Euro Road trip 2019 Roundup

So last Sunday --- this was started last year and never finished --- was the end of the A team's European roadtrip 2019. I say 2019 as based on the experiences we have had there will surely be more. So I thought I would do a kind of high level compilation and summary, what we saw , what we liked ( not much that we didn't like), to remind ourselves later just what we managed to achieve.

Ok , so Lynda and me started to plot this trip well over a year ago as something that we have always felt that we would like to do. This included the route , where we really wanted to go and more importantly where we were unsure of, what we needed to have in the car -- and of course , our Super Frankie needed to be scrutinised as well, as we didn't need any breakdowns on this trip -- and we also had to decide where to stay , what type of hotel and for how long and finally setting aside a budget that we could manage on . If you didn't know before my wife is brilliant at the coordination of such a trip and has done so well over the years mostly in the states, but also Australia, Barbados, and Hawaii ( ok so its part of the States but feels like some where completely separated).

The map above is just an indicator and doesn't exactly go where we went but it gives an idea. First night we stayed in the Domotel Agios Nicholas , in North Greece , just past Parga -- it is a great stretch of coastline for really great places to stay and this was a good start -- who wouldn't want to swim in a pool that has stars in the bottom.

 A great start to the trip and good job we got a bargain discount as it had only just opened for the summer -- the prices we saw were for rich folk , not us ordinary people.

Next it was into Albania -- this crossing was the one that I was the most dubious about - you read and hear all sorts of stories about the security , the state of the roads , the poverty and the difficulties but do you know what it was so easy. Very courteous at the border crossing , the folk at the hotel were excellent and couldn't do enough --  although our friend Marjon (Mario) might have had something to do with this.
Also the choice of restaurants that evening gave us a glimpse of something quite unique and if people go no where else in Albania then the Mrizi I Zanave is a must --

 

So finally caught up with this  man -- Mario -- after some 9 years or so .

 

For meeting Altin Prenga the owner of the hotel, the restaurant, the farms , the farm shops and the production of processes from fruit and wines and cheeses and understanding his philosophy regarding fresh produce, helping the community and of course his meeting with Rick Stein, we are grateful to have him as a FB friend.
I think Lynda and I will be revisiting Albania in the future.

Montenegro will also be a place we would wish to go back and see in detail as we just drove through on our way to Croatia and it appears to have been well invested in along the coast - but no border issues.

Croatia - in particular Dubrovnic , was a wonderful treat and we got the chance to see the last 2 episodes of GoT when we got back to the UK and could see all those places there - in Kingslanding - that we then saw as being somewhere we were standing 2 weeks before , before the dragon burnt it all down. Oh , and my queen seen sitting on her throne there as well.

Great images that have been seen on the TV but you cannot beat the one with -- The Mother of Dragons

Anyway, back to the trip - thanks Dubrovnik for letting me fulfil a visit since I first learnt about it from my mother back in the early 70's when she visited it and it was everything and more and should be on everyones wish list .

Ok , so there is this border that we have to cross when going north from Dubrovnik that is bizarre and we can only assume that at the carve up of the Baltic states Bosnia & Hertzagova clearly wanted a strip of water -- its around 28 kilometres only.

 

There is a stripof headland that is Croatian and I said top Lynda that they should build a bridge across from this to northern Croatia , thus by-passing the Bosnia bit and low and behold when we got neat there we could see that they were in the process of building just that.

 

Having done a one night stop in a place called Krk - pronounced as the star trek captain-- we headed off to Salzburg and having only just managed to avoid being given away by my wife to a Slovenian Border guard in lieu of a cost of stamping passports, the drive up was very easy and was also a good indication of the change in climates and weather-- wetter and colder but overall still nice.  in fact in the whole trip we only had 2 days rain and that's  when we were driving.

 So it was a welcome to the land of the Schloss, The salt Mines and the bridge of Love padlocks , xmas shops - this was in May but they did good business and oh yes the land of the sound of music - and no , we did not buy me a pair of lederhosen -- so disappointed. 

 

From 3 great days in Salzburg it was on to 3 great days in Lake Como (Italy). Stayed in a place called, Gravedona, which is a fairly low key place unlike Mennagio and Belagio, but we did find a gem of a hotel with a stunning balcony and we managed to find 2 really superb restuarants in little back streets -- don't know if George has ever eaten there or not but his loss if he aint. We did find his Chateaus -- Yes he needs 2 apparently -- but he wasn't home so Lynda will have to wait, to see him.

 

 

 

There was a peacefulness in Como area that was not reflected when you got onto the roads but it was again surrounded by snow capped mountains, very tranquil and a great place to relax.

 

On the next trip we went through St. Moritz, and I have to say that the dropping down from how ever many thousand feet up it is down to normal levels was pretty hairy , especially jockeying with buses , trucks and other drivers.

 

So this was part of the big trip -- from Como to Reims---

 

 

 

This was a place that Lynda wanted to badly go to , especially to visit the Cathedral which had held the majority of the French Monarchs over the centuries until the revolution.

Reims cathedral is phenomenal but we found very little else to get excited about in the city , including our hotel.

From Reims the next day we went to Dunkirk where I got to walk along the sand where nearly 80 years ago the allies were rescued -- well some of them anyway -- in one of the greatest ( good and bad )stories from WW11 and pay my respects to those that either didn't make alive or who went to form the line that protected those who were rescued.

