[NPV]

Whoa, what an amazing journey you’ve experienced, it is absolutely engrossing to read with great level of detail, wonderful narration and pictures. You just nailed it from a reader’s perspective, can’t ask for anything more.

Thanks for sharing your “French connection” experiences!

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by amolpol

I believe you need to be high to enjoy the beauty of Amsterdam because at least I struggled to see it.

[

Jeremy Clarkson said it a couple of decades ago: The Dutch, all they do all do is watch porn and smoke drugs!

What do you expect from such a country?

Jeroen

PS: see our thread on the happiness report, all this porn watching and drugs makes the Dutch very happy. 5th place behind the Scandinavian lot who do porn and booze.

[amolpol]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Jeremy Clarkson said it a couple of decades ago: The Dutch, all they do all do is watch porn and smoke drugs!

What do you expect from such a country?

Jeroen

PS: see our thread on the happiness report

Good eye Jeroen, I didn’t expect anyone would pick up on that statement But in all fairness, it wasn’t to offend anyone but just a comparative remark.

You make some good points, life is indeed happier with the help of some accelerators, nobody can deny that!

The thread about happiness though, is another story, checked it out and I think we’re trying very hard to convince ourselves that we’re indeed happier than what is suggested. Made for an interesting read but don’t want to spark off another debate here so will not say anything more!

[amolpol]

As the spring approached, there was another break at school. The home ministry tabled the idea of making a weekend visit to the Keukenhof gardens. The mega flower show at the garden is open only a few weeks and we happened to be lucky to find tickets for a Friday. So bags were packed and cameras made ready for the long weekend in Netherlands again.









The garden really surprised us, the planning and execution for the flower show is top notch. Despite the crowds, the experience remained quite enjoyable, but I don’t think we could have said that on the next day when there were about a thousand buses crowding the parking lots for some special event. We were so glad that we were not going in that day, Instead we spent some time enjoying the areas around the garden and photographing some tulip fields in the hope of finding some shots where I could put both the tulips and windmills in a single frame, but it wasn’t meant to be.





Next up was May, now this is a special month in France with anywhere between 4-6 public holidays which can then be combined with the weekend depending on where they fall. Also, it’s the month where a lot of people take their remaining vacation days (if any) that they will not able to carry forward since the leave calendar ends in May. But for us, it’s the month of the French MotoGP and given that last year we got to attend it by accident, we made sure it better planned this time.



The holiday started with some sight-seeing in the Loire valley which is known for its wine and castles. We had booked ourselves at a hotel that was about an hour away from Le Mans so we could spend the first few days visiting places and then keep the weekend reserved for the race. While we concluded that the Loire valley was not really our style, the race was a highlight to end the trip.





The following weekend, it was time to stop worrying about lean angles and track temperatures and enjoy the MXGP of France near La Rochelle. The race experience was electrifying and even if the weather played tricks it didn’t dampen the spirits of the riders and audience alike.










The MXGP proved to be the last road trip with the Q3, a week later I had exchanged it for the GLC 300de and we made a quick weekend trip to get a feel of the new ride.



It was then time for the French Open at the famous Roland Garros which was on my wife’s hit list, and for the first time ever I managed to watch a full day of tennis. Was fun to watch it in some of the smaller courts but at center court it was another story, and while the experience was still special I would still prefer to watch it on TV with all the details and stats etc.





The arrival of the GLC with a retractable towhook meant we could now finalize the purchase of Pozu’s KTM SX125. But first, we had to buy a trailer. I wanted to buy the one which could take 2 or 3 bikes, but then once I saw the size of that thing at the Norauto dealership, I changed my mind to go with the single rail trailer that looked more manageable. I still struggle and generally avoid to reverse with the trailer attached, but it’s easy to unhook it and move it by hand so it’s not a cause of concern.



A week or so later we went with the trailer to pick up the bike from the KTM dealership not very far from our house. The guys at the showroom were quite nice but a bit surprised about our purchase, probably because they hadn’t had any other Indian family buying a motocross bike before. I made friends with one of the sales guys there and made sure I understood the servicing conditions/intervals and approximate costs before we left. While they helped to put the bike up on the trailer, I was advised to keep an eye if I were being followed at any point of time and not go home directly if that were the case. One of the big reasons why most motocross guys use a van and not a trailer is because of the increased risk of theft if the wrong people notice you transporting a dirt bike.

[amolpol]

It was now end of school and that meant we were ready for the summer break. Last year I had skipped taking any real vacation in summer and I wanted to change that this year. The usual trend is to take 3 weeks of holidays, I’m told the magic happens in the third week where you really forget everything about work. But the 3 week target wasn’t going to be for this year, instead we were planning two one week holidays and I was more than okay with that plan.

Given that the car was new to me, I got the annual service done so that it’s ready for the big journeys. The first week was going to be a drive to London followed by a road-trip covering the beautiful landscapes of Scotland. The second trip was placed after about a couple of weeks to make sure work doesn’t pile up and to take advantage of some public holiday around the same time, that way we could get about 10 days of time on the road.

Meanwhile, work took me to Milan for a few days and taking advantage of the long days, I went out one evening to see the city.



The UK trip started with an interesting event, we were locked inside our own gate. There was a power maintenance that had happened on the previous day which cut off the power to our main gate and the manual override process wasn’t working as designed. With the level of urgency you can expect in France, I was not surprised that it took 5 hours for them to get someone to help. Anyway, we could manage the rescheduling of the train shuttle that takes you under the English channel in about 30 mins. I was quite impressed by the way the border crossing is managed, quite thorough but still quite efficient. The shuttle train by itself is quite an experience to be sitting in your car while it chugs along under the sea. This is also why I like the road trips, we were more than 6 hours delayed on our plan, but it meant no stress, instead we were enjoying dinner at our friends’ house and having a good laugh about the morning ruckus.



