Ride Across America

I just spent last few days getting my motorcycle prepared for another major motorcycle tour. I will be heading down to Virginia to attend an adventure motorcycle rally (3 days) . Rally is being held in Holiday Lake State Park. After that I will be heading west to take part in the “Overland Expo West” exhibition outside of Flagstaff Arizona. From there ?? I will head either west to the coast or head north to BC then possibly ? to Dawson in the Yukon.

Route map for my ride across America

Photo from my ride up to Alaska back in 2010

Motorcycling Ireland – The Wild Atlantic Way

I spent 3 months this spring and summer traveling around Ireland, Europe and the Balkans. One of the must memorable part of this trip was my ride around Ireland.

After reviewing some of my earlier postings that I had published covering my visit to Ireland I thought that the ride report could be presented in a better way. Forums are a great place to share stories and ride reports butthe technology is limited to what you can do. To get a richer multi-media experience you need to use other technologies.

I have a background in programming and computer mapping so I have applied this to developing a ride report with fully inactive maps, pictures and videos.

Link to my new ride report around Ireland

Motorcycling Ireland – The Wild Atlantic Way

Use your mouse scroll to view text in the left side panel.
Click on map icons to view photos
Use mouse to pan around map or scroll to zoom in and out

Story-Map Application

Return to Canada

It has now been over a week since I returned to Canada from Germany. I departed Frankfurt Germany along with my motorcycle.

I spent 3 days in Frankfurt Germany getting the motorcycle prepared for its journey back to Canada. I had no time to spend in playing tourist as I was busy getting bike ready for trip back to Canada. I had already made arrangements with Air Canada Cargo over a month ago to have the motorcycle air freighted from Frankfurt Germany to Montreal.

I spent a full two days getting the bike cleaned up. I know that both Agriculture Canada and Customs Canada would be involved in the process of clearing my motorcycle back into the country and did not want to chance that some over zealous inspector would refused to release my motorcycle because they found some clump of dirt or insect fragment struck to the bike  I remember  once returning from a trip to the Bahamas and having one of my running shoes confiscated because they found some tar like substance  stuck to the bottom of the shoe.

View of downtown Frankfurt as viewed from my hotel room I  am not sure what is going on with all  the buildings being adorned with colored cones??

The process for shipping the motorcycle back from  Germany to Canada was similar to that I experienced  I had when I first flew the bike from Montreal to Dublin Ireland.

First thing I had to do was to Contact Air Canada Cargo office in Frankfurt Germany . Both my bike and myself would be retuning to Canada on the same day. The motorcycle would be shipped out on an earlier more direct flight from Frankfurt to Montreal. I would fly out a few hours later, taking AC flight from Frankfurt – Toronto – Montreal. The AC Cargo agent told me that if both bike and myself arrived as scheduled, I should be able to get the bike cleared through Canada Customs on the same day.

AC Cargo told me to drop the bike off at their Cargo facility, located at the  Frankfurt Intl airport. Frankfurt Airport is a very large airport. The AC offices are found by entering through gate 26 (TOR 26) which is just west of Terminal 1 and 2. Entrance to the airport cargo facilities is restricted, so you  need to sign in with the main control office which is to your immediate right as you enter the entrance to gate 26. The Air Canada Cargo building is at 455a, just turn left along the main road once your pass through the security barrier.

Before I could drop off the bike at Air Canada Cargo I  had to first get a dangerous goods certificate for the bike. AC Cargo gave me the name of a DG agent ( Deufol – 638 Cargo City Sud) the company is located on the south side of the airport. I contacted Deufol  a week before coming to  Frankfurt, they had the paper work prepared in advance of my arrival. For that piece of paper they charge me 40 euros ($60.00 Cdn), cheaper than the $100.00 I was charged when I first fly the bike over to Ireland.

I  was surprised to learn that the cost of sending my bike back to Canada was the same as what I paid to first ship it over to Ireland. When I first discussed the details of the ” Fly Your Bike” promotion with Air Canada representatives, I was told that the low fares only applied to flights from Canada to Europe and not between Europe and North America, but apparently it must, as I was charged the same rate on the return shipment.

To get the special Air Canada promotion rate, you must book your return flight with Air Canada. If you do not, they will charge you an extra $400.00 to the cost of your bike shipment. I got hosed by Air Canada when trying to arrange a flight back to Montreal. Air Canada as does many of the major airlines, charge a huge premium on single flight bookings on their major international routes. I landed up booking a return ticked from Frankfurt to Montreal as the cost of a single fare between  Frankfurt and Montreal was twice that of a return ticket.

