On The Road

My buddy in Eschenlohe convinced me to spend an extra day in the Dolomites instead of pressing on directly to Venice. A look at the map sold me on the plan: lots of twisty mountain roads and plenty of campgrounds. I quickly made a ferry reservation from Venice to Igoumentisa for two days later before I left his place.

I set out in beautiful sunshine, which lasted until I crossed the border to Italy.

Luckily, I had dry roads again when I reached the higher altitudes in the Dolomites.

I started to realize that it might actually be a bit early for the camping season. The ski lifts that were still running were a clue. I left my all season sleeping bag as well as my winter gloves at home in a last minute weight saving effort. I asked my trusty Zumo how long it would take all the way to Venice and it told me that I could make it in daylight. It then send me on some very twisty mountain roads, including a 2300m pass. Traffic so far had been very light, but until I hit the highway again closer to the coast I only saw a handful of cars going in the other direction and no one going my way. The drivers of the cars I saw looked at me in disbelief. The roads were dry and and with my heated grips I wasn’t cold at all. So, no worries and I had all those turns to myself.

With all that sow around I kept thinking of ways to bring a snowboard on a motorbike. I was really tempted to rent some gear and put in some turns.

After a bit of highway and more country roads I reached Punto Sabbioni, across the lagune from Venice, just around sunset.

This was my first time in Venice and I wasn’t sure what to expect, except of hordes of other tourists. Yes, the place is not for people who don’t like crowds but it was well worth coming here. Just a bit away from St Marc’s square you can have the place practically to yourself and Venice invites you to just head down a narrow alley and explore. It is fascinating in all its beauty and ugliness at the same time and a perfect place for people watching. I had a blast for two days and it didn’t even blow the budget.

I took the ferry from Venice to Igoumentisa in Greece to save some time on my way down. We ended up having four bikes on the ferry, two V-Stroms, one GS, and my Ten. We were told to park between the loading ramps at the very back of the ferry. No tie down points at all and the bikes were really close to each other, practically touching. When I asked I was told that they’ll be fine. With mixed feelings about this I went upstairs to my cabin.

I spent the evening in the company of German and Dutch retirees, who made the crossing with their camper vans, and Greek truck drivers. I had a chance to play bingo but decided against it. My only bingo experience is of the South Pole extreme, full impact bingo kind and I didn’t want to get into trouble. I opted to watch a bloody action flick in one of the lounges instead. After a good night’s sleep I watched a Rambo movie in the morning before it was time to disembark. Somehow Greek ferry companies don’t have the same qualms when it comes to movie selection and some of the kids enjoyed the bloodfest.

The bikes were fine and I drove off as soon as the doors opened.