Gorgeous Slovenia

The biggest surprise of our wonderful trip was the stunning beauty of Triglav National Park in the northwestern part of Slovenia. This park was originally created in the 1920s, but exists in its current form since the 1980s. No place in Europe (except for the Norwegian Fjords) remind us as much of Canada as this gem. This was the last day of fantastic weather, as lots and lots of rain and thunderstorms were forecasted, so unfortunately we had to hurry a bit through this park. We would have loved to stay for a night, but we did not dare riding Vršič-Pass in rain and storms. But we are sure we will come back! 

Triglav NP in Slovenia; Source: http://www.tnp.si/

On the Italian-Slovenian border

Now this is something we have to try one day, too!

We were just overwhelmed with all the beauty...

... so we stopped and stared every few hundred meters!

Just speechless...

It does not get any higher than this in Slovenia (by vehicle): Vršič-Pass (1611m)

Italian (and other) Landscapes

We had planned it for quite a while, and now we finally were ready for our Vespa-Tour to the land of sun and good food, and of course the birthplace of our two donkeys, Bella and Alonzo. Obviously this was quite some undertaking, not so much for us, but for our scooters who dutifully moved us through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and Austria for a total distance of 3.300 kilometers without even complaining once (okay, there was the occasional slight hint of a grumbling, but that was soon forgotten).

The 13 days went by much too fast, and we could easily start the whole tour again right away, but I guess the sorrow at the end of a fantastic trip is as much part of it as the joy of planning the next one.

As Sonja will tell all the stories in detail on her motorcycle blog, here are some of the less scooter-related pictures (although they will make their appearances, of course). This time we will focus on the landscapes we rode through…

Switzerland: Lake Lucerne

 Cannero Riviera at Lago Maggiore

Lago Maggiore at Sunset

 In the rice fields of the Novara area

 Lucca

 Northern Tuscany

 Colle di Val d'Elsa

 Southern Tuscany

 More Southern Tuscany

 Volterra (with David and Sonja on the right)

 View from San Gimignano

 Pisa (quite obviously...)

 A typical Italian cemetery (in the Po Valley)

 Po Valley

 San Benedetto

 Concordia Sagittaria (Venetia)

 Pordenone

 Slovenia: Triglav National Park

 Slovenia: Vršič-Pass

Austria: Attersee

Germany: Neuburg an der Donau