"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 (tunnels are 100), so cruise-control is the order of the day. Trucks are limited to 100, so they ALL sit in the slow lane: it's a wonderful system.
Driving in Italy is slightly different. In Switzerland and Austria you buy 'vignettes' - little stickers that say you have X days unlimited motorway travel (awesome system). Italy still has toll gates, but at every entrance and exit from the motorways. You get a ticket at the start, and then you pay a certain amount depending where you get off. Expensive too.
We arrived at Hotel Cris (again, Venice Mestre) early enough for a quick train-hop to Venice. This time Dad and I took the boat through the canals to San Marco, and then we retraced my parents steps two years ago. We found where they's stayed and where they'd eaten, and Dad enjoyed the detour down Memory Lane. Next morning was shopping time for a few hours, then we continued on our way.
We are currently in Ferrara (no typo), and today was a momentous occasion.
I plugged 'Maranello' into the GPS, and we went to see the factory where Ferrari was first conceived. Unfortunately they only offer factory tours to those who own one of these machines. We drove past it a few times, trying to get a glimpse of something, but we gave up and went to the Ferrari Galerie, their museum down the road. It was small, very informative, and featured some exquisite cars.
The drive back to Ferrara was fun - the GPS has a feature to avoid toll roads, which led to a few back-street blitzes - all narrow, curvy roads.
Hopefully things go well tomorrow as we visit the other Italian sculptor of cars: Lamborghini. Looking forward to that one. After which we have a night in Florence.
That concludes this chapter. I just hope this blog conveys even 1/1000th of the fun I'm having everyday!
Catch you later
I'm 25 and I'm FINALLY leaving my country of birth. My main interests are cars, computers and gadgets; I'm your typical geek. This trip is going to be several million miles outside my comfort zone, but then that's the best way to get to know yourself (or so I keep hearing...)
Should be interesting... full info
Not Fair!! Hey Steven
It sounds like you are having a terrific time!!! I wish I was back in Europe!!!!! I miss it!!!! Did any of the car places sell souveniers or do they just sell cars? hahaha
Have a great time :)
Andrea
Andrea
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Not Fair!!
Hey Steven It sounds like you are having a terrific time!!! I wish I was back in Europe!!!!! I miss it!!!! Did any of the car places sell souveniers or do they just sell cars? hahaha Have a great time :) Andrea