Camping pitch with a view

Fusina is a locality on the West side of Venice Lagoon from which there is an hourly boat service across the Lagoon to Venice and also has a very large and well established campsite.  It’s busy even in September, but the facilities are good and they never seem to get overloaded, even though the site has a large number of static caravans and camping “sheds” as well as pitches for touring units, of which motorhomes predominate although there are also lots of tents and a few caravans.

I saw relatively few motorcycles during our stay, discounting the small scooters which are often carried on motorhomes to provide local transport, but there were a few bikers camping in tents.  While in UK I admire tenters as well as sympathise with them of cold or wet days, in this part of the world I suspect camping in tents requires particularly thick skin.  The temperature was till over 25 late in the evening and stayed well over 20 degrees Celsius until morning – and there were midges, lots of midges.  Sleeping in a tent can’t have been much fun.

But the reason for staying here has very little to do with touring and once on site none of the bikes ever moved until the owners packed up and moved on; instead Camping Fusina provides a relatively inexpensive place to stay in order to visit Venice itself, which is also why we chose to come here again.  Part of the campsite offers waterside pitches and although these are quickly taken up if they are vacant, it’s usually possible to move on to one on your second or third morning if you want to, as we were able to do.  Shade is vital while you sit and watch the world go by across the Lagoon and the deep water shipping channel passes close to the West shore to add to the spectator interest.  It’s quite a place.

So is Venice itself of course, even though walking the streets and crossing the bridges is a perspiring experience in these hot conditions – and probably would be even for skinny Brits.  Seeking out shade and somewhere to sit to cool off a bit become necessary at frequent intervals.

Most Wingers will have a finite appetite for architecture and art and I’m no exception but Venice is a bit special.  Even though you are sharing your experiences with enormous numbers of other tourists it’s certainly worth the sweat and the struggle.  Ideally you would be absolutely stinking rich to enjoy the comforts and style which Venice can offer such as the liberal use of water taxis to get around and the many stylish, but very expensive, eateries.  But even for a fat (and therefore particularly perspiring) Brit who doesn’t run to such expenses, Venice is a delightful place to visit.

There are lots of churches into which you can wander into for somewhere sit and cool off for a few minutes without being bothered, and at the same time admire the incredibly ornate decorations and skilful workmanship which has gone into them.  There are bars and cafes in the less well trampled alleyways where you can buy a drink or a snack without having to increase your mortgage.   But as you get closer to S Mark’s Square everything doubles in price and if you want to indulge yourself with a cup of coffee actually sitting at one of the stylish cafes in the Square you should expect to pay over 10€ for the pleasure. continues………

Flying on instruments

We crossed a high alpine mountain pass once before in cloud and rain on a biking tour which turned out to be quite a challenge, especially one rider who was of short stature and had a tall windscreen with no “swiper”, with the result that he had to stand on his footpegs to see where he was going – not much fun while you’re trying to negotiate tight climbing bends with on-coming traffic which seemed far too large to be using that road at all.

This time it was easier, both because we had four wheels on the tarmac and it also turned out to be an unexpectedly good and wide road.  I had planned non-motor way routes through Austria to avoid the complicated toll system they operate which requires vehicles over 3.5 tons, as which our motorhome just qualifies, to use an electronic toll collection device called a Go Box.  There are perfectly viable non-motorway routes through Austria and so one of these boxes always seemed to me to be an unnecessary complication.

Unfortunately however fate had decreed that this time we would have a Go Box because I’d driven East on the (free) German A8 motorway one exit too far and ended up in Austria, still on the motorway, by accident.  I had been slavishly following the satnav as it took us into Berchtesgadenland, failing to take notice of the signposts about vignettes until I saw “Ostereich 2.5 km”, by which time it was too late. We were able to stop at the last German Services, where they sell Vignettes and Go Boxes,  but there was no route back into Germany.  I had no alternative but to buy a Go Box.

Our route would take us off the motorway at the very next exit and thence back into Germany to Berchtesgaden, a matter of a few kilometres, but it wouldn’t, I was advised, make sense to risk the 250€ fine (plus the cost of a Go Box) for not carrying one, even for this very short distance.  The police, we were warned, were extremely vigilant and unforgiving. continues………

A transit stop near Munich

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

Sorry it’s been quite on the Blog recently – I’ve been touring Europe with very little internet access.  Here’s a tale of what Management and I have been up to during the past week or so.

We had booked a Channel Crossing for our late Summer holiday but nothing else, so it was the weather forecast which persuaded us to go East instead of South to the Loire, which had been our Plan A.  It had been raining as we left Lancashire but we got clear of it not long after crossing the Manchester Ship Canal and apart from a few isolated or overnight showers we struck lucky ever since.

