The European Chronicles

August 11, 2021

The European Chronicles - 2021 Ch. 6

What is it about Pitztal?

There's something about this place in Austria that just "feels good." Hard to describe; it is a long, beautiful valley filled with waterfalls cascading down mountains on each side. A dead end road; perhaps that's it: you have to want to be here. Things slow down, laid back, relaxed. The air is crisp, clean, fragrant, intoxicating.

I like it. A lot.

Plus, there's the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, an absolutely fabulous place I discovered in 2019, and wanted to return.

They greet you with Prosecco; definitely my kind of place.

They treat Mia well, too.

My view:

Some Zen...

Tough duty. 😎

A loop out to Timmelsjoch Pass, where the motorcycle museum at the top burned down this past winter. They are in the process of rebuilding.

"You are on a Moto, you just go around." Said to me in 2019 by the desk clerk at a hotel in Bolzano, Italy. True throughout Europe.

And look what I found at breakfast:

Waste not, want not...

And then there's the planning for the next day...

It was probably the two cocktails...I don't know what I was thinking with this route. Far, far, FAR too long, 240 miles, 385 kilometers. A 200-220 kilometer day is a "long" day on these tiny roads. I blame it on the Spritz.

Regardless, after the first 75 miles or so, I turned around. But boy, what a great ride, even though I didn't make it to the "target" of Gerlos Pass. So what, it's the journey, weedhoppa...

This section was incredible: