EURO TOUR 2023 - The Epilogue

The Epilogue - London - 20th October 2023

So all good things come to an end. Driving to Annecy nearly 6 weeks ago feels like a lifetime ago…but then I could say I have squeezed a lifetime, nearly, into those weeks - and I’m so pleased I kept the blog fresh and regularly updated….one rainy evening (very soon no doubt) I will sit down and slowly reflect on all the stages! And the last 14 months or so, since that last race!

As for this trip though, I cannot complain. The weather was excellent almost continuously, and from all the locations identified when I conducted my initial research, I visited just about every place, plus extras including Hungary; visiting John in Vienna…and even Lago Molveno from a recommendation was a super bonus!

Even the driving, irrespective of duration, was never laborious…mainly due to the continuously amazing views, but also simply because of the discovery of new places, as the excursion progressed.

Standout moments? Very difficult because it was all quite amazing, so any comparison is relative! 

But moments that really captivated me, some, in an almost semi spiritual sense do include:

• although not always fully visible, but Mt Blanc and the glacier at Chamonix. Annecy does have a spectacular setting, but the sight of the Mt Blanc massif just nudged up the wow factor a couple of notches!
• The Matterhorn. A couple more notches! The iconic sight of this beauty blew me away, I never tired of looking at it…and combined with the Five Lakes Walk was a top three highlight (although starting the walk from Zermatt would not be repeated, should’ve got the gondola!)
• Staring at the tempting sight of Mount Legnone (2609m) overlooking Lake Como from my campsite, I finally succumbed! The rating is justified by the rooftop views from the summit, right across to the French and Swiss Alps…and the scrambling to its summit, but the descent was rather laboured!
• Really not liking by initial impressions of Lake Garda, fortunately the campsite I tried was full, but the lady there recommended I continued driving for another hour to Molveno. What a little gem! Next to a beautiful azure blue lake, surrounded by my first viewing of the Dolomites. And perfectly explored by a cross country bike circuit, after catching a gondola to the higher levels!
• Possibly my number one highlight. Siusi Alma (overlooked by Alpe di Siusi) was simply jaw droppingly spectacular, and it got better. Riding the panoramic circuit, after taking a gondola to the higher levels, there were in fact two more massifs, which the ride explored….really amazing, one of my best rides ever!
• I’ll say Slovenia per se - not sure if any one landscape would make my top three. But Lake Bled is a very nice location, but the surrounding hinterland is nothing spectacular. But once in the Alpine territory and especially Kranjska Gora and the views from my campsite were memorable.
• Vienna! I hadn’t planned to meet up with John, but the 4 days were great, they flew by and I was very impressed with Vienna, and his new (ish) life he has out there!
• I’ll lump the Austrian and Bavarian Alps together…a huge area, and so much more to return to… I got the impression that these areas have as much to offer as the more well known parts of the Alps, but quietly get on with it…one day I will discover more! 

I had a stopover at Metz to break the back of the Calais journey, and by teatime the following day I’d arrived at my pal’s place, Paul aka Gaston,  in Tooting! Soon followed by a  Weatherspoons meal, then a few more beers in a nice traditional pub.

The following day, we went over to Leyton, ostensibly to ultimately see my daughter Katie, including a Leyton Orient vs Barnsley footy game (to keep us out of the pubs!)….unfortunately Katie was unwell, so she stayed in…but on her recommendation we headed to a beer trail in the Walthamstow / Lea Valley area. Huge warehouses converted into multi purpose complexes, quite amazing…we watched the England vs S Africa rugby WC quarter final…and then saw the last part of The Warlocks. An LA based psychedelic rock outfit…very impressive!

Home by 1.30am via a chicken takeaway place! 

A pleasant walk and breakfast in Tooting Bec, in glorious sunshine….and then the journey back north to Sheffield…catch up with family etc and eventually consider where, and plan the next adventure! 🤷‍♂️😎

EURO TOUR 2023 - Stage 16 - Bavarian Alps (Germany)

Stage 16 - Bavarian Alps - Garmisch  18th to 19th October

I left the hotel near Innsbruck with a low tank on enthusiasm, I think there has been an element of demob happy, for an inexplicable reason….I think ever since the weather changed, and I know I didn’t scrape the surface of Austria. 

Also on this morning, I felt bizarrely a bit distant, then realised, although I always say it does not affect me, I’d had no coffee (cheapskate chose not to have the hotel breakie. I was tempted to use my gas stove, but couldn’t reach the smoke detector to cover it, I didn’t dare risk it….just in case I caused a mass evacuation!).