The day before I was scheduled to fly out, I dropped the bike off at the Air Canada building, I signed a few more documents, paid them a bunch money, they gave me a Waybill number for the cargo shipment, and that was it! There was a bike in  the cargo holding area that was just shipped back from the US t Frankfurt. They just load the bike on the aluminum pallet, and then secure  it to the pallet using 4- 5 ratchet straps.

In Air Canada Cargo facility at Frankfurt airport, getting motorcycle prepped for shipment back to Canada

Motorcycles are strapped down to an aluminum pallet for loading onto airplane

I flew out the next day, I arrived in Montreal early in the afternoon. I had no idea where the Air Canada customs facility was. I managed to track down a customs agent at the airport who made a few phone calls and located my motorcycle. Canada customs has a warehouse facility a few kilometers from the main airport, I was directed to go there. It should have only taken 10 minutes to get there by taxi but my driver was a bit clueless in trying to find his way over to the Canada Customs office, he initially try to drop me off in front of a vacant lot, insisting that this was the  right address as directed by his company’s GPS unit. I pulled out my own GPS and proceeded to  direct him the correct location. No tip for you !!

Once I was at the Canada Custom office, it was just a matter of making a custom declaration on the bike and all the contents that were stored in the side panniers. I was in and out of the office in about 15 minutes with the customs release form. I handed this off to one of the Air Canada cargo reps and 10 minutes later my bike was delivered to the front loading door. The whole process was pretty painless, no high drama.

 

The Canada Customs office, just down the hallway to the left, only about a 15 minute walk

Once back in Montreal I headed back to my home in Ottawa. I have decided to take a hiatus from my tour and attend to some personal  matters, I am relocating from Ottawa to Fredericton, New Brunswick. I sold my house in Ottawa before my trip and have now downsized to a condo in Fredericton.  My travels will continue but instead of travelling for extended months at a time I may instead restrict my travels to 3 or 4 weeks at a time instead. The world is a big place, no need to try and see it all at once.

 

 

Visit to Bremen Germany

I was undecided where to go next after leaving the Netherlands. I had considered heading further north into Denmark and spending some time riding  around this Scandinavian country, from where I was in the Netherlands It would be a couple days ride to Copenhagen. I have to  be back in Frankfurt in a weeks time to get the motorcycle ready for shipment back over to Canada. So rather then spend a few hurried days travelling to Demark, I instead headed over to Bremen Germany, a 4-5 hour ride away from where I was in the Netherlands.  Some local Germans I had met at my hotel in Beekenberg and told me that if I was to visit the northern parts of Germany that I should visit Hamburg or Bremen. Bremen is renowned as being one of the cultural centers in Germany. It is home to dozens of historical galleries and museums. It is a fairly large city located on the banks of the Weser River.

I really enjoyed my visit to Bremen. The town has over 1200 years of history behind it. Bremen sits on the Weser river, a historically important route for transportation and commerce  in Northern Germany. The city is another mecca for cyclists. The city is known as being a very walkable connected city. There are parks all over the place. They have over 800 kms of cycle paths throughout the city. My favorite part of the city is along the Weser river that cuts through the heart of the city. It is just a very liveable urban landscape. Very pleasant city.

Nice hotel I stayed at in center of Bremen

Walking around center of downtown Bremen

Interesting shot of art sculpture in atrium of building

I just found this an interesting photo of truck and building

Some of the interesting buildings to be seen in Bremen

Glockenspeil House

 

 

Paula Modershon – Becker  Museum

 

Area in center of Bremen

Some of the Guild houses in main maket square

 

Statue of Roland the Protector

Kids playing in main plaza

View of Bremen Cathedral in Market Square

 

Deuth  Bank Building

Doomshof town square in Bremen

Stroll through park in center of Bremen

 

 

Cycling in the the Netherlands

I crossed over the border between Germany and the Netherlands a few hours ago, and still have not sighted a single windmill, tulips  or even  one Dutch person wearing wooden clogs. What I have seen a lot of, are people on bicycles. The Dutch  are obsessed about their bicycles. Not surprisingly I suppose for a county as flat and low lying as The Netherlands, it is an ideal  place to cycle in.

