected the roads for a stretch but given that the rust in still with us, we declined and left Sedona at 3 pm amid bright sunshine and moderate temperatures of 68 degrees F. We knew we had 2 hours of riding before us if we did not stop. The light wanes quickly here at dusk and we had to be back in Phoenix by 5 pm in order to ride in daylight. The shortest route was Interstate 17 south to Phoenix which allowed speeds of 75 miles per hour. Well, not being used to these speeds, sometimes going 80 plus with the sun in our eyes, it was another experience that showed we had rusted some. Traffic was light on the way back until we got to Phoenix and then it became stop-and-go due to rush hour. We got back at 5.45 PM and had a good first day of riding for our first day after some rusting.

Yes, it shows, when you don’t use it you will lose it. We need to ride more!

Reflections of 09

We are on our way back to Toronto and this is a reflection of our trip. About 10 weeks ago we were anxious to start; now we feel a need to get back to a more civilized routine. Travel is not easy. Life is unpredictable on the road, yet we were very lucky. Each night we found shelter. Accommodation went from living in a tent or a garden shed to having the finest society had to offer in a 4 star hotel. We had the illusion that the internet is available all over the world, it is! Yet it is either expensive or so slow that it defies usefulness. We ate well, not always the finest but we were never hungry. The weather was on our side. Yes, we had rain, fog, cold spots even heat but all in all we rode in dry conditions. We were extremely pleased about that. Our bikes held up, no major repair needed. In the most desolate areas the machines ran well. I managed with a defective side stand to get off and on the bike using a wooden block. I was a bit nervous about my bald front tire but I learned from that, too. Next year we will start with a fresh set of tires. We rode slowly when Carol’s chain was worn out and needed replacement. We ran into people that were helpful and even offered their home for us to use. Thank you again, Hilde and Sigurd. We lived day to day with a destination in mind, with a theme to follow. There were a lot of firsts for Carol. The mind was on overload but we survived it all. Right now it rains, the last day of our trip we are holed up at Stefan Knopf’s place in Heidelberg. Our bikes are washed, the oils have been changed, the fuel stabilized and all is put away until next year. We had a good trip. Next year we will continue on a new venture and let’s hope that in the future all trips will be as good as this trip.

Familiar Places

I ask myself some days why do I travel. Do I have a gene that cannot sit still? Do I seek something new all the time? Am I that curious? Most people I know love to go on vacation but the travel I am talking about is different. When I travel I do not have an itinerary with a daily destination; I do not like that too much. I rather like the free flow and sense of discovery when I travel. Yes, I like a target, a city, a region or a country that I will aim for when I am on the road. I like a theme, for example I liked retracing and exploring the route Lewis and Clark took in the early 19th century. I like to find newness, things I never saw or knew before. With the Lewis and Clark example I enjoyed learning about the lives of the Native American at the time of Lewis and Clark. I am not sure how deep I want to go on some subjects but if it is new to me, I like to learn as much as possible. The difficulty is that my brain can hold only so much on any given day. I do get overloaded with impressions and newness over time and I can feel the learning, the sheer size of newness, physically. I know from experience that I need a rest when I feel like this. Weeks of accumulated new experiences wear on me.
That is the reason I go back to familiar places; places that do not burden me with new, but relax me with familiar. Familiar is predictable, something I normally do not like very much. But familiar is calming, reassuring and well, familiar.
So, after all of our travels for the last 9 weeks we went to France. I learned to love this county. France to me is familiar; the food is great, the people friendly and the French routine somewhat predictable. But because I can only converse in words, not in sentences I went back to Germany. Now here, of course, I am at home and I find some pride in the German ways yet I would never live here again. The language is my mother tongue. It is way, way too familiar. Way too predictable for me.
But my bike needed a new headlight, the auxiliary light from Touratech needed fixing and the right aluminum pannier needed adjusting. Touratech was the place to go and we over-nighted in Dauchingen at the ‘Schwarzwaelder Hof’ Hotel, a great, clean, predictably German place for a night. How people can live their entire life in Dauchingen is beyond my understanding. I cannot be like them. I need to travel. I need to explore. I need to search. I am curious. I want to know and learn. So I am constantly in flux; trying to find a place to settle, yet feeling the need to add to my experiences through travel.
I am lucky that Carol is as much a traveler as I am. Her reasons might be different, but we make a good team. After all this time, travelling and getting bumped around by circumstances, we get along just fine. I don’t have, nor do I pretend to know, all the answers to the way I am.
This blog is just a vent as to what goes on in my head while traveling. I am constantly searching for some kind of answers about myself. Maybe traveling is a diversion or an excuse not to face myself?
I am learning though and will do what I do until I can no longer do it.

