The European summer heat wave hit us just as our Lyon stay finished. Hot winds from the Sahara desert were battering Europe with wave after wave of heat, reaching temperatures of 40-45 degrees in some areas. Our original plan was to visit Geneva and then ride the Black Forest and Rhine Valley region of Germany as we made our way back north to celebrate Aunt Heidrun’s birthday. With the forecast in those regions reaching into the 37-38 degree range, we decided to go to plan B. (You may ask yourself, “why avoid the heat, isn’t it nice on a motorcycle?” Short answer “NO”! Without air conditioning and with the tarmac acting as a reflective surface, you begin to melt as soon as you slow down at all, which happens frequently whether in traffic or when talking the back roads as we prefer to do). Plan B meant visiting Geneva but then taking a meandering route through Bavaria and catching a night train from Munich to Hamburg, motorcycle and all. This would land us 2 hours away from our destination and in 22 degree weather, heaven after the heat we had experienced down south.
Geneva
Our stay was very short in Geneva, just overnight with family friends, the Conus’s. I met Christian during my software career and we have remained close friends, (except when the Swiss are playing Canada in hockey!). Over the years we have had the pleasure of hosting him and his children on different occasions in Vancouver, and finally got to meet his lovely wife Alix. Their home is beautiful, nestled in gorgeous gardens that keeps Christian busy almost the whole day! The stay was too short. We hope to visit Geneva again and spend more time with the Conus family.
Lake Constance
The ride from Geneva to Bavaria took us through Zurich, not a great choice this time due to the roadwork causing traffic jams all through the city. Having visited Zurich many times, it is one of my favorite cities, but not that day. 37 degrees and traffic jams had us moaning through the 45-60 minutes it took to navigate the mayhem that was the road system. The good news was when we emerged on the other side, we had the most beautiful lake waiting to welcome us, Lake Constance. Sitting on the border of Switzerland and Germany it was a welcome site after 9 hours of hot riding. The bonus was our hotel was air conditioned, so a good night’s sleep was assured. As soon as we checked in, we headed to the water, like everyone else in the area, and swam to bring the internal thermometer down. We found a delightful beer garden riverside and we enjoyed Schweinehaxe (pork knuckle) and Schnitzel and a couple of cold beer. Great way to end a challenging day.
Schwangau and Neuschwanstein
We started our next day being treated to Bavarian roads, some of the nicest riding roads I have experienced. These roads are so well engineered and the views so breathtaking I had to really focus not to be too distracted. The weather was still hot but because we were able to maintain a constant pace we were not minding it as much. When it got to be too much, we sought out places to cool down, such as waterfalls and small lakes. Full emersion is the answer, soaking our cloths completely, knowing they would be dry soon. We had a night in a quaint little German guest house on the lake in Schwangau, a town known primarily for its famous castles, King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Neuschwanstein is referred to as the fairy tale castle as rumor has it that it was the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty’s castle. When we visited Germany 6 years ago with our daughters, we were disappointed we could not get in for a tour of Neuschwanstein (the more famous of the two) as they were sold out, so we visited Hohenschwangau instead. This time we crossed our fingers and showed up early in the morning, and as luck would have it, we got in for a 9:30 am tour. This left us plenty of time for the tour and to make our train in Munich that night. The castle was spectacular and the tour highly informative as we learned about the crazy King and his close relationship with the composer Wagner and the influence that had on the interior designs and artwork in the castle.
Munich
Having visited Munich before, we left ourselves little time for sightseeing before our train departed for the cool of the north. Paramount on Art’s mind was “how do I get my motorcycle on a train?” Although it was tricky, (low ceilings on the cars) we got the chariot settled in for the ride without incident and grabbed a few snacks and cool drinks and boarded the train for Hamburg, leaving at 10:00 pm. There were at least 30-35 other motorcycles and 20-30 cars on this train: it seems a normal thing to ship your vehicle by train in Europe. It wasn’t cheap, but we justified it with the savings on gas and three nights of hotels, plus the avoidance of the heat. Our luck held, as we had booked a sleeping berth for 4 (only option left when we booked) but we had the car to ourselves. Art slept like a baby all the way to Hamburg, Heidi not so (as usual). Arrived in Hamburg at 8:00 am, unloaded like Art was a pro, and went on our way east to the little hamlet of Tenze.
Bellissimo Travels 