Euro Trip 2009

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FRIDAY 31 JULY

No sooner had I got off my second long haul flight and 24 hours travel I was hurriedly making my way home to repack my bag for our Eurotrip! As soon as I got in the door I had a quick shower and then started packing my bag full of summer clothes before Rob burst through the door! In less than one hour we were on our way!

We made our way onto the motorway and soon realised that we were definitely not going to make our ferry! The traffic was absolutely horrendous! We were preparing ourselves for the fact that we might have to pay an entire new fare to catch a later ferry and when we pulled up at the ticket office some one hour after our scheduled ferry departed we were informed that it was only going to cost us £10 to travel on the next one which was such a relief!

The ferry trip over was a bit of a blur and I found myself falling asleep in Rob’s lap! We made it to Calais and Rob had to learn in an instant how to drive on the wrong side of the road in a car which was made for right hand driving! He did very well! We made it as far as Antwerp before pulling into a services and having a sleep!

SATURDAY 1 AUGUST

So after some time consuming detours we found ourselves driving in circles so we then decided simply to find any sign that pointed toward Rotterdam after which we assumed we would then see signs to Amsterdam! Several hours later we pulled into the camping ground we intended to stay at for a couple of nights and whilst I am quite open minded the look and feel of the place and the people staying there seemed a bit strange! It looked like some sort of hippy commune and I must say that when the reception staff said they were booked out and gave us a map with other camping grounds in the vicinity I did breathe a sigh of relief!

In the end it worked out really well and we found a ‘normal’ camping ground which was right next to a metro station! After some much needed relaxing we headed into the city only to find out the it was the gay pride festival weekend and there was people absolutely everywhere! The atmosphere was fun to begin with but as the night wore on people began getting messy and worse for wear and the fun gleam started to lose its glow! Rob had always told me that you could get hot food from vending machines and he was rapt when we found the store! You literally walk in and there is all different types of fast food in these glass boxes and you simply pick what you want, pop the money in and open up the slot and pull the food out! Genius! After a few beers I was almost asleep in my chair from jetlag so we headed back to the van for a well deserved rest!

SUNDAY 2 AUGUST

Today we headed out for some sightseeing and again Rob was on the hunt for a certain type of fast food, fries in a cone with your choice of sauce! I could tell from day two that my diet was going to suffer on this trip and as if it wasn’t already after I stuffed myself with all my favourite foods whilst I was back in Melbourne! The city was absolutely trashed from all the festivities and had this strange unpleasant smell but we made the most of it before heading back to the van.

MONDAY 3 AUGUST

Although we had mapped out an itinerary for the trip it was at this point that we decided we should just wing it and decide on a daily basis where we wanted to go. We got an early start and decided to drive to Cologne, Germany.

On our way to Cologne we took a detour to a small village called Odenspiel which holds importance in Rob’s family history. Robyn advised us to look for any graves from members of the Oberlaender family and we had success! We found a family grave along with an individual grave for Adolf Oberlaender and after this we took a walk around the village before continuing our journey to Cologne.

We arrived at a caravan park in a town called Poll on the outskirts of the city and set up for the night. The caravan park backed onto the Rhine river. After cooking some dinner we walked to the tram depot and made our way into the city centre which was easy. The city itself was very accessible, trendy and easy to get around. The highlight of the city was Cologne Cathedral which was absolutely incredible. After travelling to many parts of the world and seeing many cathedrals this was the most impressive I have seen. Upon entering the cathedral we were greeted by the bellowing and eerie sound of the massive organ which echoed throughout the whole cathedral. We then ate a bratwurst (as you do in Germany) and headed back to the van for a rest.

TUESDAY 4 AUGUST

After changing our plans yet again we decided that today we would drive into Bavaria and stop at a town called Bamberg overnight. We stopped in Wurzburg for lunch before continuing on. We found a caravan park on the outskirts of town again and once we had relaxed for a while and had some dinner we drove into town to have a look around. The town was really quite cute, for lack of better words, and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. We found that Bamberg had a special type of beer on offer, a smoked beer! On first sip the smokiness was so evident and tasted almost bacon like!

