Day 28 - A Meeting With An Old Friend
Saturday 3 August 2019
Charly lives in Heilbronn but originally he is from the far eastern borderland of Styria where the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria meet. As a young man he moved to Heilbronn to work as a fitter in the salt mines there.
Once he took Mick and I on a tour of his old salt mine which is now a museum and visitor centre. Much of the heavy machinery that Charly worked on in the salt mines was exactly the same as Mick worked on as a fitter down the coal mines in Yorkshire.
I've been failing to contact Charly on his mobile for the last few days so in desperation I sent a post on Messenger and this morning I get a reply.
We arrange to meet up at the Biker Meeting Point near Löwenstein, south of Heilbronn.
We arrive to find a wedding party in full flow. The daughter of the owner of the café has just been married there and a big gang of bikers and guests are enjoying the music and the free food and drinks on offer. We are warmly welcomed by Charly and his friends and are soon tucking into the food.
In the morning I try to get in touch with my old friend Charly Kaller. I first met Charly when I was touring in the Alps on my Buell Ulysses back in 2007 or 2008.
I pulled up outside my hotel for the night, the Gasthof Zur Post in the picturesque village of Törwang south of Chiemsee in the Bavarian Alps.
There was a large group of German bikers sitting outside and they immediately invited this lone Englishman to join them and bought me a beer. this was the MotorradFreunde Unterheimbach biker club on one lot of their annual long weekend tours.
Charly and I have been firm friends since that day. We have toured in the Alps, Steirmark, the Harz and in the highlands of Scotland together over the years and it is fair to say that he has taught me more about riding in the mountains than any other source.
I pulled up outside my hotel for the night, the Gasthof Zur Post in the picturesque village of Törwang south of Chiemsee in the Bavarian Alps.
There was a large group of German bikers sitting outside and they immediately invited this lone Englishman to join them and bought me a beer. this was the MotorradFreunde Unterheimbach biker club on one lot of their annual long weekend tours.
Charly and I have been firm friends since that day. We have toured in the Alps, Steirmark, the Harz and in the highlands of Scotland together over the years and it is fair to say that he has taught me more about riding in the mountains than any other source.
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| The indomitable Tourerführer Charly Kaller |
Once he took Mick and I on a tour of his old salt mine which is now a museum and visitor centre. Much of the heavy machinery that Charly worked on in the salt mines was exactly the same as Mick worked on as a fitter down the coal mines in Yorkshire.
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| Wedding party at the Löwenstein Biker Treffpunkt |
We arrange to meet up at the Biker Meeting Point near Löwenstein, south of Heilbronn.
We arrive to find a wedding party in full flow. The daughter of the owner of the café has just been married there and a big gang of bikers and guests are enjoying the music and the free food and drinks on offer. We are warmly welcomed by Charly and his friends and are soon tucking into the food.
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| Classic Miltenberg houses
We spend a happy few hours chatting with Charly and he leads us back to Heilbronn and the start of our cross-country route north along the banks of the Neckar river.
We are heading back into Bavaria to the old town of Miltenberg on the River Main, upstream from Frankfurt.
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| Church in Miltenberg |
I first visited Miltenberg way back as a callow youth of 14. My scout troupe attended an International Scouting Jamboree in the Odenwald forest to the north of Miltenberg.
I remember a shattering journey of more than 24 hours from Skegness via Harwich-Hook of Holland on the boat train. We detrained at Miltenberg and then were bussed into the forest. I've no idea exactly whereabouts the camp was but it was deep, dark and dense. There were no paved roads and the ancient trees stretched on forever. It was a fantastic experience, meeting other scouts from all over Europe.
We find lodging in an old hotel on the main street. it is slightly dilapidated and smells of cigar smoke but the room is comfortable enough and the owner is a friendly old gent who welcomes us in halting English.
There is a bonus for the bikes as the old boy leads us through an arch at the side of the hotel and unlocks a big garage around the back. Perfect.
I remember a shattering journey of more than 24 hours from Skegness via Harwich-Hook of Holland on the boat train. We detrained at Miltenberg and then were bussed into the forest. I've no idea exactly whereabouts the camp was but it was deep, dark and dense. There were no paved roads and the ancient trees stretched on forever. It was a fantastic experience, meeting other scouts from all over Europe.
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| Main Street Miltenberg |
There is a bonus for the bikes as the old boy leads us through an arch at the side of the hotel and unlocks a big garage around the back. Perfect.
In the evening we venture out to explore. We have a supper of German sausage and chips at an old pub but when we order a second stein of Weizen beer the waitress tells us they are closing in a few minutes.
We have to sup up pretty quickly as all around us the bars and cafes are taking in the umbrellas and clearing the street tables. This is a Saturday evening in the heart of a Bavarian tourist town in the middle of summer. But they are weird folk here in catholic Bavaria and late night revels are seriously frowned upon it would seem.
Fortunately we have a bottle of lidl schnapps in our emergency rations. so we repair back to the hotel and settle in for a quiet night in the heart of the old and very dead town of Miltenberg.
We have to sup up pretty quickly as all around us the bars and cafes are taking in the umbrellas and clearing the street tables. This is a Saturday evening in the heart of a Bavarian tourist town in the middle of summer. But they are weird folk here in catholic Bavaria and late night revels are seriously frowned upon it would seem.
Fortunately we have a bottle of lidl schnapps in our emergency rations. so we repair back to the hotel and settle in for a quiet night in the heart of the old and very dead town of Miltenberg.
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