Introduction
In September 2006 I went to the HU travelers meeting in Widooie
in Belgium on my BMW F650GS. I enjoyed it very much and wanted to do it again.
Last year I saw a message about a HU meeting in Germany but at that time I could not go so I wanted to go this year.
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As always when I want to go somewhere, there are a lot of other things that had to be done and this time was no
exception. One of my nephews was getting married the Friday of the HU meeting and on Saturday afternoon one of my
friends had an anniversary because he was married 25 years. Unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day and one life
to be lived so I had to choose. It was difficult but I decided to attend half of the wedding and skip the anniversary.
Friday after the wedding in the townhal in Zierikzee, I went home to pack my
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luggage for the HU meeting and my wife and children went to the wedding of my nephew in church.
This time I left my bike in the garage because I wanted to test the Suzuki Samurai 4x4. Until now I never for a longer
the 200 km ride and now I wanted to test it on the almost 500 km to the HU meeting near Heidelberg in Germany.
I checked the oil- and coolant-level of the car, packed some clothing and a toothbrush in a backpack, booked a hotel
near the HU meeting area and planned and printed a route on the map (www.viamichelin.nl).
Because the top-speed of the little jeep is not up to modern highway standards, I decided to use the "avoid freeways"
function on my old Tomtom one.
Saturday, June 9, 2012,
My alarm clock was set at six in the morning and after a shower and a coffee, I waited for my wife to arrive back from
work with the Suzuki. Finally, at half past seven, she arrived home and after drinking coffee together, I left home to the
HU meeting in Germany.
Because I started an hour later then I wanted, I decided to ride the first few hundred kilometers through Belgium on
the A13 - E313 freeway.
On the freeway in Belgium
There is not much traffic on the road on Saturday morning and doing 90 to 100 km per hour I reached Eupen in
Belgium, close to the German border about ten o'clock AM.
The petrol-station in Eupen
At the petrol-station I stopped to fill the tank and then I went into Germany.
After the boring freeway in Belgium, it was a releif to ride the nice backroads in Germany. With the "avoid freeways"
function of my GPS, I found some very exciting roads meandering up and down the mountains. I passed through the
nice old town of Blankenheim through the big citygate
Nice country road in Germany
Entering Blankenheim
Just outside the city of Blankenheim, I stopped at a very nice hotel-restaurant for a cappuccino. It is Hotel-Restaurant
Finkenberg on Giesental 2,53945 Blankenheim/Eifel. They welkom bikers and the coffee was very good.
Hotel-Restaurant Finkenberg
A good cappuccino in a very nice cup
After I had my coffee, I went back to the Suzuki and continued on the beautiful roads through
the Eifel, past the Nürnburgring racing circuit to Löf, on the bank of the river Mosel.
View on the Eifel
At Löf, on the bank of the Mosel, I stopped for a short pause and to take some piuctures. Fortunately,
the weather is very nice and I enjoy my ride.
Parked near the river Mosel
I follow the road on the bank of the Mosel and enjoy the view on the river and the castles on the
mountain tops.
Big castle near the Mosel
Another nice castle
At Löf, I crossed the Mozel and used the GPS to find a nice road to Boppard on the bank of the Rhein.
I parked the car on a parking near the Lorelei, a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen.
It is here on the narrowest part of the river where rocks below the waterline and strong current sank many ships
in the past that the legend of the Lorelei started.
The Lorelei from the legend is a feminine water spirit or siren, like a mermaids. Sitting on the rock, in the bend
the Rhine, she was combing her golden hair, and distracted shipmen with her beauty and song. That caused the
ships to crash on the rocks in the dangerous bend of the Rhein.
The Suzuki near the Lorelei
Another nice object is Pfalzgrafenstein Castle or "Burg Pfalzgrafenstein". It is a toll castle on Falkenau island in the
middle of the Rhine river near Kaub. It was build in 1326 to 1327 by King Ludwig the Bavarian.
Burg Pfalzgrafenstein in the middle of the river
It is very nice to ride the bank of the Rhein. The views on the castles and the nice towns are very beautiful and
worth coming back to on another holiday.
Beautiful castles and towns on the river banks
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