So the race is over and yesterday was one of the saddest days I've had on this trip, leaving my family is always so hard, Unterrot is my german home, I spent so many summers there and have so many fond memories. I love my aunt, her and I had a great time together the week I spent with there, she lives in our familys big house pretty much alone and she got real sad yesterday when I said goodbye, I hate these kind of goodbye's because you just never know if you will see them again, it was very emotional for the both of us. My cousin Sonja and her husband Gerold decided to take the trail from Gaildorf to the Stuttgart Train Station with me, they were going to do some shopping in Stuttgart, so we loaded up the bike and headed out. The first train was just a local one, it stops at allot towns people always getting on and off. Once at the Stuttgart station, I'm getting off the train and here comes my cousin Trautel, she was the one who helped all last week at Bike 4 Peaks, she works walking distance away and stopped by to say goodbye one more time, I thought I had left something in the camper. We had a coffee, said our goodbye and I boarded the train for Zurich Switzerland, now I'm on my own, this was not suppose to be the plan, Pat should have been with me for this part of the trip and that just added to my depression. The train to Zurich was incident free, I did meet a couple from Michigan on board, seems like no matter where I go there are always Michiganders around, and an old guy with an Indiana Jones hat and walking stick who seemed to have a ton of stuff for an old guy traveling alone, but I heard him telling the guy behind me how he was traveling Europe by train and writing a book about it, very cool. I got off the train and sat at the Zurich station for about 2 hours until my train to Italy arrived. I love people watching and there are no better places in the world for this than airports and train stations, so I sat and observed for 2 hours, people are the best entertainment in the world to me.
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| Image taken from the train, in Switzerland much of the highway is build into the mountain |
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| One of the beautiful towns the train passed thru |
The train to Italy arrived, so I asked the conductor, where the first class section was, he says all the way to the front?? Ahhh crap, mind you I have been lugging around 2 bags and bike box and this was a pretty long train, so hike to the front boarded and set off for Italy. First class is a great way to travel on trains, it usually not to much more and have more room, less people and no problems with bathrooms. I sat by the conductors station and noticed a guy in a suit there, once we started moving he sat down and started asking the conductor questions, showing him pictures and asking him about it, oh boy it was testing time! Now when I say conductor, I dont mean the guy driving the train, I mean the guy who checks the tickets and blows the whistle when its time to leave. This dude was sweating and being watched we all got super service in first class. Riding the train from Zurich to Como was absolutely beautiful, the Swiss Alps and its town are indescribable, I really have gotten a great taste for the Alps these past couple of weeks, Lugano Switzerland looks like a place I need to visit. Soon after Lugano we are at the Italian border, Boarder Patrol comes on board and starts asking questions, checking bags and just being obnoxious like they're suppose to be. He walks up to my looks at my passport and says, Your Bike (Italian Accent) I answer yes, He says you have $10,000 cash? Horrified I reply, does it cost that much to bring a bike into Italy? He starts laughing at me an says, Youaa Ok! Then it dawned on me what an ass I just made of myself. So were sitting there and sitting and all of the sudden someone gets on the loud speaker and says, if your going to Como or blah, blah blah other cities, you need to get off the train now and get on the train across the tracks?? What, I'm suppose to ride 1st class all the way to Como and now I'm sitting on plastic? I know I sound spoiled LoL. I get on the other train and this old woman starts yelling at me in Italian, now what!! I tell no Italian only German or English so she starts yelling at me in German, LoL, all I could see and hear is the that super bright lipstick moving up and down and something about having to meet her husband at the airport in Milan and blah blah blah...
My ears were bleeding after that confrontation. The trains starts moving and 10 min later I'm in Como, now I'm only 20 miles from Bellagio where I have a room set up, again I had an apartment picked out for Pat and myself right on the water, but when she couldnt go I downgraded since the apartment owners let me out of that cost.
I leave the train station and ask a cop where I could find a cab, he points right in front of himself, ughh we go again, I dont even dye my hair blond anymore. The first driver in line says taxi, yup where you go, Bellagio, Uhhh must ask boss, he talks to some street dealer looking guy and they start loading me into a different cab with a woman driving, oh boy here we go, whats up with this?? She did have a mini van, so we put everything in and off we go, Driving in Italy observations....they are all insane! the road are narrow and evertime you pass a car either way its a potential accident, throw int he motorcycles who just drive where ever and its crazy! Right away I put google maps on to make sure I'm NOT, being taken for a ride! so far so good, then she lights up a cigarette, why do so many Euro's still smoke ughh this is going to kill me, then she starts getting texts, Oh boy I'm dead! then she starts replying to texts, really??? I'm thinking I'm gonna see Lake Como from the bottom! I'm white knuckled in the back seat with my bike box next to me and at every turn its banging into my shoulder, Yee haww! I've met the female cabbie from hell. Oh did I mention no English? so we said absolutely nothing to each other the whole ride, I try to tell her where she needs to drop me off, but it just upsets her cause she's trying to text. I keep track of the van on my GPS and when we get close I call the apartments owner, I know she speaks english, I ask her to talk to the cabbie and figure out where I need to be. The two of them talk and next think I know I'm at the owners house, Thank God I lived thru that, I swear I have never been more scared in a cab, well once in Paris but thats another story. The owners are a nice couple, they give me some water, must have noticed my dry mouth, we load everything up again and they drive me the 5 min to my place. Its just a bed and a kitchen, cheap and a place to hang out for a couple days, It is right in the heart of Bellagio which is a beautiful town, no cars allowed where I am, very narrow cobbled sidewalks, its a ways down to the water and heck of hike back up to the room. After they leave I relax for a bit and decide to get some food, right next door is a pizzeria so I order a Napoli Pizza, sauce cheese and anchovies, mmmm and a 1/2 carafe of wine. After I head back and crash, wow what a day!
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| The view from my room! |
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| Walk way outside my door |
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| Bellagio Italy on Lake Como |
Tomorrow I plan on breaking out the bike for a ride in Italy, my plan is to ride from Bellagio to La Madonna del Ghisallo, the Patron Saint of Cycling, I've read its a nasty climb up to the chapel cant be any worse than anything I rode last week! Chow!!
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