Where in the world is Bob? . . . . . . . . . . . . Time is our only truly Finite Resource.
My favorite way to ride is to plug in a destination, and ignore the GPS. I try to stay as far away from heavily populated areas and highways as possible. It is not good for making time, but you can find fantastic roads and some pretty great little towns.
I was on the way to Budapest today, and was just wandering around. I could have gotten there in a small number of hours, but it took all day.
I found these guys
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http://www.kralovastudna.com/sk/en
Roads? Where we are going we don’t need roads:
While wandering towards Budapest, I stopped to look at my GPS. A guy stopped to make sure I was OK. His English was less than great, but I had ear plugs in so I was not sure if it was him or me. He pointed at a sign, Hotel and Cafe, and said something about dirt, and I should follow him.
I decided what the hell. It was not a terrible road. But it was not great. Lots of loose gravel, large rocks and ruts. Just what a fully loaded big bike loves. It was not so bad, and I had fun, but about half way up I realized that the shortest way back down the mountain was to take the same 14 Km down. We rode right past the signs that said no motorcycles.
At the top, I discovered that he knew no English. He bought me a beer, Non alcoholic, and paid for my access to the road, which aparently is required.
We had a grand old time trying to have a decent conversation with no common language. We did OK, then we rode back down the mountain. I wonder why it seems to take me forever to get to my next destination?
Our Route:
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2018-09-11
hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesk%C3%BD_Krumlov
I had not originally intended on going to Czechia, but since it was sort of on my way, I went to the Church of Bones. I went to Prague because it was close to the church. I went to the next place because I found good riding roads in southern Czechia and this place was close. Since I had not intended to go here, I really did not have any notes. SAN had told me all about it in detail, but I forgot all of it. I thought it was a drive by.
You are not allowed to take photos of the inside of the castle during the tour. You can take photos FROM the castle though. It is a big sprawling tourist trap, err, I mean historic city. I will be back when I have more time. It was pretty great.
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When you are riding down the highway in Czechia and see a sign for an Air Museum, one that is NOT on Google Maps, you have to stop. More of a junk yard than a museum, but they did have good info on the planes. In Czeck. This was a great place to walk around. I did drop my bike here though. I was standing on the pegs to take a photo, and when I jumped down I bumped the bike just enough to get it off balance. Fortunately some guys were driving by on their traktor and stopped to help.
As you all know, I traveled for four weeks with Special Agent Nancy www.specialagentnancy.com another Triumph Tiger Rider met through ADVRider.com
Here is Nancy’s post on the first part of our trip. Nancy is good at not only taking photos but selecting a few to use to tell her story. She is also good at telling a big story with a few words.
2018-09-07
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
Link to sedlecossuary.com/
Link to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary
I so much wanted to touch this cannon off. But then all those buffet eaters would be stranded in Oslo. Maybe if we wait until they are well off shore.
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2018-09-04
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
Link to www.gavnoe.dk/uk.html
With apologies to Heart, I am calling this post Goat and Butterfly.
When I got to the park, I could not remember why I had it on my list. Not unusual really. I asked the ticket lady what was there. She said “We have Goats. …pause… and Butterflies. Oh, and Lillies”
2018-09-06
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
I am in Poland. I am here in search of Pierogi. This is one of my favorite Polish foods. OK, I am not actually in Poland JUST for Pierogi. I was near the border, had never ridden a motorcycle here, so felt it was a good idea to cross the border. And find Pierogi. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi
Continue reading “PIEROGI, Air BnB, Booking.com and other trials”
2018-09-06
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
Yesterday around noon I got off the ferry in Germany from Denmark.
My last Scandinavian Ferry.
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Continue reading “Ugly Border Towns, Draw Bridges and MORE Ferries”
2018-09-03
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
Getting recommendations on places to go and things to do is always a crap shoot. The biggest problem with it is the WHY. Everyone has a different idea of what is worth doing. For example, someone may say “Go to this town, it is awesome.” Then when you get there you find it is nothing but seedy bars and strip clubs. It turns out that the person giving you the advice happens to LIKE seedy bars and strip clubs. YOU may even like these places, just not when you are travelling with your wife. So when asking for, or being given advice, ALWAYS ask WHY.