Our friends in Maidstone have a place for us to park our motorhome and yet again offered us an evening meal, so we woke up and set off without disturbing them to make an early Channel Tunnel crossing.  Breakfast was a snatched bacon butty in the Folkstone Terminal and well before 9am (European Time) we were on the A16 heading for Belgium.

A small town called Mettlach, just into Germany and just off the motorway after Luxemburg has a handy overnight parking place for motorhomes which we had used before so that, since we were heading East rather than South, was our aiming point.  We had used this place before on the way home with disastrously expensive consequences because the Town has a large Villeroy and Bosch factory and an associated factory outlet store, in which Management got seriously carried away but this time we were outbound, we had discovered just how much she overloaded the van in the process of a two trolley shopping expedition last time (crockery is heavy in large quantities) and I was therefore forwarded.  We arrived in Mettlach on a Sunday when the shop was closed and we left before it opened the following morning.

Counting England, our starting point, we had driven in five countries by the time we got to our first Continental night stop.  We’ve found that  when you are making these fairly long transit drives to get to your chosen holiday area (n this case in was now to be Lake Garda in Northern Italy, it helps to have a night stop in mind which you can reach by 5pm or so, especially if you want to use a German Stellplatz (a designated motorhome parking place which is either free or only about 5€) rather than pay 25-30€ for a camping site.  Even outside the school holidays these sites often fill up early. continues………

Approaching the Millau Bridge

Dave Sharp, who writes the Wanderers write-ups, has a colourful and entertaining style and this report of their Summer Tour to the South of France and the Pyrenees is no exception.

Lots of good photos and lots and lots of words – a good read of what was obviously a very enjoyable tour – except that is for the gravillions and Tina’s Dripping Tush, whatever that might have been.  Perhaps its Yorkshire dialect.

The Group met up at a hotel in Kent before crossing via Eurotunnel, then rode all the way down through France staying at Tours, Narbonne and Lourdes, where the aim was presumably to cure Barry of his hyper-articulation disorder.  I’ve spoken to him since he got back and I don’t think it’s really worked.

It’s a story of spectacular and sometimes challenging roads but above all of Wingers enjoying themselves together with their bikes and trikes.

You can read Dave’s write up by clicking here.

Good food, plenty of parking for bikes

Grahame Murray, the Landlord of the White Lion Hotel in Ambleside, is a biker himself and he’s also very hospitable to Wingers.

Bill Squires and I were in Ambleside a few weeks ago doing a couple of charity rides and knowing the White Lion from previous visits, it was the obvious place to spend our brief lunch break.  There’s a nice pub-grub menu and, for Wingers, the extra benefit of a substantial discount on the published prices.  Wearing GoldWing emblazoned biking gear seemed to do the trick and our bill got discretely discounted.  We paid half price for two meals, so two for one.  Pretty generous in a tourist town.

Grahame will do two-for-one on selected meals any time and also on weekday B&B for anyone who arrives on or with a GoldWing and can produce a membership card for a GoldWing club – that’s any GoldWing club, even GWOCGB!    If there’s any difficulty getting the discount ask for Grahame but do it discretely so as not to upset the tourists who will paying full price!.

Grahame doing what he's good at

The White Lion is on the left on the downhill section of the one way circuit around the centre of Ambleside and the car park is on the left just before you reach it.  The car park is signposted as the White Lion’s so it’s not difficult to spot.  Take care, it slopes upwards fairly steeply.  There is garaging available for overnight stayers at the top of the car park too.

Our bikes were parked right outside the window while we ate so we could admire the admiring glances our bike’s were getting from the strolling tourists.   Bill was convinced that his bike got more admiring glances than mine but then he always is.  I think it’s down to curiosity about the yellow tinge.

I can’t remember precisely what we ate but it was contraband food for  both of us (being on a diet at the time) involving something like steak & ale pie and chips and it was very, very good.  Grahame won’t mind you leaving your bike parked there while you do a bit of strolling yourself and there’s room enough to park 20 or more bikes, so it’s a good place to stop on a group ride too.

It’s probably best to give Grahame a ring if you want accommodation or if you’re planning to turn up with a big group and his number is:

01539 439901

There is an adverse change in the wind to the deal which allows you to swap Tesco Clubcard Reward Vouchers for four times the value in Tunnel (or ferry) Tokens.

It takes effect on 6th December so if you are thinking of crossing the Channel next year you might want to beat the deadline.

From December 6th you will only get  THREE times the value.

Eurotunnel Token can be used to make a booking up to six months after their issue date and you can book with Eurotunnel well in advance.  If you might be taking your bike to Europe next year it will be worth swapping your Tesco Vouchers for Tokens before the December deadline even if you don’t yet know when you will be travelling or even if you subsequently abandon your plans.

This is because you can return unused Tunnel Tokens to Tesco for  a refund of the original value in Vouchers, so you won’t even lose out if your plans to tour in Europe get cancelled.

