Modern Vespa

Hope this stays in the "Cheering you up" thread.

The crazy wild places you head off to on your Vespa, but walk to the doctor's.. Kudos 😎

Lets see if we have this correct Mr Bytes... You were cleaning your throttle body in the shower and you slipped?

Probably shouldn't post the view when i woke up and went on the private terrace then.

No, you probably shouldn't.

I loves packages in the mail.

Amazing view indeed. I can almost smell the water. Thanks for sharing.

5th trip for us. Never any odor at all. /Shrug

I was reliving my childhood growing up at Disneyland. I enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean water smell. If your setting smelled similar, all the better.

P.S. Do people use the waterways all through the night or does it get shut down at a certain time?

We're getting some big snow in the Lake Tahoe area. We need it! This cheers me up.

The waterways are essentially the streets. Used 24/7. The Vaporetti aren't as frequent obviously but otherwise there's boats oot and aboot.

A brief 6 days in France and Germany to celebrate being 60.

Visited the VW HQ at Wolfsburg and then a couple of days at Motorworld/ V8 Hotel in Koln.

Celebrate being 60?

I might have drowned my sorrows

Oh believe me, I'm not particularly happy about it but what do you do ?

Embrace it or just become a bit resentful ?

I even spent a morning at a Zoo which was a little random.

You should hit up Pilsen. They have a dino park that's off the fuckin chain.

Since turning 60 I've moved into a bungalow and bought a Honda Jazz

I don't know about embracing it, I think I've been assimilated

Maybe next year.

While I was at VW one of the Customer Service Staff gave me two more Museums to visit just over the border but I ran out of time.

German Customer Service is way above everyone else's.

You can't beat a Honda Jazz.

A friend of mine is a Jaguar Land Rover Master Tech and guess what he drives ?

Sold his BMW 320 to buy it.

I would pit the service at our current digs in Venezia against anything outside of superyacht territory. Though they'd likely look away here if a person brought four mistresses in as well. Who knows.

In a bizarre twist I can't find the two Museums that he recommended so that's going to have to wait.

I'd suggest staying here if you get chance. Cars for Beds.

https://v8hotel.koeln/en/a-special-hotel-experience

Found it -

https://www.horch-museum.de/

and

https://www.ps-speicher.de/

Their website won't let me refuse cookies. Or, more precisely, it returns an error when I do.

So fuck those guys.

Godammit.

Lets see https://motorworld.de/koeln-rheinland/v8-hotel/

Autobahn driving is interesting.

Lane 1 and 2 are meant for Freight and normal cars that can cruise comfortably at 80 mph.

Lane 3 is for cars who can easily travel at 150 mph plus all day and never the twain shall meet so keep your eyes in your mirror because there's a guy in an Audi S4 whose not slowing down.

During the 900 mile drive I saw just one guy on a motorcycle that was carving through traffic and he was on a BMW K1600 but riding it like a Sports Bike.

Bought a beater LXV for a pittance today, and it already runs.

I am passing it along to howardr, but it just feels good to save an otherwise-totaled scooter.

I remember touring the VW factory in Wolfsburg in 1969 at the age 8. It was fascinating to see the giant metal stamping machines turning flat sheets of steel into fenders, hoods, roofs, etc. for the VW bug. After the tour my parents picked up their brand new poppy red VW bug cabriolet. Six weeks later we returned to the factory in Wolfsburg and dropped the car off for shipping to the USA.

My BIL (who otherwise loves to drive) has stated emphatically said he never wants to drive in Europe again, to my puzzlement as we shared driving duties 20+ years ago. Much of our trip was lovely secondary roads in Germany, but I think the fast lane on the Autobahn is what got him. I can't quite figure it out....you do learn to keep an eye on the rear view and get your ass over in a hurry, but I enjoyed it.

I remember driving the Autobahn (in 2010) in a Smart Car with the pedal to the metal doing about 150km/hr (down hill with a wind), getting passed by bigass Benzs, Ferraris, etc., like I was standing still.

Initially it looks reckless but German drivers know exactly what they are doing and the cars they are driving are the ones that can do it all day long.

Occasionally a 100 mph plus convoy that contains an Audi, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and a BMW for good luck will go flying by you followed by a Skoda Superb that will pass you with no drama.

What I have had a small problem with is adjusting to the speed that they bare down on you.

Look in your mirror to overtake, check your speed, re-check your mirror and there's a 220 grill filling your rear view and he's not waiting.

This

Dinner last night was as jeremy clarkson would say "unshit".

That feeling of cooking a wagyu burger and vegie burger side by side and letting the vegie soak up the wagyu fat. Feels criminal but tastes great

Is that actually IN a boat, or just near the water?

That's incredible and you really set the bar high with that one. I still stand on my previous post about this particular spot. At some time during dinner, my wife would trip, fall over or somehow manage to end up in the water taking the table with her. Hopefully I would be quick enough to grab the bottle of wine then pull her back up. 😆

Right up at the canal.

"Ai Barbicani" is the name of the place, give it a gander (i'd post photos looking toward the table but not mine and i don't wanna cause issues for you/the site). Truly one of a kind. The couple before us, he proposed! Big spot for that.

Today was pretty low key.

That is quite a setting for dinner.

We've been to Venezia several times, in summer.
Beautiful and a very special place it is, but so overcrowded and hot.

Last time we were there was in the beginning of November in 2021.
It was a perfect day. Still comfortably warm, full sunshine. We were not alone there, of course, but absolutely not crowded.
Ideal conditions to enjoy a visit to the city.

It's costume day today.

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

Venice. Carnevale. Costumes.

Stay chooned.

We thought that was every day for you.

Nonsense. Couldn't wear something this fancy every day.