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!