WEDNESDAY 6 AUGUST

Today we had a long drive ahead of us from Bamberg into Austria, stopping in the city of Salzburg overnight. Salzburg was lovely and almost like a larger version of Bamberg, but maybe a tiny bit less cute! We went out for dinner for the first time and Rob had the obligatory wiener schnitzel whilst I had some traditional sausages with sauerkraut and salad, was delicious! We explored the town for a few more hours and then headed back to the van.

THURSDAY 7 AUGUST

After yet another consult with our lonely planet guidebook we decided to head for the town of Bled, Slovenia! I had heard nothing but good things about the town and it would call for some more scenic driving so off we went! After the first couple of hours of driving on some pretty small and winding roads we noticed that the motorway was constantly about 100m above us and it was only until a considerable amount of time later that we realised that we had the ‘tolls off’ setting on the GPS and that was probably the reason why it took us so much longer to get everywhere thus far! There was a couple of touch and go moments on some 18% inclines on our way to and through the Julian Alps, Rob was in first gear and if he had stalled Dilbert there was no way he would have been able to start again! Rob kept a cool head and got us through and several hours later we arrived at bustling Bled! The area was packed and we weren’t even sure if we would be able to get a space in the caravan park as the staff told us they were booked out and that we could drive around in there and look to see if there was any space in the non-reserved areas. Things were looking grim and then I saw the staff member riding around the park and hailed him over and luckily he found us a spot, only because a group of people travelling together who had paid for two sites were only occupying one of them!! So after settling in we began chatting to a family next to us who were from Nottingham and ended up just relaxing and enjoying the heat with some wine for the rest of the evening.

FRIDAY 8 AUGUST

Today we enjoyed one of a few leisurely mornings where we didn’t have to leave at 7-8am to move on elsewhere! We spent the day hiking and exploring the area. We walked around the lake which is about 6km around and got some great photographs.

SATURDAY 9 AUGUST

Today we packed up and drove to another town in the Julian Alps called Bohinj which is far less populated but no less spectacular. After having lunch we then made our way to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

We arrived at the campsite and encountered the first of many Contiki buses, yuck! After setting up Dilbert we caught the bus into the city and had a look around. We hiked up to the castle atop a hill which gave views of a still soviet looking city, not really the prettiest sight! Maybe it was because we didn’t have enough time to explore or maybe it was just a small city but we found that we had completed a couple of laps of the main city area in a couple of hours! So we sat down and had a meal (I had the most disgusting chicken Caesar salad ever, I’m talking do you want some salad with your sauce!) and then caught the bus back to the campsite! We were camped next to another Ford transit van and spent the night having a few drinks with them before calling it a night.

SUNDAY 10 AUGUST

Today we set off for Italy!! Our first destination was Venice! We made it through Slovenia without having to buy a Vignette which was a relief. We were quite surprised that we had made it as far as we did without paying any tolls! We arrived in Venice in the early afternoon and after setting up we relaxed for a while before I went to check my e-mails. It was today that I realised that I was successful in my application to Ambulance Victoria, what a relief! Feeling quite pleased with myself we caught the ferry to the city and began to explore the canals and proceeded to become lost! The city was thriving with tourists and we ate huge slices of pizza for dinner and a couple of beers! As the sun was going down we caught the ferry back to the campsite and retired for the evening.

MONDAY 11 AUGUST

Today we headed off for our second Italian city, Florence! Today was quite a long and tiring drive and we didn’t make it to Florence until mid afternoon. We wearily dragged ourselves down the hill which our caravan park was atop. The city itself was beautiful. The most impressive was The Duomo (Florence Cathedral), the architecture was absolutely amazing and the size was so impressive. We walked for hours and went to every single landmark on the map! We definitely agreed that we enjoyed Florence more than Venice. Later that evening we made our way back to van for a well deserved rest.

