Saturday, December 22, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
One big leg, the last
After tons of roadwork
in southern Germany the roads started to clear up and we got moving in a good
manner. We didn’t know where we would end this day due to the weather, heavy
rain. We headed our way up to Rostock via Berlin. After a quick visit to the
boarder shop we were lucky to get on the 17:30 ferry from Rostock to Gedser,
Denmark. Then it was just to move on home in silly speeds on the Danish and
Swedish highways. We reached home at 00:40 after 1202 Km for the last leg, and
it was 12 degrees at home. In total we have driven 7089 Km.
What a vacation it has
been, just great, can’t wait until the next road excursion….
Rostock
Thank's Europe
Ann’s Gasthof
At the end of day one
on the way home we spent the night at one of all the great Gasthof’s in
Germany. Ann has been talking about this, that we should fins a nice gasthof on
our way home in Germany. The first one we came to was closed but the second one
was open after some looking around. The name of the gasthof was Zur schönen
Aussicht, “beautiful view” in English. It was all we could ask for, small and cozy
and with a friendly owner family that had a very nice place with a charming small
garden. For a small amount of € we got a room with breakfast and dinner.
Bremgarten,
Switzerland
Before we started our journey
home we visited the small old picturesque village Bremgarten. These small
villages are just so nice and especially when there is more or less no traffic in
the old parts (not like in ItalyJ. We bought some bred for our picnic on our first leg to home, and off
we went….
A Beautiful collection
of Swiss passes, Nufenen pass, Grimsel pass and Susten pass
What a day it has been
and what scenery Switzerland has to offer, life is good.
We started out from
Locarno and visited the dam Verzasca just north east from Locarno. This is the
location where they filmed one episode of James Bond 007 Golden Eye. The dam is
not so wide but very deep so it was hard to stay close to the fence.
After this we headed
up north to our final destination for the day in Berikon, Swizerland, west from
Zürich. The fastest way is 1.5 hours but we headed up the mountains to get some
views instead of driving 17 Km in the Gotthard tunnel. We got some wise advice
not to drive the Gotthard pass instead to take a pass tour in this region. It
started out with Nufenen pass that is the highest in Switzerland (2478m), at
the top it was just 10 degrees and with our outfit we didn’t stay for a long
time before we ran back to the car and turned on the heat.
Nufenen Pass
@ 2478m and 10 degrees, brrr
Furka steam railway “Furka-Bergstrecke”,
Oberwald to Gletsch
What a timing we had
when we came to Oberwald and the steam train was firing up for a trip among the
mountain railway from Oberwald to Gletsch. The steam, smoke and sound from this
vintage train was just wonderful to experience at his close distance.
Grimsel and Susten
Pass
All of these Swiss
passes are more “kind” than Stelvio pass that is steeper and more brutal. The scenery
along these Swiss passes is just astonishing and several times like a fairytale.
Enjoy
Photo taken from the Grimsel pass looking over the Furka paas
The top of Grimsel Pass
Susten Pass
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Locarno, Switzerland
This town at Lago
Maggiore is a great place and one of my favorite locations in Europe. The combination
of alps, lake and Swiss order generates a wonderful place to visit, you have
the Italian atmosphere with a mix of Swiss/German/Italian food but where you
don’t cross a street as an pedestrian when it’s red and it is totally clean
everywhere. The prices are not Italian but that doesn’t matter for a short
visit.
Ann at Lago Maggiore
Locarno
Thank you Sardinia
On the way from Costa
Rei to Olbia we visited the old town of Alghero on the west cost of the northern
part Sardinia. A really nice old town with narrow alleys and a fortress alike
architecture. The harbor was full of nice boats and the price level was back on
track according to EU standard. The area has a wide beach stretching like 2
kilometers away from the town. We headed away for a final dip in the ocean but
what a disappointment it was, the water was muddy and did smell bad (Ann said).
At Olbia the ferry was
on time in to the docks and it also left the docks on time, it must have been a
German or Swiss Captain this time. We got some hours of sleep before the page announcement
in the boat woke us up at 05:00
During sunrise at
08:00 we had a great ride from Livorno to Parma among the A1. After Parma we
hit the flats to Milano and it was just a question of staying awake until the northern
parts of Italy.
Alghero
Friday, July 6, 2012
Excursion
The excursion tour was
full so we were forced to rent our own boat and to do our own excursion, what a
shame ;-) There is not much of an archipelago among the cost but there are some
dangerous shallow rocks to watch out for, and so we did. The water is just crystal
clear with lots of fish so the mask and snorkel came to place just fine.
During the afternoon we
have packed and prepared for departure tomorrow morning, it will be a day on
Sardinia before we dock the ferry in Olbia for departure to Livorno, overnight.