Champions

One of my riding friends, Norm Smith, moved recently, permanently, to Switzerland. His wife Denise is Swiss and Washington D.C., home for Denise and Norm for the last decade or so, lost 2 good citizens.
I first met Norm on a GlobeRiders (http://www.globeriders.com/) Trip in 2004. Norm and I rode together for 65 days, from Shanghai, China to Munich, Germany. If you want to get to know someone well, ride with him/her on a daily basis for some time. Norm is a Champion, hands down. His riding skills were honed by many years of off-road competition all around the U.S. and Canada in his early years. He never lost the touch of riding off road and still does it well. Not only did he win the 1963 Corduroy in Canada (http://www.corduroyenduro.ca/), he became an off road champion everyone can read about or look up on the internet. But Norm is more than just an official page in a book; he received the Friend of the Marque award from BMW 2 years ago, too. All that makes Norm a great guy in many eyes but in my eyes he is a Champion of special caliber. He is my friend.
We visited Norm and Denise in their new home near Montreux, Suisse. Norm still has his passion for motorcycles but seems to start to replace it with learning about the best wines in the region. He gave us a tour of the best wineries he knows and we even had some wine tasting that was very real, without the pressure of ‘buy’ this wine.
What a great spot Norm picked to spend his evening of life. I admire his ability to adjust to all these new circumstances, to the new languages, even though he speaks French, German and Italian and of course English, quite well. Thank you for your hospitality, Norm and Denise. I salute the contentment you found in your new life. Thanks, Denise, for a wonderful diner from your own garden and the local product from your favorite sausage maker.
Norm is a guide for me in some ways; a guide to living as you get older and life starts to wear on your body. I still see Norm’s determination, his will is very strong. I see his passion in everything and I think that makes him or anybody else I admire a champion. A person who knows he/she is getting older, yet never gives up is what I admire. I see this in Norm. You are doing well indeed, Norm, my hat is off to you.
I have a few selected people in this world, all Champions. I like to stay in touch with them. I like to visit them, talk to them, and learn from them. These people have collected experiences not only in the motorcycle community, but in life, too. Life has made them the Champions I so admire. Each one of my Champions teaches me something. Each one has their own unique value; their personal aura is what attracts me to them. It may not be visible to everyone, but to me those people are very special.
The late Lyle Grimes comes to mind, too. Life was not so generous with Lyle yet he was so determined to make the best of it all and he showed it in never giving up. Lyle rode 1.2 million miles plus on a motorcycle before he passed away this year. I talked to Lyle many times, he treated me like a son and I learned from his friendly nature and generous personality. Lyle was a Champion for sure. Everybody loved this guy; everybody must have seen his aura, too. He always spoke kindly about everyone; he was never rude or abrasive. I can still see him in my mind and I think I always will remember him. Lyle and I had a little game; each time I saw him at a rally I greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, like they do in Italy. He pretended he did not like it but yet I know otherwise. Lyle and I had a good mental connection, he was a Champion. He was my friend. I will miss you, Lyle.
Only David Swisher has more miles riding a motorcycle. Dave is a living legend, one of my Champions. Dave and I have talked many times and he told me his life story. We talked about his struggle as a young man, his innovative application of mechanization in the early days of dairy farming and all that added up to what Dave is today. Yes, Dave is still counting his miles, presently over 1.75 million miles, but I am not counting his miles. Dave is my friend. Dave will always be a Champion whether he adds miles or not. David and Lyle were riding buddies for years and I am sure David feels the loss of Lyle the most.
Some people I admire don’t even know me well. Michelle Duff is one of those. Last time I met Michelle she was in Toronto at the yearly Motorcycle Show. She does not know me well enough to talk to me freely, I hear about her in the racing circuit of the generation that came before me. I admire her spirit, her independence, and I admire her for doing her thing no matter what society thinks or believes is proper. Good for you, Michelle! You are a Champion in my book.
Joe Katz, a very friendly, self-sufficient man opened my eyes to another level of motorcycle riding. Joe is no longer able to ride but he drives his new car to rallies now. Joe never owned a car before and all this is new to him. Joe Katz is still a motorcycle rider at heart; never mind that he rides his car now. He is an institution at most rallies and he is a true Champion.
We all are getting older, we all start to fail. Some of us more severely than others but yes, most of my Champions are older. Not that this is a requisite for being a Champion, not at all. Being of a more advanced age just brings more experience to the table. I like to learn and I like to learn from people that can give me a new, different view on life. I do not believe, just because years have gone by, that my Champions have nothing new to contribute. Just the opposite is true. We can all learn from each other, I seem to learn more from my friends who have gone through life and situations before me. I admire their knowledge, their experiences, let me learn from them. I hope I can be as gracious as Norm Smith, as determined as Lyle Grimes, as independent as Michelle Duff or as popular as Joe Katz, no matter my age, no matter my physical conditions. My Champions are always an inspiration to me.
I agree with Norm Smith who is now enjoying life with a glass of wine in his hand and 2 motorcycles in the garage which he now rides infrequently. Life is to be enjoyed.
L’Chaim, enjoy your age, enjoy life! And thank you all, even the ones I did not mention here, you are my Champions no matter what.

