2086 miles in an MX5 (pic heavy)...
Discussion
We’ve just returned from a Euro road trip and I thought I’d post a little about it – my inspiration being that I love reading about everyone else’s trips on PH and they were a real inspiration for our trip. Apologies in advance for some of the cheesy pictures of us, they’re more for the family album than PH! Picture quality varies as I’ve had to reduce some shots dramatically (I took an old Pentax ME super with some Kodak Porta film and although I’m no photographer I was pleased with the results).
So I’ll start at the beginning:
After falling in love with Italy last summer I finally managed to convince Mrs H. (Chloe) that we should road trip there. After some disastrous hotel bookings earlier on in our relationship (including, but not limited to a place with carpeted walls in Paris), I was careful to choose places with good reviews which wouldn’t break the bank – will give some linkys to these places as we go in case anyone else is doing a similar trip.
The second and most important issue was transport. The choices we’re pretty much this: My old bus ( A6 Estate) – which was diesel and auto with air con, or borrow something from my father. Chloe has a mini which has been discounted early doors. After a brief visit to the garage of my parents the additional options were:
Z3 2.2 – beautiful car with only 45k on the clock, straight 6, air con, loads of luggage room, great stereo, etc etc.
Or
Mx5 – Mk2.5. Similar mileage, no air con, little luggage room, crap stereo, PH favourite.
We both wanted to take a convertible; and the choice between the MX and Zed was skewed way in favour of the later considering the air con and distances involved. However, wanting some advice from the wisdom of PH I posted the question here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
We decided to take the MX-5.
The actual trip:
After popping to Stead and Simpson for some boat shoes I was ready to go.
Things were tight storage wise, but we stowed things under seats and in every available space. Drug traffickers take note; MX-5’s are not the car for you.
And we were off...
As we live near Hull it made sense to take the ferry from there. It would give us a good night’s sleep and arrive in Rotterdam at 8.30am. Both my father and father-in-law had traveled on the ferry in the 70’s and told us horror stories about people being sick and having to sleep in ‘dorms’ with strangers coming in to the room through the night. In reality it was all good fun and nice to relax with a beer (and even go to the cinema) on board. Didn’t get any pics here but there was a VW event happening on the continent and the boat was loaded with some great cars.
Day 1 started with a 3.5hr slog through driving rain in Belgium and into to Luxembourg for a look around and a spot of lunch. Luckily I had GCSE French and managed to order a sandwich and Macaroon whilst there (Merci, Monsiour Berland!). Also the weather was spot on in Lux and put us in a good mood for the day.
After we pushed on for another couple of hours and made it to Le Biblenhof (http://www.lebiblenhof.fr/en/home) which was in rural France just outside Strasbourg. They must have been quiet and gave us a superb room which was more of a suite. Nice living area with 2 single beds plus a double room off to the side. I wanted something traditional and this place really didn’t disappoint! Chloe would like me to point out that she through it was a little creepy – it did look like a horror film set but for me that really added to it. We were pretty tired so decided to give Strasbourg a miss and eat at the adjoining restaurant. This was also pretty traditional and I ended up with rare calf liver and Mrs H had a cocktail glass full of cold peas and jelly in the bottom :S. Not for the faint hearted. Anyway, a pic of one half of the room to give an idea:
Day 2:
After an early start we drove on through the Alps and into Milan. Chloe hadn’t driven abroad much but soon got into the swing of things and it was nice to have someone else to share driving with. Brilliantly a good friend was travelling down to Garda (in a Renault van with boat on the back) and it happened he was passing Strasbourg was we were having breakfast. A couple of hours with the foot down and in true Smokey and the Bandit style (well, almost) we had caught up arranged to meet at a services in Basel for a bite to eat. (Top tip: Services 10m After the Border/ Basel are great but very expensive. Pack some sandwiches). At this point I was feeling like an international playboy, doing lunch in Switzerland (with two guys in a van, sporting an already sunburnt forehead).
Some great scenery on the way down, but we really missed the air con when going through the Gotthard Tunnel – truly was cooking. Also, I found that the MX5 was happiest at 70 on the motorway as at 80 it was running at 4000rpm and screaming, not to mention drinking like Denise Walsh. Maybe the Z3 would have been more practical...
We decided to stop of at Lake Como for a few minutes. Our first taste of Italy and it didn’t disappoint:
We arrived at Cesna 5 B&B in Milan (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187849-d796451-Reviews-Cesena_5-Milan_Lombardy.html) – a great place and fully recommended - even the mini bar was free! The best bit about this is it’s right next to the tram stop which takes you directly into the city centre.
