Vespa World Days 2023 Travelogue

Although I have been an avid Vespa rider for more than 40 years, that is, since my father gave me my first Vespa PX125 at the age of 16, I have never been to a Vespa rally, let alone one with a European, let alone world, scope.

In the last 14 months, however, something has changed, the Vespa from the great passion it was has become my faithful companion in a process of changing and improving the quality of my life. In fact, in 2022, I chose to take a long break from work and abandon the big German twin-cylinder machines to buy a red 1981 Vespa P200E, which accompanied me on my solo travels in Asia and Africa, covering more than 48,000 km in 9 months. Since then things have changed, she has become a part of me, I even bought a Honda Transalp, but I still prefer her, my Vespa, to get around and when I don’t use her for a week, I look forward to getting back on the weekend to ride her in the beautiful Prosecco hills where I live.

Last year I was in Asia as much as VWD was being held in Bali, but I was too far away to go, and so since this year the event was being held in Switzerland in Interlaken, I didn’t let the opportunity to go pass me by.

The occasion was to be there with friends from the Vespa Club Conegliano who organized a nice group of participants, including an adventurous one with a low headlight Vespa. Because of my commitments I could not leave together with them, I made the trip alone, but then we met there and spent all the time together.

I like to write and so, though no, and here is my VESPA WORLD DAYS 2023 TRAVEL DIARY!

VESPANDO FOR SWITZERLAND

TRAVELOGUE VESPA WORLD DAYS

It is Friday, June 16, and I leave in the early morning hours from Milan, where I work and where I had taken my Vespa the previous week. I’ve just left, I’m driving through Monza, and I see in the mirror a brick-colored P200E traveling very fast, honking at me and passing me, driving a guy in his forties with a little boy behind him who must be ten, maybe twelve years old. In my opinion they are going to Interlaken, I think and smile…my pace is calmer, I can see them pulling away until they disappear into traffic.
Crossing the border, entering Austria, I relive the excitement of great journeys, the last one being to Africa, ending Feb 11, 2023. The day is beautiful, as are the roads and the Swiss passes; I do two of them, both above 2,000 m above sea level. The Vespa takes me, not at all intimidated by the distances and altitude, in third gear and without hurry goes almost everywhere.
I stop at a rest stop for gas, I see a yellow ET4 Vespa stationary, overflowing with stickers, evidently he is a serial Vespa rally-goer, the feeling I get is good, he too on his own, he too with the same passion as me…
I am at an altitude of 2,300 m, the weather has worsened but it is not raining, all around is snow. There are many Vespas with German license plates stopped on the pass, I walk around the square, there are also three Vespas with Italian plates, a GTS 300, a Rally 200 with an elderly gentleman driving and a P200E with a lady driving, probably his wife, they started from central Italy, how nice to see them there together. The one in the GTS 300 comes up to me “but I know you, you are the one who went to NEPAL with the Vespa…congratulations, so much stuff”…I smile and say hello.
It is still 100 km to Interlaken, but the closer I get, the more I see groups of Vespas scouring the area, others stopped at gas stations. I look at the license plates and am amazed, they come right from all over Europe: Italy, Slovenia, Greece, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and of course Switzerland.
Arriving at the first of the two lakes I join a group of about 20 French Vespas, I follow them who are surely going to the meeting point at the VWD. On the street people look at us smiling, take pictures, wave and applaud. I feel like the center of attention, almost the protagonist of a good movie.

It’s 5 p.m., I arrive in Interlaken and two days and nights of partying begin, with 5,000 Vespas literally invading the, until then, quiet Swiss town. It is a continuous parade of Vespas in the most diverse versions and of people of all ages and from all walks of life, but with one great single passion in common. The two worlds come together, the world of the old 2-stroke gears with that of the new, super-performing 4-stroke automatic. We greet each other as if we were all old friends, even though in most cases we have never seen each other before.
Saturday night the grand final celebration with a gala dinner attended by more than 3,000 people. It was there that I finally had the pleasure of meeting in person Riccardo Costagliola President of the Piaggio Foundation and Mauro Calestrini President of the Vespa World Club, both prestigious authors of the preface to my book NEPAL IN VESPA. Meeting them in person was a great pleasure and an opportunity to thank them for their valuable contribution to my publication.

It’s Sunday morning, and in camp everyone is starting to take down their tents and prepare for the return trip. Some have vans or carts where they load their Vespas; others, the more daring, make the trip on Vespas. We say goodbye and in fleets head out, some to the west and some to the east. Emotions of the outward journey, of festive groups of Vespa riders jostling on the steep Swiss climbs, resurface.
I stop at a rest area, sit on a bench and eat a sandwich. There is a traffic light for work in progress, several Vespas arrive, all standing there as if at the starting gates waiting on Vespas. A brown P200E arrives with a gentleman and a child on board, he looks at me, pulls up his visor and says “but I know you…, we saw each other on the way to Monza,” the child is happy, he probably spent three unforgettable days on a Vespa with his dad. I look there, greet them and smile….

IL MIO MANTRA

…it is the beginning of my book… you can buy it here

“I value the most precious thing I own, my time, as if every day were my last 🍀”

FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO FOLLOW AND SUPPORT ME
To make a donation to the mission in Africa (you really make me a great gift, any amount – as a company you also have the tax deduction)
To purchase my book NEPAL IN VESPA (making this second trip made me realize even more the value of what I wrote)
To follow me in real time during my journey

Thank you from the bottom of my heart