Heading north, and climbing towards Germany, I pulled into a lay-by, and had two coffees….I felt better immediately. Although, my initial plan was to road trip around the locations I’d planned back in Sheffield on Google Maps….and I even thought, by mid afto, I could take a few hours out of the Calais journey?

But then, I looked at myself….thought I didn’t want to get to Sheffield, and regret not doing something….and that almost certainly included just driving through points of interest with no detailed exploration and stopover….I eventually came to Garmisch (which from the car was very nice). But then the backdrop of the highest massif in Germany came into view…the Zugspitze….almost Dolomite in profile….and perfectly facing it, without any interruption soon was my tent….in a village (Grainau) just a few kilometres from Garmisch.

By 1pm I was on my bike, a Komoot route but with some starter pointers from the lady at reception…a great route that went around Lake  Eibsee, a small cobalt gem in the woods, but with the mountain backdrop….thereafter followed pretty continuous climbing (but I knew once at the top, it was pretty much all downhill thereafter)…eventually I dropped into the ski resort of Ehrwald, which at the time I didn’t realise, is in Austria! Then a great gravel downhill all the way down to the campsite, back into Germany!

In the evening I popped down to Garmisch. Clearly very Bavarian, obviously, but lovely, in fact arguably the nicest town I’d visited on the whole trip. But unfortunately not matched by the quality of the curry, I decided to treat myself to, at a nearby recommended restaurant. Very insipid.

It got slightly worse, when I returned to the campsite for some reason the security gates wouldn’t let me in! So I had to leave the car with bike and camera outside the campsite…worried me a little, and I slept badly.

Very minimal rain and a cloudy morning, plus the poor night persuaded me to move on. I was going to do a cable car / hike circuit to the very tops…on a blue sky day it would’ve been sensational. But, as already stated I intend returning here and Austria with much more exploring. (For ref: €28 but €3 refund for car not on site!)

On the road again then, navigating to those places I’d mapped before leaving Sheffield. First, Plansee, which was very nice…then Fussen. At this point I was clearly leaving the Alps. Fussen and area is known for the castles, which except as a 5 year old, I’ve never had an interest in…so a short reassessment on the roadside, and soon, I was heading to Calais, in two stages (Metz stopover…€39 basic hotel) through pouring rain, and Le Chunnel was booked for 3.30pm the following day.

So that what the end of my trip…a summary must follow….😊

EURO TOUR 2023 - Stage 15 - Innsbruck (Austria)

 

Stage 15 - Innsbruck - Austria - 17th October to 18th

It wasn’t far in distance from my campsite to Innsbruck, but I can only assume there was a major accident on the motorway because on the inside lane there were miles of lorries, and on the outside it wasn’t moving too quickly either (the practice in Austria is to leave the middle lane open for emergency vehicles).

My Google Maps took me off the motorway, but unfortunately so did a high proportion of other vehicles. Only 7km to Innsbruck centre but it was very slow…I nearly bailed at one point…but finally made a car park right in the centre.

A quick pint, and advice from the waitress on what I could do in three hours….so off I went, checking out the old town, river area, but failed in finding the train to a high viewpoint…I didn’t try very hard. Yes, it was very nice, I do find architecture interesting but at the same time, I’m always looking and prioritising the mountain skyline (which was a tremendous surround of the city).

Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol and is on the River Inn, a tributary of the Danube.

So that was it! 😎

I’d got a hotel, just a few kilometres out of town, I didn’t want to freeze again for a second night….and England were playing Italy in footy, and thought it be nice to watch in comfort. (for ref : €53).

The car park perhaps not surprisingly had several campervans, owned no doubt by others who tried to sleep that previous night in sub zero temperatures ! In fact it was confirmed by one, a Swiss snowboarder guy at reception…who couldn’t believe I’d been in a tent! He also thought that at the weekend there could be snow, and was alarmed I didn’t have “Winter tyres!”.

England won 3-1 👏😊 (but Southgate should’ve had Madison on from the start instead of the defensive rusty Phillips!).

EURO TOUR 2023 - Stage 14 - Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria)

Stage 14 - Hohe Tauern National Park - Austria - 16th October to….

So I left Salzburg in glorious sunshine, but the temperature had dropped, this was autumn now! Google Maps said nearly two hours to my destination, but almost immediately I was driving through Alpine landscapes, and immediately realised there was an awful lot to discover in Austria (combined with the Bavarian Alps), I flagged a future trip but much more dedicated to just this area…(country!).