Swiss, Schweiz, Switzerland, Suisse, Svizzera

A delightful day in Bolzano (Bozen), where we finally found an Italian Internet connection, gave us a starting point for Switzerland! Bozen is a town I could spend some time in. I loved the real life, the real market, and the real people in that city. If only they had better internet set up in Italy.
The anti-terrorist laws in Italy on Internet use are very strict. A copy of your passport is needed to use any public internet. So if you own an internet café you need a copy machine because each customer must present their passport so a copy can be made. All this is rather cumbersome and, of course, nobody wants to be bothered doing it. WiFi is not in use since this would circumvent the law. The fines for letting someone use the internet without you obtaining their passport copy are steep and expensive. Two hours of internet use in Italy, if you can find a café like this, costs 8 Euros. But Italy is fun, lively, real and a great place to visit. In Italy I don’t see the falling apart houses, the grime. I only see life as it is. But we cannot stay here, we must move on.
So we left Italy after some outstanding, difficult riding in the Dolomites. When we left Bolzano we did not use the highway since even the secondary roads were in the valleys and riding secondary roads after all the Alpine passes, seemed a breeze.
I have always wanted to add Lichtenstein to my roster of countries in which I have ridden so we made sure we visited Valdus in the country of Lichtenstein. I had such a romantic notion of this Earldom that the reality of what we experienced there floored me. There is nothing pretty about this county. A hodge-podge of building styles put together without a master plan. Chaos is the best word I can think of. Nothing nice; all just business oriented and may I say it, ugly. Well we visited but were glad to get out of it, fast! We thought it can only get better in Switzerland.
We entered Switzerland from the east after riding on some rather mild roads. Maybe it was Lichtenstein, but this time around I was not impressed with Switzerland either. The buildings were old, dirty and in some cities, full of graffiti. A power washer business would be a good business to have in Eastern Switzerland. Maybe it is hard to keep these old buildings up to snuff. I am not sure; my impression was that the towns we rode through needed help.
There is sticker shock too. Hotel rooms are 140 Swiss Franken a night. One Franken is about one US Dollar. Yes, it includes breakfast but the rooms we stayed in were so-so. The furniture was old, the light fixtures old, the backyard stuffed full of stuff. Yes, next to each house, in every backyard there seems to be stuff. Building material lies around, ladders are leaned against the house, plastic tarps cover something, etc. It does not look pretty.
So how do I tell you about Switzerland? Is it as romantic as in Heidi? NO! Although we did see some of the old ways still preserved. We rode through some towns where cows were driven through the streets to spend their winter in barns after a summer in the high pastures. The cows were decorated in the old Alpine tradition with large bells around their necks and garlands on their heads.
Today, however, the cars drove right past them and the cows and cars did not mix well. The glorious old days of the cows coming down, the celebration of a good year on the high meadows, the feeling of jubilation is gone. The dung left on the roads by all the cows is now a nuisance. You have to be careful were you drive, this stuff is all over. You do not want to slip on this goo with your motorcycle tires.
Gone, too is the sense of beauty, it seems. All is business; all is a striving after money. I did not get that feeling in the French part of Switzerland. Here I felt that wine is still the driving force; there is a joie de vivre and life comes before money. In the east it was the other way around.
Carol and I rode a few major passes, the Flueelapass, Klausenpass and the Sustenpass. Beautiful riding with the usual switchbacks and riding above the tree line. It was cool but not cold. The weather was wonderful and we were extremely lucky that we had no rain. We stopped for lunch and it rained. It starts to rain lightly in this valley but we get into a tunnel and when we pop out the other side, no rain, and beautiful sunshine. We must be protected somehow, isolated from getting wet.
Our feelings start to change now, we only have about 10 days before leaving for Toronto and we are kind of mellow. We ride without a target, just drifting about. Will I visit Switzerland again? Yes, I am sure. Switzerland is a wonderful country in general, the areas we rode through, the Eastern parts I will try to avoid next time around. I am partial to the French Alps and I find them wonderful and a great place to ride in too. Yes, I am sure I will be back here. I just need to stick to selected areas and not assume that all of Suisse is the romantic Heidi Mountain out of movie land. Life and modernity has changed Switzerland I need to change as well.

