Bikers Welcome! I hoped the food would be good.
Trips - Germany April 2001 - Deutsche Alpenstrasse
By now I was getting hungry having passed up stopping in nondescript towns and thinking about the Korean restaurant by the Bodensee. When you're on the road there's few things worse then being hungry and stopping for a bad meal. Add to this problem the fact that in this part of southern Germany there isn't a mega-supermarket on every corner and when it's lunchtime everybody's home with their families not minding the store.
So if your an itinerant traveler looking for a quick bite to eat, you had either better be patient, prepared or lucky. I was going for the lucky route. I figured that the further and faster I drove into the picturesque countryside, the better chance I had at coming across an inn or small restaurant that tickled my fancy.
Flying down the road I saw a old used bike on top of a trailer with a sign for the hotel that said: BIKERS WELCOME!
I hit the brakes, backed up, and turned in figuring that this hotel welcomed bikers and therefore they must be alright.
Photo - A welcome sight
Bikers Welcome! I hoped the food would be good.
I was warmly welcomed by the guesthouse owner and his wife who cooked up a traditional meal and served me a nice cold beer. They showed me the rooms for future visits and told me many stories about all of the motorcyclists who travel through this area on the Deutsches Alpenstrasse on their way to high mountain passes in Austria and Switzerland.
Photo - fellow biker
Truly a motorcylists hangout. This guy was simply on his way to
work and stopped by to chat with the owners as usual.
The owner was kind enough to help highlight some scenic roads through the mountains many of which he said I would fall in love with and have to come back and see on my bike. Enjoy traveling the Alps courtesy of these 15 second clips.
Video - Alpine Road 1 Real MPEG
Video - Alpine Road 2 Real MPEG
Video - Alpine Road 3 Real MPEG
Photo - A bit overcast but the mountains get closer
Sometimes the weather wasn't the best but the drive sure was relaxing.
There were some really great climbs with hairpin turns galore leading up to deep valleys and natural high lakes. My favorite part was driving through a high forest with really small roads that lead to an unguarded crossing with Austria. You can see an example of the scenery below.
Photo - High mountain lake, Austria
All around this lake were very small towns and everybody was out
hiking and bicycling. The air was much cooler because of the snowcap
and this was among the best parts of my trip.
Photo - Red F650GS
Of course, I was bound to see more motorcyclists on this road such as this
new F650GS
ridden by an Austrian couple on their initial ride. They had just picked it up
the other
day and were going on their shakedown ride. Not a bad place to break in a bike.
Lest you think that the road is all fun and smiles with mountain fresh air to blow all of one's cares away, I take the time now to remind people that this is farmer country. Motoring along with the windows down one often comes upon fields freshly covered with nature's best fertilizer, manure. Being somewhat of a city/suburb kid this is always a quick olfactory reminder as to where I am.
Even stranger sometimes still is how these remote communities receive services. I was astounded to see how big semis navigated narrow twisty roads. Take a good look below and you'll see a heavy rig piggybacked on another rig. Glad that I wasn't riding twisties behind this combo.
Photo - Big rig times two
Surprises of all kinds await you on the back roads of Germany.
Passing through more areas I made it to Garmisch-Partenkirchen a 'twin city' setup in the Bavarian Alps famous for it's hosting of Olympic events, high peaks, and easy access to Munich. I made it there too late to take the cable car up to the top for a view around the region and so I decided to keep on going to overnight as close to the twin castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau as I could so as to be able to tour them first thing in the morning.