Day 3 – Spent the day in Milan. Little to report for petrol heads here really. I recommend the hop on bus tours though! Generic example of something nice in Milan:
Day 4 – from Milan to Lake Garda
Day 4 started well for the petrol head in me. It was both a Sunday and a National holiday in Italy. Like us they seem to love nothing more than taking the classic out for a spin and a good car boot sale on a Sunday. Apologies for no pics here, but we drove right through the centre of Milan and it was almost deserted. Lots of nice old Alfa’s and other exotic things were busy driving around.
The real highlight of the day was a visit to Casa Lambretta - the Lambretta Museum. The story of getting there is a little arduous, but we made it in the end and it was well worth the hassle. Run by a chap called Vittorrio this is his personal collection and the museum is completely free. If you have any interest in bikes or scooters it’s a must see. I’d recommend calling first though as the opening times seem a little vague! Some piccys:
Italian man with fake beard taking a goat through the town. We didn’t ask questions.
After this is was a nice 1.5hr blast to Lake Garda and our accommodation at Agriturismo Renzano, Salo (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g644254-d1170308-Reviews-Agriturismo_Renzano-Salo_Province_of_Brescia_Lombardy.html). Again this was a great place to stop and incredibly well priced. The grounds looked out over Salo and the lake and the rooms were a decent size. Steep hill down into Salo, but you cant have everything at £400 for the week! Was also nice to see the Germans loving a bargain basement luxo-barge in the form of a superbly tatty 735i parked next to us at the apartment.
View from the apartment grounds:
Days 5-9:
We met up with our friends who were staying at Camping Fornella (San Felice) and had bought a boat with them. I must say that having your own boat down there does make it much cooler. Cue boat pics:
This was the countess’ castle on a private island on the lake:
Lots happened in Italy, but as this isn’t ‘Wish You Were Here’ I’ll try and keep with petrol head pics.
Visit to Sirmione on the only overcast day of the holiday and we saw this – it looked real but I’m no expert:
Some porn for the boat lovers too:
On the Wednesday we decided to go for a trip into the mountains. In time honoured tradition I got the map and aimed for the squiggliest road! Suffice to say the first part of the route up to Lake Valvestino was too tight and the road surface had too many pot holes to have any fun, not to mention the huge drop at the side of the road. After this we made it to Lake Idro, where things got better and then followed the superb SS240 back to Riva del Garda before taking the coast road back to Salo and a well deserved Aperol Spritz (tip: go for the 'super spritz' for some kick!).
Route:
Top up as we were so high it started to rain!
Great dam at Valvestino:
After Lake Idro it got better:
Then back via Limone:
SUPER SPRITZ:
The journey may look short but it was quite a few hours driving, executed mainly in Jesus-style sandals. Outcome: I should have worn the deck shoes.
The day after we drove to Venice. This was a 250 mile round trip and a long slog as the road was packed and the Italians were appalling motorway drivers.
Standard Venice shots:
I’m not into being a tourist, but I thought Venice was well worth a visit and would love to go again for more than a day.
Day 10:
This was a Saturday and the plan was to leave Italy at 9.30, and make the 4.5hr trip to Munich with only one short stop, giving us time to look round Munich in the afternoon. In reality we didn’t leave until 10 and the traffic was awful, meaning that we spent a large amount of time sat stationary on both Italian and German motorways. When we did get moving the view of the Austrian Alps was very good, they also built some amazing roadways:
Made it to the Hotel Cacoon at about 5.30pm (ARRRRRRGGGGHHH!). But the place was very cool and just what we hoped (http://www.hotel-cocoon.de/sendlingertor/en/home.html#home.html). We didn’t see much of Munich but there were some great cars parked around including a number of vintage (70’s/80’s) 911’s. I didn’t get a picture of these but did get this retro Lambo. Espada?
One thing you HAVE to do in Munch is go to the Hofbrauhause beer hall. It was amazing:
Day 11:
This was our last day and basically involved 535 miles from Munich to Rotterdam where we would catch the ferry. After the previous days nightmare with the traffic I had worked out that we lost just over 34% against the satnav estimated trip duration. Concerned about the same happening again and missing the ferry we decided to get up early and allow plenty of time for the drive, leaving Munich at 8am. After all that quess how much time we lost on this 7.5hr trip?..... 6 mins = 1.3%!
