Tornanti_3...ABRACADABRA!

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Not a Singapore Sling, but rather the Singapore Cha-Ching
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…despite an eye-watering A$14 a pop, that's NOT a Kilkenny.
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Free-Revving Doug was the first to join up at the Zuerich Starbucks…one down, one to go.


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OIII!! DOUG!!! There's your wretched train ticket, mate.
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You bloody ate the thing, then made us turn over Zuerich Airport for it!
Revenge will be sweet…or rather: bubbly. Tassie is only 4 months away, mate.
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Everything ran as smooth as a greased pigs-tail, the Mader van is on standby, the short trip down to the Mader Circus done in a flash. Checkin' da wheels, bro!


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Ahhh, REAL food!


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One of the new Water-Boxers…not for us, though.



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The offerings are staggering…it certainly makes Melbourne's bike shops look 3.world (and that includes the new Peter Stevens "Mega-Store"). The "wall of gloves"…


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The "nick-nax" counter


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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Dave handing over the Visa Card


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Oh shit…too late now!! Andrew and Goodie looking on.


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Tim signing his life away…but who could say NO to Marina?
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Convenient stay for our first 2 nights and the last before departure...and the only accommodation booked for the 3-week stint.
Gasthof Engel in Oberentfelden, center of town, tram stop opposite, 10min walk to MotoMader, 1min walk to the train station…and they're happy to store our suitcases and empty bags once our gear has transferred into the panniers.

The building to the right is a typical stable/ hay-barn of a time, when the place still was a farming community.


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Tim trying to sort all the accumulated travel-paperwork… the amount of stubs, tickets, boarding passes, receipts and other junk along the journey around half-the-globe is quite stunning.



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Doug's onto more immediate needs (apparently, he eats his tickets and stubs)
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Getting comfy in the beer garden…"bonding" the Tornanti way.
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Dave's "Twisties". Twisted smokes for a twisted…arhhh, forget it!


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Andrew knocking back one of the little samplers that Goodie had brought along from Germany. Some wicked stuff in that lot, HolySchmoly!!

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Time to shake those legs and have a check of what's around. Looks like it's going to be a Pizza-night. This is a regular Saturday night and EVERYTHING is CLOSED!!
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Every Hotel, Restaurant (not that there are many, anyway) is locked after 6, including our own Gasthof Engel! The options out there are either a Pizza Shop.,..or the other Pizza Shop down the road.
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Gastronomy seems to be a strict 5-and-a-half-days-a-week business around here.
Oh yeah…and while there's a blissful absence of the usual junk-food chains, it's biting us on the arse tonight.
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Checking out the town…and there are plenty of foreign-looking things to trip over.


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Another old, converted farmhouse/ barn/stables, now being part of "suburbia".


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Haven't seen one of those for ages… all supplies and services seem to be underground around here.

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Beautiful wrought iron work everywhere, even on a simple, little garden gate.



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A spout as a piece of art!!



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Loads and loads of flowers everywhere….those overflowing geraniums seem to be part of every building, public or private.



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Advertising board of a local gift and flower shop…90 steps that way -->


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Many of the places leave us open-mouthed.


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As we were about to find out…there lives a BLOODY BIIIG GOOOONG in that spire...arghhh, make that a whole family of GONGS!!
And from 6 am those friggin GONGS have you standing straight in bed every fu^%ing 15 minutes, hands clamped over ears and ready to flog every piece of skin off the bastard who's GONGING the living shyte outta that little town. Bulldoze that damn church tower to hell, I say… AMEN!!


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What the..?? It's a boot-scraper!! When there's that much snow in winter caking the boots that one would fall on his arse skating along the floorboards inside. Not really needed anywhere in Oz, but obviously quite a good idea around here.
Wouldn't that be something for the Oz Health+Safety guys to sink their teeth into….uuuhu yeah!
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Above the door: A hearty Welcome
On the door: (dialect) Closed today


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Neat looking fire hydrant


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Time for a nightcap...and Tim dropping into another of those air-pockets.


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Hey!!! No trip without Ducky, our Good-Luck charm, right?
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Might as well be part o' the bunch, aye!!

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Ducatisti's never quit!! Yeaaah, bollox…



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Oh boy…tough times ahead.
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It sure ain't the first time for those 2…
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Tomorrow: Storming "The Lenzburg", watching the locals at play, traditional crafts and a general wander and wonder before grabbing the bikes and lacing up for the starting blocks.
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Good stuff, and you haven't even swung a leg over a bike yet !

