We got our moneys worth from the breakfast buffet this morning then waited for the rain to clear. By 10am it was looking good and the roads were steaming and starting to dry.
The mist had cleared from the mountains so we had the north face of the eiger above us in all it's glory as we loaded the bike.
Took time out for a tiny detour down through Lauterbrunnen to see some of the waterfalls. In nicer weather and visibility there's plenty to do here (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/lauterbrunnen.html) but we were fighting against the weather again didn't hang around. The spray and mist from the torrent of a river running along the valley floor feels like rain, but black skies and proper rain was setting in too.
Back through Interlaken, into better weather and retraced our path from yesterday.
We decided to head east out of Switzerland towards Italy and hopefully better, more consistent weather. We had various options to and beyond Andermatt, and chose the one straight through the middle.
Grimselpass was ticked off first. Thick fog all the way to the top so the amazing views were wasted on us. Temperature was down to single figures so we pulled in at the pass for a rummage in the panniers. Louby dug out and christened the heated vest. She turned it up to max was *very* impressed with the results.
There was just two bikes at the top, including ours. The only other bikers silly enough to venture up here this morning were a couple from Preston on a triumph tiger explorer. They were staying in a hotel in andermatt and, despite the weather, though it would be a shame not to go out for a play on the bike.
The run down the other side on the pass was much nicer. The weather had cleared and we had a perfect view of the valley and the road up the other side to our next target - the Furkapass.
We had a great ride down to Gletsch then up again to the Furkapass. At worst, we saw a light drizzle of rain but this just steamed off the road so we made good time.
There was a German couple at the top riding a beautiful vintage motorbike and sidecar. This was quite rightly receiving plenty of attention, including that of a manic Dutch woman wearing a little t-shirt and shorts who was running around talking to everyone, slapping and rubbing her bare thighs. She was hilarious and great fun. Her husband was trying to follow her around, but even he looked a little shell shocked by her intensity.
Onwards to Oberalppass. Couple of Brits at the bottom filling up a C63 AMG and an Aston Martin Vantage. I wouldn't say no to either, but the Brits in the old MG BGT with the just married sign in the back window and the Lotus Elise on Toyo 888s were very obviously enjoying themselves and deserved far more credit.
We parked up on the Oberalppass and took a break in one of the restaurants. We were served hot drinks and a perfect apple strudel by a lovely Swiss girl who clearly found my attempts at speaking German painful. She kept stopping me and saying, in perfect English, 'it's ok, i understand'.
Suitably refreshed, we headed down the pass and came across a calf wandering across the road. He (or more likely she, i guess) had somehow escaped the confines of an electric fence and was been followed around the perimeter by his two mates. Foreseeing a cow vs bike disaster on a hairpin, we tried in vain to help. We turned off the fence and lowered it, trying to coax him back in but he was having none of it. We put everything back as we found it and left him in peace.
The road east from Oberalppass is brilliant. There's road works in places but the clear stuff more than makes up for it.
As the weather started to turn, we decided to head south towards Italy. We just needed a run over the julierpass to St Moritz where hopefully we'd find better weather. Unfortunately we didn't. We braved the start of a storm but submitted and pulled in to a garage north of the pass. We waited for it to pass but with time against us and less than 10 miles to St Moritz, we decided to press on. I mummified Louby in waterproofs and treated myself to a few extra layers. Disco vests went back on, although they've not been off all day. Dropping down into St Moritz it was obvious we weren't going to clear the weather tonight. Any thoughts of camping by the pretty lake were scrubbed. We tried continuing further south but the sky was black.
We turned around and pulled into a campsite just outside St Moritz. We contemplated it for a few minutes. There was plenty of tree cover, but the ground was soaked so we went hunting for a reasonable hotel.
Given that we're in St Moritz, we didn't expect cheap digs. However, hotel sonne was reasonable enough. The restaurant was open until 11pm and the guy on reception very kindly let me park the bike under the hotel by the service doors.
After a long soak in a hot bath, where we necked Catherine's bottle of red from yesterday, we hit the restaurant. One pizza and one salad to share. Both good, but the pizza must go down as one of the best I've ever had. Dead simple topping, wafer thin crispy base and perfectly seasoned. It was excellent.
It seems ages ago, but yesterday morning we woke up in a heatwave in the black forest and today we're struggling with the cold and rain. Maybe Italy will bring better weather tomorrow...
