Homeward!

Despite the very narrow and windowless interior cabin, we slept surprisingly well in our bunk beds. When the loudspeaker announcement informs us early in the morning that we will soon reach our port in Genoa, getting up is easy for us. Our belongings are quickly packed (by now we have plenty of practice in it) and shortly after we are standing on deck enjoying the view of the Italian port city bathed in morning sun.

In the belly of the ferry, our Africa Twin, the special model for the 30th anniversary of this model, meets its ancestor. This motorcycle is one of the first years and still has the classic design that served as the inspiration for the design of our Waltraud. The kinship is clearly recognizable.

Just before seven o'clock we roll ashore and head towards home. This means that we can easily make the almost 800 km to Nuremberg by this evening and won't have to spend the night again. Our wanderlust has now turned into a certain homesickness - and we think it should be like that at the end of every journey.

To make good progress, we decide to take the highway route. From Genoa, we head towards Milan and up to Lake Como. There we cross the border to Switzerland, adorn Waltraud with the obligatory vignette, and zoom, carefully observing the speed limits, further north. The San Bernardino Pass is only two lanes, but excellently built. If it weren't for the rigorous penalties for speeding in Switzerland, the route could be a lot of fun. ;-)

On the north side of the Alps, the weather deteriorates significantly and it starts to rain. However, what really bothers me is the strong crosswind blowing in gusts from changing directions. We get pushed around quite a bit and are relieved when at least the wind subsides in the flatlands.

Further along the way, there would have been the opportunity to collect another "country point". I haven't traveled to the Principality of Liechtenstein by motorcycle yet, so it's still missing on my list. However, due to the ongoing rain, the desire for a detour spontaneously diminishes.

Before reaching Germany, our navigation system leads us to Austria again. Given the few kilometers, we save ourselves the tolls on the local highway and instead struggle through Bregenz towards Lindau on Lake Constance. Our frugality is punished with a detour of just under an hour. Not a good idea when you actually want to go straight home and still have a considerable distance ahead.

It is only after Lindau that we get on the German highway. Now we're rolling! We quickly cover the 300 km to Nuremberg. We are back home by half past six. Groggy but happy!

CONCLUSION:

In 17 days, we traveled 4,200 km through five countries. 1,000 km to the ferry in Livorno (3 days), 1,200 km on Sardinia (5 days), 1,200 km on Corsica (8 days), and nearly 800 km in one day back to Nuremberg.

We stayed overnight 16 times on this trip, including twice at sea, once in a luxury resort, once in a classic B&B, and otherwise in small, mostly family-run hotels.

Our motorcycle 'Waltraud' brought us everywhere - except for a small problem with a fuse that we caused ourselves - very reliably. We encountered six-lane highways, super-curvy (mountain pass) roads, and even some nasty off-road passages. The Africa Twin has proven to be a wonderful touring motorcycle.

We are particularly happy about the encounters with the many great people on our journey.

We have enjoyed every hour and every kilometer and are truly grateful to have the privilege of being able to experience such adventures!

Let's see where we will go next time, together with the best pillion passenger in the world. After the trip is before the trip! :-)