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Alex in Motion

A journal of curiousity & travel
October 5, 2016

European Motorcycle Trip – Day 9 to 13

Day 9 & 10

Many years ago, the following stunning picture of Lake Bled in Slovenia surfaced in my news feed.

I had three initial thoughts:

  1. Wow! That’s beyond gorgeous
  2. I must see this place in person one day
  3. That island would make a kick-ass hangout during the zombie apocalypse

Weronika and I arrived at the nearby bed & breakfast in the late afternoon, and promptly skipped down to the lake. Yes, I skipped like an enthusiastic child going to kindergarten. It was serene by the water’s edge, but already too dark to properly capture the views. Except for the illuminated castle, located on a hill next to the lake, everything else was quite dark already.

My schoolboy excitement continued throughout dinner, as I’ve never had Slovenian food before. In fact, I’ve never been to this country or even met a person from Slovenia before.

After dinner we headed to another famous restaurant by the water and sampled a local cream cake that was hundreds of years old. The recipe was old, not the cake itself. Of course, why have one cake when you can have three!

Early the next morning, I joined Weronika for a run. Until today, she had been waking up early and enjoying the surroundings while I grabbed another 45 minutes of sleep. Today however, I felt compelled to join her and we raced around the 6.5km circumference of the lake (Yes, I won!). I did my best to capture the moment with all five senses, as it was simply a perfect morning.

A few hours later, we jumped into a wooden boat and made our way to the island. Weronika enjoyed being a princess and sipped on a latte while I diligently rowed. A light sweat might have appeared.

Bled island is home to a pilgrimage church and several buildings that now cater to tourists. We savoured another hundred year old cake in the shop, before plunging into the cool, crystal clear waters for a swim.

It was obvious we needed to spend more than a single day here, and the extra day really allowed us to soak up more of this magical place. We even had time to visit a popular gorge and waterfalls.

Day 11

Slovenia didn’t stop to impress on the following day, and Lake Bohinj would have been another lovely place to stop for a few days. Sadly, we had a schedule to keep and had to leave after snapping a few priceless pictures.

The Slovenia mountains were crazy awesome, in terms of narrow roads; although bi-directional, at times they were barely wide enough for one way traffic. Countless blind turns, usually timed with a car coming from the other direction, made me glad to be on a slim motorcycle instead of a car. Lots of intense GoPro footage was captured.

Later that afternoon, as we slipped into Italy, Weronika became extremely content, and started yelling “Pasta! Cappuccino! Espresso!” and all things Italian through her motorcycle helmet.

Day 12

Coated with a light rain, the romantic city of Venice didn’t disappoint. We only spent a few hours wandering the streets, bridges and canals, but part of my heart remained there. I had heard the place is much more commercial today and is over-hyped, so my expectations were low. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed it so much.

By the way, why does the food and coffee taste SO much better in Italy? What have they figured out that the rest of us are still trying to resolve? Seriously, the tomatoes on the caprese salad were to die for, and the pasta was cooked perfectly “al dante”. All this from a regular looking restaurant in a cute city square surrounded by countless competitors. I don’t normally take pictures of food, but that divine lunch demanded it.

After marching through the narrow streets, we returned to the parking lot by water bus, providing a wonderful perspective of the Grand Canal.

Day 13

I had never heard of San Marino before, and didn’t know it was a country. It’s actually the 5th smallest country of the world, completely surrounded by Italy, and located mostly on a mountain range with extensive views of the area.

Since we were passing nearby that part of the world anyway, why not add another country to the list?! Lunch with coffee was all we afforded ourselves, mostly because I wanted to reach Tuscany by nightfall, and because my upset stomach was slowly us down (Weronika taught me a useful word that day, “kupa”).

Today was also the only day of heavy rain during the entire trip, which started in the early afternoon and lingered until we reached the villa in Chianti, well after dark. Between the pains in my stomach and the drenching rainfall, it clearly wasn’t our best day, but our spirits remained strong. I was pleasantly surprised we didn’t argue, since the conditions were ripe for a dispute. Thankfully, Weronika was patient and displayed great empathy.