TUESDAY 12 AUGUST

This morning was go go go! We set off just past 7am and headed for Pisa to see the Leaning Tower! We managed to find a car park and raced down to take the obligatory pushing on the tower photos along with some other generic tourist poses before racing back to the car to make our way to the far west coast of Italy to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a group of five towns along the rugged coastline of the Italian Riviera and they are all linked by a steep, craggy and strenuous walking path which is roughly 10km long. Up until recent times it was the only way to go between the towns. We managed to find a park at the top of the cliffs and waited for a shuttle bus which took us down to the very first town Riomaggiore. From there we walked to the next town of Manorola down ‘Lovers Lane’ which was a short and easy 20 minute walk. From there we continued on to the next town of Corniglia which took about an hour. The temperature was quite warm and well over 30 degrees so by the time we made it here we were hot and bothered so we hiked down to the marina and went for a well deserved swim! Afterwards we hiked all the way back up the hill (not fun) and continued on to the fourth town of Vernazza. This part of the journey was quite strenuous with steep hills, narrow track and unstable terrain. I don’t quite know how Rob made it in his thongs! After a brief break we soldiered on to the fifth and final town of Monterosso al Mare which was the longest walk of them all. Again it was quite strenuous but the scenery was amazing and we were motivated by the fact that we weren’t too far away from our dinner!

We arrived at Monterosso al Mare at around 7pm and Rob took me out for a celebratory dinner in light of my recent job success. We had the most seafoody (clearly not a word but for lack of a more appropriate one) dinner we have ever had! After a nice meal and a nice Italian beer we caught the train back through the mountains to the first town and caught the shuttle bus but up to Dilbert before crashing out for the evening!

WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST

Today we set off not really knowing where we wanted to stop but eventually decided on Lake Como in Northern Italy in preparation for an early start into Switzerland the next day. After arriving in Como and having a brief look around we realised that we couldn’t really park anywhere appropriate and after I cooked Rob dinner he said he felt he could drive on so we decided to head for the Alps as far as we could before it got dark!

Not long after we crossed over the Swiss border (having to buy a rip off vignette for $40) and before we knew it the scenery was completely different. After driving for an hour or so we entered a tunnel and it seemed to keep going. I noticed a 16km sign first and then a 15km sign and that was when we realised we were in the midst of a 17km tunnel! By the end of it we couldn’t wait to get out but wow!

We began our ascent up through the Swiss Alps and the landscape was just incredible, surpassing anything I had ever seen before. We made several stops on the way for photographs and as we continued along we both thought we could hear a constant jingle type noise, we then saw a herd of cows on a hill and pulled over to hear them jingling away! It was hilarious!

We made it a little further up when the night really began to set in, we found a huge carpark with other campervans so we settled down there for the night and I must admit out of everywhere we stayed for the whole trip and even though we were free camping, I felt the most safe! We got out the camping chairs and sat down and watched the fog come over us with a bottle of red!

THURSDAY 14 AUGUST

We awoke to see that the fog had cleared and hikers were already setting off on their treks. We set off towards Lauterbrunnen. We made it to our destination at Camping Jungfrau in the late morning and set up for the next two nights. Today we spent relaxing and exploring the sights which included a massive freefalling waterfall which flowed in the direction that the wind was blowing at the time. We climbed up a hill and got a better view before walking into town to have a look around. That evening we cooked up a nice meal and relaxed.

FRIDAY 15 AUGUST

This morning we got up and went to check out Trummelbach Falls. It was a huge waterfall inside a mountain which included a corkscrew like flow of water through the mountain, very impressive. We then drove to other nearby towns including Grindelwald and then went to Interlaken for lunch.

After lunch we headed up into the Alps for some photo opportunities for Rob before heading back to the campsite. Something I ate did not agree with me so I spent most of the night writhing in pain! Luckily we set the TV up and had an English channel so we spent the night watching television and had an early night.

SATURDAY 16 AUGUST

Today we set off to Luxembourg, our final destination before heading back to London! The drive was quite a long one and we eventually made it to Luxembourg City in the late afternoon. We spent a couple of hours exploring the city and had some dinner before heading back to Dilbert and making the decision to try and drive as far as we could toward Calais before pulling over in a services for the night to try and reduce the amount of driving for the next day.

SUNDAY 17 AUGUST

Can’t believe today is the last day of the trip! It has flown by! We awoke early morning and made our way toward Calais. Our ferry was due to depart at 1640hrs but we were hoping for the possibility of transferring onto an earlier one. We arrived in Calais at around 11am and I went and spoke to the people at Seafrance who informed me that we could transfer onto the 1520hrs ferry for free. So we decided to have a small drive around before heading back to the boarding area. After some lunch and purchasing some cheap alcohol we headed back to the docks and lined up and went through immigration. As we pulled up at the ticket office we explained the situation and the lady said she would put us on the 1320hrs ferry! We were very happy and got home to London just after 5pm!

What a trip!

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