Day 14 - Fussen to Memmingen - 80km approx

Well, today was our last day on the bikes. 😢  We'd had a great trip with many smiles along the way.  And that's what counts the most.  From Fussen up to Memmingen was only 80km or so - and it was motorway all the way up.

Fussen to Memmingen with a stop off in Kempten

Jim had a hankering to go to the Louis.de shop in Kempten to buy some gear before returning home. A wee detour would break the trip nicely in half, and ye can't beat browsing in a bike shop for goodies to bring home.

We tucked into a very hearty brekkie - the selection of grub warranted a few pics at least!  

Cakes n treats for brekkie

Healthier options

Impressive - lady on the left lays soft boiled, lady on the right lays hard boiled!

The weather was 'a wee bit damp' (we were getting used to the rain) so it was back on with the wets. 

The spin up the motorway was wet interspersed with wetter bits!  

But we were well entertained by the latest superhero to go public - Poncho Man!

We couldn't wait to see the faces of the staff in the Louis shop. I'd imagine most Ducati riders arrive in fancy leathers, not dressed in a clear poncho and wearing black plastic sacks over their boots!  

Jim managed to almost fill one of the rubbish bins in the shop as he climbed out and disposed of his homemade wet gear!  Then it was off to browse for a new onesie waterproof suit and maybe some booties as well.  

I had nothing I needed in particular, so I got wee BMW coasters for everyone on the trip.  They had no Ducati ones (or else they were too expensive...can't remember ;-) ) so Jim had to make do with a generic one.

We climbed back onto the bikes and headed for the bike drop off point beside the airport in Memmingen.  It was sad to be getting off the bikes and changing back into our civvies for the last time.  With the exception of our rest days, the last two weeks had centered around biking through beautiful places to get to another place.  Today the focus was simply to arrive at the airport on time and fly home.

Bye bye to the bikes for a few days

We had a few hours to kill so we took the bus into Memmingen to grab a bite to eat and have a wee stroll about the town.  The airport is pretty small and there's nothing much to keep you occupied whilst you wait to depart.

Wonder do they sell those little blue pills in here?

Good healthy meal - first one of the whole holiday!

My final German beer

Our last holiday pic

Our flight home was delayed a wee bit but apart from that it went smoothly.  When we landed in Dublin we were most pleasantly surprised to see Derek waiting for us at the arrivals area.  Many hugs and goodbyes and it was time for us to head off in different directions towards our respective homes.  But already the whispers had started about next year's trip and where we'd go and what we'd see!  Always good to have something to look forward to! 😁😁


To keep the memories fresh, we popped a few bits onto the fridge door....

Day 13 - Vipiteno to Fussen - 230km approx

Day 13 Route Map

We woke to a very wet and rainy morning, but hopefully things would clear as we tucked into our brekkie.  And what a phenomenal brekkie it was - probably the best of the whole trip.  We stayed at Steindl's B&B - and it's worth if for the brekkie alone.

Our destination today was Fussen, home to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle on which the Disney Castle is based. Plan was to ride over the Timmeljosch Pass, stop for a ganders at the bike museum and then head north towards Imst. The final leg would see us ride over the Hantennjoch Pass and then onto Fussen.  Unfortunately as the morning progressed the rain just got heavier and the cloud dropped lower.  We checked forecasts and there was no sign of a clearance till much later in the day.

We decided to skip the Timmeljosch Pass as riding miles of hairpins on wet roads with not even a nice view to admire just didn't seem worth it.  Twas disappointing but you gotta take the good with the bad as they say.  So, after clambering into our wet gear, we headed due north towards the Brenner Pass, back the same way we had come yesterday.



Heading north we got caught up in unbelievable amounts of traffic.  Coupled with the fact that filtering in Germany isn't allowed it made for a trying ride.  In retrospect (always a wonderful thing) I would rather have been riding twisty passes in the rain, but sure that's the way things go sometimes.



Gradually the weather improved a bit so we stopped for fuel and coffee break just outside of Telfs on the B171.  Lovely coffee it was too - the mainland Europeans know how to serve up a proper beverage!

Jim uses all the hangers at once!

Top notch coffees

We tempted fate by removing our wets before heading off again.  The skies threatened rain, but it was fierce warm so getting out of the raingear was lovely and refreshing.  Every biker knows that wearing rain gear prevents rainfall and to an even greater degree, removing it guarantees a downpour!