All part of the travel, I guess...and it somehow sets the basic mood for the 3 weeks.
Not that there was much doubt after Fast-Dave dug out his "brothel-creepers" though :icon-maffick-::icon-maffick-:....but that's for later in the yarn.
Btw...who the hell came up with that term?
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The restless night finally turns into deep sleep…jetlag, time difference and 48hrs with barely 60mins of sleep taking their toll….juuuust when the big GONG in that church steeple reckons it's time for a new day in Oberentfelden and proceeds to GOOONNNNG the friggin paint of the walls.
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Hoooly Mother!!
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Then the first tram screeches to a stop just outside…and that 's IT!!

Having anticipated something like this is the reason for a "rest-day"…and starting the official bike hire on Monday morning.

Saves paying for an extra day that'd finish up with very little progress anyway and that in a state of "semi-conciousness" with a good chance of someone getting hurt.

Let's grab the local train and choof across to Lenzburg, a place that Marina from MotoMader suggested to spent some time at and have a look around, of course not missing the castle. She mentioned something about a once-a-year Historical Society Re-Enactment party up there, but what sort of chance would we have to catch that?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenzburg_Castle


Low, grey skies…but dry. And somewhat muggy, just too warm and clammy for an early morning hour.
Bugger it, we're on.

Hey!! Some shires around here still seem to require pushie registration…I like that idea!
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15 mins later


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Walking into town from the station shows how industrial the area is and Lenzburg also being far bigger than expected. It all starts with the huge Hero factory that makes those little portions of jam used by the entire European hospitality industry, airlines etc.

Some impressions walking the Old Town….


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A designated (self-labeled) smokers restaurant!! Cop that!
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What's a Swiss town without a watchmaker? A wasteland!
Lenzburg CBD features at least 3…


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The little Café we mobbed for breakfast…with the owner being forever apologetic for not being "ready" on a Sunday-morning for an onslaught of 6 Aussies.


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He did bloody well!!
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Watching it all…


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"Oi!! Didn't you see the flying pig over there?"




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Heh?? Yeti's in town??


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Check the details in that shot…the Chef- cutout presenting the current menu of the small restaurant/ bar/ hotel…the thick, crooked wall at the right, which is not just the back wall of that house, but also the remains of the old City-Wall….the local knight-in-shining-armour over the hexagonal water-trough….all the tables and chairs, still set out from the day before. No vandalism, no graffiti…and apparently very little or no theft, as everything seems to stay out through the nights and across the weekends. NICE!!
….and unthinkable in Oz!



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Look at those decorated eaves…and flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere.



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A doll shop



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The top end of the old town…and there's the castle.


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Hmmm…I think…I think I can see a pattern here!!
No shit, cobber?


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Another arty-crafty rain spout


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I've just got it in for that knight!


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Let's see if I can get this right…
A magistrate's directive from the 13.April 1893 warning of a fine of 12 Francs (~A$12) for each occurrence of trespassing the described property. This includes trespassing by dogs, chooks and other pets for which the owner is responsible.

WOW!! That's one way to get the neighbour's chooks into the pot, I guess.
12 francs in 1890….I'd hand over the chook to the judge and hope for leniency.


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There's a castle waiting up the hill….Chaaarrrge!!


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Typically Swiss…a stroller-garage! It's slowly dawning that this isn't your ordinary Sunday at the Lenzburg Castle, but THE Sunday… the once-a-year- Sunday.

The Historical Re-Enactment Sunday, the one with ALL the trimmings!!
WhooHoo!!
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Candlemaker, the old way. Bees wax only.


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Welcoming committee, local druid and all.



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A traditional, old-style bow-maker…from whittling the green branch into shape, to the slow process of shaping it in a press, watering the wood as the clamps get tightened over the days. And this isn't a tourist thingy, it's a full-on serious business with bows sold around the globe!! This is awesome!!
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Holy Mackerel…the place is pumping!



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Basket weaver....and not just the kids are fascinated!


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Oh man…how do you explain this to an Aussie where anything barely 100 years old is considered "historic" ?
(Don't even mention GenY, where anything from last week is "history" and anything at all that happens or moves…is "epic".)


1677…that's just plain "old" over here, real history starts a few hundred years further back.


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The kids are mesmerized



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A falconer talking about the training-regime


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What is it about dungeons….


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....and dragons?


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Another long tradition…perhaps we should bring that back?




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Driving the bellows



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Soapmaker

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Yep, not a bad spot up here

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There really is something for everyone.


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