Captain Kenny and I at Mount Blanc

Here is Kenny and I with Mount Blanc in the the background. Almost at 12,000 feet and about 12C temps.
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Mount Blanc

Today we had our usual breakfast of cereal, bread, a wide assortment of jam, and absolutely no english as at all.

We packed up the bikes and hit the road at about 930 and headed off toward Mount Blanc in France, but of course we took the long way around via northern Italy. We had to pay for 3 toll rolls in total, and traveling certainly isn't cheap, but it doesn't matter because its not real money until you get home and have to pay the credit card bills.

We rode through the Chmoinx tunnel which is 11.6km long and goes right underneath Mount Blanc. We arrived in France (again with no border crossing, it feels much like going from Montana to South Dakota, just a sign on the side on the side of the road, and cheaper/more expensive gas depending on which way you're going) and took the obligatory pictures, and knowing a bit of French now, and hand signals we bough two gondola tickets which took us up the face of Mount Blanc. Unlike at the Top of Europe it was clear and we could see forever. It made for truly great pictures.

There were a fair bit of people hiking around the first transfer station and even more doing snow hiking. It makes me want to come back to persue my new fondness with hiking. Someday.

After we spent about 3 hours at the top of the mountain, we headed back down on the gondola, roamed back to the bikes and headed off toward Sierre, Switzerland via 2 mountain passes. There was to much traffic on the passes to really have any fun but the scenery was of course beautiful per usual.

We made it to the hotel, taking all the right roundabouts, and parked the bikes in the parking garage, unpacked and took a walk around town. We went to a great bar/pub/cafe and sat on the sidewalk and had a pizza and of course beers. Our French must be getting better because ordering was a piece of cake and our waitress again didn't speak any english! Or maybe the beers just made it seem easier.

Tomorrow, the Matterhorn!

Cheers!


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Bourg St. Pierre, Switzerland

Today started off at about 9:30 again with breakfast at the Hotel Minerva. Same mystery meat and I didn't partake again so I filled up on cereal, yogurt and toast.

We loaded everything up and set off toward Speiz, Switz. We took secondary roads and mountain passes that resembled paved goat trails. There are glaciers and huge mountain ranges around every turn. It makes you want to stop every 5 turns and take a picture.

We took a break in Las Dabgrets, and tried to get a soda at "COOP" which seems to be the Euro equivalent of Safeway or Albertsons. However, the entire store was closed for lunch from 1200 to 1330. Another difference that I couldn't quite grasp. We ended up getting a Coke at a sidewalk cafe.

After we left, we started up another mountain pass to drop into Bex. On the downhill side of the pass was a winery directly on the hillside and the bottling station directly at the bottom.

We stopped for gas at Martigny, Switz. and I had a Red Bull Cola which is eventually going to come to the states. I'll have to bring one home and put it in my office.

After we fueled up we continued up the road 30km to Bourg St. Pierre where we found our hotel, parked the bikes and took a walk around the town and took some pictures and did touristy stuff. No t-shirt though.

We got back to the hotel, showered and headed down to dinner where our server didn't know any English, and we didn't know any French. This area must not be to common to receive a visit from two Americans who can't speak French, Deutch or Itilian. It was a quick lesson for all of us in basic communication. I took a stab at something with "befe" in it and I ended up with something resembling stew and it was mighty tasting. Of course, two beers is always understood.

Tomorrow we'll be going into Italy, and then through the Chaminoux tunnel and then take a gondola to Mt. Blanc.

Cheers!
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Interlaken, switzerland

For our second day in Interlaken, we decided to keep the bikes parked and head to the Jungfraujoch, or more commonly known as "The Top of Europe". It is the highest train station and post office in all of Europe at 11,333 feet or 3454 meters. It is an all day event so we left the hotel after breakfast (who had no ham, only a mystery meat so we skipped that and just had the cereal and breads) and walked through the train station at Interlaken Ost.

We got our tickets and got on the first train, which took us to a transfer station, then a second and finally a third which actually took us up to Jungfraujoch..

I somehow forgot to pack any pants or jeans and amazing enough at 11,000 feet it was still -2C and snowing. I did have a jacket and I'm from Butte so I toughed it out.

The top was amazing, and although it was tough to see at times because of the snow/clouds you could really get a feel for this place. It is truly like Glacier Park, but multiplied by 10. Truly amazing stuff.

There was typical tourist things there, and I bought a t-shirt to prove I've been there, but one of the neatest parts was the Ice Palace. They literally carved through the middle of a glacier and made rooms and ice sculptures and such, but the amazing part was being in 100 or 200 feet of ice and being able to see the movement lines of the ice.

