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. [View Full Entry]

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Have you ever sat in your car in your driveway and thought "Hmm, I hope there aren't any sharp objects that could puncture my tyres around here"? No? Me neither. No, my brain likes to throw me that question just as I'm hurtling around a bend on the Italian highway at 130kph, with mountains on one side and a sheer drop into nothingness on the other. And then your mind's eye plays a little movie just to show you what might happen. It doesn't inspire confidence. Anyway, Jesi and Ancona. Tiffany and her cousin Margaret were terrific hosts, telling me about [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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<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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Just a very quick update to tide you all over (I know you all wait with baited breath...). The drive to Swizerland from the French Alps was magic! Just mountains and snow eveywhere. I met a couple of English guys heading for the Motorshow so I tagged along with them. Next morning I dropped in at the Airport to pick up my one and only father, who'd decided I was having too much fun by myself. We went to the Motorshow again (I really didn't mind, they have a Bugatti Veyron there!) and for some strange reason Dad figured I needed [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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''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 [View Full Entry]

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