200 miles
The mist had cleared from the mountains so we had the north face of the eiger above us in all it's glory as we loaded the bike.
Took time out for a tiny detour down through Lauterbrunnen to see some of the waterfalls. In nicer weather and visibility there's plenty to do here (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/lauterbrunnen.html) but we were fighting against the weather again didn't hang around. The spray and mist from the torrent of a river running along the valley floor feels like rain, but black skies and proper rain was setting in too.
Back through Interlaken, into better weather and retraced our path from yesterday.
We decided to head east out of Switzerland towards Italy and hopefully better, more consistent weather. We had various options to and beyond Andermatt, and chose the one straight through the middle.
Grimselpass was ticked off first. Thick fog all the way to the top so the amazing views were wasted on us. Temperature was down to single figures so we pulled in at the pass for a rummage in the panniers. Louby dug out and christened the heated vest. She turned it up to max was *very* impressed with the results.
There was just two bikes at the top, including ours. The only other bikers silly enough to venture up here this morning were a couple from Preston on a triumph tiger explorer. They were staying in a hotel in andermatt and, despite the weather, though it would be a shame not to go out for a play on the bike.
The run down the other side on the pass was much nicer. The weather had cleared and we had a perfect view of the valley and the road up the other side to our next target - the Furkapass.
We had a great ride down to Gletsch then up again to the Furkapass. At worst, we saw a light drizzle of rain but this just steamed off the road so we made good time.
There was a German couple at the top riding a beautiful vintage motorbike and sidecar. This was quite rightly receiving plenty of attention, including that of a manic Dutch woman wearing a little t-shirt and shorts who was running around talking to everyone, slapping and rubbing her bare thighs. She was hilarious and great fun. Her husband was trying to follow her around, but even he looked a little shell shocked by her intensity.
Onwards to Oberalppass. Couple of Brits at the bottom filling up a C63 AMG and an Aston Martin Vantage. I wouldn't say no to either, but the Brits in the old MG BGT with the just married sign in the back window and the Lotus Elise on Toyo 888s were very obviously enjoying themselves and deserved far more credit.
We parked up on the Oberalppass and took a break in one of the restaurants. We were served hot drinks and a perfect apple strudel by a lovely Swiss girl who clearly found my attempts at speaking German painful. She kept stopping me and saying, in perfect English, 'it's ok, i understand'.
Suitably refreshed, we headed down the pass and came across a calf wandering across the road. He (or more likely she, i guess) had somehow escaped the confines of an electric fence and was been followed around the perimeter by his two mates. Foreseeing a cow vs bike disaster on a hairpin, we tried in vain to help. We turned off the fence and lowered it, trying to coax him back in but he was having none of it. We put everything back as we found it and left him in peace.
The road east from Oberalppass is brilliant. There's road works in places but the clear stuff more than makes up for it.
As the weather started to turn, we decided to head south towards Italy. We just needed a run over the julierpass to St Moritz where hopefully we'd find better weather. Unfortunately we didn't. We braved the start of a storm but submitted and pulled in to a garage north of the pass. We waited for it to pass but with time against us and less than 10 miles to St Moritz, we decided to press on. I mummified Louby in waterproofs and treated myself to a few extra layers. Disco vests went back on, although they've not been off all day. Dropping down into St Moritz it was obvious we weren't going to clear the weather tonight. Any thoughts of camping by the pretty lake were scrubbed. We tried continuing further south but the sky was black.
We turned around and pulled into a campsite just outside St Moritz. We contemplated it for a few minutes. There was plenty of tree cover, but the ground was soaked so we went hunting for a reasonable hotel.
Given that we're in St Moritz, we didn't expect cheap digs. However, hotel sonne was reasonable enough. The restaurant was open until 11pm and the guy on reception very kindly let me park the bike under the hotel by the service doors.
After a long soak in a hot bath, where we necked Catherine's bottle of red from yesterday, we hit the restaurant. One pizza and one salad to share. Both good, but the pizza must go down as one of the best I've ever had. Dead simple topping, wafer thin crispy base and perfectly seasoned. It was excellent.
It seems ages ago, but yesterday morning we woke up in a heatwave in the black forest and today we're struggling with the cold and rain. Maybe Italy will bring better weather tomorrow...
200 miles
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