GiantSteve

Quick, everyone, high-5. If you asked me 6 months ago if I thought I could successfully circumnavigate Europe, even with Sat-Nav, I probably would have said "Yeah, sounds like fun" before scurrying back to my room never to be heard from again (my family is used to this). But thats exactly what I have done. As of right now I'm in Kent, England. To catch up: Avignon is a big walled city. And I mean walled: it looks like it could have been built last week - it's fully intact, about 5 metres high and has parapets every couple hundred yards. I think the only hope invaders had was if they happened to bring a ramp and a monster truck. Or Chuck Norris. Anyway, the first thing I spotted was a gigantic building called the Palais ... read more

Yes, it's me again. I wanted to add more to the previous entry, but the shop was closing up. So Monaco is just a huge piece of (ongoing) construction sitting on the side of a big hill. I think the train station is built *into* a cliff! And the cars...mm mm tasty! Ferraris, Lambos, Maseratis, even a couple of American muscles. And the scooters. For every car you see 5 scooters - it was the same in Italy. They fill every gap like mud through pebbles, even going 2 or 3 abreast down the other side of the road. I look at my map and think "Hmm, only about an hour before I have to head for Avignon. What do I defenitely want to do?" The Monaco Aquarium. Its an old building perched on the side ... read more

As you know, I left off last time right in the middle of what we in the trade call "a good bit". Having seen a few Ferraris's in a museum, I was happy, but there was something missing. There was a large, supercar-shaped hole within me, and Ferrari unfortunately failed to fill it. I wouldn't say I was disappointed, but I needed more. Please welcome Number 12 Via Modena, Sant'Agata: Lamborghini. We turned up, hoping to see something special in the carpark, but it was full of Audis. We made our way to the museum, housed in the same massive building as the factory. Now, I had emailed Lamboghini a few days before to try to arrange a tour, but hadn't received anything in return - I retained a tiny margin of hope. And hope came ... read more

Moran Freeman narrating "Yes, the pilgrimage. Today, being March 13th 2008, was the day that we would arrive at the place where it all began..." Disclaimer: Sorry ladies, there's lots of cars and driving in this one. Hoo boy I do love driving! Salzburg (Austria) to Venice (Italy) was the next leg of our trip. 500-odd k's of long highways and longer tunnels. There is still lots of snow on the mountains and I still struggled to keep my eyes on the road. The highways carved between mountains like an ice-skaters blade, seperating everything in its path. Where the mountains got in the way, the Austrians proved their tunnel-building skills with some 8km-long monsters. I can never get sick of this! All these countries - except Germany - tend to have motorway speed limits of 130kph ... read more

Sorry for the slight delay, we've been having too much fun! Yes, this edition of GiantSteve's Excellent Adventure features castles. I have to admit that I knew that the next stop on this trip would be a special one. Ever since German classes in eighth grade - when I first saw pictures of Neuschwanstein - I realised that you didn't get much closer to the castles of fantasy than this one. We drove into Hohenschwangau, which is the little town overlooked by the castle, amid a light smattering of snow. We got tickets and breakfasted, and before long realised that the tour started in 25 minutes, and it was a 1/2 hour walk up the hill. Well, there's nothing we Opperman's like more than a challenge, so after setting a good pace, sharing a few taunts ... read more

I tell you what, this trip is throwing me from one amazing event to the next! I'll set the scene: I arrive safely in Lyon, whereupon I start looking around for hotels. Now Lyon has 2 stations - Part Deiu and Perrache. I got off at Part Dieu, as that was where the train/bus to the airport was (I picked up the Peugeot at the airport). So I wander for an hour, only finding full hotels. It's 10pm so I train to Perrache to try my luck there. I wander around a bit more before sitting on the steps to a small church (remember, I'm carrying a 25kg backpack) and open my Europe guide to find more hostels. Not 5 minutes goes by before a young lady walks past, and offers to help me. After a ... read more

OK, that ends our little Intermission, so grab your popcorn and take a seat, its time for Lorsch Part II. I'm going to outline the little morning routine we've sorted out in Haus Schleissman. I'll wake up somewhere between 8 and 9am. I'll head downstairs to find Marianna brewing the first pot of coffee for the day. We'll chat a bit in simple English/German and then I head back upstairs to figure out what to wear, based purely on what doesn't smell (Kidding Mum, I have actually done some washing during this trip). 15 minutes later breakfast will be on the table: bread rolls, cheeses, jams and meats. Come to think of it, we eat the same thing for dinner too. Both are family affairs, and we even see the elusive Fabian on occasion. Anyway, enough ... read more

''In the last episode, our intrepid adventurers had conquered Western Italy and were keen to tackle the East coast. Let's join them as their train pulls into Venice.'' Thank you Mister Voice-over Man. For starters, we weren't actually staying in Venice. We got off one station earlier at Venice Menstre, which is like Venice's driveway. Everything going to Venice passes through here. It makes the hotels much cheaper though. We were staying about 5 minutes from the station, and the woman who ran it has been the most helpful person we've met so far. She gave us maps, showed us bus and train timetables, and they've just renovated all the rooms. Nice. As has usually been the case, we had one afternoon and then one whole day to look around, so we quickly got to it. ... read more