West Balkans - Switzerland - Italy moto trip (part 6)

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Italy (1/2)

In the middle of June a cold morning finds me leaving that hospitable house at Mustair Switzerland behind as I'm heading South to make it to Italy. I soon climb up the tight bends of Umbrailpass and the higher I get the colder it is with lots of snow around. This was no surprise at 2500m so early in the morning. What did surprise me was that I had to do part of it on gravel as they were redoing the tarmac. Not the best thing fully loaded on those switchbacks but the view totally worth it (wait for a summary video at the end of this series). This route was not only the shortest to make it to Italy where I'd seek my next overnight but most importantly it would take me up to Stelvio pass, a total must for bikers globally which lies just before 2800m above sea level.

Enjoy:

Very cold, very empty (for Stelvio's standards) but as always very beautiful. Pity it was too freezing to enjoy it a bit more so after a couple of pictures I get back on the saddle to start descending on the SS38. Fantastic km going down those countless super tight switchbacks and tunnels all the way down. Have a look:

Going down heading to Bormio on SS38

The rest of the route on SS38 heading West was nothing special until I arrive at lake Como where the view was nicer and the weather was pretty hot and humid. Actually it felt like I went from "cold as ice" to "hot as hell". In only a few hours I experienced a difference of more than 30C! Crazy.

Como... ...hot... ...and humid. Hence the blurry picture.

I ride some pleasant km by the lake till I reach the place were my booked AirBnB was supposed to be close to Lecco. It was a kinda dodgy spot with many houses around so I stopped to have a look which one it might be when a super smiley guy on a wheel chair yells "Orestis!" I park my bike, unload my luggage and he led me to my room. Later the lady who runs the whole thing arrived and ... what a marvellous host she was. She even washed my clothes for free. Breakfast was very nice too:

I loved my ”colazione” on that tiny balcony

Como wasn't as nice though. With the excellent memories of Lago di Garda still fresh on my mind I expected something better. Como looked significantly less clean and less special. I went to try swimming and changed my mind at the first sight of the dirty water. I know, I'm a spoiled Greek when it comes to sea but still...

After a couple of restful days there since a) not much to do and b) really needed some rest, I left the place being very thankful to my host. She was so impressed by how quite I was and how much time I spent inside her place that she wrote it in her reference. Well, I was more than happy to find time to rest and short my videos and pictures rather than sweating like a pig by the dirty water of Como :)

Next destination: Torino.

My good friend Antonello was waiting for me there but he also proposed me the most scenic route to make my way from Como. It was a bit of a "take the long way home" but a zillion times better than the usual faster but so boring one. The 232 offers a super sweet ride around Zegna and the Panoramica Zegna is a unique view point:

Torino was also humid and hot but I'm more than happy to meet Antonello again after a couple of years and we soon make it to his trusty tire shop so my iron horse gets a brand new front one.

I really like the attention to detail these guys pay at this place like for example marking the bolts they undo and using torque wrenches. Looking for motorcycle tires at Torino? Try Frejus Gomme. This also reminded me how much different is North Italy from South...no way they'd treat my bike like this at Taranto. Same in most places in Greece unfortunately.

Antonello was renovating his house at Torino so I was kindly hosted at his mum's B'nB instead, around 50km North of the city where I was treated like a king. What a wonderful woman - no surprise her son is a top guy. In the evening our good mate Tobias rode all the way from Switzerland to join us and we all had a great dinner at the local tavern. Antonello's father was a dedicated biker and I was more than happy to visit the family's collection of rare old bikes. Look at them!

Me behind some extraordinary motorcycle history

I've been riding bikes for so many years but never imagined that I would see in front of my very eyes ones with open sump, wooden brake pads and clutch made from cork!!! By the way, the right one in the picture is one of the 5 in total left globally...seriously!

I wouldn't miss a chance to ride of course so I made it up to Gran Paradiso, a masterpiece of trees, waterfalls and cure villages. Just take the SP460 and enjoy.

The icing on the cake was close to the end of the SP50 up at the lake Serru. Each image is more than 1000 words in this case:

I could only make it up to 2500m cause the rest of the road was still closed by snow.

On my way back I captured my black companion in this green awesomeness:

This is what happens when you are in the right place with the right people that you can't thank them enough for beautifying your life like this. It was time to say goodbye though looking forward to our next meeting.

Destination: Genova. Antonello's recommendations got me riding South East from Torino among beautiful vineyards, weather was really nice, I really couldn't ask for much more:

I arrive at the city of Genova trying to find my AirBnB in this insane labyrinth of its ultra narrow spaghetti backstreets and though I'm sure I'm very close I still can't figure it out. I had to call my host so she'd pick me up. She later told me that only guys with Tom Tom GPS can find it - other maps can't handle it.

Genova is an interesting city to walk around and worth the effort this requires with all these steep stairs up and down. It's like an amphitheatre built around the port. I loved all these old buildings:

Cramped grace is not rare in Genova Neither are temples Piazza de Ferrari Giardino di Pubblico Asservimento This one played in Polanski’s ”Pirates”. A copy of a Spanish ship 17thB.C., built in 1985 ...just in case you weren’t impressed already... Cramped grace with a tunnel this time Palazzo San Giorgio The botanical garden of Biosfera Palazzo Stefano Balbi This used to be the King’s ride

I am reaching the limits of the length of this post so before it brings me an error while uploading I'll stop here. Stay tuned to see how I finished my time in Genova and how the rest of the trip evolved.

See you in part 7!

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