Several tunnels later (I was heading due south towards Slovenia) but eventually took a diversion, as the plan was to scale and experience the Grosglocken Pass….the highest paved road pass in Austria, at 2504m. However at the toll gates (yes!) they were closed, unless you had snow chains! There had been heavy snow higher up, as witnessed by the live feed in the Information Centre…so about turn I went! Shame, the views are supposed to be brilliant from the tops. 🤷‍♂️

I was going to Mittersill anyway, and the advice at the IC was to head that way too….it seemed a thriving large village / small town….but the nearest camping was 12km away, down the valley at a very small place called Wald just down from Krimml.

The campsite looked closed, but a mobile home pulled up, with a nice German couple….who confirmed it was open, and although it was defo much colder the sun was shining and made a difference, in the sun!  (For ref: €17, and a Euro back on the lukewarm shower!).

I went out on the bike, with some guidance from the lady at the reception. Which included a track off the valley through, yes a deep forest….the aim was to view the alpine skyline, above the forest. But I gave up! It went on and on, and at one point was 25%….and the temperature was 0C, so I returned to the valley, and followed the cycle trail signs to the Krimml Waterfalls, the highest in Austria.

However, they wouldn’t let me in, with a bike! And it was €8 - I saw the last part of the fall from the other bank, and from a distance….and yes, for a waterfall it looked impressive.

It was all downhill from there, literally, 500m back to camp! By which time the sun was going down, as was the temperature! Even the friggin shower was cold, but the welcome from my German neighbours was warm…they invited me to join them for a beer! Probably in their 70s, the following morning they were cycling up the old road above the valley, dumping their bikes then hiking to a nearby lofty peak. They told me they’d done the same in Slovenia, up Triglav the highest mountain, including a necessary refuge sleepover….well impressed!

I struggled but eventually found a very local restaurant in a nearby village run by an elderly couple, with no English…and some interesting German music on the radio! I chose another local dish, and yes more dumplings and sauerkraut with pork again, I think….and applestrudel again!

Returning to my pitch, I stayed in the car a while because it really was cold! While I completed my social media etc gubbins….and fvck it was cold, a seriously clear star lit sky was a bonus, but it ended there…my night was very restless, it was soooo cold! 

There was frost everywhere, of course, the following morning….and I had no hesitation in deciding not to do a second night! Although once I got sorted in all my gear, and the sun started to shine, breakie was quite nice….it was very clear again….but cold. I had a lovely chat with Becky….then set off towards Innsbruck via the old road that climbed over 700m above the valley. 

I decidedly had an end of trip head on, I wasn’t as enthused about finding cycle routes nor hiking….but happy to car trip and site see….bloody tourist. As stated before I would really like to return and spend much more time in this region!

Becky said I must visit Innsbruck….but that’s a city, and I don’t get enthused by them….unless they are special…🤷‍♂️

EURO TOUR 2023 - Stage 13 - Salzburg (Austria)

 

Stage 13 - Salzburg - Austria - 15th to 16th October 

Finally leaving Vienna and John, on the Sunday morning. Although I waited until nearly 11am, John was still with the fairies (these working people)…so I quietly (as possible) made my move, west, affectively heading home….well in the right kind of direction.

Vienna is located in the relative flatlands of eastern Austria…so according to Google Maps, it was 4.5 hours to my next destination, the Hohe Tauern National Park.

However, for the first time, I drove through some intensive rain…and after a quality restaurant pit stop (McDonalds 😜)….I checked the forecast, which was rain all day….and being only 20km from Salzburg, I decided a city stop on this occasion was justified….and Salzburg is supposed to be the nicest Austrian City?

So Salzburg it was…but I’m not sure you can compare it with Vienna, they are very different. For one Vienna is a much larger city…and as nice Salzburg was, I’d easily rate my “tourist walk” that I did around Vienna well above Salzburg.

In Salzburg’s defence, it was grey and rainy…still nice , with the river Salzach and the old town, with medieval and baroque buildings, and of course 🤷‍♂️, it is where some geezer called Mozart was born!

My walk lasted over four hours, but 90 mins of it I was in O’Malleys Irish Bar….it was in the historic old town!

A basic but adequate hotel for the night (for ref: €53), Hotel Flair! My room had no kettle, so for breakie, I put a plastic bag around the smoke detector, and used my camping gas cooker to make a couple of cuppas! And fortunately there was no need for a hotel evacuation due to the fire alarms going off, but just as I walked outside, a fire engine pulled up with the guys in full breathing equipment. I thought shit, but then realised their focus was on next door, I think?

Anyhow, I quietly and quickly loaded my car, and swiftly exited Salzburg, and finally headed into those big mountains, on what was a contrasting morning…blue sky and sunshine!