But our luck held out and the bad weather held off for the most part.  We detoured away from Fussen to first visit the Neuschwanstein Castle.  When we learned it was a fairly hefty walk to the castle itself, we settled for a photo from the carpark and made our way back to the hotel.  We fancied getting out of our gear and having a wander around town more than strolling around the castle with all our biking kit on.

Once checked in at the hotel, myself and Jim propped up the bar whilst Pauline donned the makeup.  We opted to eat in the hotel as the menu looked pretty good and we were ravenous!  Crackin' meal it was too. As we had dinner, Stuart and Aynsley arrived in after doing the full tour of the castle.  Bellies full, meself and Pauline decided to have a wander whilst Jim opted for a power nap.

It really is a lovely town to stroll around and just see the sights....

Spotted some upgrades for next year's trip

Just around the corner from the hotel

 We spotted a nice wee church and stepped in for a ganders.  Not a religious chap meself, but there is a lovely sense of peace when you step into a place like this...

Into another church - this is getting to be a habit

Awesome ceiling

 After watching the very buff male dancers the night before, Pauline wanted to kit me out in something similar...not happening!! I'll stick with my centuries old shorts thanks very much!

Pauline eyes up some new threads for me - not a chance!

 All around the town there were lovely examples of murals, archways, cobbles streets.  We just meandered about randomly and came across lots to admire.

Pretty archway

Way nicer that the boring churches back home

Would love to see the room on the other side...

View of Fussen's own castle

Too big for the panniers - whew! ;-)

Horsey door handles

 I spotted an ice cream parlour, and seeing as we didn't have an official desert at dinner, there was only one thing for it!  There was a lovely outdoor seating area so we settled in for a sugar and caffeine treat.  Perfect.

More coffee and ice cream - addicted? Nah, not at all. :-)

Town took on a lovely glow after sundown

 We wandered back towards the hotel and met up with Jim.  Most of the watering holes were closed at this stage so we snuck back into the hotel bar and indulged in a few more fine German beers.  The bar girl very kindly furnished me with a pot of hot water so I could top off the evening with a cup of Barry's tea.  Top notch service I tell ya!

Day 12 - Grossglockner to Vipiteno - 235km approx

Day 12 Route Map

Today's ride was going to bring us west across Austria and then south over the border into Italy.   On the way we planned to ride the Gerlos Pass and have a look at the Krimml waterfall, the highest in all of Austria.  Our destination at the end of the day was Vipiteno just south of the Austrian border.  But we were in no rush to leave - we wanted to soak up our Grossglockner surroundings for as long as possible!

Not wanting to miss the sunrise I was up before 6am.  The weather had held overnight and the morning was crisp and clear, perfect conditions to admire the scenery.  I gathered up my camera and the drone and headed out to the car park.

A group of German bikers had already pulled into the car park and headed up to the viewing point.  The tour leader had brought coffee for everyone and he very kindly offered me some as well.  It was pretty cold with a fair bit of ice underfoot.  I imagine the group rode up fairly gingerly as I'd seen a good bit of melt water flowing across the road the evening before.  So we faced towards the brightest part of the horizon and waited for sunrise.....and it didn't disappoint.

The start of a new day

It was so worth getting up early - I would have been raging if I'd slept it out.  Head on me says a different story! :-)

Pretty incredible setting

Just in case you're not sure which mountain is which

Once these guys cleared the way for us it was time to get going

Getting all 'Blue Steel' for the camera

Obligatory Grossglockner group photo

We had missed out on the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe glacier the day before but with a 40km round trip to see it, we decided to continue north on our planned route.  We stopped into the Bau der Straße museum which has exhibits on the construction and history of the road - well worth a visit if you've a bit of spare time when passing. It's free in too which is nice.  Across the road we picked up a few Grossglockner souvenirs in the Gasthof Fuscherlacke and then it was time to hit the road proper...

Bau der Straße museum in the foreground, Edelweisse Hutte on the highest peak in the background

As we descended off the pass the air began to warm up again.  Soon we were back in the high temps that had become so familiar.  That's one of the great things about touring - how much things are different from biking at home.