The next stop will be Locarno in Switzerland to meet up with a business associate.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Beach mode
Right now it is just
relaxing beach mode for some days, not doing much and we really do enjoy the
food and wine, another beer is sometime slipping down when the heat is on. It
hasn’t been that hot the last days, around 32 degrees. We are looking around
for a boat excursion or to rent a boat so we can get out on the ocean and visit
the beautiful places you only can reach by sea.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Costa Rei
We have now reached
our final destination Costa Rei of our great Italian road trip. At check in we
got the bad news that there was no air conditioning in our apartment!! After some
discussions (arguing) with the manager we were offered a portable air
conditioning unit, works just fine for us, we thought. At the end of the day
this portable air conditioning was not working at all. This doesn’t matter
because what a place this is, just at the beach 50 meters to the water and very
fine sand on the entire beach. The water is crystal clear and around 25 degrees
so this will work for us instead of air conditioning. We will now let the CC
rest for some days and work us through the boxes of wine we bought in Tuscany.
Ann is working on her tan and I’m camping in the shadow and enjoying life by
being online when neededJ
And today we do congratulate Veronica on her birthday, hipp hipp hurra
Great view from the porch
Our small apartment
Sardinia
During Saturday we
spent the day by visiting La Pelosa at the most northerly part of Sardinia.
This place is famous for its Caribbean style of turquoise water and this was
true, what a place. We spent some hours here before we headed down to Costa
Rei. When you get down to these latitudes the country does really shut down
during siesta, even the gas stations are closed, just self-service. We did hit
the highest temperature so far at 42 degrees but this was “inland” on Sardinia,
at the coast it’s around 35 with a nice breeze.
La Pelosa
Livorno – Olbia
Late on Friday evening
we found the ferry port for Moby at Livorno. The ferry should depart at 23:30.
At 22:45 the ferry came to the port and started unloading all cars and people.
Finally at 01:00 we departed for Olbia. The ferry was really nice and modern
but with a touch of Ryanair style, no restaurants just self-service. People
where sleeping all over in the ferry and there was one couple that was camping
with a tent on the upper deck. I’ve never been in a ferry with 3 car decks
before, it was massive.
Olbia, Sardinia, 07:00
in the morning of Saturday. We haven’ docked yet ;-) we should have docked at
06:30, Italian style….
Tuscany
On Friday we took the
opportunity to do some free styling cruising around in Tuscany. We got some
local tips from the wine shop at the resort and he just said that “just drive around
in these areas and you will drown in vineyards”. It was true and what a day we
had. At the end of the day we had visited, tested wine and olive oil’s on 4
different vineyards, we passed maybe 20. As a side note to this, what an area Tuscany
is, beautiful green hills with nice small villages and great roads there
between. We ended the day by heading to Livorno where the ferry was waiting on
time (we thought;-)
Sun flowers and my sun flower Ann
Vineyards
Wine tasting
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Pisa and the leaning
tower
Today we visited Pisa
for a short stop to look at the leaning tower in Pisa (Torre pendente di Pisa) When you see this massive tower and how it
does lean it is quite remarkable and also the fact that is has sunk like 2
meters since it was built in 1173.
After this tourist
stop we headed out to the beach for some ours of breeze and nice temperature in
the ocean. After this we dropped off Jimmy and Linnea at the airport for their
trip back home to Sweden. We did hit the highest temperature so far today, 36.5
degrees and there shall be more to come but then we will be at the sea instead
of inland ;-)
Tomorrow we will
checkout from the Norcenni Girasole Club and then we will take the ferry to Sardinia
for our last and final stop (for a week) in Italy. We will depart from Livorno
and arrive in Olbia the day after.
Everyone is feeling ok
and Ann has recovered good form here cold and the CC is marching on and has now
done >3200 Km and the only issue is that the road designers in Italy hasn’t thought
about cars with a lower ground clearance than 15 cm, even if it is Ferrari
country ;-)
Wine, wine and more
wine, this is wine country, I think we will end up with several boxes of nice
wines in the trunk to be enjoyed at home.
And what else can you
ask for than having Italy in the final in the Europe Cup when we are here;-)
Life is good
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuscany
This great part of
Italy with the green hills and plenty of vineyards and a butcher in Greve di Chianti
that can treat all type of meat in a good manner. Our stationary campervan that
we have rented was not according to the specifications but that doesn’t matter
because we only sleep in the campervan and do nice trips during the days. Jimmy
and Linnea will be leaving us tomorrow and that is sad but we have had some wonderful
days together. Internet coverage is not normal in this part of Tuscany so I
will try to post this message first and then some pictures. Tomorrow it will be
visiting Pisa with the leaning tower and hopefully some nice beaches. Yesterday
we did visited Rimini with some great beaches and nice weather. I hope all is
good at home and that the weather is catching up.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Lago di Garda
Today we drove from
Bormio to Sirmione, at the lake Lago Di Gardga. We arrived with quite good
weather but after some time the weather gods opened up the taps, it was a short
shower and then it was over. The apartment is really good and over expectation
and we (Ann) did a really good Italian dinner today. Tomorrow it will be a
layback day and soon Jimmy and Linnea is coming down, can’t wait to meet them.
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