When we accepted a six week housesit in Umbria, Italy we decided to make more of an adventure of it and drive there. Approx 1800 kms. We set off from London very early on the morning of my 50th birthday. With all the trouble surrounding Dover with the traffic delays due to the "great migration" we decided to play it safe and left ourselves a large margin of error. We encountered no holdups. Good start. And so began my all expenses paid birthday cruise! Dover to Dunkirk. Well, I was excited anyway having never been to Europe before. James had never been to Italy so we were both on new adventures.
Countries we crossed:
France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Holland (for about half an hour ...... I needed to buy some Dutch licorice)
Trip highlights:
On the first evening we stayed in Belgium right on the French border and drove into France for a dinner of Mussels and Frites (mussels and fries - a national dish in Belgium) for dinner. Fortunately James speaks fluent French. Me ..... not so much. After sitting down with our meal, James went in search of cutlery. He came back to the table to discover me trying to squeeze what I thought was lemon juice out of a small foil pouch onto the mussels. Turned out it was a hand wipe! Well .... it had a picture of a lemon on it! The mussels were smaller and sweeter than the ones we typically have in NZ.
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| Happy Birthday to me |
We drove through A LOT of tunnels, choosing to take the Fussen tunnel from Germany to Austria on the way there and coming back over the Brenner Pass.
The Tyrol of northern Italy is absolutely stunning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Tyrol So enjoyed the drive down through this area. We stayed on an apple orchard and ate pizza and gelatto like little pigs.
On the way back, I miss-navigated slightly and we ended up going over the prettiest of passes in Austria (although the driver did not appreciate the road so much) which still had snow from the year before, bearing in mind we where there at the end of summer!
Some things to know about driving across Europe:
- We downloaded a Satellite map of all the countries we would be travelling. This way you don't need an internet connection for navigation.
- They try to tell you on the ferry that you need all this stuff like .... GB stickers, stickers to change the direction of your headlights, breathalysers (for France only), hazard triangles and fluro-vest. So ... stay clear of France if you can (and particularly if you are British!) and take the rest with a grain of salt. It really is a smart marketing ploy by someone.
- They drive on the wrong side of the road! Roundabouts are an interesting head-game till you climatise. It really is great to have someone to remind you to stay on the RIGHT side of the road. And to share the driving. Similar to the concentration levels of rubbing your tummy whilst patting your head hour on end.
- All of the countries have slightly different road rules and speed limits. Mostly signposted but a good map will also give you more detail about things like whether you are required to have your headlights on during the day etc
- Most of the motorways are toll roads. You can pay by card or cash at the booths. For Austria and Switzerland you pre-purchase a vignette which has a time limit. When you get to Italy, there really is a difference in the quality of the pay roads. We decided you don't get to see enough of the country on the motorways though so kept to the back roads. Takes longer but much more scenic.
- There are very few rest stops or petrol stations on the side of the road in Belgium.
- German roads are the best .... possibly in the world. Germans drive faster than everyone else put together, frighteningly so. Mind you, the roads support higher speed limits. Although there is no speed limit on German motorways, they are starting to introduce limited speed zones. They also have frequent rest stops with restrooms along the way.
- Cafes in Austria are really pubs in disguise where they drink beer and play cards at 10am. Alcohol is extraordinarily cheap at the supermarket. Austria has the cheapest fuel.
- Italian drivers are the craziest so far encountered. There is no such thing as a road rule, a speed limit, or a parking space. The world is a parking space. Oh, and it is perfectly acceptable to pass on a blind corner, even if you are driving a lorry. Law of averages it would seem.
- NB do not attempt to drive a car around the ancient city of Assisi. Those roads are made for walking.
- We came upon many traffic jams ... fortunately always OTHER side of the road. The longest one was 9 miles (according to the Radio station) on the outskirts of Stuttgart!
As an aside: If you really want to understand a culture .... visit a supermarket! In France and Belgium there are rows and rows of semi dried sausages and meats. In Italy there are isle upon isle of pasta of all shapes and sizes and stages of dehydration, oh, and cheese.
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| Gourds on the roadside in Germany |
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| Random castle |
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| Choggia, south of Venice |
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| Parked in the square in Assisi |
