Passo Stelvio

Another gorgeous morning, and a cozy breakfast in the hotel dinning room. On the the road by 10:30, leasurely following the Lago di Livigno reservoir into Switzerland. Livigno must be where all the athletes train for the road: multiple groups of cyclists, speed walkers, and joggers.

We realized, again after the fact, that our route was taking us through another tolled tunnel, Mautstelle Munt La Schera Tunnel. This time the tunnel was single lane, and traffic light🚦controlled. Luckily we didn't wait too long, but there was a fair line of opposing traffic waiting upon emerging. It felt like we were going into a war era bunker, but thankfully there was a wee light in the distance that finally grew larger 💡

Loved the wide sweeping roads that lead through Fuorn Pass (Ofenpass), and along the southern portion of the Swiss Alps. Eventually we arrived in Santa Maria where we headed south to Umbrail Pass, and back into Italy. A short climb east took us to Passo Stelvio. It appeared to be a full on festival of some sort with a market set up, and people all over the place; pretty chaotic to navigate through the crowd. We stopped a couple switchbacks later for photos and to enjoy the distant glaciers and vistas.

The following decent was pretty epic with so many tight switchbacks and corners. We didn't get held up too often by slow moving vehicles, and managed to find a few good passing locations. Zoom!

We could definitely feel the increase in temperature, from our preferred mid-20s in the mountains, as we neared the lower wide open valleys. Initially it was 30C,but at the afternoon wore on it got up to 34C. Just before the final stretch to the hotel, we stopped for a few food and drink items. We got turned around a few times due to more construction and detours, but eventually got back on track.

As we rode deeper into the mountain valley, the darker the clouds became. We felt a few rain splatters and heard distant thunder with the brewing storm. No sooner had we arrived and unpacked the motorcycles, the storm broke. It was a complete deluge, with visible waves within the rain dancing down from the sky.

The hotel wasn't much to look at from the outside, but the interior had been recently updated. Our stay also offered a lot in the way of cultural experiences. For one we recieved a lot of intense stares and looks, especially in the pool when we where unaware of an unspoken rule to wear water caps in the water! A very disgruntled man came over and gave us attitude until the lifeguard informed us we needed them🤷‍♂️. The pool is free, but cap rental 3€ 🤣.

So we left, then tried out the spa area for a hot soak and sauna, again, more stares and looks... Oh, and they wanted us to wear swimware in the hot tub, but not in the saunas, and please sit on a towel; an interesting unisex quasi-nude affair. It would be less confusing if we just used our birthday suits everywhere 👼

Dinner was just as "entertaining." We arrived at 7pm for the start of the buffet service. Everyone gets a reserved table, and ours was off in the corner, next to the actively accessed service closet where the servers were getting water and wine refills. It was also apparent that personal space isn't observed, as on numerous occasions at the buffet, people would reach infront of you to grab a plate or food item.

With so many people, the dining area got quite warm and stuffy. We decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air to cool down and walk off some over indulgence. It was very nice outside after storms had passed.

Our day's tour:
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