Anyway, it was a long slog this day but it helped knowing we could rest on the ferry. We increased cruising speed to 80 which felt okay on the smooth tarmac of the Autobahn. I did try and push the MX (on an unrestricted area) at one stage, but in all honestly it wasn’t the car for it. I’ve been lucky enough to drive some quick cars over the years, but at 120 on the speedo (I think about 110 real) the MX was not a nice place to be. I backed off, turned the German pop music up and sat at 80 for the remainder of the journey. Maybe the Z3 would have been the better cruiser...
Saw this smoking along on the Autobahn. Some kind of BMW V8?
Once we made it to the ferry there was a superb Lotus Cortina too (and a beetle).
Goodbye Rotterdam..
After an uneventful night we were back home in East Yorkshire. Total miles: 2086, covering 8 countries. Would we do it again... absolutely! Take the Z3 next time? Probably not – there’s another project which will be completed by then....
So I’ll start at the beginning:
After falling in love with Italy last summer I finally managed to convince Mrs H. (Chloe) that we should road trip there. After some disastrous hotel bookings earlier on in our relationship (including, but not limited to a place with carpeted walls in Paris), I was careful to choose places with good reviews which wouldn’t break the bank – will give some linkys to these places as we go in case anyone else is doing a similar trip.
The second and most important issue was transport. The choices we’re pretty much this: My old bus ( A6 Estate) – which was diesel and auto with air con, or borrow something from my father. Chloe has a mini which has been discounted early doors. After a brief visit to the garage of my parents the additional options were:
Z3 2.2 – beautiful car with only 45k on the clock, straight 6, air con, loads of luggage room, great stereo, etc etc.
Or
Mx5 – Mk2.5. Similar mileage, no air con, little luggage room, crap stereo, PH favourite.
We both wanted to take a convertible; and the choice between the MX and Zed was skewed way in favour of the later considering the air con and distances involved. However, wanting some advice from the wisdom of PH I posted the question here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
We decided to take the MX-5.
The actual trip:
After popping to Stead and Simpson for some boat shoes I was ready to go.
Things were tight storage wise, but we stowed things under seats and in every available space. Drug traffickers take note; MX-5’s are not the car for you.
And we were off...
As we live near Hull it made sense to take the ferry from there. It would give us a good night’s sleep and arrive in Rotterdam at 8.30am. Both my father and father-in-law had traveled on the ferry in the 70’s and told us horror stories about people being sick and having to sleep in ‘dorms’ with strangers coming in to the room through the night. In reality it was all good fun and nice to relax with a beer (and even go to the cinema) on board. Didn’t get any pics here but there was a VW event happening on the continent and the boat was loaded with some great cars.
Day 1 started with a 3.5hr slog through driving rain in Belgium and into to Luxembourg for a look around and a spot of lunch. Luckily I had GCSE French and managed to order a sandwich and Macaroon whilst there (Merci, Monsiour Berland!). Also the weather was spot on in Lux and put us in a good mood for the day.
After we pushed on for another couple of hours and made it to Le Biblenhof (http://www.lebiblenhof.fr/en/home) which was in rural France just outside Strasbourg. They must have been quiet and gave us a superb room which was more of a suite. Nice living area with 2 single beds plus a double room off to the side. I wanted something traditional and this place really didn’t disappoint! Chloe would like me to point out that she through it was a little creepy – it did look like a horror film set but for me that really added to it. We were pretty tired so decided to give Strasbourg a miss and eat at the adjoining restaurant. This was also pretty traditional and I ended up with rare calf liver and Mrs H had a cocktail glass full of cold peas and jelly in the bottom :S. Not for the faint hearted. Anyway, a pic of one half of the room to give an idea:
Day 2:
After an early start we drove on through the Alps and into Milan. Chloe hadn’t driven abroad much but soon got into the swing of things and it was nice to have someone else to share driving with. Brilliantly a good friend was travelling down to Garda (in a Renault van with boat on the back) and it happened he was passing Strasbourg was we were having breakfast. A couple of hours with the foot down and in true Smokey and the Bandit style (well, almost) we had caught up arranged to meet at a services in Basel for a bite to eat. (Top tip: Services 10m After the Border/ Basel are great but very expensive. Pack some sandwiches). At this point I was feeling like an international playboy, doing lunch in Switzerland (with two guys in a van, sporting an already sunburnt forehead).
Some great scenery on the way down, but we really missed the air con when going through the Gotthard Tunnel – truly was cooking. Also, I found that the MX5 was happiest at 70 on the motorway as at 80 it was running at 4000rpm and screaming, not to mention drinking like Denise Walsh. Maybe the Z3 would have been more practical...
