June 6, 2023 - Andermatt - Gottard Pass and the Tremola Road

 Today I rode solo from Andermatt to the Gotthard Pass taking the Tremola Road.  

Gotthard Pass reaches over 6,900 feet elevation. The combination of riding to the Gotthard Pass on the Tremola Road made for an interesting day.  It was a good thing Sooz decided to pass on the ride to the pass because the cobblestone makeup of Tremola Road made it very bumpy and rough - it would not have been good for her back.  Plus, I was kind of glad to be riding solo - it made it easier to maneuver and I didn't have to worry about how the ride was affecting Sooz so I could concentrate more on the hairpin turns.  I'm also glad it wasn't raining.  I think rain would make the cobblestone surface slippery. 

Here is a short description of the Tremola Road taken from this website - How long is the old Tremola road?  The fascinating and tortuous road is 11.3km (7.02 miles) long, running from Airolo to the Gotthard Pass through numerous curves. It features 37 bends (24 of them being hairpin turns). Each bend has its own name. The road is very steep, hitting a 13% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps. Starting at Airolo, the elevation gain is 839 meters. The average gradient is 7.42%.

After riding Tremola Road and crossing Gotthard Pass, I arrived at the Swiss town of Airolo and stopped for a coffee.  The ride was not very long but pretty intense.  It was very strange because, although Airolo is in Switzerland, the signs, language and menu were all Italian.  Even the architecture looked more Italian than Swiss. Regions reflect more their history than their current country boundaries.  It's not uncommon to even speak German in parts of Italy and vise versa.

I took the main highway back to Andermatt.  Much of the ride was through the Gotthard Tunnel which is over 10 miles long.  During my ride through the tunnel the temperature in the tunnel rose to 99 degrees as registered on my motorcycle.  It reminded me of Florida.  When I left Andermatt this morning the temperature was in the low 50's and I had my electric heated vest on.

From a different website describing the Tremola Road that I rode today.  The picture and map are accurate, it was full of hairpin, 180 degree turns.

Beginning stretch of the Tremola Road

Tremola Road

You can kind of get the feel for how narrow and twisty the Tremola Road is.  I didn't have our professional photographer riding on the back so my pictures are not as good as Sooz takes.

The GS at the top of Gotthard Pass

June 5, 2023 - Andermatt

 Sooz and I had a casual, non-riding day today.  We spent 4 hours strolling around downtown Andermatt and then did some grocery shopping.  

Question - what is missing in the photos, especially in downtown?  

Answer - trash.  There is absolutely no trash - no wrappers, no bottles, no cigarette butts, nothing!  It's pretty incredible.  If you go back and look at the roads in previous postings, there is no trash.  The weird thing is that we never see anyone cleaning or working to keep it so tidy.  Very strange.

Sooz wanted me to include this picture with the flowers from yesterday's ride.

Typical rococo-style house in Andermatt - Sooz told me that it is rococo, I'd never heard of it before.

A smaller rococco

A rococo under construction using massive pieces of lumber

Unteralpreuss River 

We weren't sure if these are just natural barriers or also are used for fire kindling during the winter

Part of the cemetery looking towards the Catholic Parrish Church of St. Peter and Paul

Inside the church - The ornate main altar is the work of the famous Valais sculptor Johannes Ritz. The Baroque chapel of St Michael was built as a charnel house in 1640, so says their website.  You'll have to look up the definition of "charnel".

The ceiling paintings were amazing

The church organ in the rear balcony

A spooky looking case enclosing what looks like a skull

Cool public bench design

Sooz taking in the view

June 4, 2023 - Andermatt, Switzerland - Klausen Pass

 Sooz and I decided to take a ride today to Klausen Pass, elevation 6,391 feet, about 1 hour from our Airbnb. The weather app said it was supposed to rain and be in the 50's.  Our ride was beautiful, sunny, dry and warm.

When we stopped in at the tourist office the other day we picked up a map showing the mountain passes near Andermatt.  The woman made sure we knew that Klausen Pass was the only pass in Uri Kanton (county), which is the county Andermatt is in.

The ride to Klausen started out on a 4-lane divided highway and ended on a 1.5-lane paved road.  There was a lot of traffic including motorcycles of all types and sizes.  Not surprisingly, we didn't see any other bikes from the US, most were from Switzerland, Italy and Germany, with a few Brits mixed in.  For the most part, there were no idiot drivers which made the ride very pleasant.