This is from way back in August, when I was in Stuttgart. My friend Jon took me to one of his favorite eateries. One of the specialties this place has is Schweinshaxe. I got this with a kleiner salat, or salad on the side. I am a pig. I will keep eating well past the point that it is painful. I stopped before the plate was done. Point to the Germans.
Here I am with a smile on my face, anticipating a good German Meal. (and beer). See the salad. That makes it a healthy meal right?
Here I am, fully defeated. I could not finish it. It was not even a question of stopping when I was full, I could not put more of this delectable feast into my stomach. I will be back to repeat the challenge.
Grabbed from Wikipeidia and edited with my comments: “Schweinshaxe is a roasted ham hock. Schweinshaxe is one of the formerly typical peasant foods, in which recipes were composed which made inexpensive cuts of meat delicious. Peasants have always known how to eat well. Screw you Monarchy.”
Coincidences are funny. I realize our minds can find patterns where none exist, but sometimes things happen that make you wonder.
Here it is Monday September 3rd. I last saw NAS (that’s Special Agent Nancy) on Friday August 31st. In case you are reading out of order, NAS has the same bike as mine, a 2011 Triumph Tiger. This is a fairly tall bike even if the suspension is lowered. There are not a lot of Triumph Tigers around, and even fewer women riding them.
I am so far behind on posts that I am not sure if I even know where I am right now. You will need to be signed up to my blog posts if you want to be kept informed real time. I will only post links to FB or E-Mail when I have a long boring post.
So, as posted earlier, after 27 days of riding together, Nancy and I went in different directions. When you set off alone after being with people for a long time, there is always a short period where you feel a bit lonely. You have to re-learn how to enjoy eating alone, making decisions alone and riding alone. For me it takes a day or two at most. I like travelling alone for the most part.
Just an update on where I have been and what I have been doing.
As previously posted, on August 5th I met up with a woman by the name of Nancy, who goes by the name Special Agent Nancy on ADVRider.com
Nancy rides the same model and year bike I have (2011 Triumph Tiger), but her bike is not black, the only proper color for a motorcycle. I already posted about how our early ride went. Very well I think.
Ran into a girl today. Fortunately she was wearing a soft fuzzy sweater. Had it not been for that cushioning, we both would have been hurt.
Continue reading “Today I met a Girl with a Soft Fuzzy Sweater”
American Muscle Cars on Parade
http://www.whereisbobl.com/2018/2018-08-11-finnish-car-parade/2018-08-11-finnish-car-parade.html
2018-08-11
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
See the Photo Album link above for LOTS of photos of American Muscle cars and more. There is only a sample here.
While leaving the Parola Tank Museum, we saw a bunch of people setting up chairs on the side of the road. I stopped at a biker to ask what was up. He said there was going to be a parade of classic cars in 15 to 30 minutes. I knew what that meant. No rush. We did not think it would be much, so went into a town a few miles south to look at a castle then got some dinner. During and after dinner, we saw a bunch of people lining the streets. Then the cars started coming. Mostly American, but a few others as well. I only took a relative few photos. It looked like the parade would never stop. Then, we started seeing some repeats. Some of the cars that had been through started filtering in with the new cars. We could have been there all night. We hit the road, but here are a few sample pics.
BTW, This was in the town of Hameenlinna, Finland
What the heck is a Wildcat?
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Parolo Tank Museum – Go to the link for my latest post
http://www.whereisbobl.com/2018/2018-08-11-parolo-tank-museum/2018-08-11-parolo-tank-museum.html
2018-08-11
Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parola_Tank_Museum
Just a few photos here of a Tank Museum in Finland. Go to the Album link above to see all of them. It was very interesting to go through this, but the photos just do not do it justice.
2018-08-09
http://www.whereisbobl.com/2018/2018-08-09-man-powered-ferry/2018-08-09-man-powered-ferry.html
Man powered Ligatne ferry over Gauja river in Gauja National Park Latvia
In Latvia, the Ferries don’t move men, men move Ferries. We took a wooden ferry that is powered by men. More specifically, it is powered by the river. Men control the angle of the ferry and turn it into the river in such a way that the river helps push it across. It is not an easy task even with the river helping.
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