We decided to stop of at Lake Como for a few minutes. Our first taste of Italy and it didn’t disappoint:
We arrived at Cesna 5 B&B in Milan (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187849-d796451-Reviews-Cesena_5-Milan_Lombardy.html) – a great place and fully recommended - even the mini bar was free! The best bit about this is it’s right next to the tram stop which takes you directly into the city centre.
Day 3 – Spent the day in Milan. Little to report for petrol heads here really. I recommend the hop on bus tours though! Generic example of something nice in Milan:
Day 4 – from Milan to Lake Garda
Day 4 started well for the petrol head in me. It was both a Sunday and a National holiday in Italy. Like us they seem to love nothing more than taking the classic out for a spin and a good car boot sale on a Sunday. Apologies for no pics here, but we drove right through the centre of Milan and it was almost deserted. Lots of nice old Alfa’s and other exotic things were busy driving around.
The real highlight of the day was a visit to Casa Lambretta - the Lambretta Museum. The story of getting there is a little arduous, but we made it in the end and it was well worth the hassle. Run by a chap called Vittorrio this is his personal collection and the museum is completely free. If you have any interest in bikes or scooters it’s a must see. I’d recommend calling first though as the opening times seem a little vague! Some piccys:
Italian man with fake beard taking a goat through the town. We didn’t ask questions.
After this is was a nice 1.5hr blast to Lake Garda and our accommodation at Agriturismo Renzano, Salo (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g644254-d1170308-Reviews-Agriturismo_Renzano-Salo_Province_of_Brescia_Lombardy.html). Again this was a great place to stop and incredibly well priced. The grounds looked out over Salo and the lake and the rooms were a decent size. Steep hill down into Salo, but you cant have everything at £400 for the week! Was also nice to see the Germans loving a bargain basement luxo-barge in the form of a superbly tatty 735i parked next to us at the apartment.
View from the apartment grounds:
Days 5-9:
We met up with our friends who were staying at Camping Fornella (San Felice) and had bought a boat with them. I must say that having your own boat down there does make it much cooler. Cue boat pics:
This was the countess’ castle on a private island on the lake:
Lots happened in Italy, but as this isn’t ‘Wish You Were Here’ I’ll try and keep with petrol head pics.
Visit to Sirmione on the only overcast day of the holiday and we saw this – it looked real but I’m no expert:
Some porn for the boat lovers too:
On the Wednesday we decided to go for a trip into the mountains. In time honoured tradition I got the map and aimed for the squiggliest road! Suffice to say the first part of the route up to Lake Valvestino was too tight and the road surface had too many pot holes to have any fun, not to mention the huge drop at the side of the road. After this we made it to Lake Idro, where things got better and then followed the superb SS240 back to Riva del Garda before taking the coast road back to Salo and a well deserved Aperol Spritz (tip: go for the 'super spritz' for some kick!).
Route:
Top up as we were so high it started to rain!
Great dam at Valvestino:
After Lake Idro it got better:
Then back via Limone:
SUPER SPRITZ:
The journey may look short but it was quite a few hours driving, executed mainly in Jesus-style sandals. Outcome: I should have worn the deck shoes.
The day after we drove to Venice. This was a 250 mile round trip and a long slog as the road was packed and the Italians were appalling motorway drivers.
Standard Venice shots:
I’m not into being a tourist, but I thought Venice was well worth a visit and would love to go again for more than a day.
Day 10:
This was a Saturday and the plan was to leave Italy at 9.30, and make the 4.5hr trip to Munich with only one short stop, giving us time to look round Munich in the afternoon. In reality we didn’t leave until 10 and the traffic was awful, meaning that we spent a large amount of time sat stationary on both Italian and German motorways. When we did get moving the view of the Austrian Alps was very good, they also built some amazing roadways:
Made it to the Hotel Cacoon at about 5.30pm (ARRRRRRGGGGHHH!). But the place was very cool and just what we hoped (http://www.hotel-cocoon.de/sendlingertor/en/home.html#home.html). We didn’t see much of Munich but there were some great cars parked around including a number of vintage (70’s/80’s) 911’s. I didn’t get a picture of these but did get this retro Lambo. Espada?
One thing you HAVE to do in Munch is go to the Hofbrauhause beer hall. It was amazing:
Day 11:
This was our last day and basically involved 535 miles from Munich to Rotterdam where we would catch the ferry. After the previous days nightmare with the traffic I had worked out that we lost just over 34% against the satnav estimated trip duration. Concerned about the same happening again and missing the ferry we decided to get up early and allow plenty of time for the drive, leaving Munich at 8am. After all that quess how much time we lost on this 7.5hr trip?..... 6 mins = 1.3%!