 

 

October 5, 2016

European Motorcycle Trip – Day 5 to 8

Sorry for the delay in the series, but I had some severe back pain and it was affecting my mood. Apparently sitting for 3 weeks on a motorcycle and not stretching or doing any exercises is not good at my age :-/ After visiting a physiotherapist thrice and suffering as she pushed and pulled my sore muscles, I’m nearly near back to my cheerful self.

Day 5

Ever since the motorcycle dropped, a small amount of oil began to leak. Although I brought an extra bottle of motor oil, I was quite concerned after seeing the amount constantly leaking. There weren’t any motorcycle repair shops in the Croatian countryside, but I was find a small mechanic. After identifying the source of the leak, I applied some tissue paper and secured it with a zip-tie, which seemed to solve the issue. To be completely certain though, we decided to visit the BMW dealership in Zagreb.

After being the countryside and villages for 4 days, it was a little jarring to ride in a large city. Luckily we didn’t need to enter too far and the kind folks at the dealership were happy to help. They recommended three components be replaced, valued at over 1000 CAD, which was obviously out of the question, but said my MacGyvered job may suffice for a while. After discussing the matter over a free espresso, Weronika and I decided to just buy another bottle of motor oil and press on. The moto rental company had insurance for these kinds of things, so they could manage things after the trip.

Pushing on brought us quickly into the lush countryside again, and the next challenge was to navigate 18km of soft pebble roads. Keep in mind I was still getting used to the weight of the motorcycle and Weronika only had 3 months of riding experience. It felt like it took forever to traverse that distance, and our stress increased as night fell. Fortunately we were about to arrive at the hotel without an incident.

Day 6 & 7

As we traveled further south, the scenery changed from lush greens to desert mountains. The landscape in south Croatia is gorgeous and it was another beautiful day riding along winding roads, in valleys and beside vast fields of sunflowers. With all the wonderful routes to choose, it quickly became apparent that even with 21 days, we couldn’t do it all.

That evening, as we literally drove into the sunset, we stopped by the road to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables from some local merchants. This is something not found in North American, but is quite common in Poland and Croatia. The produce from these vendors is outstanding, and much less expensive than supermarkets.

That night’s destination was a resort camping ground near Zadar. Not only were there spaces for tents and camper vans, but you could rent apartments as well. All facilities were high-end, including common showers, bathrooms and laundry facilities, supermarket, ice cream parlour, small movie theatre, tourist shops, mini golf, rope park and a beach. This would be an excellent place for a family to bring their kids and stay for several weeks.

We decided to slow things to do and spend another day and night here, as camping was fun and our mind and bodies needed a break from the road. Between napping on the beach in the morning followed by a round of mini golf, margaritas after lunch and salsa in the evening, we thoroughly enjoyed the resort.

Day 8

11 years ago, I rented a Audi A3 and drove from Zagreb to Split along the Adriatic coast. It’s rated one of the best coastal drives in the world and it’s easy to see why; crystal blues waters of the Adriatic sea on one side and desert mountains on the other, with continuously curved and perfectly paved road between them. There were only a handful of motorcycles back then, but were dozens and dozens this time. Pounding the pavement by motorcycle was even better than the first time, and the experience brought back wonderful memories, as it was part of a holiday in which I travelled alone for 3 weeks. Back then, I thought THAT was courageous! It’s interesting to notice the more you push your comfort zone, the more you become comfortable with things you never thought possible. That trip was one of the most memorable moments of my life, and I’m still in touch with many of the people I met.

“As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.”
Robin S. Sharma

We attempted to travel from island to island as much as possible, but some of the ferry schedules didn’t cooperate. Alas, we only visited two islands, but enjoyed some delicious British fish and chips by the water that evening.

