Unbelievably, the time had finally arrived for us to head home and drive leisurely back through the rest of mainland Europe to the Channel Tunnel. We were experiencing mixed feelings at this point; on the one hand, we were really looking forward to seeing our family and friends again and getting back to a “normal” life. On the other, we’d grown quite used to this extended and extensive holiday - what’s not to like?!! Our journey got off to a confusing start as the border between Switzerland and Germany isn’t a straight line but the road we took was. This result [View Full Entry]

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A largely aquatic theme for this penultimate blog of the ACDC World Tour 07/08, and, despite our year out drawing to a close, there were still some fantastic experiences in store for us. We’d mused long and hard about which route to take back home through Europe and the best places to visit along the way. Of course, it’s impossible to know what we missed out on by selecting the path we did, but it’s hard to believe anything could have bettered the one we chose. We were in for some real treats, none more so than the few days we [View Full Entry]

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Sea ports, despite having an undeniable romance and charm, are rough places. We’ve seen a fair few of them during this third leg (Porto, Marseille, Portsmouth etc) so feel qualified to comment and there’s no doubt the Italian ones are above average in the scary stakes. Take Napoli (Naples) for example. Despite being just across the bay from sleepy Sorrento, it has a fearsome reputation within Italy. Many parts of it are practically lawless and several car hire companies simply won’t allow their vehicles to be driven there for fear of them being stolen. We were now about to ta [View Full Entry]

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It appears that someone, somewhere is either playing a cruel joke on us or is determined to make us more culturally aware. Whilst Angela and I have being blown away by the beauty and history attached to the ancient towns we’ve stayed in so far throughout this European leg, we’ve not felt the need to visit endless museums or galleries. There are several reasons for this, not least of which is that, if we were not careful, would have spent the bulk of our time inside stuffy buildings instead of outdoors exploring and enjoying the places themselves. Our much loved open [View Full Entry]

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The scenery on the drive out of France and into Italy was so dramatic you could almost ignore feeling that you’d been dropped into the middle of the Wacky Races. Italian Dick Dastardlies, whether actually or imagined, seemed determined to run us off the road but even this couldn’t detract from the breathtaking views. The only viable route was to take the toll road and skirt close by the Ligurian coast whilst witnessing a real feat of civil engineering (the “normal” non-toll way wasn’t really an option as it takes nearly three times as long). Despite the twists and [View Full Entry]

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Over the Pyrenees next and time to say “bonjour” to France for the second time this trip. A welcome return to the country where driving a foot away from any tourists bumper at high speed is considered an Olympic sport by locals and car indicators are deemed an optional extra. On this occasion we’d be working our way along its southern coast for two weeks or so before crossing the border into Italy. As mentioned in the blog of our first French visit, the high cost of living in this part of the world had taken us by surprise, especially when [View Full Entry]

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By now we were deep into Andalucía, the most southerly point we would reach during this final leg of our year out - it was time for a holiday within a holiday. I can almost hear the howls of derision from here but all this travelling takes it out of you and, let’s be honest, who doesn’t like to put their feet up and sun themselves by a pool every so often? Angela’s dad, Martin and his wife Sue live close to Marbella and kindly allowed us to stay with them for just short of a week. We did almost nothing [View Full Entry]

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Leaving Oporto proved really difficult, partly because we’d grown so fond of the place but mainly as a result of an aberration from our previously reliable Tom Tom. To be fair, it did as it was instructed which was to get us out of the city by the shortest route and on to our next destination of Salamanca, Spain. What we didn’t know though was that this shortest route would involve negotiating some of the city’s very, very narrow back alleys. It was a both wing mirrors flat to the car job as we slowly crawled our way down the steep, [View Full Entry]

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It was clear as soon as we entered Portugal that, even by European standards, their drivers are complete lunatics. Every car journey seems to be treated as if it’s a Formula One GP and the fact that we’re travelling on a British plate makes us a target for “special treatment”. Some of the manoeuvres we’ve seen have been outrageous and speed limits appear to be of as much use as a trophy cabinet to Manchester City. Thankfully though, both us and Bella (Angela’s pet name for her car - no idea why...................) are still in one piece and going strong. [View Full Entry]

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A French style leisurely start from St Jean De Luz and we were in Spain before we knew it - literally. No passports, check points or even a “Bienvenida a España” sign (“Welcome To Spain”), if only moving between countries was that painless in the rest of the world!! Within half an hour we arrived at our first destination of San Sebastian, or Donostia as it is known locally. Hugging the shoreline around the picturesque bay of La Concha, the town is enclosed by rolling, low hills and is a popular holiday resort for the Spanish. The reason for its second [View Full Entry]

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