Anyway, it was a long slog this day but it helped knowing we could rest on the ferry. We increased cruising speed to 80 which felt okay on the smooth tarmac of the Autobahn. I did try and push the MX (on an unrestricted area) at one stage, but in all honestly it wasn’t the car for it. I’ve been lucky enough to drive some quick cars over the years, but at 120 on the speedo (I think about 110 real) the MX was not a nice place to be. I backed off, turned the German pop music up and sat at 80 for the remainder of the journey. Maybe the Z3 would have been the better cruiser...
Saw this smoking along on the Autobahn. Some kind of BMW V8?
Once we made it to the ferry there was a superb Lotus Cortina too (and a beetle).
Goodbye Rotterdam..
After an uneventful night we were back home in East Yorkshire. Total miles: 2086, covering 8 countries. Would we do it again... absolutely! Take the Z3 next time? Probably not – there’s another project which will be completed by then....
Edited by hardcastlephil on Wednesday 3rd July 20:18
Thanks,
Project car is a 1968 S3 Elan. My father had many in the 70's and bought this about 10 years ago - it's been a steady project but I think it should be finished by the end of summer. One huge problem with it was that it'd been left outside for years and water had got into the fibreglass - up until the last few months there were still bubbles appearing through the top coat so painting was very delayed!
P
Project car is a 1968 S3 Elan. My father had many in the 70's and bought this about 10 years ago - it's been a steady project but I think it should be finished by the end of summer. One huge problem with it was that it'd been left outside for years and water had got into the fibreglass - up until the last few months there were still bubbles appearing through the top coat so painting was very delayed!
P
Nice trip..
Coincidence time.
The pic you took of the 356 in Sirmione looks like the exact same car park by the lake side
that i stopped in for pics on Mille Miglia.
A 356 also stopped and 2 blokes were taking pics of it and i offered to take a pic of the
2 of them with their camera....
Will see if i have a pic of "my" 356.
I don't.
Coincidence time.
The pic you took of the 356 in Sirmione looks like the exact same car park by the lake side
that i stopped in for pics on Mille Miglia.
A 356 also stopped and 2 blokes were taking pics of it and i offered to take a pic of the
2 of them with their camera....
Will see if i have a pic of "my" 356.
I don't.
Edited by iva cosworth on Tuesday 2nd July 21:00
hi guys,
Thanks for the comments -
Backtobasics - It might be the same, the one we went to had a carpeted lift too! Might have been the Exclessor or something?!
KolbenKopp - There is just a local independent here who will put the film onto CD when they process it. Results are really good, but i guess as i was using Porta they were meant to have that retro feel rather than something really sharp, so i'd be interested to do it again with a more focused subject. My brother is a great photographer and uses a Leica and film scanner with an Imac and the results are spot on: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_private_press/).
Everyone else - absolutely above my weight; and it feels good!
Thanks for the comments -
Backtobasics - It might be the same, the one we went to had a carpeted lift too! Might have been the Exclessor or something?!
KolbenKopp - There is just a local independent here who will put the film onto CD when they process it. Results are really good, but i guess as i was using Porta they were meant to have that retro feel rather than something really sharp, so i'd be interested to do it again with a more focused subject. My brother is a great photographer and uses a Leica and film scanner with an Imac and the results are spot on: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_private_press/).
Everyone else - absolutely above my weight; and it feels good!
I'm still in the process of writing up my Banger Rally Euro trip (keep getting distracted). 
hardcastlephil said:
KolbenKopp - There is just a local independent here who will put the film onto CD when they process it. Results are really good, but i guess as i was using Porta they were meant to have that retro feel rather than something really sharp, so i'd be interested to do it again with a more focused subject.
TY, good to know and lucky you. Haven't found an independent here yet that does anything usable at a bearable price, seems pretty much extinct in Germany. The Venice pics look really nice IMO, quite like the retro feel.hardcastlephil said:
My brother is a great photographer and uses a Leica and film scanner with an Imac and the results are spot on: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_private_press/).
Impressive really! Getting a bit bored with digi cams and thinking of dusting off the old Canon FD stuff for the summer. Or perhaps listen to Mr. Rockwell's gospel on old rangfinders (http://www.kenrockwell.com/) . Not sure if I have the patience getting the full develop/scan/improve etc. workflow nailed though...
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