I posted several photos below.  

The passes near Andermatt

Schengen sheep

Looks like Fred's back yard

At the top of Klausen Pass looking back at where we rode from

Sooz directing traffic in the parking lot - the GS waiting patiently.

Me trying to take a selfie at the top of the pass

June 3, 2023 - Andermatt, Switzerland

 Big news in the Clark family is that Willow Paige Clark was born May 27, 2023 to my nephew Dylan and his wife Mariah Clark in West Palm Beach, FL!  She and Mom are doing well.  This is the second grandchild for my brother Tim and his wife Terri.  Congratulations to them!

The weather forecast said rain and wind most of the day - it has been sunny, warm and calm all day - although as soon as I wrote that I heard some thunder.  The pleasant weather was a nice surprise but just means our best way to check the weather here in the mountains will be to walk outside and not bother with a weather app on the phone.

The last 2 days we walked from our Airbnb to downtown/old town Andermatt.  There is a nice grocery store where we stocked up, we had lunch at a couple of local places, Sooz picked up a nice shirt and great map at an outdoor store and we learned a lot from the local tourist office. Once the person working at the tourist office understood we were staying in Andermatt for all of June she opened up and gave us a lot of good info, maps and discount cards.

Willow Paige Clark born May 27, 2023

Andermatt street sign

Short cut - more steps! -  from our Airbnb to downtown/old town Andermatt - not too bad compared to Durbrovnik.

One version of a typical Swiss dish called Rosti consisting of fried potatoes, cheese, ham and 2 fried eggs.  Not low cal, but it kept me going all day.

Part of Old Town Andermatt

Our view walking to downtown

Looking out from our Airbnb front porch.  If you zoom in and look close you can see cows grazing.  The cows wear big bells that you can hear HERE (you may have to turn the volume up).  I recorded it from our front porch.

June 1, 2023 - Andermatt, Switzerland

 Before leaving Palmanova, Italy on Monday, we walked outside to a huge market that had been setup that morning.  It included vendors of fashion, shoes, flowers, vegetables and more shoes.  The vendors make the rounds to various communities and Monday was Palmanova.  Sooz could have stayed longer checking out the fashion and shoes but we had to leave for Misurina, Italy.

Misurina, and the ride there, was recommended by a motorcyclist who we have "met" through emails and phone calls.  It was a beautiful ride and the town is on Lake Misurina surrounded by the Dolomite mountains.  The Dolomite Alps are lighter colored than the central and northern Alps due to their limestone makeup.  We hit a fair amount of slow moving traffic on two-lane roads with farm tractors, buses and semi-trucks.  Google Maps would estimate 1.5 hours to travel 45 miles, so you know it was slow going.  But, the scenery was good.

After Misurina we spent 2 nights in Livigno, Italy, a ski-town that is going to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.  We needed a couple of days to rest up.  We're finding that our stamina is not as great as it was on earlier trips, maybe due to our increased maturity ...   We splurged a little and stayed at the Bivio Hotel Plaza.  It was a nice place with a heated pool, sauna and spa.

This morning we rode from Livigno to our Airbnb in Andermatt, Switzerland where we'll be staying until June 30. We were here 7 years ago and really liked it so we wanted to come back.  Like almost everywhere, the town has grown and developed to the point where we did not recognize where we stayed before.

Another reason we chose to stay in Andermatt is that it is central to several mountain passes that we want to check out.  Today we came in from the east and crossed the Oberalp Pass reaching almost 7,000 feet.  Temperatures dropped to to 51 degree so we hooked up the heated gear.

A picture of me taking a picture of local cheeses at the Palmanova Market.

The picture I took when my picture was taken.

Sooz was amazed at the quality, selection and prices of the shoes and clothing.  Luckily, we are on the motorcycle and have no space for additional stuff.

Palmanova market

Palmanova market and Sooz checking it out

Driving from Palmanova to Misurina

Local farmer

Approaching the Dolomite Alps

Our hotel at Misurina with the Dolomites in the background

Lake Misurina

Looking out from our room at the ski slopes in Livigno, Italy

Danielle, the morning chef for breakfast, comes from Reggio Calabria in southern Italy a stone's throw from Sicily.  He wants to open his own restaurant in the US and had to move from his home town because the mafia is still very real and his family is not connected.

The pool and sauna.

The logo for charging an electric car.

Our route so far.