Passes

What did we know about passes when we left Ampezzo this morning? We left after a nice breakfast of croissants the owner of the Albergo baked fresh for us. We have perfect weather, 21 degrees and bright sunshine.
After a while we run into road work where the asphalt has been milled off the road surface and only the harsh grooves remain for us to ride over. Some areas are already tarred for new paving but the road is open for traffic. Signs warn us of debris on the surface, too. After riding through the tar (we could not do otherwise) we pick up small stones on our tires. This makes for a weird ride when going around curves. Not only do we get a strange wiggle sensation from the grooves milled into the road, but now we feel like we are riding with pop corn tires too
the road is carved into the mountain side with twist and turns.
Paseo de Mauria is the first section for the day and a hard section to ride. We thought the road was fairly straight, judging from the map. But we get through it and are looking for a little relief with a straight section. No such thing today.
The next Pass is Falzaregopass and it is like a screw driver. I remember one curve in particular. A right hander, tight, first gear and as soon as I made the right turn, the road climbed immediately after the turn. It had kind of a bump in the road, right after a sharp turn. Only with lots of gas did I make this turn.
Next was the Pordoi Joch, another beauty. Carol and I just looked at each other and you could tell we were both not happy with so many of the twists. These constant hard sections will wear you out. Your arms hurt, your shoulders cramp up, your neck is strained from twisting your head all away around all day. And yet, here comes the Sella Joch.
It is now about 2.40 in the afternoon and with the warm sun, the bright light, the high elevations, and the constant strain on our nerves we are worn out. We have had it for the day. There was no lunch today, just water breaks and this town Wolkenstein has so many hotels that we will find one with a Wi-Fi someplace. We call a few hotels from a telephone board set up by the town, but no luck. We stop at 4 ort 5 places to just walk in but no internet. We wait for the Information Booth to open at 3 pm and they do help in printing out a list of hotels with Wi-Fi and we call all of them. No luck, they have no Wi-Fi, they might get some down the road, but they don’t have it yet. It is now 5 pm and we have had it. Back to the first place we found which looked clean and had a room and just breakfast. We took a room here.
Today we feel like we got beaten up by the mountains and then again by our hotel search. The roads got to us. We did everything right, nothing bad happened but we are bushed. These passes are something else, they don’t quit. They keep on coming up on you and twist and twist and so on. No mercy here, ride or else. There is no way out, we must ride out of these mountains even though we will land in other sections of the Alps but tomorrow is another day