A day later, we were on our way to Flamborough where we were staying at one of the camping trailer parks. The cliffs along the shore are quite stunning and similar to what we see on the French side at Etretat for example. But I had chosen this place for another reason as well, it was known to harbour some Atlantic Puffins along the cliffs. The records are quite hazy and not much detail was found on the internet, so I decided to go there and find out for myself. While we really enjoyed the landscapes, the birds were nowhere to be seen and neither did I know where to go looking, so that plan didn’t work out. There’s always the option to visit Sept Iles on the French side where these birds nest in Spring so I just needed to put that firmly on my list.





The next day we found ourselves entertained by the stunning hilly landscapes of Scotland as we exited England and the population was now more cows and sheep than men. We stopped at another trailer park in Aviemore and spent the next day exploring the Lochness and Cairngorm National park.

















Next stop was another trailer park in Glenmore estates. I had heard about the NC500 route but we didn’t have enough time to cover all of it, so we did a run until the northernmost point in Scotland known as John O’Groats and returned back to Glenmore. I must say, the landscapes are simply amazing along the NC500 and I wouldn’t mind doing this loop on a motorcycle again someday.









The following day was reserved for what we both enjoy, Single Malt Scotch. We had gotten bookings at Glen Moray since none of the other distilleries allowed children for the tour. The visit was quite good and informative and was followed by some prompt purchase decisions as we traced the maps along the way to visit some more distilleries for their factory shops!








It was now time to head back and make a stop at Liverpool to catch up with a friend from the yester years and also enjoy the party scene that the city has to offer. We were staying at an airbnb that was right opposite one of the iconic houses of Liverpool.



The initial idea was to finish the Scottish trip and head back home, but then life had taken another interesting turn. The Silverstone MotoGP was happening on the following weekend and we decided to wait back and got tickets for it. I had no interest in visiting London so I was working that week while the girls were out exploring the city, best use of both our times.

I got our friend to join us for the Silverstone GP and I must say, it was quite some fun. While we had already seen the MotoGP twice by now, but a new circuit means everything is completely different. This time we had some good tickets in the stands but while it’s good to watch, it doesn’t give a good angle for photography. It was fun to just sit and watch the bikes vs scouting for locations to get good pictures etc.

[amolpol]

After the UK trip, we were really looking forward to our next vacation. Work was quite slow, most chaps in France are out in August and calendars get some white spaces which is a good change from the normal craziness.



There were two or three options we had explored before zeroing down to the “scenic mountains of Europe” theme. The idea of the trip seemed a bit crazy, but then that’s what got it selected. We were going to drive through some of the most scenic mountains of Germany, Swiss, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Romania, mostly reaching the highest motorable passes in all these countries.



The best part was there were no cities we’d see on the way. It wasn’t easy, 6000 kms in about 10 days meant a lot of driving and we also needed to have time to explore and enjoy the places. So after about a couple of iterations, the itinerary was ready and because we were going to only go through remote places, we chose to book the airbnbs in advance.



The trip started with the iconic Black Forest in Germany and we had an amazing stay at a vineyard, away from everything. We got enough time to do a small hike and enjoy the dense forest that gives it the name.



The next day we were headed south towards the Sustenpass followed by Furkapass in the Swiss Alps to end our day at an awesome Airbnb in Alvaneu Bad.











Following morning, we left early to climb the mountain that was in front of us to reach the Albula pass and continue towards Stelvio pass which will take us into Italy.









A few kilometers into Italy and right before the Austrian border, we were stopped by the beautiful Reschensee lake. We had no clue this was on our way, but we’re glad we got some time to spend there. The lake is a result of some dam which drowned a few villages including a church which still stands tall at the edge of the lake. The azure waters, kite surfers, swimmers and generally the people enjoying by the shores made it quite special.





We were supposed to visit Hahntennjoch in Austria but as we got near, we realized that the last 20kms to reach the top was closed due to some incident. We ended our day in Alpbatchal which seemed like a small village of a few thousand people maybe, but beautiful all around.



Next day we were up early to head towards our highest mountain pass in Austria, the Grossglockner! After paying a steep toll, it was time to enjoy the winding roads that take you up the mountains. This was so far the most enjoyable experience we had in the high ranges of Austria.





This was also a day when we were supposed to drive across Austria to reach our Airbnb in a small town near the Austria and Hungary border. The following day was going to be a long day since we were supposed to drive across Hungary to reach our Airbnb in Romania.

Now, what is to be noted is how technology sometimes gives you the short stick. I was using Waze for navigation because it’s generally considered better than Google maps in EU. Most of these European countries like Swiss, Austria, Hungary, Romania do not have toll collection booths but use the Vignette which is basically like a pass that allows you access on the highways. I had bought the vignettes for all countries in advance for the duration of our travel to avoid any surprises. But I hadn’t told Waze about it, so while we exited Austria we started tracking only on some smaller highways in Hungary. The travel time had now increased and road conditions were far from perfect, moreover we were crossing a lot of towns and villages so we had to slow down for those. This continued till lunch when I realized that there was a big difference between Google and Waze, mainly because I hadn’t ticked some option in Waze to say I have a vignette which would then include the highways in my route. So with that sorted, we were now doing decent times to reach our halt in Petrila late that night. We were staying at a very nice Airbnb and we had a couple of days before we moved to the next stop so we could take it a bit slow.