The final story has to be the day after when we drove the short way to the customs post at the Eurostar Terminal where we were booked on the train. We got into the queue with all the other cars and there were around 4 queues and we had the normal swabs taken around the door handles and windows of our car and a Traffic Cone was put in front of the car. When I looked in the rear view mirror the cars behind us were being diverted over to other queues far away from ours and a cone was put behind us.
More swabs were taken and taken back to the building with the trace machines were in . We were getting a little panicky at that point and when we saw all the customs guards with guns congregating in their shed, we saw an officer and asked what the issue was , only to be told that there was a reading on their testing machine of explosives "But don't worry it is probably the machine making a mistake".
Thankfully he was right and we were allowed to go on our way.

So after 3 weeks of the amazing journey over from Greece, we pulled up at our apartment in Carshalton, happy to be home but also in the knowledge that in 2 weeks time we would be on our way back to Greece.

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Frankie all smart and raring to go back to his home in Greece as no-one talks to him here.

So here is the route with one or two bits missing like Corsica, and the touring around the south of France, the Amalfi Coast , around Florence & Pisa and also the area of Puglia but the principle is same.

The first stop over was at the Hotel France which is directly across the road from the Palais of Versailles, a real favourite with Lynda and me.



Even in the years since we went here the first time there has been change from the restoration and the retrieval of fixtures and furniture which have really changed it's appearance now.

This was followed, with a hairy drive around Monte Carlo before heading down the French and Italian Riviera's until we got to Livorno and onto the ferry to Corsica and to meet up after 20 odd years with our nephew Simon and his wife Roberta and their children. Quite nice to be fed by our own family Michelin Star Chef /restaurant owner, at the A Nepita in Ajaccio.

  
After Simon and Ajacio, we stopped in Pisa on the way to Florence and it is an incredible structure --- as a builder you do have to ask "Why".

After 2 days in Corsica and a ferryboat trip and Pisa visit which we would not have missed for the world as we were passing not too far , it was up to Florence to stay at the wonderful " Villa Il Sasso" -- a really great boutique hotel.

 

 

Florence was always a "Too Do" place to visit but since we did this I have learnt so much more about it from mostly Lynda and her need to watch the Masters Of Florence series , with Cosimo and Leonardo Medici -- what real history compared to Rome -- we will be coming back as there is so much more to see

 
 

 One of the towers in Florence and the Cathedral that the Medici Family built and we were watching the series last night -- really got to go back to Florence and do some more exploring.

 

 

From Florence we went down to Pompeii and after checking in to a really decent hotel dead opposite the archaeological site, so a short walk to the start of looking at this outstanding place.

 

When we were starting our wander around in the amphitheatre, we were treated to images and music form Pink Floyds concert in the theatre in 2016. I have watched "Live at Pompeii"  many times since and I just wish I had been there live.

 

So much naturally preserved images and structures.

 

Just a privilege to have seen all these amazing sights.

 

So it was on to the Amelfi Coast and the experience of a lifetime when it comes to driving but of course its only really know for the stunning towns we drive through that are remarkable examples of building vertically up a cliff face.

That stretch of road taught me that there were worse places to drive than in Aegina or Athens or Tripoli or Naples or Paris --- actually it was worse than just about every place I have ever driven before in my life.

The final leg in Italy was down from Sorento to Taranto in the heal of the Italian Boot, for a chill out and a chance to explore Perugia to find the Trullies -- these conical building which were first built in the 1600's to avoid house taxes that were imposed -- they could dismantle one of these in a couple of hours. Also one of my favourite photos of me and Mrs A.

Just when we thought that this was such a perfect end to Italy, we ended nearly getting burnt alive in the Aria Sollis, Best Western,  hotel, right on the beach had a raging fire in the pine trees right next door -- took me a lot of persuading to the manager that he should phone someone to deal with it

We watched for an hour and a half as these heroes continuously dropped water onto the fire until it was under control -- we see them do the same in Greece in the height of summer and they are truly remarkable.


 
So next was from Brindisi across to Igoumanitsa, Greece
 

 We didn't get to Greece mainland until around 9pm so found a Hotel/Resort to stop at overnight near to Parga, before the drive down to Athens and the ferry across to Aegina.

 

I have to say that driving on Greece's motorways like from the north west all the way via Patra and Corinth to Piraeus is a real pleasure.

 

So that was it, one of the greatest road trips we have ever done together, and a real eye opener , as until this point we had mostly considered road trip for the likes of the states and Australia, so with all this on our door step, we couldn't see it for looking.

 

As I am finishing this off, the world is in the grips of the worst Pandemic since 1918 and with so many restrictions around that change from day to day, there is little chance of repeating this right now.

 

However -- Nothing stops the A team from a bit of planning, after all Europe is a very big place ----

 

 

 

 So we are thinking about next year , around May time again and if you take it that we will go spend a bit more time in Albania, especially at the hotel shown above, we will travel up the Baltics west coast and will for sure be looking at Lake Garda, possibly Milan, a bit in Switzerland and other places of interest in France and then maybe doing the west coast of France and the vineyards before finding more places to stop including Florence again, so planning is starting right now.

 

That's it , all captured in one blog, and hope to be in a position to do something similar next year.

 

 

 

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