Karnische Dolomiten Strasse

We found this road on the map and thought, this is not too twisty, let’s take this one, especially since it is marked with green dots alongside indicating a scenic route. We went out of our way to take it from west to east thinking we can connect later with a main road into Italy.
The Karnische started off smooth and winding, wonderful, with green grassy meadows,old huts in the valleys below; thru old towns with narrow streets and a feeling of time gone by but then it started to twist itself into knots.
Again, first and second gear but this time the drop offs were not that severe. It was not that high up so trees grew on the side of the road but that made the visibility around the corners a bit difficult. There is no field of vision, the corners are mostly blind corners and you hope nobody is in your lane when you come around the bend. The road was narrow especially thru the towns along the way.
jutted out into the streets, you literally must stop, look around the house if someone is coming and then proceed. Of course trucks and buses are there, too. If a truck comes your way you must back up or wait a bit and let him pass before you can proceed. A truck or bus and a bike do not fit on the roads. That is in the straight parts, forget the corners. In the corners, over the narrow bridges, might is right. The truck will go first.
We only made it as far as Ampezzo in Italy. was under the impression that this was Cortina D’Ampezzo, the 1964 Olympic town but it turned out to be a rundown town. We had a strange encounter here, or better 2 encounters.
The first was when we tried to check into the hotel. We agreed to the price and we left our helmet and jacket in the room when we walked down together, the gal who showed us the room was friendly enough and her English passable. Now she wanted my passport so I gave her my driver’s license instead. She wanted to keep it behind the counter, in free view of all and accessible to everybody who knows where to look. I refused to hand over my license for her to keep but agreed that she could make a photocopy. She was not happy; she wanted the license in her possession. She wanted the key back, too. A melee of confusion occurred about keys, identifications, etc. I handed over the key and now she refused to let us back into the room with the jackets and helmets being locked up inside. She did not kidnap us but she kidnapped our belongings. She wanted the physical passport or license. Finally, she agreed to open the door again for us to retrieve our belongings but only after she made copies of the driver’s license. The whole affair would have been a comedy if it I had not been involved. After much to do, we took our stuff and saddled up again and left.
Tired and worn out from riding the twisties, were do we go now? The town does not have another hotel. We rode down the main road a bit and found an Albergo, not so nice but we had a bed for the night. Nobody asked us for the license or passport here until in the morning and then only to copy down the number and the home address. The Albergo was a family affair. The daughter showed us the room and then disappeared. We walked around town to find a spot to quench our thirst and after a ginger wine for Carol and a beer for me the world was much better already.
Here is the 2nd event. After returning to our Albergo we asked if they knew of a place to eat. We asked in the bar downstairs and a man sitting at the bar took his cell phone and called around, trying to find a place that is open since the town really does not have a place to eat. He gets an answer on his cell phone and insists on driving us there. It is dark already, about 8.30 pm and this guy races with us thru the narrow alpine streets and drives us to the next town just so we can eat. He drops off us, leaves us his phone number to call him back once we have eaten and leaves. Ok, so we go inside this eatery and the kitchen is closed. The gas stove is broken, they cannot cook. Everybody is very sorry but they cannot cook. What to do? We call our driver back and he comes right away and picks us up. Everybody is shaking their head and all feel bad that we do not have anything to eat. He calls his wife at home (while driving FAST in the dark on twisty roads) and tells her to make spaghetti, just for us. It turned out, that our driver is the owner of the Albergo and his wife serves us freshly made, absolutely delicious spaghetti free of charge. We feel badly but no, they do not accept any money. Finito!
Now we are finished eating and ready to go to our room when the daughter comes to us and tells us, today is my 17th Birthday, I would like you to have some cake with my family and me. Naturally, we joined them and had champagne and cake for desert. We took lots of pictures of her, her mother and father, grandmother and grandfather, brother, 2 uncles and an aunt.
What did all this cost? Euro 50.- for the room.
The experience? Priceless !! Thank you, this old town Ampezzo might not have a great hotel or an eatery that is open but it has people with good hearts.

