Today we managed to travel 360 miles from Canazei to Heidelberg travelling on some fantastic roads, especially the one we took to get to Bolzano. It was not safe to stop and take photos of this unfortunately as it was used by many tour coaches and there was not any safe parking places.
In Heidelberg we tried to get into the same hotel as last time but it was full, however the tourist information centre found the Anlage Hotel just outside the old town with off street parking for the Guzzi. The hotel is an old building that the Addams Family may have enjoyed living in. There were some period pieces of furniture place throughout the building and a large window with stained glass on the stairway. We were given the old servants room in the attic with an electric skylight window that closed automatically when the thunderstorm struck during the night.
The following morning we located a station for the funicular railway and travelled to the top of the cliff and walked a little way before heading part of the way back down to walk round the castle grounds. Afterwards it was time for more window shopping for Guzzisue whilst Ian and myself headed for the large record store that we visited last time. I’m not sure if it is a good thing that the Guzzi’s panniers are the wrong size to fit vinyl lps in.
When we arrived back at the hotel a flyer had been placed on the Guzzi from the International Motorcycle Touring Club. The flyer was offering membership to the club along with advice on touring abroad. We declined the offer.
On the evening news programmes throughout Europe there were items of growing unrest due to the rise in petrol prices, with England having serious problems. There is nothing we can do but carry on heading back home.
One night is spent in Béthune before heading back to Calais for the ferry home. In Calais we decide to fill right up in case there are any fuel shortages back home. Once filled up the Guzzi was being a little temperamental and refusing to start. It eventually fired up and while Ian was looking for some paper towel a car window opened and a roll was passed to Guzzisue. The lady in the car said that she had seen us down in Italy!
Back in Dover the petrol station at the port entrance was closed due to lack of fuels. The ride home was tense and slow as we crawled from station to station in search of the motion lotion, finally finding some on the A14 north of Cambridge with minimal queueing with a policeman there to keep watch and make sure there was no fights at the pumps. We made it home with the petrol that we managed to find and reported in to Ian and Guzzisue’s parents.