There are people on bicycles everywhere you go. Young, old, people in business suits, hard core cyclists. Dutch children probably lean to ride a bike before they even learn to walk.

Since I am in The Netherlands I have decided to spend some time cycling around the Netherlands. I have booked a stay at a hotel calling itself a forest retreat outside of Beekenberg.

The hotel is in the middle of a pine forest. There are numerous cycling trails throughout the area.

I rented a bicycle from the hotel for a few days of cycling in the woods. This is the first time in years since I last rode a bicycle. Very relaxing riding through some of the trails in the forest.

Many people seem to favor these classic style townie bikes

I cycled into Beekenberg from my hotel some 5-6 kms away.

 

A photo of an old antique car in parking lot of my hotel near Beekenberg. There were  5 or 6 vintage cars at hotel. Later found out that there was a vintage car rally going on in one of the neighbouring towns

Side view of 1934 Citroen TA (Traction Avant)

Front view of 1934 Citroen TA (Traction Avant)

From Beekenberg, I headed up north towards the coastal area of the Netherlands. The terrain becomes ever flatter the further north you go. I booked a room at a a hotel ( the only hotel) in the village of Kloosterburen. The northern area around here is sparsely populated, mostly little rural farming communities. The hotel that I found my self staying at was a monastery  for many years, it later than became a religious hospice for the elderly, and at some time after that, it was put into use as a rehap centre for drug addiction, before finally being sold and converted into a hotel.

The hotel is strangely decorated with religious paintings and photos, with what I can only call objects of the absurd, bizarre sculptures and paintings, new age crystals. If Stephen King had a spent a night here, I am sure that he would have been inspired to write some macabre horror story about he place. Lets just say that it was an interesting place to spend a few nights.

Again I took the opportunity to do some more cycling. The roads are very flat around here making for easy cycling.  I went and did a comfortable 40 km ride. Many of the little rural villages in these parts are spread out 3 or 4 kms apart, so you can ride from one village to the next, stop for a break, have a beer and continue on.

All the roads around here , have dedicated lanes for cyclist. Again I am noticing that many of the people I have seen are riding e-bikes.

Holland or Netherlands

One of my first conversation with someone in The Netherlands  was about what their country was called. I always thought that both names, Holland/Netherlands were interchangeable for the country. Not so I was told, there are twelve provinces in the Netherlands, one is called North Holland and another is called South Holland. These Hollands are part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. So calling the Netherlands Holland would be like someone calling Ontario Canada, even if some people in Toronto think and say that.

I may come back one day and do a cycling tour.

View of my hotel in Kloosterburen. Formerly an monastery.

 

Hotel in Kloosterburen

View of one of the hallways in hotel. Hotel filled with strange cultist objects and religious iconography

 

Main street in town of Kloosterburen in the Netherlands

Along main street in town of Kloosterburen in the Netherlands

Clock tower in Kloosterburen in the Netherlands

Another view along street in  town of Kloosterburen in the Netherlands

Out in the countryside around Kloosterburen. Old windmills being replaced with modern windmills.

Riding into Kloosterburn

Out in the countryside around Kloosterburen.

Out in the countryside around Kloosterburen

Bike parked at my hotel in Kloostrerburen

My accommodation at hotel in Kloosterburen

View outside my hotel room. Full moon tonight

Yes !! I finally found an old fashion Dutch windmill

Another view of the windmill

 

 

 

 

Exploring the Rhine Valley – Germany

I have been to Germany a number of times in the past, before but have never have had the occasion  to visit the Rhineland area of Germany. So after leaving Stuttgart, I have plotted a route to take me into the heart of the Rhineland.

This is  not the first time I have I traveller to the Rhine River. On a visit to Switzerland some years ago, I travelled to the headwaters of the Rhine River from were it first starts out in Switzerland. From its primary source in south-eastern Switzerland, the Rhine River flows  north through the Rhineland and the Netherlands eventually discharging into the North Sea, a distance of over 1200 kilometers.

Going as far back as the times of the Romans, the Rhine and Danube Rivers marked the frontier boundaries of the Roman Empire in Europe. The Rhine severed as a trade route and means of communication across the hinterland regions of the Roman Empire. The Romans developed numerous forts and signal stations along the Rhine, and kept fleets of ships based along the river to maintain control over their frontier territories. Over the years many I important  commercial towns were established on the banks of the Rhine River.

