NORTH ITALY on Motorcycle:-Day 2 22.08.2017

NORTH ITALY on Motorcycle:-Day 2 : 22.08.2017 Tuesday
           246 km

After having a good sleep and breakfast at the Albergo Baita dei Pini in Bormio I decided to walk around a little bit. I walked in 15 minutes to the place where the tele-ski station is taking people up to the mountains. 

Albergo Baita dei Pini

Looking downwards from Bormio

After having some pictures I walked back to the Hotel and I decided to ride to the Bormio 2000 site at the top of the hill with my motorcycle. Usually this is one of the famous skiing areas which is also very close to the town. I finished my check-out from the Hotel, I paid only 40.-Euro for one night incl. breakfast and closed garage for my motorcycle. At 09:30 I was on my bike and climbing up to the Bormio 2000. 
The road quality is well enough and with nice curves. The distance is something around 4-5 kms only. It takes around 7-8 minutes with the motorcycle. After reaching to the Bormio 2000 station point I started to ride down to the city. On the way back I stopped somewhere and took some pictures.

Looking down from Bormio 2000 to the town Bormio

Bormio downtown is busy today. There is heavy traffic within the center. Being a motorcycle I rode on the left of the queue and I handled the traffic jam reasonable in a short time.
It was 10:00 o'clock when I left the center. I took the direction to the north-east. I climbed the wavy road to Stelvio. In 2011 we had done this in the opposite direction. The weather is very calm and nice. The sky is open and the view over the mountains is fantastic. 

Practically, the Stelvio Pass starts just after 4-5 kms from Bormio. Rising to the mountains the roads are getting more with curves. Closer to the Stelvio Pass there are many "hairpins". I stopped somewhere on the west looking side of the road and took some pictures. The German name of Stelvio is Stilfserjoch (2,757 m).

Looking down to the Bormio direction.

Very close to the top there is a smart entrepreneur who was sitting deep at the hairpin curve and taking photo of the people who are riding upwards on motorcycles and bikes. A few days later they are uploading the pictures to their web page (FotoStelvio.com) and those who want to buy must pay 8.-Euro for each picture.

It was exactly 11:00 when I parked my bike. I walked there under the sunny sky and then I departed around 11:30 down in the direction of Trofi. This downhill ride is also fantastic. There are a lot of hairpins. It is usually my best time for riding. I should ride between 10:00 and 12:00. I think I it is most energetic time phase.

Stelvio Pass:- One of the pilgrimage(?) passes for motorcyclists.

The little hut on the Stelvio Pass (I am trying to hold the hut in position :)

Stelvio Pass (2,760 meter)

I bought fuel in the valley and then rode further to Silandro where I found Maria Theresa 's Restaurant at the right hand side of the road. I ordered Makaroni auf Teufelsart, una birra della spina and as the main dish I took Truthahn (turkey) on the grilled vegetable. It costs 29.-Euro. This part of Italy are speaking mostly maybe mainly German similar to Austrian dialect. 

I departed at 13:40 in the direction to Merano and Vipiteno (German name :Sterzing) . The road is very nice and the valley is for fruit production mainly. There are a lot of apple orchards on both sides of the road. After passing through the city Merano  just a few kms (6-7) after I rode up the Jaufenpass (2,094 m). I took a rest on the top. The view is wonderful. Then I started again to ride in the direction to Vipiteno. I am planning to take the country road because it has a pass and nice panorama. 

Right after entering this route I was climbing the Penser Joch (2,211 m). The road passes trough the valley and through a few villages. Roughly in 1,5 hour I arrived at Bolzano. It was something around 17:30. I tried to find an accommodation in the city center. But it is expensive and limited. I talked with the Kolpink and Greif. But there is no availability. Because of the music competition in Bolzano, a big orchestra has already  booked all the rooms at Kolpink. The guy at the Kolpink was very helpful. He called a couple of hotels and asked for free room. The Post Gries Hotel gave the best price and I decided to go there. It is only 1 km away from the antique center of the city. I rode to the Hotel Post Gries around 18:00. There is also a private parking garage in the basement. The hotel is clean. I went out around 19:00 and walked to the historical center of Bolzano. It is really a small but interesting city. The buildings' character resembles  Austrian style. The people are also speaking mainly German. Bolzano is a bilingual city.

At the Piazza

One of the narrow passages (Veicolo)

Portici - Lauben Street

One of the nicely decorated shop windows in Portici (Lauben) Street

I did not sit for dinner tonight. At the Kornplatz (Piazza del Grano) I sat outside of a café and drank two Aperol Spritzi. They served also some small things to eat. Then I walked in the city and found another cozy bar and I drank one beer and ate a few small tapas here.

At the corner of the Sparkassenstrasse

Around 22:30 I returned to my Hotel Post Gries. Just before the bar closed, I took a beer and drank in the front yard. The night was not cold. 

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.