Splügenpass
After our nice stay in Olcio at Lago di Como we continued riding northbound, direction Chiavenna. It was beautiful sunny weather and still over plus 30 Celsius, hence why we rode the Italian way and left off our jackets.
That day’s task would be taking ourselves over the Alps, leaving this beautiful area and changing it for another one.
Initially we thought we will be crossing the mountains at St. Moritz. However, after a midday’s coffee break in Chiavenna and the enthusiastic “Passo della Spluga, bello!” of an elderly Italian gentleman we met, we decided that we take that one instead. Geographically shorter it was, just over 30 km from Chiavenna to Splügen, and gorgeous weather it was. So why not?
And it was gorgeous.
One of the most impressive scenery I’ve ever seen so far. The riding was a bit challenging, though, I never needed to go such tight bends before. But once you are on it, you luckily don’t think that much about heights and so on. You just ride, just keep climbing bend by bend, passing through the Italian stone gallerias securing the sides… Once we took the wrong turn, though, and ended up at a ski area. I thought that this should be the highest point, till we found out, nope, wrong turn, you have to go back, take the right turn and continue from there direction Splügenpass… Sigh, alright then, let’s practice a bit of downhill riding, cos there will be lots more to come …
We stopped once when almost having reached the pass in order to take a few pictures.
Up here the temperature was more than bearable and most importantly not to hot for this kind of riding with full concentration.
Swedephotog was telling me before that the Italian side of passes usually is worse than the Swiss one when it comes down to fences, road quality etc. . Well, I thought the Italian side we passed wasn’t bad at all, so if the Swiss side was even better, riding down would just be a piece of cake.
But as a good German proverb says, firstly things will turn out to be different and secondly (different) from what you expect. And so it was. Approaching the Swiss side, you could see almost ALL nice turns and u-turns waiting for you from above. Just like in this nice video, only it was a lot less traffic. And no music either. Not even in my thoughts.
As you can see that there are hardly any fences holding you, only cow fences keeping the cattle off the road. Which were watching us curiously while we were rolling down the steep road in second or even first gear.
The story of the day was Swedephotog’s, though. He suddenly heard a “pling”, which then disappeared again before he heard it again, and again. Shit. Something wrong with the motor maybe? Then again. Pling. He looks beside him – and there it was, the “pling”. A nice Swiss cow having lunch and moving the bell around her neck. Pling, pling!
Anyway. This is what a ride on the pass fro Italy to Switzerland could look like only two months earlier:
In fact we saw still a few patches of snow in July! Wikipedia tells you that the pass will not be kept open during wintertime and that even the Italian village Montespluga often gets disconnected from the outer world during the winter months.
Anyway. Due to the missing “proper” fences and the fact that you can see all the tight bends waiting for you, the Swiss side felt more challenging than the Italian one. And that despite a bigger height to cover on the Italian side than in Switzerland.
Having arrived in Splügen, we rewarded ourselves with a proper meal. Then we bought the most expensive motorway vignettes ever at the local post office. However, we enjoyed the nice Swiss motorways, so the ride was expensive, but worth it.
Later at truck-stop Heidiland we took another break, meeting a fellow motorcyclist on a nice Agusta who happened to be a huge fan of pass-riding. Well, born in Switzerland, that seems to be an appropriate passtime when owning a motorcycle, doesn’t it? Anyway, we told him about our adventures and then of course also names Splügenpass. “Splügenpass?”, he said, “This is one of the most complicated passes in the Alps for motorcycles. If you took that one you can ride any other pass, too.”
Dear, did that boost my self confidence or did it? 😉
This story also proves that sometimes it is really good not to know too much about things you are supposed to tackle, just go with the flow and trust your gut feeling.
Seriously, if I would have seen the pictures I saw on the net now, if I would have watched the videos you can find, you don’t think I even would have considered going this pass, do you?
But we did it, spontaneously, and we got rewarded with new experiences and lots of beautiful views we otherwise would have missed.
An advantage of Splügenpass is by the way that there are no lorries or bigger cars around. They would not cope with the tight bends at all. Flying around the bends are therefore only other motorcyclists, cars and lots of professional cyclists.
This was the first story of one long riding day.
Update: Fuzzygalore from the US also did Splügen this year! Check out her report as well. And then add her blog to your reading list. Otherwise you miss out, I’d say.
Beautiful Lago di Como
Well, there is not much to say when coming closer to Lago di Como, apart from – it is just BEAUTIFUL!
For me, this was the only time during our travel where I did not really want to leave the place after 2 full days spent there. Despite the hot summer weather. But then again, we had the lake in front of our Bed & Breakfast and one could take a morning dip, an evening bath, night swimming…..
Our B&B was Frontelago, run by Marie and Pietro, who are some of the nicest hosts we ever came across, Tripadvisor fully confirms what we experienced. Frontelago means “in front of the lake” and that’s definitely what describes it best. We found it by recommendation of Agostini, the local Moto Guzzi dealer.
We were allowed to park the motorcycles on the premises and could even have used their garage. Just that the entrance was so steep that we decided against it. Not that there weren’t any steep roads to climb on this trip, but that is another story to come.
Frontelago is in Olcio, which belongs to Mandello but is situated a few kilometres further North. Apart from being close to the lake we had “Gelati” (ice cream) just around the corner, and a kind of unofficial restaurant around the corner. Maria booked us in two nights, and we got proper Italian food. The full range consisted of Antipasti, first course, second course, Dolci, a bottle of quality Italian Merlot, table water, coffee and even a Grappa. Price? Thirteen Euro per person.