I was told by some local Germans that I met in Stuttgart that if I was interested in spending some time visiting the Rhineland I should visit the resort town of Boppard which is situated right on the Rhine River. Its a tourist town,  mostly frequented by local Germans. Boppard is situated on one of the more notable sections of the Rhine River, along the Rhine Gorge, where the Rhine River is channel through a series of narrow valleys. This area with its unique physical geography, has been declared a UNESCO Heritage site.

I spent a couple days in Boppard. A very intersting little town. Lots of tourist facilities. Many of the cruise ship companies offer crusies down the Rhine River on these long and narrow barges and some of the companies make stopovers in Boppard.

I was surprised at the level of traffic on the Rhine. From my viewpoint along the riverbank in Boppard, there seemed to be at least a couple of cargo or passenger barges passing by at any one time.

The town was full of tourists when i was there, many semed to be here on a cycling holiday. One thing I observed about many of the cyclists who were here, is that many were riding these new ebikes.

Boppard… An interesting place to visit!!

Video of my ride along the Rhine River between Boppard and Koblenz in Germany.

View of my hotel in Boppard. Situated in a forest reserve.

 

Walking around backstreets in downtown Boppard

Along backstreets of Boppard

Market area in centre of Boppard Germany

In main market area of Boppard

In the main market square in Boppard Germany

Numerous restaurants in center of Boppard

Street scene in Boppard

Passing cruise boat along Rhine River near Boppard

Many of the cruise ship companies have their own private docks setup in Boppard

View of the boardwalk along the Rhine River in Boppard

There are numerous medieval buildings in Boppard. It has a long storied history

Passing cargo vessel along Rhine River. There is a lot ship traffic going up and down the Rhine River.

Another view of boardwalk in Boppard along Rhine River.

There several parks and gardens along the boardwalk. Very nice.

Another passing cargo barge

View of town of Boppard Germany

The Rhine River near Boppard passes through a gorge.

Many ornate building around Boppard

There are many outstanding private homes in Boppard.

Restaurant near my hotel

 

 

Stuttgart – Germany

I am headed this day to Stuttgart Germany. The route from Innsbruck Austria to Stuttgart will take me through windy sections of mountain roads through the Alps and to where eventually, the road connects up with the autobahn which connects with Stuttgard.
I was expecting to have an easy ride through the mountain sections of the route. When you are on a remote mountain road, the last thing that you are expecting to contend with is traffic congestion. There was so much traffic on the little mountain road along route 177, that progress was very slow. It took over an hour just to ride the few kilometers along the windy mountain road to the top of the mountain pass and then about half that time to make the descent to the other side. The mountain road had numerous hairpin turns along its course, and cars were lined up bumper to bumper along its entire length. It is hard enough driving in traffic like this in a car, it is doubly more difficult on a motorcycle when you are having to control the weight of a heavy motorcycle at slow speeds, and constantly having to squeeze the clutch and brake levers. Your hands get pretty tired.
I thought that once I was clear of the mountain roads and back on to the Autobahn that my progress would be better, but there were numerous stops and waits for construction all along the way to Stuttgart.
Stuttgart is one of the larger cities in Germany. People probably  recognize the name as many of the major car companies, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche have their headquarters centered in Stuttgart.
The Germans proudly proclaim that Stuttgard is the cradle of the automobile industry as Stuttgart was where the automobile manufacturing industry first got started.
I spent a couple of days in Stuttgart, I found a hotel not too far from the centre of town. Stuttgart is an eclectic mix of old historical building and new 21st century design.
Much of Stuttgart was destroyed during the war. I read somewhere that as much as 60% of the buildings located in the main parts  of Stuttgart were destroyed during the numerous bombing raids by the Allied forces. Over the span of WWII, over 140,000 bombs were dropped on Stuttgart. Some of the old historic building were rebuilt after the war, but much of what you see today in downtown Stuttgart is of more recent construction. I remember when I was travelling through Ireland, I was staying at a  B&B with a fellow from Stuttgart and he lamented that Stuttgart no longer had any historical character, as much of it had been destroyed during the war.
Regardless of that, I found it to be an interesting, vibrant city to visit. They have one of the longest pedestrian walkways in Germany. On the weekend that I was there, the downtown area was taken over for a local music and food festival. One thing I noted on my visit to Stuttgart is that the population of Stuttgart is not very Germanic looking. I did a little research on-line, 40% of the population of Stuttgart are immigrants, who have settled in Stuttgart seeking employment. The city certainly has a very diverse multi-cultural population.

They have a mega construction project going on, called Stuttgart21,. Its a railway and urban development project in the heart of downtown Stuttgart. they are upgrading the current railway infratstructure and moving the system underground. This is all being done in order to better intergrate their current railway system with the Trans-Europeran rail  network. Its a 6.5 billion Euro project. Its a big world class construction project.

They have a well developed underground subway system in Stuttgart, so it is easy to get around. Both Porsche and Mercedes have major car museums in Stuttgart, paying homage to their automotive history.

I liked Stuttgart, it was an interesting place to visit, lots to do and see. Be warned!!, the traffic congestion on the surrounding roads can be pretty horrible.

Lots of modern looking contemporary designed buildings in Stuttgart

Main train terminal

Hauptbahnhof train terminal

 

View  of new Mercedes-AMG GTS car. Out of my price range

Stuttgart Museum

 

 

Some more examples of moderm contemporary architecture

Walking along main pedestrian walkway in Stuttgart

Old clock tower in center of Stuttgart

Downtown Stuttgart taken over for Summer Fest

In the Schlossplatz plaza

 

View around Neues Schloss buildings

 

Summer Fest setup in Schlossplatz

 

 

Innsbruck – Austria

I am now in Innsbruck Austria. The immediate impression you get when you first enter Innsbruck is that this town is first and foremost an Alpine community. The town sits in a valley bookended on two sides by towering snow capped mountains. During the winter months, Innsbruck is mostly known as a skiing destination, but during the summer months its becomes a favorite place for cyclists, hikers and climbers and for tourists who want to take in the vibe of being in an alpine setting.
Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics back in 1964 and also in 1976. From my hotel room I can  look out my window and view the ski jumping facility.
Downtown Innsbruck is what you expect of any major tourist town, its a bit garish, again its looks like the folks from Disney were hired to design the Alpine looking buildings with their steep pitched roofs, turrets and  spires.
This seems to happen to many popular tourist destinations around the world, tourists have an expectation what a place should look like and over time, the town planners slowly transform the town to meet those expectations of further attracting more visitors to their town.
I was planning on only spending two days in Innsbruck,  two days is enough to take in all the sights of Innsbruck, but on the day I was set to leave, a violent weather system swept into Innsbruck, bringing in high winds and heavy rains. There was no way I was going to attempt riding a motorcycle across mountains roads in such weather, it would of  made for a long miserable day of travelling. I am in no rush, so I’ll spend anothet day in Innsbruck.

One of the popular things to do in Innsbruck is to take the modern Nordkette cable car from the center of Innsbruck to the top of the mountain. It takes two separate cable cars to transit to the top of the mountain. It was a perfectly clear day, fantastic views of Innsbruck below.  At the top of the mountain tree s a cafe. Lots of trails for hiking. No chance to take any photos, my camera battery died. I will need to return another time. They charged 32 Euros to ride the cable car to the top of the mountain.  Travelling is not cheap.

Some photos from my stay in Innsbruck Austria.

View of Triumphal Arc

Walk along Maria Theresa Street in Innsbruck

Scenic view along the Inn River in Innsbruck

View along Inn River

Colorful buildings along Inn River in Innsbruck

Backside view of St James Cathedral

 

Outdoor book library

View of ornate Helblinghaus Baroque building

 

Walk along Maria Theresa Street

City Tower

Walk along Maria Theresa street

Tram in Innsbruck

In Search of Mountain Roads

I have been finding the weather in southern Italy a little too warm for my liking, so  I am headed north for the cooler climes of the Alps.

The last few days since I left Pompeii, have been “travel days”, no destination in mind, just riding  north in search of mountains. Along the way I stayed overnight in a couple of small Italian villages which were along my travel route.

The highway north passes through the regions of Umbria and Tuscany, I did not see much as I kept to the main Highway, stopping occasionally for gas and food.

I was considering spending a few days visiting Florence but was not able to find any suitable accommodations close to the old part of the city of Florence. Hotels, B&B or any sort of accommodations located near the old part of the Florence was priced out of my budget ($200-$300/night). There were a few places 10 – 15 kms away that I could have stayed at, but that would have meant having to ride the motorcycle into Florence to do any sightseeing. For those of you who have not been to Florence before, much of the old section of the city is closed to car traffic, and finding a place to park even at a distance from the historical parts of Florence is very problematic. So I am giving a pass to visiting Florence.

