European Road Trip (Pictures heavy)
Discussion
Day 3. Headed into Monaco after a very long nights sleep in San Remo. The drive down the coastal road was hectic and full of cyclists in preparation for the start of the Tour de France in Monaco that morning. This provided entertainment and a good atmosphere.
We managed to get with 4km of Monaco before walking the final leg and just catching the start of the tour (from a distance). Sunday morning in Monaco was quiet but we were blessed with a Veyron coming out the tunnel around 10:00. The walk back up and out of Monaco was hell in mid-day temperatures but we did it and will not be doing it again.
After Monaco we headed east towards Rapallo to take in Portafino before heading to Lamborghini. Lots of nice Fiat 500s on the roads
While stuck in traffic we were alongside a Ferrari F430 Scudaria 16M, the driver wound down his window and had a brief chatter with us. After a little persuasion we managed to convince him it would be a good idea to give his car a few revs for us (he obliged - thanks). He stuck with us for around 30km kindly nailing it through all available tunnels (of which there were plenty) - dear god it was the best sound I have experienced from the back of a car, made the standard f430 we heard later that day sound so tame!
Day 4. Portafino = stunning. Beautiful location and some beautiful motor yachts in the bay. I can not wait to go back and spend more time just taking in the atmosphere and scenery.
Day 5. Lamborghini museum and factory tour. Great day out, everyone there is so full of passion for the company they work for. Everyone happy to talk to you at length about all the cars (new and old), company history, future project gossip etc. It was also good to see the production lines; Gallardo production is more modern compared to the Murcielago however it's good to see both are still very much handbuilt in Sant'Ataga despite the many VW boxs all over the shop.
They had a Reventon on display (car No. 00. First production test). very aggressive motor however after spending more time around the standard LP640 and SV I can not really understand why you would want to spend an additional 800k (obviously not factoring in exclusivity which is the only advantage)
Day 6. North to Lake Como and a quiet day. Lake como is a very pretty place and I can fully understand the appeal of the area however after the excitment and fun of the previous days this was a little tame. On relfection i really enjoyed this day and needed it before the long shelp over Stevlio the next day.
Day 7. Stevlio - Had read around this place for years and it was a fantastic experience to finally do it. The road is amazing with cyclists to supercars and everything in between tacking the climb. The south route was more enjoyable for me with stunning scenery and a really breath taking approach to the summit. I can highly recommend the Stevlio as an experience but make sure your breaks are working before tacking it.
After Stevlio (SS38) we took the SS40 into Austria and then turned on ourselves and headed to Davos down road 27 which was corking, I can not recommend this road enough, long sweeping mountain passes with road laid with Swiss precision and some fantastic scenery (watch your speed).
Day 8. - The plan was to head to Nurburg for the F1 practice but we could not get a practice only ticket and had to pay a weekend long fee for 4hrs racing. Gutted at the time but it was the sensible thing to do. Headed home from here.
All in all a great trip and if you have been thinking of doing something similar then do it. You learn alot about other European countries, see some amazing places and unless you are unfortunate should bump into some epic machinery.
Edited by riwiho on Saturday 11th July 19:01
Edited by riwiho on Sunday 24th January 21:14
You've misunderstood me. It does sound like a very good trip, but I can't see most of your photos. All I am seeing is a small box with a little red cross in it. This usually means you haven't linked to the photo properly.
Of the 22 images you have posted, I can only see 3.
Where I should be able to see something like this:
all I can see is this:
Of the 22 images you have posted, I can only see 3.
Where I should be able to see something like this:
all I can see is this:
Edited by DIW35 on Saturday 11th July 18:40
It was a concern for both of us. In order to get round the problem we covered 1100 miles on day 1 meaning we had 200-250 miles to do per day after that. This way no day was a real stress, plus after 1100 miles in any 24hr period 250 is like a walk in the park.
Don't know if this is the done thing but seemed to work for us. When I do this again I will be doing it in the same way.
Don't know if this is the done thing but seemed to work for us. When I do this again I will be doing it in the same way.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff