Planning This Year's Epic Trip!

[Simon Mac]

So a somewhat belated final post, having arrived home on Thursday.

 

After Slovenia we headed across the border into Italy for a nice lunchtime Italian meal in the town of Travisio. This was a whistlestop affair before crossing over into Austria for a run over the Grossglockner pass.   Going up was great visibility, and some stunning scenery. The tunnel at the top saw the cloud close in and it got spooky driving through the tunnel before an almost white out coming down the other side.  Unfortunately there had been an incident of some kind (I'm guessing a biker given the number of motorcycle wing mirrors we saw littering the entirety of the pass ).

 

We overnighted in St. Viet, in a nice Hotel, before starting the journey back. A quick stop in Munich for a Hardrock lunch, parking up right in the posh quarter amongst Rolls + Ferraris. The little Lotus held it's head high still gaining plenty of attention .

 

From here we drove on to Karlsruhe. Daughter grabbed an early night in the hotel, so I went exploring. The castle was being prepared for some sort of festival, with the whole front being projected onto with various AV effects, as the set crew tested things. It was good to be able to see the whole thing without the crowd in front obscuring the whole view. Grabbed a beer at a small bar on my stroll back to the hotel and had an all round chilled evening.

 

Then from Germany we headed back for the final night on tour. We drove back with a lunchtime stop in Luxemburg (which involved unsuccessfully trying to find a pair of shoes for daughter, lord is it painful shoe shopping with females ). From Luxembourg we headed off to Arras.  A wander round the main square stopping off for a light evening meal.  Most humorous moment of the trip happened here,  I was stood outside the hotel having a ciggy, just as someone strolled past admiring the car, not looking where they were going and walked straight into a lamppost

 

Arras back to Nottingham was a breeze, setting off at 9:00 and arriving back at home for 13:00.

 

So all in 3625 miles, 10 countries, and lots of happy memories. A great "little" road trip, with the Lotus really making the whole thing special.

[chris_h]

Sounds a great trip. Furthest I've been is Hungry in the lotus.

 

I had someone walk into a bus stop looking at my car once. I reckon it was a top 5 moment of my life!! Still makes me laugh now.

[chrislane]

Sounds like a great trip Simon. On reflection, did you prefer this year or last year? Not that i'm likely to get a pass for this kind of trip for a few years yet, but its always good to have some ideas lined up for when the time comes!

[Simon Mac]

Chris, very different, but both enjoyable.

 

This year was more like a series of city breaks, strung together with some nice driving. Last year felt more adventurous.

 

To be brutally honest, I loved Romania and the Transfagarasan, but you get much of the same stuff in the Alps. Were the extra miles worth it... on balance I'd say yes, but know you are letting yourself into around a day and a half of additional motorway to make it happen.