Here is what I missed out on!!

City of Florence Italy

After two or three days of riding the toll roads north, I finally was able to get off the expressway and on to some mountain roads.

I experience some of the best riding in Italy along section of Hwy SS45. Some of the best motorcycling roads in Italy are to be found in the upper regions of the Apennine mountains here.  The road between Torriglia -Gorreto – Bobbio is one of the most memorable  roads  I have have ever ridden. The road follows the course of a river that meanders through a series of river valleys below. Its a road of a million curves.

What motorcyclists like to see on a map! Squiggly lines

 

Video of My Ride along Hwy SS45

My hotel in Attiglianio  Italy

Around streets of Attiglianio

Around streets of Attiglianio Italy

Around streets of Attiglianio Italy

Around streets of Attiglianio

Heading North along Hwy A11

My hotel in Gorreto along Hwy SS45

I stayed overnight in this motorcycle friendly B&B. The place is a favorite hang-out for local motorcyclists looking to ride the mountain roads along Hwy SS45

Main plaza in village of Mori Italy

Hotel I stayed at in Mori

I found a good little Hotel to stay at in Mori. Its a Hotel-Bar-Restaurant. Very friendly English speaking staff who run the place. The place was great, located right in center of village, but as I soon found out, it was located right across the  plaza from a Church. The bell tower of the church was on same level as my hotel room. Every hour on the hour starting from 6:30 in the morning the church bells are rung. When the bells were being rung, it sounded like the bell tower was right in my hotel room. What a noise!! Its like this all over Italy in all  these little village town, you hear the constant clanging of the church bells. Make it stop!!

 

 

 

 

Wall mural in Mori Italy

Have not seen too many of these before! A Citroen 2 CV6 car  600cc  29hp

The 2cv was design back in 1934. The design team at Citroen were tasked  with developing  a cheap affordable car for the many rural people of France. The stated  design requirements was to “build a car that would enable four small farmers in clogs to transport 50 kg (110 lb) of farm goods to market at 50 km/h (31 mph),^[12] if necessary across muddy, unpaved roads. The car would use no more than 3 litres of fuel to travel 100 km (78 mpg)”

Every time I see one of these Citroen 2 CV cars I think back on this story about a French adventurer who got stranded in a Moroccan desert when he broke the frame and swing arm on his Citroen 2 CV. No problem, he took the Citroen apart and turned it into a 2 wheeled motorcycle.

Link to story about the French adventurer

French Adventurer and his Citroen 2CV

The Road to Pompeii

My plans when I first came  over to Sicily were to spend some time exploring the regions around  Mount Etna and then ride over to Palermo where I would catch a ferry boat to the island of Sardinia. But as it is with the best laid plans,  things did not work out as I wanted. July is the height of the tourist season and on such short notice I was not able  to find passage on any of the ferry boats sailing between Palermo and Sardinia. The only dates that were open  were a week from now and I did not want to hang around Sicily for that length of time.  So change in plans!!.. I am now off to Pompeii to visit the ruins.

From where I am now in Sicily, its a long  ways to the historical site of Pompeii. I did not want to beat myself up trying to ride the 800  kms or more in a single day, so I choose to break up my trip north to Pompeii by stopping over in the town of Gizzero Lido. On Google maps this was the geographic midpoint between Villa San Giovanni and Pompeii.

In hindsight I should have done more research in finding proper accommodation in the area. I located a B&B in Gizzero Lido using Booking.com. The B&B I decided on turned out not be in the best of choices. It was located outside the village of Gizzero Lido. Even using the GPS coordinates that I was given for the place, I had a hard time trying to navigate to the place. Many of these B&Bs located out in rural areas, do not have a proper civic addresses and often the GPS coordinates that are provided by Google or other travel sites are not very accurate.

Using the coordinates from my hotel travel site, m Garmin GPS led me down to a dirt trail alongside a highway, which  I followed until the trail came to a dead end. The trail deadened  at a gated fence along a narrow rutted sandy track. My BMW GS loaded down with all the gear weighs about 700 lbs. My first attempt at trying to do a U-turn with the bike, landed up with the rear wheel buried in the soft sand and with the bike still pointed in the wrong direction. After a few more failed attempts at trying to get the bike turned around, I had to dismantle all my bags and panniers  from the bike to lessen the weight. The rear wheel was buried about 8 inches in the sand and there was no way I was going to be able to ride the bike out from that hole. I had to lay the bike on its side to dislodge the rear wheel from the hole that it was stuck in, and then filled  up the hole and then right the bike up again on its wheels. I was eventually able to get the bike turned and headed back down the road again. As I was riding back out to the main road, I meet some locals who were able to direct me to my B&B was, which was close by from where I first exited the Hwy.

