ACDC World Tour

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 resulted in us doing a kind of international hokey cokey as we switched from one country to the other and back again on several occasions. Eventually we arrived in the extreme south west of Germany and ... read more

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 take the overnight ferry from the eastern port of Bari - that turned out to be an “interesting” experience too.............. It didn’t help that, upon arriving at the ferry port, we hadn’t got a clue what was ... read more

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 turns of the coastline, the road stays pretty much straight and I reckon at least 60% of the journey was made through long dark tunnels or on elevated bridges stretching over deep ravines. A couple of hours ... read more

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 but chill out in unbroken sunshine cooled by copious bottles of rose wine and delicious homemade margaritas. I say we did “almost nothing” as Martin and Sue are having a pergola built at the bottom ... read more

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. As we made our over the border from Spain and headed south through Portugal it soon became obvious this is another country with many areas of extraordinary beauty. First stop was in Ponte de Lima, ... read more