We caught up with some cool tractors as we descended back into the Austrian valleys...


Every now and then we'd get caught up in a bit of traffic which made the heat worse, so we decided to take a break in Mittersill.  We pulled over at a plaza which was sporting a few cafés and also had a Spar right beside it so we could stock up on water. We'd taken up the practice of soaking our tshirts but it didn't leave much for drinking afterwards.

Yet another stop in the heat - that shade was glorious!

Once we were refreshed and restocked we got back on the B165 and headed west.  We pulled over at the Krimml waterfall and Stuart and Aynsley headed off for a ganders on foot.  The rest of us were too lazy and hot to stroll around in our gear so we settled for a pic from the roadside, chilled for a bit and then decided to head onto the Gerlos Pass.  As we headed up the hill Jim pulled over to get some photos so from then on it was just Pauline and I on the GS. What a road!



In keeping with the rural theme, we came across some friendly local cows in Schonachtal!


As we descended into Zell am Ziller we were treated to even more hairpins and twisties - you just really can't get enough of them!




We stuck with the back roads as planned,  happy to stay on the B182 as it wound itself along in the shadow of the A13 motorway.  Looking at the motorway from underneath, it was quite impressive how it was mounted on huge concrete pillars that rose out of the landscape below.




The weather turned to patchy rain as we got closer to Vipiteno, but by the time we rocked up outside our hotel, the rain had stopped completely and we had a nice dry finish to the day's riding. We were guided into a nice secure spot to park the bike and then we made our way up to our room.

A while later we heard first Jim and then Stuart and Aynsley pull into the car park.  We met downstairs for a wee pre-stroll beer and then headed into the town centre.  Vipiteno is a nice wee spot - after you walk through the arch under the Torre delle Dodici you're in lovely pedestrian area right in the middle of town.

Torre delle Dodici

Pauline and Jim even found a lovely shop!

We settled down for a bite to eat and on our way back to the hotel we came across a few local lads giving it socks in Lederhosen.  Well, the two girls were smitten so we nabbed a beer and stayed to watch for a while...




Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest after a great day's biking and laughing.  Best kind of tired there is!

Day 11 - Bled to Grossglockner - 290km approx

Day 11 Route Map

So we were just three bikes now - for the first little bit it felt weird.  One upside was that it was now so easy to do a headcount of the bikes behind me! But soon our rhythm settled and we were back in the groove.  We retraced our steps along the 210 back to Kranjska Gora and then headed for the Wurzen Pass.  We stopped by the Russian Tank and got the obligatory photos before heading on to the Bunker Museum on the Austrian side of the pass.

It's a wee trek up to the museum entrance from the road, but it was well worth the effort.  We stayed for over a hour looking at the different weaponry and battlements after getting a very informative introduction to the history of the area.

Artillery bits

Tanks and stuff 

This section had been constructed to house the various weaponry

View of bunker

View from inside the same bunker

These guys were placed to block roads and generally annoy the invaders

Can I have go please sir?

We set off with a bit of pace as we'd spent quite a while at the museum.  The weather was warming up big time again but sure it was way better than riding in the rain.  As we rode through the long sweeping Austrian valleys we passed through some really lovely little towns with great names like Kleinkirchheim and Hinterkoflach.  Quite often you'd see a most impressive church spire rising above the roofs of the other buildings.

The heat had us boiling over yet again so we stopped in Reichenau for lunch.  Turned out to be a lovely spot with quite delicious food on offer.  swanky coffees were had as well - sure we were on holidays!

Yummy food building in Riechenau aka. Gasthaus Lax

Cant beat a of al fresco dining

The infamous schnitzel - perfect for the hungry biker!

Savage coffees with a water chaser

We even found little pictures of Brian and Derek!

One thing we'd all noticed whilst we sat for lunch - more bikes than cars drove by as we ate. This had to be a really popular biking road and that's always a good sign!

We saw more bikers than cars on this stretch of road!

Back on the bikes and we headed for our next treat of the day - the Nockalmstrasse.  The road is a joy to ride - great surface, tons of lovely bends and great scenery all around too.  Just keep an eye out for the cattle grids - one or two of them are located on corners...interesting in the wet no doubt.




We pushed on and passed by the Glockenhutte café and restaurant...



