My motorcycle tour of Europe (inc WW2 then and now pics)

Having recently returned from another motorcycle tour of Europe, (which again took in a few WW2 related places of interest along the way!) I thought I'd share some of my photos of the trip with you all.

I did the trip with WW2f member Pegasus (on separate bikes) and our tour started with a ferry crossing from Hull to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. From there we rode to Duselldorf where we and the bikes boarded an overnight DB Autozug train bound for Alessandria in Italy.


After arriving in Italy early next morning, our route was planned to take us in to Austria and then up through Germany before heading back to the Netherlands to catch the ferry back home.

Our first overnight stop was at a campsite on the shores of Lake Garda in Italy.

A early evening panoramic photo of the lake.


Next morning it was over the Dolomite mountains in to Austria, and to our next stopover for the night. We then rode over the Alps via the Grossglockner High Alpine road with its stunning views and sometimes scary hairpin bends!

My bike in the Dolomites.


The Dolomites


The stunning view from Bikers Viewpoint on the Grossglockner High Alpine road.


More to follow....

 

Great photos, John. Looking forward to following your travels. Thanks for posting this.

Steve

 

I can't see any of the photos.
All I can see are 'broken link' icons- see thumbnail.
Even when I click broken link icon I go to Photobucket & image doesnt load.

We did the Grossglockner back in 2012.
Great day out.
Hairpins on the Stelvio Pass this summer were tighter & more numerous.

edit: ignore this have sorted problem.

 

Owen: Strange -- they're working for me.

John: Great photos. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

 

Owen, we did a similar trip back in 2012 and had planned to ride the Grossglockner but couldn't do it due to bad weather up in the Alps. I was determined to do it this time and on the particular day we did the weather was fantastic with dry roads and not a not a whisp of wind.

The Stelvio Pass is next on my list!

 

Pics worked fine for le too.

John you'd better not tell you drove near my home and didn't say hi . :waving:

 

Welcome back, John ! :S!

 

Silly me, I forgot that parental controls are on & it blocked Photobucket.
I can see pics now.
Cheers, looking forward to seeing more.
Here's a couple of the Stelvio Pass for you to look forward to next year.

 

Skipper, unfortunately we didn't go in to France. Had we, then I certainly would have stopped by to visit you...maybe next time I'm in Normandy I can drop in on you.

Martin, thanks.

Owen, that road is truly amazing. Our first route started in Santander, Spain and took in the stelvio Pass. Unfortunately we had to change it as we wouldn't have had enough time to see the places we wanted to whilst in Germany.

 

Owen said: Here's a couple of the Stelvio Pass for you to look forward to next year.



Those are some serious switchbacks!!

 

Our next stop was the former site of the Berghof in Bavaria. Apart from a rear retaining wall and other smaller bits, there is not much to see these days as the buildings were destroyed after the war.

This is start of the driveway that led up to the Berghof.

 

No problem John, you have your invitation. It seems like you had a geat trip through the Alps. I can just only imagine the WW1 troops carrying parts of 75mm gun on thier backs and reassemble them to start a new front ....That was about 100 years ago at over 3.800meter high, the highest front .



http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1917_ortler_vorgipfelstellung_3850_m_highest_trench_in_history_of_first_world_war.jpg

 

Sweet KTM....I was hoping for a brand new one last year. I got a baby instead :lol:

 

Took me an age to find his home - Shamelessly we now have a large chunk of marble in our back garden.

Excellent Thread here - If I do say so myself

http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/24369-obersalzberg-and-eagles-nest-trip-pictures-including-some-then-and-nows/?hl=%2Beagles+%2Bnest

 

That's Pegasus's KTM, and it's his 'baby'!

 

Evidence of the famous Linden tree is still there. Martin Bormann apparently had the tree planted next to the Berghof drive so Hitler could shelter from the hot summers sun during march pasts.

The tree is on the right in this period photo.


And here is how it looks today. Various attempts at removing it have failed and new shoots keep growing up from the stump.



This is a panoramic photo of where the Berghof once stood. The rear retaining wall can be seen through the trees.


This is looking down on to the remains of the driveway that led up to the house.

 

Our next stop was Munich. We planned to stay in the area for 2 days so what better than to start our tour of the city with a visit to the Hofbrauhaus for a stein (or two!) of Hofbrau Dunkel and a large Pretzel.

 

And now for some Then and Nows...

This was Hitler's favourite restaurant in Munich, the Osteria Bavaria. It is now an Italian restaurant. We had a wonderful meal here and sat where Hitler apparently liked to be seated.




The interior of the restaurant appears to have been untouched and probably looked the same in the 30s & 40s.