Bill Hagan

^^^^^^^ BTDT. Ferries are great fun. Bill

^^^^^ Those look to be very high-maintenance items. Bill

^^^^^ You must have seen what I posted, then deleted, when I saw that it was a dead link ... from 2016. Off to ride now on this nice day before the snow falls tomorrow. Bill

Just talked with Bryan and reserved "our usual" room, 301. Now, to decide which of the moto-harem gets the nod. Bill

I'd like that -- tho not as much as the "artwork" -- but, sigh, can't.

But I have since -- as a result of my enthusiastic reviews of earlier posts, an apparent parole violation -- again been transported to "banned camp"

Hey, my like just worked. You scared it. Well done. Bill

WHOA! I just got this (again) when I tried to "like"... the ones I missed yesterday, starting with p6x's ... Do Dutch days not end and restart at midnight? Which midnight? Amsterdam? GMT/UTC/Zulu? Maybe it's some spin of DST? Banned in Romeo, Bill

I tried to "like"yours, but being of short memory (and shortening more every day! ) got pulled over by the site's IT Carabinieri. Ditto here. I think I'll go look at that. Suspect I'm mere middle tier at best ... unless it counts "likes," as I do lots of those. Bill P.S. Edited this rather than making a new post to avoid allegations of padding my file. Anyway, I see I was once a "Past Leader," and, darn it, must have missed the party.

Point of order! I haven't been spending enough time here, as my "likes" seem to have stopped last summer. Maybe Kathi busted me? Anyway, so I started wandering through the thread -- and "daydreaming" as @nobleswood euphemistically calls it -- and mashing the "Like" button (and needing an "Especially Like" button for several). Then, just as I am getting rolling, I get this: That is so wrong. I'd call a lawyer, but don't know any good ones. Mods note that I followed the rules by including entire screenshot. Yes, I know; check out the thread more often and I'd not get that annoying pop-up. Bill

“Working” in Moto Grappa. Will respond later; mebbe tomorrow. Zum Wohl! Bil(helm)

Thank you, @KINDOY2, but @p6x, @LowRyter, and some others here would likely be fine guides, too. Perhaps the interested among us might plan a Tour d'Grappa. Better hire a driver. As evidence, consider this. Many years ago, during that same three-year sentence to "confinement" in Italy (and the rest of non-commie Europe), I was seriously into pedal bikes. Think I have told that story here before ... but not this part. Bob, one of the other Americans who lived near me in Zanè (Thiene)(VI), 18 miles or so from Caserma Ederle, was also an avid bicyclist. In good weather, we frequently commuted. It was a very gentle downhill slope from home to the post, and, obviously, the reverse going home, so the latter -- again, obviously -- always took longer even tho we were both young and fit. We both had also come to appreciate the charm of grappa. Perhaps you see where this is going? One spring day, we decided we would ride in and then, in a twist (without a lime), we would stop at every bar -- a term a bit different in Italy than here, but all served caffè (espresso) and, of course, grappa of many sorts. To digress, a specialty of mine, one of my favorites -- mostly to make wives groan -- was "grappa alla vipero," e.g. ... Makes worms in tequila seem downright sissy. Anyway, our plan was to ride back to Zanè after Retreat ... with a stop at every bar on the right side of the road for a shot of grappa. What could go wrong? Actually, nothing at all. For the first three bars, anyway, tho we were still in Vicenza's city limits! Oh, wait, time for another digression. If you read any of my (LONG) post yesterday about grappa -- https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/24056-moto-grappa-tech-days-mmxxii/&do=findComment&comment=270524 -- you know of my reverence for those courageous men on both sides in WWI who fought and suffered at 10,000 feet in the Dolomites. The typical American stereotype of the Italian military is ridiculous and unwarranted then and today. I was always struck by the name of a street in Vicenza -- that was along our commuting route home: "Via Ragazzi '99" -- the boys of '99" -- named, of course, after the generation of young Italian men lost in the Great War. Most of those died in the Dolomites; if they had time, they no doubt called for their mamas as men do in extremis. Now their bones are in mountain ossuaries or mummified in the ice. OK, back to the Great Grappa Bicycle Ride! So, after a few more miles into the ride, we were, quite literally, feeling no pain and, in fact, feeling great. Thankfully, we then had several miles with only one or two bars in the little towns along the way, e.g., Motta and Villaverla. We did OK ... until the latter village. Somewhere north of there, Bob just disappeared. One moment, we were stroking along and then only I was. It took me more time than it should have to realize that I was now riding solo. I doubled back and saw Bob down in a ditch. He was conscious and -- I am serious -- singing something. I asked him if he wanted me to help him out of the ditch so we could ride on. "No," he said, "I'm done." He then made the only smart suggestion of our day. "Better go get our wives." Recall that cell phones were decades away and, in fact, none of us had gotten a telephone in our homes after a couple of years on a long waiting list. The ditch was dry, Bob was "happy," so I rode on. Naturally, I thought it would be unsporting and possibly deprive me of counting coup if I did not continue to have a shot of grappa in the remaining few miles. That meant, as I recall -- and, as you might guess, I don't recall much of anything after leaving Bob in the ditch -- several more stops. I could then speak enough of (slurred, and possibly improved and inspired by the circumstances) Italian to convey my mission to bar patrons. Somewhere along the way, I (think I) remember one guy saluting me, paying for my shot, calling for huzzahs from all, and then buying me another shot. An hour or so after abandoning Bob to his fate, I rolled into Via Europa, Zanè. I was not given the hero's welcome I expected. No, instead, I was met by a group of distraught and irate wives -- including Bob's and mine -- who were on the verge of looking for a rope and a tree! They had already dispatched a rescue car of the other husbands to find us. I figure that I must have been in one of those bars when they passed by; Bob would have been invisible from the road unless you knew where to look and he was still singing. Three of the wives -- I was lucky there was a disinterested one who kept Bob's wife from killing me -- got me into a car and off we went to find Bob. Enough. All (eventually) turned out well, but "eventually" took longer for our wives than for us. The next morning was a Saturday or we would have been useless at Caserma Ederle. Happily, the Russians did not choose that weekend to cross the Fulda and Goriza Gaps. So, all of what I remember of that is true, tho I have filled in some details from what others told me after the fact. I have other grappa stories, but that will have to do for today as I got little done yesterday in the Moto Grappa and it is calling me now. Alla nostra! Bill