The restaurant is run by Mamma Lucia and since we were there twice we noticed that this dinner option is also extremely popular with the locals. Right in the corner sat two rather distinguished elderly ladys, both equipped with a fan, observing the happenings in the restaurant and friendly greeting everyone coming in or passing by. Then there was Angelo, an elderly gentlemen who seemingly did not have all the stables in the horses anymore, but who was well appreciated among all the regulars. Not to forget two younger lads, we couldn’t figure out if they also were guests in the area like us or local regulars. And then there was us and a really lovely American couple also staying at Frontelago, quite a bit older then us who were doing a modern version of backpacking through Europe. Means they kept the backpack but otherwise like us indulged in the good stuff like good food and good but reasonably priced places to stay. Their means of transport were planes and cars, though.
The best at that restaurant but also with Maria and Pietro was that one felt somewhat integrated rather than being the odd tourist for a couple of days. People there seem to care, they are open, curious and helpful. Such a difference to Verona, even though people there also were nice. But in Mandello/ Olcio one became part of the whole, even though it was just for a couple of days.
We also went to browse Stucchi Luigi for parts for Elisa, but I did not find what I need. In fact on the left side-fairing I lost the little black part attached to it at the front. The funny thing is, that the Imola in the Guzzi Museum lacks exactly that part, too. “Modelltypischer Mangel” maybe, which is German for “common failure for the model in question” 😉 .
Here is a selection of impressions of our stay – the tour to Mandello and the Moto Guzzi Museum you already could read in an earlier post.
Dogs ride, too!
In Mandello del Lario we met this little fellow equipped with fashionable Goggles. He has been riding all the way from Belgium together with his master and mistress. Sitting comfortably tucked into an old Harro Elefantenboy, this is probably the best position on the bike he could have.
Personally, I’ve never seen an animal being a passenger on a bike before, not even in a sidecar. This inspired me to do a bit of research. What I found is that riding with dogs is far from being unusual!
There is the Biker Dogs Motorcycle Club, then you can get special seats for your four-legged loved-one at Beastriders.com and whoever wondered what it might be looking like with a dog on the tank, check this one out:
The Moto Guzzi Museum in Mandello
One could safely state that the Moto Guzzi factory and museum in Mandello is the Mecca for all Guzzisti worldwide. And us Swedes are lucky enough to have it on the same continent, which makes it kind of easier to take your bike down to it’s birthplace.
Although – who took whom down to Mandello? We like to think, we ride our two-wheeled travel companions there. But I had a feeling, the closer we got to Mandello, was it really me showing the bike where it comes from, or is it rather the bike taking me to the nice places? Telling me “Look, this is how beautiful it is down here. What are we doing in that cold country up North where one can ride only six months at the maximum? Wouldn’t it be a great idea to come back to my place and live here? You surely noticed the way I roll in the mountains is kind of my natural way to move? In other words, I am built for this type of area, how about you?”
Well, listen to your companion when you take it to the factory. Would be interesting to know what you feel or felt.
I shut up now and just share a bunch of nice pictures with you.
Surprisingly enough, they did not have all models ever produced at the museum. The second bike I own, a V50 III, was for example not on display, and other visitors we met agreed that the collection is not complete.
So search your sheds and chalets, maybe you could donate a model they are still missing on their 90-years anniversary next year ;).
Carmen & Madame Butterfly
Two Opera nights we had during our stay. The first night we rode from our hotel in Parona down to Verona, all the way along the river, parking just outside the old castle in the centre. Great ride, the disadvantage being that red wine was kind of tabu for us. But worth it, since we were not dependent on a bus that might or might not come, especially since the bus companies were on strike that day.
We saw Madame Butterfly on the first night, and Carmen on the second. Carmen was première that night, so the Arena was full to almost the last place.
Oh dear. Opera. Booooring, you might think. Well, I am not a particular Opera fan, but in this environment one could become one. Why? Because of the atmosphere. Despite the Opera festival being quite touristy (people come even for a day down from Vienna just to see a piece) Opera there is quite pure. By that I mean the atmosphere, the set, how everything is put in place. The Arena itself makes a lot of that, definitely due to being an old Roman Amphitheatre.
We sat far up in the Arena, on the stones which have been warmed all day by the sun. So you had your personal bum heating. Not that it was particularly needed during these hot days, but hey. Then, one automatically thinks what it might have been like sitting here during Roman times? Since we sat that high up, at least during the first night, one got even a glimpse of the Verona silhouette. That way the entire town became somehow part of the set. Not to forget the bats who where conveniently hunting insects in the lights of the set.
Anyway, here a few pictures:
In order to give a better impression on what the atmosphere was like during the Carmen-première night, now some videos. Not sure if one sees it, but it is custom in the Arena that small candles are lit before the piece starts and the music of the live orchestra fills the air in the venue up to the very top rows. Acoustics and view are simply marvellous.
This one is taken just before the start of the performance:
There is also a professional one from the Italian TV station RAI
And last but not least another amateur recording from the Carmen performance. A bit shaky at the beginning, but stay with it a while, it gets better and has nice clear pictures of the stage and definitely one of the better sounds among the videos one finds.
When I look at all these I could go back immediately, never mind the hot weather. Such great two nights it were!
Tempted? Then you might want to check out the schedule for 2011. Don’t think we will be back next year, but we will definitely be back.
This is how a post can end up talking more about opera than motorcycling. I want to mention, though, that the ride back after the opera along the river was just magic. It was obviously dark, only a few street lights on, and one could feel the fresh air from the river Adige on one’s skin, through the thin shirts we wore. That’s how summer nights should be really.
Elisa Travels 