Grossglockner and Heiligenblut

We had a slow start, took a leisurely breakfast and left when the sun started to warm up the coolness of the night. The temperatures vary greatly from day to night here and a sweater comes in handy.
We decided to take the Grossglockner Pass (RT107 South from Zell to Heiligenblut). This mountain, the Grossglockner (Big Bell Mountain) is the highest mountain in Austria at 3564 meters and a pass has crossed this mountain for millennia already. The Celts and the Romans marched across this high beast and made a trail for us to follow. You have to pay a Maut (toll) of 18 Euros per bike to be let thru the gate to take this road.
Today’s road peaks at about 2500 meters and is full of curves and switchbacks with large drop offs into the valleys far below. Few or no railings are present; don’t make a mistake, it will be your last if you make it in the wrong spot. This is a mountain pass of 1st and 2nd gear with very few chances to go to 3rd gear and generally a constant 12% grade up or down. There are 40 switchbacks (a turn of at least 180 degrees). you drive in one direction to fully turn around to go the other direction in a very limited amount of space, glued on the side of a mountain with traffic meeting you at any time or at any point. Yes, large buses, too. There is no time to panic, you are committed and you have no choice, you must go on. There is no place to pull over, no place to slow down too much. In the turns you must keep up your momentum to make it around the steeply banked roads. This is not a road for beginners. And if you are afraid of heights you might feel very anxious and your pulse rate will increase for sure. There is not much time to gaze about you and you cannot admire the wild landscape, your focus is on the road, on the next turn on the way to approach the oncoming traffic. There are some pull offs and we took a few to take some pictures
we gave ourselves a bigger break at the top. A large enough area gives you a reprieve. I believe you can have a coffee, too or something to eat but I cannot recall, really.
I saw a sign at this parking lot that said for bikers only and a narrow, paved with cobblestones, road twisting even further up the mountain. Naturally I took it but Carol had enough after 2 steep turns and waited for me to come down again. There was nothing on top, just the feeling, ok, I made this little bit, too.
We looked at a map posted on the side of the road and saw that a small detour further down the mountain leads us to a glacier. glacier is named after the last Austrian Emperor Franz-Joseph and it is said that he hiked to this spot once. If he did, it was an accomplishment, because this mountain is steep. The way down is not much easier than the way up. I let the motor brake my momentum; 2nd gear worked fine, without using the breaks too much. We made it safely to Heilingenblut (Holy Blood) at the other side of the Grossglockner.
Finding a hotel was easy but Internet connections are hard to come by. Dinner was in a rustic wooden house but it took a hike up the mountain to get to it. We deserved the beer that night.

Hinterthal, Hoher Koenigsberg, Austria

This is our first full day of riding in Austria. Green meadows, fat cows, rich farmland, rolling hills and as close to the Sound of Music as you can get. We are near Salzburg but we do not want to see any more large cities. Show us some small town living please. That is what we said to ourselves. We took local roads, no highways.
As a trial run for the passes to come we took route 166 called the “Salzburger Dolomiten Strasse”. We paid the 3.50 Euro per bike Maut (Toll) and it was a mild experience which brought us just above the tree line to about 1300 meters. It was a curvy road with some first or second gear switchbacks. It is a ski area in winter and a good taste of what lies ahead.
We stopped for the night in a very small town on Rt 164 called Hinterthal. We stopped early for the day even though the weather was perfect for riding. This little town, in a dead end valley is a delight. The Hotel Theresa gave us a garage for the bikes, we talked to the son of the owner named Joseph (Seppl), who cooked in the kitchen and was leaving the next day to visit Toronto, Chicago and Detroit. We were taken in by the Miller family as if we were friends. The owner rides an 1150 GS and the son a KTM dirt bike.
The mountain range surrounding this valley, the Hochkoening (High King) has mountain peaks all over 2500 meters high. Snow was still visible in some spots. The air was crystal clear, no wind (there is never really a lot of wind in the Alps because the mountains block any air currents) cows grazed on the high meadows, wooded patches of firs or pines gave it a picture perfect feeling. the houses had balconies with flower boxes full of colorful flowers. Each house was neat and well taken care of. We had a beer in front of a garden restaurant and watched the people go by. It was such a peaceful, quiet, delightful and restful experience after a day’s ride. Carol did not want to leave; she was humming “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music”, to herself. the hotel had had Wi-Fi we would have stayed longer.
During the war they wanted to run a rail road through this valley but it never happened. Thank God, it saved a pretty spot for us to visit. The food that night was delicious as was breakfast the next day.

