May 5, 2023 - Graz, Austria

 Happy Cinco de Mayo!  That holiday has not made it to Germany or Austria, at least not that we have seen.

We had a good day today, fine weather (70s and mostly sunny), good roads and a nice hotel room at Hotel Jufa here in Graz, Austria.  We rode 271 miles and crossed from Germany to Austria.  Because we were taking toll roads in Austria we had to stop at the border and buy a 10-day toll road pass for about $7 US.  That's not bad at all.  We opted for the digital check which means their cameras verify the bike's tag/license plate number which I registered to get the pass.  So far, so good.  Because both countries are in the EU the border crossing was seamless, no customs or immigration. 

This is the second day we have had traffic backup due to construction and the large number of trucks.  The nice thing is that all trucks are required to stay in the right lane, except when passing.  When traffic backed up, all of the trucks were jammed up in the right lane and cars were able to mostly keep moving in the left lane, but at a slow speed.

The photos in this post were taken by Sooz from the back of the bike.  She's really good at doing that, plus it allows me to stay focused on the road.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is outside the Schengen area.  It looks like a nice town and we will stay there 3 or 4 days to rest up and take a breather.  We also noticed that B & H has a tiny strip of Adriatic coastline, including the town of Neum, which I think we will check out after Bihac.  Sooz found a little apartment on the coast for $66 per night.  The Balkans are much less expensive than northern Europe.

This is our route we travelled yesterday and today.  

Susie got a kick out of seeing real phone booths on the side of the road.  They were located on both sides of tunnels.

As we approached the lower Alps we started going through lots of tunnels, we lost count of how many.  This sign lets you know we are approaching Tunnel Klaus - not sure if it is named after Santa.

Riding through Tunnel Klaus.  All of the tunnels were in excellent condition and very clean. In this photo you can see my phone with Google Maps and behind that is the GPS - it's nice to have backup.

A lot of people want to know about the price of gas in Europe - here is my receipt for gas I got today in Austria.  I bought 14.81 liters of premium (95 octane) low ethanol (5%) gas for 26.42 Euros. That's 3.9 gallons for $29.31 at the exchange rate using my Visa credit card.  That works out to $7.51 per gallon, or about double what we last paid in Gainesville.  Included was 20% tax which seems high but I think gas taxes in the US are at least that much.