We rode up through the alpine forest to the Eisentalhohe and pulled over to admire the views.  Oh, and to have a snuggle with the mountain cows!  Sexy devils every last one of them!  :-)  The air up here was so crisp and fresh. Each breath filled your lungs with unspoilt air that you couldn't get enough of.

Our Nockalmstrasse reception party!

The setup for bikers is pretty good - there are free lockers available for your bike kit in case you want to change into some walking gear and go trekking on the hills. Don't see that sort of thing back home, or maybe that's the purpose of all the potholes we have in Ireland...storage space!

Bikes properly parked (sort of) with the lockers behind

Do we have space for just one...do we, do we?

 The views down into the far valleys were stunning...shame we didn't have our hill walking gear with us.

Beautiful view...and the mountains are nice too!

Just can't bring me anywhere really... 

Pauline's latest hobby - jax photography 

There were small bits of snow along the roadside, not much, but enough to maybe start a snowball fight! :-)  Isn't that right Aynsley? ;-)

A sign of things to come later...

Back on the bikes we headed for the B99 and then onto the B106.  It was roasting hot once again so we pulled over in Obervellach for a much needed break, a wee bite to eat and something to drink.  Nothing adds class to a place like a bunch of bikers huddled under a tree munching away! :-)

Picnic in the shade by the side of the road in Obervellach

So now we were onto the last leg of the day's riding - once onto the B107 we were heading up towards the Grossglockner Pass.  Long before the twisty bits, the road is a real joy to ride.  Nice long sweeping bends coupled with lovely surface ensure you enjoy every inch of it.  I love the way the Austrians don't bother with hedges along the side of the road. The grass in the fields comes right up to the edge of the tarmac which means you can see out of almost every corner even before you enter it.



  I must admit, even after hearing so much and watching endless YouTube videos about the pass, nothing prepares you for just how incredible the place is.




The evening sun was getting lower now which made it a little harder to see ahead at times...




As we climbed out of the valley the mountain views started to open up.  It was difficult not to let my gaze wander over the vistas, but multiple hairpin bends and drop offs with no barrier will keep your mind on the road!




Up and up we went and even more snow appeared along the side of the road.  The temperature started to drop too - only a wee while ago we'd been sweltering in the heat and now the temp gauge was showing a chilly 9 degrees C!

We passed a few cyclists on the way up.  Now, I'm keen on a wee bit of cycling myself, but this was ridiculous - 'twas hard enough getting up the pass even with the assistance of 1200cc!!



After rounding one of the corners we were instantly reminded of home when we came across a herd of sheep deep in discussion right in front of us. Unlike the clever Irish sheep back home, these guys proceeded to trot up the road staying in our way instead of running off to one side.  Maybe they don't like snow around these parts!



As we rode through and came out the other side of the Hochtor tunnel the vista that greeted us was amazing.  Snow lined mountains stretched away into the distance in every direction.  We were lucky - the crisp clear air meant we could see way into the distance and wow, what a view.  If you're ever in this neck of the woods, don't miss this place.

View back to the Hochtor Tunnel

We turned right off the main road and wound our way up the cobbled hair-pinned road to the Edelweisshutte, our lodgings for the night.  Our host Kurt had kindly held the kitchen open for us (we arrived just after 7pm) so we headed straight to the restaurant before checking in etc.  Lucky for us, because there's not exactly a plethora of choice when it comes to restaurant options up here!

Our mountaintop lodgings

Family business that's been going for a while now, especially when you add on 12 more years!

Stuart nipped outside with his pint to enjoy the setting sun - it's not everyday you get a photo opportunity like this one!

The perfect pint!

After a fine meal, half of which was spent ogling at the view out the window, we parked up the bikes, unloaded our gear and headed for our rooms.

Nice sheltered secure parking for the bikes

Our rooms were very comfy and spacious and the views blew you away.  Being Irish, once we heard the bar was closing, we ordered two drinks each and Kurt kindly let us take them back to our rooms.  He even threw in a kettle of water so I could indulge in a cup of tae before hitting the pillow. Champion!

Before heading to bed I took a couple of pics of the mountains lit only by the moonlight.  This place was only magical!

Nighttime view of the mountains from our bedroom

But not much later I was tucked up and welded to my pillow as I wanted to get up early and catch the sunrise...