NORTH ITALY on Motorcycle:-Day 1 21.08.2017

NORTH ITALY on Motorcycle:-Day 1: 21.08.2017 Monday
               290 km

After waking up and having a quick breakfast in the Hotel Ideale in the center (Viale dei Mille) of Milan I took a taxi to the HP Motors Location in Segrate of Milan. The Hotel charged 54.-Euro and I paid to the taxi 15.-Euro and have arrived at the HP Moto Rental Company. It is a sunny day and not hot at all. The 'ragazzi' there are nice guys and they have finished all paperwork in half an hour. I took a BMW 1200 GS as I had already booked. It is a 2014 red one with three cases. 
We made the rental agreement for 5 days and it is 400.-Euro + 0.25 Euro/km. I asked them to add on full insurance also. It is 20.-Euro per day.

I organized my three cases and one bag for the top of the fuel tank. I had brought all my gear and I have changed in the big WC. Then I left my big suit case in their ware house.
I departed at 10:05 and took the route to Lecco. In order to get rid of the big city I took the high ways and reached to Lecco, one of my favorite Italian cities.

I bought fuel for 25.-Euro at the entrance of Lecco and then I stopped in the location where we had got lunch in June 2017 for business. It is a bar/café (Bar la Dolce Vita) having a nice view over the Como Lake and trees in between. Calm weather and sunny day;  I took a coffee and a bottle of mineral water.

Lecco :-Walking at the side of the Como Lake.

Around 11:30 I departed again heading to Chiavenna which is a town in the north of the lake Como. First I took the fast way which has a lot of tunnels. After a certain time it has got bothering on this road and I got out at Bellano exit and then followed the coastal route.
I passed a lot of small villages and towns at the lake side. The view was fantastic. The traffic was also calm and easy. 



Around 13:00 I reached to Chiavenna. This one is a historical town where from the mountains are starting to rise. I stopped my motorcycle at a nice green park and then walked in the city for half an hour. Then I decided to sit in the restaurant (Crotto Ombra).
It is a local food restaurant at the shade of a big rock and from outside it is not easy to discover (Viale Pratogiano,14). I ordered  a marinated trout as starter and then a main course with a medium size beer. Nice food; it was really tasty. I paid 26.50 Euro.

Restaurant Crotto Ombra in Chiavenna

I departed around 14:30 into the direction to Switzerland -St.Moritz. On the way I reached to Malojapass (1817 meter). The road quality is very good and the whether is nice. It 

around 15:30 something.

Malojapass between Chiavenna and St.Moritz (1,817 meter)

After reaching to the Swiss town Silvaplana I took the route to the Julierpass (2288 meter)
even this section was not on my own route to Tirano. I made this Julierpass ride because I was there in a very close vicinity. Then I rode to the village Silvaplana and bought a set of GoPro adhesive stands. I had got GoPro of my son Omer but I did not have any stand on the helmet in order to mount it.

After mounting the GoPro camera onto my helmet and continued to ride. I passed through
St.Moritz and after a while I took the right way to the direction to Tirano. This road took me over the Bernina Pass (2,330 meter). The name is derived from the Bernina Alps in this region. 

The view at both sides of this route is very nice. The Val Poschiavois the last part of the route reaching to Tirano. Almost 5 km before Tirano there is the border line between Switzerland and Italy. The traffic in Tirano was tight during that time in the evening. It was something around 17:30 when I was riding through Tirano.

Te route took me up to Bormio. The quality of the road is fantastic and it is a well running road. I covered the distance between Tirano and Bormio roughly in one hour. It is almost 100 km.

In Bormio I looked for a place to overnight. I tried to select a guesthouse. But then I found the Albergo Baita Dei Pini (=Hotel Hut of the Pines). I was luck. The lady at the reception found  the only free room. It was a small one but no problem !! There is also a garage under the hotel building and it is free for the guests. Even it is a 4 Star hotel they asked 40.-Euro from me. 

My hotel in Bormio :- Albergo Baita dei Pini

After a shower I got out and walked in the city center. After walking up and down I sat in a bar/café and drank two Martini. The girl fetched also some small items like potato, sticks, cheese etc. I decide not to have dinner tonight. Around 21:30 I left this café and walked to another bar. Where I sat for some time and took a Weizenbeer. Then I started to walk to the Hotel. It was little bit cool outside. It was good to have a thin fleece during walking in the town.

This was first day of my Nord Italy Tour.