More to come…

September 26, 2016

European Motorcycle Trip – Day 1 to 4

As much as I would have loved to write about the motorcycle tour during the actual trip, by the end of the day, I was either exhausted, wanted to enjoy the destination or simply not in the mood. Thus I’m writing everything after returning to Poland. Instead of one monster post, I’ll breakup the trip into several smaller posts, since some regions were more interesting than others.

When purchasing my most recent motorcycle last year (2015 BMW S1000R), I inquired about long distance travelling. While mine is better for shorter distances and the occasional day on the racetrack, the sales guy recommended the BMW F800GS Adventure for longer distances. It’s built for comfort, long treks on the highway and even some off-roading.

As fate would have it, the only interesting motorcycle available to rent for this European trip was a BMW R1200GS Adventure, the “big brother” of the 800GS. “Big” was the key word; this puppy was HUGE! Even at 6’1″ (183cm), I could barely touch the ground when stationary. Plus it was a fat fuck, weighing 564lb (256kg) without luggage. Navigating at slow speeds was stressful, along with reversing, turning on slopes and sandy roads.

In fact, it took several days to learn how to ride it properly. On the highway, it purred like a over-sized kitten, was able to handle tight curves fairly well and easily overtake vehicles with a quick flick of the wrist. It effortlessly absorbed bumps and the “sport mode” was 10x more comfortable than the “comfort mode” on my motorcycle. On dirt roads, it was quite smooth, provided the terrain was relatively firm.

After previously experiencing less-than-awesome vacations, I’ve learned the best way to avoid most issues when traveling with others is to set expectations BEFORE the trip. Thus my travel companion, Weronika and I sat down and discussed our hopes and dreams for the 21 days. We agreed on the following:

  • She really wanted to see Lake Balaton in Hungary, Zadar and the nearby islands in Croatia, some famous mountain passes in Italy and Lake Bodensee in Switzerland. My list was the Adriatic Coast in Croatia, Lake Bled in Slovenia, Tuscany and Lake Como in Italy. We planned our route accordingly.
  • Since I’ve been riding a motorcycle for 15 years and Weronika for just 3 months, we would each travel at our own comfortable speed on curvy roads, and I would occasionally stop and wait for her. On straighter roads and highways, we would keep to the speed limit, mostly.
  • We would avoid travelling at night and didn’t book anything in advance. Each day, and a few hours before nightfall, we would find a suitable place to sleep. Staying in hotels, guesthouses and bed & breakfasts was preferred, but we brought a tent and camping gear in case we wanted to rough it for a few days.
  • To keep expenses low, we also brought plates, cutlery and cooking equipment to have picnics along the way. This would be a great way to further enjoy the scenery and take some much needed breaks.

Day 1

I started the journey alone in Warsaw, and joined Weronika in Katowice. She was attending a Kizomba dance class there and arrived a few days earlier. Polish drivers are challenging to predict and Polish roads are mostly straight and boring, so I was really happy to get out of country as soon as possible.

Day 2

Traversing the Tatras mountains, we spent the day chasing curves and spent the night in a cute chalet next to some ski slopes. The lady at reception wasn’t happy I used her wifi to get a better rate for the room than she could offer.

Day 3

Unfortunately, I dropped the bike 🙁 It was after a long day of riding, night had fallen, I was travelling uphill on a narrow pebble road and was tired. When attempting to turn right, I turned too widely and ended up on the elevated shoulder. Then I got nervous and stopped, but didn’t notice the shoulder on the left side was significantly higher than the ride side, so when my right foot touched the ground, the bike was already leaning too far. The beast came crashing down, and I rolled out of the way (like a ninja, of course).

The damage was minimal, but I felt like a fool for dropping it. It was only the 3rd time I’ve dropped a bike in the last 15 years. Luckily Weronika and I were able to pick it up and continue to the nearby guesthouse for the night. Perhaps out of sympathy, or perhaps because she was also tired, Weronika also dropped her bike in the guesthouse’s driveway. We can laugh about it now, but we were closer to crying at the time.

Day 4

Aside from the beautiful Balaton lake in Hungary, and a pleasant picnic by the water, there wasn’t much else to admire.

To be continued…

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