Five Countries in Four Days

We had one of those long weekends where you take one day off and can enjoy four days of vacation (many holidays in Germany fall on a Thursday). So, in preparation of a soon-to-be-happening Vespa-Tour to Tuscany we decided to test our gear and our stamina by traveling through five countries in four days (and counting Liechtenstein as a country which it technically is indeed). Weather forecast was so-so, but that was ok for us as we wanted to find out how we would cope with not-so-beautiful skies.

Day One (Thursday) was a relatively short (but sometimes wet) trip to the German side of the border to Switzerland, where we stayed in the small town of Stühlingen which claims to be famous for starting the spark for the Peasant's War in 1524. We never heard of that so we are not sure of the significance. Anyway the town is quite nice, and the Rebstock Hotel was very welcoming to bikers.

An old barn in Stühlingen

Day Two (Friday) saw us crossing the border to Switzerland, visiting the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen, avoiding Tourist masses at Constance, traveling eastward on the South side of Lake Constance, fighting rain on entering Austria and finally reaching Bregenz on the far East side of the lake. There we had some good Thai food, and walked it off on the local lake promenade.

Rhine Falls

Lake Constance

Bregenz Lake Promenade

Day Three (Saturday) was cold, misty and rainy, and most of the time all of the above... We traveled the short distance into Liechtenstein (just for the sake of having been there), but returned almost right away into Switzerland as we had to travel westward again. This time we chose a more alpine route further south, and we rode via Wildhaus Pass to Winterthur.

Unfortunately we did not see a thing because the pass was covered entirely in mist and clouds. Indeed we sometimes even had problems following the road due to the thick fog, but this is when GPS navigation comes in handy! Our rain gear did a fantastic job by keeping us more or less dry, but still the humidity managed to creep in every one of our bones. In Winterthur we stopped for a warm and hearty meal, before we continued our journey of almost 300 km to Delémont in the French part of Switzerland which has a very nice historic district.

Day Four (Sunday) saw a sudden but welcome change in weather, and - although starting out quite cold - we were rewarded with beautiful blue skies. So we decided to finish our journey with a small detour into the French Vosges, a biker's paradise on the French side of the river Rhine. Unfortunately we had to cut short this detour a little bit, as we had missed filling our gas tanks before riding into the mountains, so after crossing the peak of Grand Ballon we had to leave the Vosges again in quest for a gas station. Lesson learned... We rode back through the plains of the Rhine area, crossed the Rhine and (for the last time) the border and got back to our place just in time for coffee.

Dans Les Vosges

We are very sad that we cannot simply ride on tomorrow (work is calling!). The donkeys ran fantastic, and all the gear worked very well. It looks like we caught the travel bug again, this time on our Vespas! Looking VERY much forward to our Tuscany trip in a few weeks!

What a beautiful Afternoon!

We actually had expected to couch-potatoe away the whole Sunday, because the weather forecast predicted long periods of rain, and in fact the night was filled with heavy and deafening showers. But the morning was more or less dry, and by early afternoon weather conditions turned out to be stable enough for us to decide to snoop around through the area a little bit.

Our first stop was the little town of Durbach where the local museum showed a collection of vintage motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and small cars to be admired (see also post below!). Particularly beautiful was a blue BMW Isetta, but we were also impressed by various BMW, NSU and Griffon bikes, all in perfect shape, looking like they were manufactured just yesterday.

The museum also included a bee house, an old wooden flour mill, a wood oven for baking bread and a variety of local grapevines. And a table full of cake, which was just too tempting for us...

Next stop was the city of Kehl, right at River Rhine and adjacent to Strasbourg on the French side. Both cities created a joint park on both sides of the river, connected by the 'Passarelle de Deux Rives', a pedestrian bridge built in 2004 by a Parisian architect. Both sides of the park were pretty crowded, and we heard a lot of French from passers-by!

One of the reasons we visited Kehl was the fact that there is the only East-Indian restaurant around, and we had been craving for Indian food so long now. The restaurant was pretty good, and for the first time since we came to Germany we got to enjoy authentic Indian Tomatoe Soup, Eggplant Pakora, Butter Chicken, Palak Paneea (Spinach), Mango Lassi and a glass of Kingfisher. Yummy!!!

This day definitely turned out to be much better than expected!

The Stork Waggon: Midwife in a Messerschmitt

We found this very rare beauty, a Messerschmitt KR200 Cabin Scooter, in a little Museum in the wine village of Durbach. The scooter has a very interesting history as it was known as the 'Stork Waggon', the vehicle that was used by a midwife to reach the far-flung farms in the Black Forest valleys where she helped delivering hundreds of babies. The Messerschmitt survived the midwife by almost twenty years now, and it still looks very young! We never saw a Messerschmitt on the road before, but this one is fully roadworthy as you can see from the official license plate. What a beauty!

The Geek Patrol

Magers having fun!

The last Rays of the Day

We dropped off Bella and Alonzo for the annual checkup today, so we are Scooter-less right now; therefore this evening we had to go with our second choice, our still new and exciting bicycles! The evening light was just amazing, and we enjoyed the fantastic fresh and clean air we had today. Of course, Sonja's beautiful bike asked for a few model shots, so I happily obliged!

It is quite impressive how relatively easy it is to ride on today's bicycles. We are never going to like long upward slopes, but the small hills we have in our valley we hardly even notice! These are great vehicles!

Life's too short for bad Coffee.

Germany has a very rich coffee culture, and a long history of coffee drinking. So it's no surprise that Roland is a coffee aficionado, and always on the quest for the ultimate taste.

Yesterday we went equipment shopping in a cycle shop, when Sonja discovered a flyer pointing to a local coffee roaster. Since we make it a point of buying local whenever possible, we headed to the store & cafe located in a tiny side road in downtown Offenburg. 

Arnold's Kaffee Manufaktur

When we entered the building we were welcomed by the overwhelming good smell of fresh roasted coffee. The antique furniture and the grandma style decoration perfectly fits the architecture and the atmosphere. In the inner sanctum we find green beans from all over the world stacked along the wall, waiting to be processed.

Mr Arnold is a coffee lover himself, and two years before, when he found the shop closed due to the passing of its previous owner, he didn't hesitate, put an offer down for a lease, and continued the traditional business.

Mr Arnold and his coffee roaster
Photo source: here

Roland went with the owner's recommendation for a Costa Rica and a Rwanda roast. Of course, excellent coffee comes with a certain price, but it also comes with an extraordinary taste, plus from a local shop.

And, isn't life too short for bad coffee anyway?

No Belated April Fools' Day Joke

Wednesday afternoon 5 PM: 27.5C (81.5F)