You can only order Tunnel Tokens on line or by post (on line is much easier) and you must do that on December 5th at the latest to get quadruple value.  Further details and an opportunity to order Tokens click here.

The Hallmark Hotel near Hull

Elite Wings have announced the first of their 2011 hotel-based UK Weekend Tours.

As usual anyone who rides a solo GoldWing is welcome to join them for one of their UK tours  to see if their approach to life on a GoldWing suits you. They tend to spend their days enjoying the riding and the scenery rather than parked up somewhere so it’s definitely a riding rather than a posing sort of club.  Not that they are stuffy or stuck up or anal about their riding mind you, they’re a fairly normal bunch – same as Wingers in company anywhere really.

For the Easter Weekend next year they are staying at the newly refurbished Hallmark Hotel just outside Hull, overlooking the Humber Bridge for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.  There is a special room rate of £80 per double per night, including dinner and breakfast.  The normal rate for DBB would be £135 so it’s a very good deal.  Single occupancy is also available at £55 per night.

There will be all-day group rides on Saturday and Sunday, each with morning, lunch and afternoon refreshment stops.  One ride will head northwards up the Yorkshire coast towards  Scarborough and the second one over the Humber bridge and into the Lincolnshire Wolds to the Lincolnshire coast.

As usual with Elite Wings, the ride routes will be distributed as Garmin satnav files by email, so you load them on to your own satnav before you set off if you wish. continues………

Hartside Tops in November

I had been browsing a Thread on the GoldWing Riders Forum which showed pictures of the Lake District on a sunny day as a reminder of what we could look back on while we hibernated this winter.

So when I woke up to a blue sky a couple of days ago I exercised the retired man’s privilege and got the bike out.   Dry sunny days at this time of year are too good to waste.

I rang Bill to see if he fancied an outing but he was already off and out of contact on an occupational therapy mission, fixing someone’s motorhome so  I set off, perfectly happily, on my own.

And the Thread on the Forum must have put the Lakes firmly in mind because I found myself heading North up the M6.  Traffic wasn’t particularly heavy and the visibility was exceptionally good so I had the opportunity to see the mountains on either side of me way into the distance – and very pretty they were too.

I had used M6 to get past Lancaster as I usually do when I’m riding North because it’s a bit of a traffic nightmare, even on a bike.  Lancaster should be a nice place to visit but I find it unappealing and worth by passing by any means when I’m riding – although there’s a Scold’s Bridle in Lancaster Castle Museum which it’s fun to watch the wife being told about by the Tour Guide.  They lock the wives in a mediaeval cell in the dark for a while on the Tour too.  Come to think of it Bill would probably think that was very good value as an outing; he keeps saying that he needs to reinforce Barbara’s training from time to time. continues………

Swiss Alpine Tourers is a group of bikers who like to get together once each year to ride alpine roads on a grand scale.  They care not for clubish rules or structures of any kind and they are no longer even loosely a GoldWing-riding group; it matters only that riders are serious, indeed preferably  completely bonkers about alpine riding.

These days SAT is, since it’s certainly not a club, effectively the fiefdom of a British-born rider called Jed Halpern who has lived in Switzerland for many years and who continues to organise an annual, week-long and seriously intensive session of alpine riding.

SAP X-Trémé Tours, as the annual gatherings of SAT are now known, involve an opportunity, by virtue of staying overnight in the same sequence of three hotels in different parts of the Alps and their surroundings as like-minded riders, to ride together.

And that’s as far as it goes and as much as you get to know unless you sign up to join.  It’s made clear that it’s not a guided tour – you will be in the right place at the right time to ride with other alpine riding afficionados but it will be up to you what you do with the opportunity.  Jed will tell you where the hotels are once you’ve paid your money, so you will know where to head for on Sunday August 7th 2011, when the Tour starts,  and Jed has also revealed that the riding he has in mind will take you to six different Countries.  But otherwise, as tours go, this one is a bit of a mystery. continues………

Converting Tesco’s Clubcard Reward Vouchers, the equivalent of cashback which you can get for shopping with them, into four times their face value in Eurotunnel Tokens is an attractive idea – in theory you can get your channel crossing for a quarter of what you would otherwise pay for it.

Crossing the Channel by Eurotunnel is a very comfortable and convenient for a motorcyclist – and the Bacon Butties at the Folkstone Terminal are nothing short of superb.  But booking a crossing using the credit on your Tesco Clubcard Rewards account is by no means straightforward.

There is a Catch 22 built into the system which makes it more or less impossible to take full advantage of the offer.  And if you’re booking only a few weeks before you want to travel, the delays which are built into the system make it virtually impossible to use because you either end up paying something like half of the cost of your crossing at full price or  all of it because your Tesco Eurotunnel Tokens simply won’t arrive in time to use them at all.

The reason for this is that although you can get a  price for your journey on line or on the phone from continues………