Day 19: From Italy to Slovenia (through the Dolomites)

Again time to move on. I had to wake up early since I knew it was going to be a long trip. During the previous evening I asked the owner of the place tips about the route I should take. He had already prepared numerous maps for bikers from which I took the parts which fitted my plan. He also mentioned that I should stay there for couple more days to see them all... well, next time! ;)

#1: The view from the room

#2: Karersee

#3: Karersee again

#4: Lost

#5: Lago Di Fedaia

#6: Passo Giau (NE)

#7: Passo Giau

#8: Passo Giau (W)

#9: Near Cortina d'Ampezzo

#10: Lago di Auronzo

During this trip I saw many many awesome views and drove on fantastic roads. Also this time the weather was pretty nice. It was such a shame that I had to drive through the Dolomites so fast! But sometimes you just gotta go! At the end of the trip I started to get a bit numb again and I was really happy to finally reach Slovenia.

After I had crossed the border I stopped at the first gas station I could find  to buy gasoline and a vignette to be able to drive on the highways. There a British couple started talking to me and was wondering what I did so far away from Finland...

And finally I arrived in Smokuč where I finally met up with Polja, her family and Miha. I don't really know how I had the energy but during the evening we still went to Bled to get some famous cream cake and take a walk around the lake.

Few pictures from Bled:

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Day 18: From Vorarlberg to Italy (via Liechtenstein and Switzerland)

Again it was time to go on and say goodbye to the good ol' Vorarlberg. As typical for this trip, the weather was rather "moist" and therefore I didn't enjoy the beginning of the trip that much. During the stop at Schottensee I actually met Finnish bikers for the first (and last) time during the trip but the conversation was rather short. They were only wondering what I'm doing there alone :)

In Vorarlberg I took a look at some possible hostels/hotels near Bolzano but I didn't pick any. As usual, I arrived quite late luckily there was room in my first choice: Hotel Diana. The place seemed really nice. I had a nice late dinner and if I would have arrived a bit earlier, there would been also sauna. Instead I had to do with a beer at the lounge where I got to relax for a while, watch the landscapes and have a little chit-chat with some German bikers. That was about it... ZzzZZzzzzz!

#1: Waiting for the rain to stop

#2: near Schottensee

#3: Schottensee

#4: Schweizerischer Nationalpark

#5: Somewhere around nothing

#6: Finally at the hotel

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Day 15 (part 2): to Vorarlberg (through Liechtenstein)

No awesome pictures, no stories... just driving...

And as the elevation shows it was getting more boring. But this wasn't that bad since driving is fun but every now and then there's a need for social contact and I knew that there will be nice people over there :)

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Day 15 (part 1): Grimsel, Furka, Gotthard and Susten reloaded

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Day 14: From Freiburg to Switzerland (Innertkirchen)

The night wasn't the most pleasant one since I got a bit sick from the trip. However I had wasted so much time that I had no time to stick around. My original plan was to visit Bern but since I didn't know anyone in the area I decided to do a compromise: instead of visiting something new, I would go through Grimsel, Furka, Gotthard and Susten like I did during the last year. This would take me closer to Vorarlberg which is of course a must place to visit... I hope this year the weather would be in my side!

After making a hazy estimation how far I would manage to drive, I did some googling and made a call (actually Paola did, thank you for that!) to a hotel close to Interlaken and reserved a room for the night. Then it was all about hitting the road again!

During this ride I already started to see places for which I made the trip: curvy roads and quick changes in elevation. I also had to stop twice because of rain, first time just outskirts of Freiburg and in a place called Sankt Blasien (stop #2).

Damn rain...

Lungerersee during a late late evening

I arrived the place a bit late (after 10 pm), cold as hell again but really happy since especially the drive between Luzern and Innertkirchen was really really awesome (curvy roads, tunnels and great views). After a successful check-in (they even understood my crappy German!) I took a warm shower and rushed downstairs to get something to eat and drink. After long ride, food and a beer I didn't need much fall asleep :)

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Looking good already! ;)

Day 13: Heidelberg & Freiburg

Since I arrived to Heidelberg during the week, I knew that Klara would be busy with things. I though it would be the best to continue driving as fast as possible but since the weather was nice, I went for a little walk.

The presence of the U.S garrison is still seen around

But since it was better to keep going, I started my trip towards Freiburg. Since I froze my poor arse on my way to Heidelberg, I decided to stop by the nearest Louis shop to get something warmer. The ladies in the shop were indeed laughing, I'm not sure if it was because of my German skills or because a Finn is freezing in the middle of the summer. Anyway, I got a bit thicker Buff-replica for the neck and some thicker shirt.

Stop #1

Stop #2

The trip went quite fine though I arrived again quite late in Freiburg and already at that point I started to feel myself little bit ill.

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