Arrival in the Alps

Prologue: Forget that we had been planning for this trip since January. Six months later, as my husband and I stand in line to board the flight from Dallas to Zurich, I’m still struggling to unplug from my life for a while — I lob in one last call to the office.

Perhaps you have the same feeling right before you leave on vacation — is it really worth it to go?  The answer is always a resounding yes, of course, but it takes unplugging before you are sure.  And this trip could not have come at a better time for us.

Many people have asked me about this vacation: How did we decide to take a motorcycle trip through the Alps?  From the beginning, I should confess that I am a destination person, much more interested in finally getting somewhere rather than experiencing the journey itself. So a nine-day trip to Europe — with most of that time spent on the back of a motorcycle riding through the mountains — was a bit out of character for me. Shouldn’t we be seeing famous cities, museums or monuments, collecting passport stamps? I should be taking a cooking class at some Italian culinary academy by day and European art classes by night. But this trip was the right idea for us: I wanted to go back to Europe, and my husband wanted to do something with motorcycles, which he truly loves.

So with Raye an experienced rider but me never having so much as ridden with him to the corner market, we decided to book a biker’s dream trip through the Alps.  We agree to rent just one bike, and of course Raye will drive.  I have signed on for a true back-of-the-bike experience, determined to find out if I can learn to like motorcycle riding and, most importantly, to see if I can make the journey matter.

I hope you enjoy this travelogue.  Indeed this trip taught me a lot.  Please feel free to post comments, share your reflections on the joys of motorcycle riding, traveling in Europe, or simply what your own travels — wherever they may be — have taught you.

Friday/Saturday

We arrive in Zurich after a 10-hour overnight flight from Dallas. We did score an exit  row, however, which helped immensely. I only worked a few hours on my laptop, and the rest of the time dozed leaning on Raye’s shoulder listening to my iPod.  It is hard to sleep with the anticipation of the trip ahead.

Once arriving at the Zurich airport early Saturday morning, we catch a local train to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main train station). We only have about 90 minutes to wait for our train to Innsbruck, but in that time we simply sit on top of our luggage and watch people scurry by.

Saturday morning must be a busy travel time — or at least it appears so — as we watch couples, families, school or children’s groups and young men dressed in military uniforms moving all around us. At least they seem to know where to go, which is more than I can really say for us. We are a little bit turned around but find some young women who speak English. They point us to the correct train platform. Our train arrives remarkably on time, and we board with no problems, finding the first class coach easily — it is simply marked with a big “1″ on the side of the car. Locating our seats, we gratefully sink into them for the four-hour trip.

The train takes us alongside a beautiful lake outside of Zurich and then on through the Swiss and Austrian countryside. At every turn, Raye and I are just stunned with the beautiful scenery. The lake is gorgeous, glacier fed and glassy. The mountains are soaring and covered with lush trees and shrubs. Very jagged and steep. It’s not even like the Rockies because these mountains are so green and soft looking. It reminds you exactly of the opening scene from the “Sound of Music.”

We meet and visit with two college girls from Georgia who are headed to a six-week program at the university in Innsbruck. I helped them with several questions and thought of our intern, Luci, who is on a similar program in Florence this summer. Raye helped them unload their giant rolling duffel bags. After hitting the ATM together for Euros, we wave good-bye. They were very excited about their adventure.

Our hotel is just across the street, as it turns out. Traditional European style with wood paneling covering the walls and ceiling. I love hotels, having worked in the lodging industry for many years. First-class facilities and attentive service. The employees wear traditional Austrian attire and speak excellent English. We have an expansive view of the mountains outside our hotel window. The whole city sits in the heart of the mountains, and everywhere you look they are standing guard over the area. Must be why the Olympics were held here. I am hearing German spoken everywhere, and some of it is coming back to me. Raye can’t believe it since he thought I was barely able to translate “Hogan’s Heroes.” It will be interesting this week to see how much I really remember.

In order to stay awake this afternoon (and hopefully acclimate to the correct local time), we walked through Old Innsbruck and ate lunch at a café outside a hotel that was built in the 1500s. Wow. Lots of people wandering around looking at everything. It must be a real tourist city. After a short nap (we hadn’t slept since Thursday night remember), we have dinner on a terrace of the Weisses Rossl (white horse) restaurant. It is a gorgeous evening and it stays light even nearly until 10 p.m. We enjoy traditional Austrian fare – glazed pork with dumplings and green beans, and a beef and potato hash with cabbage and bacon salad. Then homemade apple strudel and coffee for dessert. We talk about the adventures ahead.

A short stroll back to the hotel and we collapse into bed by at least 11p.m. Current time at home: 4 in the afternoon.

Sunday mid-day
We slept 11 hours last night and this morning walked across the street for cappuccino and a brie sandwich for breakfast. The weather is about 70 degrees and sunny. It is just a slice of heaven here. Our biggest concern right now is hooking up with our tour company to get to the base hotel, which is in a small town outside of Innsbruck. The tour company is supposed to pick us up here. Since we are across the street from the train station, if our wires get crossed, we are simply going to catch a train to the closest town and figure it out from there. Headed for the shower now.

Sunday evening

We did make our pick up with no problems. Frank, a friendly outdoorsy kind of young man, quickly loaded our bags into a van and took off flying down the autobahn to our new hotel in a small town in  the Alps. As it turns out, Frank is our tour guide and host for the week. He and Raye hit it off from the beginning as most avid cyclists do.

We met several other couples on the ride up; all are friendly and conversational. They are from different parts of the United States including Georgia, Wisconsin and Washington — and we also have one fellow from Germany.

A first look at our bikes was a thrill for the guys. Not being a big motorcycle fan at this point, all I can tell you is our bike is red and big. Its engine just hums, according to Raye, and it’s very powerful. I find out that we are driving a BMW 1200 RT and determine to commit that to memory in case I am ever asked.

We eat in the hotel dining room from a buffet of traditional Austrian meats served directly from the chef’s kitchen.  Then we convene to a cozy meeting room with a window looking out over the Alps by twilight.  I struggle to stay focused on the conversation led by Frank, which is a review of the map and road rules for the week. Conversation on the back deck of the hotel and a walk through nearby trails ended our first night. What a beautiful place this is.

I hope I like riding on the back of the bike. I came a long way to find out about something my husband loves.

Want to see more photos? Click on the set “Innsbruck — Arrival Day” to see highlights of this beautiful Winter Olympics city.  You will also find my favorite photos put together in one set.  I recommend you view each day’s photos by clicking first on the set you want to view, then click on the words “view slide show” in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  At any time you can find out more about each shot by simply clicking on the photo itself.