VERY well done. Have help or solo?

Responding to this and other comments in this thread requires more time — and adult beverages of many choices — than the former, at least, permits just now. That said, I’ll take a quick stab before heading down to the Moto Grappa, donning a HAZMAT suit to clean the place, and finishing the service on the V7 III. This could just as easily have gone into @LowRyter ’s new thread about travel & grappa, but as I started it here, but will try to respond to some of his remarks here, too. Oh, this also descends in TLDR territory, but I do include some pix and even vids for the moto-visuals here. As for @footgoose ’s "provoked thoughts," here, in seriatim, are some comments: * First, apropos the mention of Putin, which I presume was understandably prompted by calling that beribboned bust by that name. That “yard art” was a gift from a sculptor friend many years ago. We only noticed the resemblance when I took the photo. I think I’ll change out the Italian ribbon for a blue & yellow one. This photo — taken earlier this morning at our front gate — should clear up any ambiguity of my view of current events … * PPK - Think that Walther was Steve’s, but I was on KP duty and missed most of the chatter. There are no special “gun nuts” in that group. OK, maybe one, who has been on History Channel for his artillery! I took this pic at his place as he fired one of his smaller toys … *Stelvio has a belt - Yes, alternator belt. Changing out the one on my Norge was, while not best done at the side of the road, much easier than on the Stelvio. * Curious Italian passers by. We wondered about that. One of my retired USAF friends was adamant that I was “wrong” to fly the Italian flag on the main pole. I told him that our property was — during MGTD, at least — Italian soil. This same guy is a great friend, but a widower with fixed views. He once told us that we had too many magnets on our refrigerator! Anyway, no doubt those flags and banners attracted attention. Anyone here know or care to guess what those two 3x5 flags are at the gate? * "And then, there's the possibility of the moniker "Moto Grappa" having a back story of some depth?" Yes. But, first, I’ll address @p6x ’s noting no grappa in the MGTD pix. Actually, there were at least two photos with grappa in them, but his point is well taken. Lest, however, anyone doubt my credentials — for enjoying, not knowledge — of grappa, see these … The first three pix are of "on hand" grappas; the last -- in the Moto Grappa -- are some that are dry but provided great memories. The Alexanders are gifts and, arguably, not even grappas ... but close enough even if "too smooth" for my peasant tastes. I tend to like the more “rustico,” even “bruto,” grappas over the more refined — I won't say effete, but that’s what I mean — ones, and I’ll say why, below. Now ... back to naming the Moto Grappa. The short version of “Why Moto Grappa" is a combo of these great bubbas and the “Carb Bar” on Caserma Ederle … [It’s possible I have gone over the top with that since …] … and Alpini reunions, mostly in Vicenza Province. This last was the clincher. It was the late 1970’s. These really old WWI veterans — I am about their ages now! — would gather, reminisce, and quaff grappa. What I knew about the Austro-Hungarian front in WWI was pretty much limited to Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” Well, here were The Guys who were there. Even when discounted 50% by time (and grappa), their stories were amazing and inspiring. That, BTW, is how I learned how to appreciate “homemade” and other more crude grappas over the fancier sort. While in Italy, I went on a “staff ride” of the battle here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mount_Ortigara. Though then 60 years later -- now more than a 100! -- we saw as we walked all sorts of debris of that struggle. I have a slide somewhere of a boot with a mountain flower blooming in it! The original foot that wore that boot most likely resides in the Ossuary at Asiago, https://www.venetoway.com/en/military-shrine-of-asiago/ OK, if you are still “here,” and even if not snowbound as is @ LowRyter, you might find these worth wandering through. https://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/italy/71-strada-delle-52-gallerie-italy.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_front_(World_War_I) As for comments in the replies that I found “thought provoking,” this of @p6x ranks first: "Lots of students coming to earn a few bucks, and housed on the domain too... no further comment.” You can’t just stop there. Off now to the Moto Grappa! Bill

Good morning -- or whatever it is when and where you read this -- from the top of Virginia where we are still tidying up the battlefield and shooting the wounded after the latest iteration of Moto Grappa Tech Days. The slideshow and its captions tell the story without more, so I'll just post the link with the only intro being that it's mostly about wrenching, bench racing, competitive eating, bourbon, beer, and BS. As with my other Smugmug albums, the link opens in "landscape collage," meaning you don't have to slog through every one of the (yes, I know, too many ) pix to see all or the ones, if any, that might interest you. Hover your cursor over individual pix to see captions if you care. MGTD MMXXII Bill Logged