Steyr, Austria

We made it into Austria in one day. I remembered the way the taxi driver drove and took the same route to get out of town. What a difference in appearance. Even before the border I could tell we were getting near Austria. The houses looked cleaner; the yards were tended with flower beds and vegetable gardens. The fields looked trimmed. Once we entered Austria it seemed a different world. Am I more sensitive to this than others? I don’t know, but to me it was evident.
On the way through unknown parts of the Czech Republic we ran into heavy fog. Carol pointed out that my tail light was out so I stopped on the side of the road to try to fix it. I took the tail light apart, checked the light bulb but all was ok. I checked the fuse panel, because when I looked after I stopped; I also had no head lights. I moved some fuses around because I could not find a burnt out one. Nothing seemed wrong but still no lights! I checked for loose connections or wires. Nothing! And then…. I saw that the light switch on the handle bar was not turned on. I have a European set up and you must switch the headlights and tail lights on manually. Well, somehow this was turned off. After resetting the switch, all was well. Shows you, sometimes the solution is so simple. Lesson learned, check the obvious first.
We rode as far as Steyr and stopped for the night in a hotel right on the joining of 2 rivers. The river Steyr runs into the river Enns. Hotel was a fabulous hotel; a 4-star rating and a former way station for the wood that was floated down the rivers. We had a wonderful view of the castle and a dozen or more swans feeding in the water below our room window. I checked for lesser priced accommodations but Steyr was sold out. We had a small room, normally used as maid quarters, but it was fine for one night. Even as small as the room was, way under the roof line with 2 small beds, the price was 80 Euros. What do you do when all is sold out and there is no room to be had anyplace? I guess you just pay!
I find the signage in Austria hard to read. No it is not a matter of language, I speak German and everything is written in German but somehow no long distance direction is given. The next town is mentioned on the signs but none of these towns are listed on the map. We have 2 maps. Very small towns are written in large letters on the map and are not really on any street sign. When asking people their answer is to go to familiar spots (to them) and then turn right. “Make a right at the Bank” What bank? There are 2 banks on the corner. Or follow the road until the 3rd crossing then turn right. I counted 6 road crossing and then I saw the right sign. Or, go 50 meters, then turn right and at the end of the road turn left. Well, after 50 meters there is a hole in the fence, do I enter? Yes, and then turn right on the next left, no that was wrong, it was the 2nd left, etc. Directions are hard to follow here whether by signage or given verbally. I am having a hard time with directions in Austria.

Prague, Czech Republic

Now it is called the Czech Republic, before that it was Czechoslovakia. Before that is was Bohemia, part of the Austrian Empire and before that it was and so on and so on. A lot of history in Prague, a lot of old buildings and I am supposed to be impressed, I know it. What can I say? We arrived in the afternoon, stayed another day; even took a tourist bus tour with guide in English and yet, this city leaves me flat. It is just an old city. Oh, I know, I am supposed to say how lovely, how quaint, and how delightful. Yes, I saw the churches, saw the Prague Palace, and got the tour. think Prague is so popular, so full of tourists that all I saw were tourists. Bera said it best:” It’s so popular nobody goes there anymore”.
We checked the hostel that was recommended but we did not feel safe leaving our bikes unattended. There was just too much trash around for me to feel comfortable. Three buildings over was an Exotic Club so there would have been a lot of people there at night. We took a 4 star hotel instead with a guarded underground garage but they only had room for one night. So this makes it difficult to plan anything. Arriving in the late afternoon without having the hotel room for the next day gives us the next day to find another hotel. Besides the packing, unpacking, riding the bike across town and finding new parking for the bike makes multi hotel stays cumbersome. But what choice did we have? Well, we found another hotel in the center of the old city and we left the bike in the first, guarded hotel and took a taxi to the 2nd hotel. A bit of a roundabout way but it worked out just fine.
The streets are narrow in Prague, full of cobblestones and trolley tracks. I saw 2 missing manhole covers and there are steps built into the roads as speed bumps but no warning signs. take a leaning turn and hit one of those steps; you will go down on a bike. There are very few signs but the ones I saw were written in Czech only which is very hard to read. You have to guess the direction which is not easy while riding in narrow, twisted, one way roads, watching traffic and trying to read the few signs that are there. I managed but just barely.
I was glad to park the bike and use the trolley system on the first night. Again, not easy because what direction do we take? When do you get off? The signage is not user friendly. I cannot say that much is unfriendly in Prague but there is sure a different mentality present. A layout map of the bus and trolley system would have been nice. With so many tourists around I thought it was easier to get around. I was cheated in exchanging Euro into Czech Kronen. She was behind a thick glass window and when I called her a thief she said yes, I am. She knew there was nothing I could do to her. Sorry Prague, I did not have a nice experience and you leave me kind of flat and sad. I wish I could rave about you but I just cannot.
So we left after the two days and I must say I felt better once I was out of town and on the way to Austria. Just because people go to a place does not mean it is a good place especially if you are on a motorcycle. I can think of better places to ride.