The B&B that I had booked was a very large private home that the owners were now advertising as a B&B. The family that owns the place also own a large terracotta factory situated right beside their residence.

There were some archeological roman ruins located not too far from the village in which I was staying and I had planned on spending a day visiting this ancient roman site.

Held hostage by giant dog

The next day  I awoke to find the B&B deserted. The B&B is enclosed on all sides by a stone wall with a large gate at the front  side of the house to allow cars into the main courtyard.

I was expecting to get severed breakfast here with my home stay but with no one around I decided to go into the nearby village for breakfast. When I attempted  to exit the house I was jumped on by the biggest meanest looking German Shepard dog that I have ever seen. This mutant bred of a dog looked as though he weigh over 150 lbs. I remembered now  when I first arrived at the B&B I did see one of those “Beware of Dog” signs attached to the front of the gate, but thought nothing of it.  When I finally manged to get back into the house and safely behind the locked door. Cujo went into a barking frenzy outside the door, he did not sound too happy, and the way that I manhandled him when he first lounged at me probably did not endear him to me.

The only exit from the B&B was through the front door, which  was now guarded by this giant mutant dog,  and then then through the entrance on the front gate. After about 15 minutes Cujo quit barking. From my second floor window I could see that the dog had gone around the backside of the house and laid down in a shaded corner of the property. I waited another 30 – 40 minutes and checked again on where the dog was, he seemed to be now sleeping in the back side of the courtyard, I thought I could maybe sneak out the front door without him being aware, but as soon as I opened the door just a crack, this maniacal dog was once again right outside the door barking furiously.

I was held hostage in the house for the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon until the owners returned. The owners of the B&B apologized profusely for leaving me trapped in the house along with their guard dog. When  they left this morning they thought the dog was in his kennel.

I was more than happy the next morning to be on my way out of this town.

The hotel I booked in Pompeii turned out to be situated right near the entrance to the archeological ruins of Pompeii.  A perfect place from which to visit the historical ruins of Pompeii.

Everyone has heard the story of Pompeii and how it was buried under a thick layer of hot volcanic ash from the eruption of mount Vesuvius back in 79AD . Of a population of nearly 20,000 inhabitants, 200o people perished in this disaster. For nearly 1700 years Pompeii remained abandoned and lost to the world, until the ruins of the city were discovered back in 1748. An entire ancient Roman city, buildings, artifacts, skeletons, all remarkably preserved.

 

Entering the Pompeii site

They have a lot of these modern oversized sculptures scattered across the ruins of Pompeii

Walking around the site

On this day there were thousands of tourists visiting the ruins

Amphitheatre in Pompeii

In the picture below, the guy in front is being given a private tour by one of the many tour guides at the site. The guide was showing the tourist  examples of graffiti found on the sides of many of the buildings around Pompeii.

I found a link  to a sit online that gives an English translation of the kind of things written on the wall around the city of Pompeii

Pompeii Graffiti

Here are a few entries  from the site above

If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone wants a screw, he should look for Attice; she costs 4 sestertii

O walls, you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have not already collapsed in ruin

 

One of the many roads in Pompeii. Notice the raised kerbs for walking

A paved street in Pompeii. Pedestrians used the blocks in the road to cross the street without having to step onto the road, which doubled as a drainage and sewage disposal system. The spaces between the blocks allow vehicles to pass along the road. Notice the deep ruts cut into the paving stones by passing wagons. The raised stones also acted as a speed  bump for horse drawn wagons.

 

Some of the finer engravings inside building

 

Mold casting of one of the 2000 people who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

 

Along this street were located dozens of shops, eateries, bath houses

They are still doing extensive archeological work on the site

The main forum in Pompeii

View of the Temple of Jupiter

Some of cool modern sculptures set up amongst the ruins

The Temple of Jupiter with Vesuvius in the distance

 

Room full of ancient artifacts recovered from Pompeii site.

 

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Site of bakery shop in Pompeii. They would mill and bake bread on site. They would have had an adjoining sop for sell their products to the public.