After the Top of the World experience we boarded the train down, headed to Kleine Scheldegg and had brautworst and of course, beer, while waiting for the connecting train.

After we got back to Interlaken Ost, we walked down the street and stopped at Hooters-Interlaken, because they serve cold beer. And the girls wear *really* short shorts here.

After the beers, we went to a great Itillian place and had some spaghetti and more beer.

Back at the hotel, we're packing up to head out tomorrow morning.

Cheers!


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Today started out with a full breakfast at our inn with a selection of meats, cheeses, juices, bread and yogurt.

We packed up the bikes, said goodbye to Famillie Goldner, and headed through Klausen Pass after which we headed to Erstfelf and then through Wassen, Switzerland. Before that we made a quick jaunt through Austria at Feldkirch. We also went through the principality of Lichtenstein for a few miles.

After Lichtenstein we went through Nafles, Switzerland which lead us to Susten Pass which gave us fantastic images. I was running low on fuel, but we made it to a bezine station at the bottom of the pass with about a liter to go. Close call.

After fueling up, it was only about 30km to Interlaken, out final destination of the night. We made it into Interlaken at about 1800, and checked into the Hotel Minerva, ate at The Chalet (its french) and of course, had a few beers to wash everything down.

Interlaken will be where we will stay for the next two days. Tomorrow we plan on taking a train ride to the "Top of Europe" which is about a 4 hour train ride.

Beautiful weather today with no rain! Temps were about 60F which was perfect.
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Day 3

Day 3 started late since we were still recovering from some jet lag. We ate breakfast at the hotel and headed down the street to pickup the bikes. We had a Honda CBF1000 and a BMW 1200R reserved from Stevos at Motorex. We exited down the street and quickly got lost trying to find our hotel.

After a few wrong ways and turn arounds we found the hotel, got packed and headed off into the rain that just started.

The goal for the day was the castle Neuschwanstein which supposedly is the castle that one in Disneyland/world is modeled after.

The GPS unit that I brought ran out of batteries after about an hour and a half which meant paper maps, which is always fun with Captain Kenny. He has an amazing sense of direction and can guide you anywhere, even in foreign lands. As long as you don't mind breaking a few traffic rules. After all, we're foreigners and we can't read a damn thing the signs say.

We circulated a bit on some unlimited sections of the autobahn, and ze germans drive fast. And I loved it. They also have the greatest idea ever. In passing zones, they remove the speed limit so you have no trouble passing anyone. Why can america do something like that?

We made it to the castle neuschwanstein and bought tickets for a guided english (!) tour and has about an hour and a half to kill so we hiked to the castle entrance and did tourist stuff like take pictures.

We must have been one of the last tours because the place was cleared out by the time we got to the bottom of the path. After getting ready to go, we did what bikes should do, go around the toll so we didn't have to pay. 5 euros to park? Screw that.

After the castle we just needed to make it to the inn in Fischen, Bravria. It was about 7:30 (or 19:30) when we left and it was raining. It's tough to navigate in a foreign land when you can't see anything.

Gas was running low but we made it to the inn and were greeted by the owner and his wife who figured we weren't coming, and then asked if we came from canada because we took so long. This inn is the greatest ever. 12 rooms, comfy beds, big rooms by euro standards and chocolates on you pillow. I want to come skiing here sometime.

Everything in town was closed so dinner consisted of the chocolate from the pillow and two beers from the owner.

Tomorrow, Interlaken, Switzerland.

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Day 2

We grabbed the Munich subway (the MVG) right in the airport and made our way on the S8 line to the Marienplatz (city center) transfer center to get on the U3 line which will take us about a block and a half from the hotel at the Machtlfiner station. After a quick "circle the wagons" we got on the right train and made it to the station we climbed the stairs and headed to the hotel.

We checked in early, dropped our bags and gear in the room, took a quick shower and walked a few blocks to check out where we would rent the bikes from. We met the guy who had our bikes, told him we would see him tomorrow and headed back to the city center to explore a bit.

By explore, of course I mean sit in a sidewalk cafe and drink fine Bravarian brews.. We sampled a few, walked around, sampled a few more, walked around and sampled some more but with food this time.

We then walked down a main street and came upon a state parliment building that had amazing (of course) architecture and history. We walked down to the city center subway and headed back to the hotel. We stopped and got some water (tafelwasser is sparkling for the record) and watched some CNN world to keep awake so we can adjust to the jet lag.

That's it for day 2. Guten Tag!
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