That beige Polonez: EUROTRIP 2014

[SambaS]

After a whistle stop of Valle Maggia (the magic valley) and Ascona we headed down the East of Lake Maggiore towards the border.

 

Italy:

 

Once over the border we set the sat nav for a camp site. What awaited us had huge sliding metal gates to keep (i dont want to know in/out), and a gypsy looking woman who asked for our passports and gave us a very distrusting look, which was returned.

 

The place had a lot of lean to's crudely nailed to the side of old caravans. We paid our 18e and were shown to our gravel campervan pitch for the tent?

 

Not in the mood for an argument/ gypsy fight we stfu and put the tent up. Next problem was the ants. We burned them away and made dinner on the camp stove.

 

 

 

Had to walk past groups of older men who looked like the would kill us, hanging about in the avenues on this site to get to the toilet block. very very strange feel to the place and we didnt feel much welcome.

 

And then was met with this:

 

 

After sundown we went to the bar and drank then all became well again.

[mat_the_cat]

 

 

Those toilets always remind me of my first time abroad, when I was around 17 and I'd never seen or heard of this type of bog before. We were travelling by train and generally sleeping on them overnight. After several days with no shower I was looking forwards to Venice, as I'd read that the railway station had showers!

 

Imagine my surprise when the first shower* cubicle I went in had a very small shower tray, and a plughole which looked like you could catch your ankle in. Undeterred, I made my way to the next cubicle, where some dirty bastard had crimped off a length in the tray! I never did find the real showers...

[vulgalour]

Mini-El!  Superb spottage, amongst many superb spottages and some truly gorgeous scenery.  Gypsy woman was probably suspicious of your decadent* and futuristic* choice of transport.

[SambaS]

Day 5:

 

 

We left the campsite early and set the satnav for Milan. Once there we parked up and had a mooch about.

 

 

 

 

?

 

 

 

This place looked pretty cool from the motorway so we stopped for a tea break.

 

 

 

 

 

Please be a Vatican City registered TR7.. still haven't looked up the numberplate to check.

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Then we drove to Venice... I didn't realise you could take a car there.

 

This carpark cost 30e for 2 hours, as the short stay was full, we just paid the 24 hour one which only had the one tarif!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

While on Venice we decided seeing as Slovenia was nearby we'd go for a skeg:

 

[SambaS]

Day 6:

 

No idea where we ended up sleeping in Slovenia, the first place we tried, a proper camp site was over run by a Citroen Club, but being tired I didn't get any pictures. i just wanted to stop driving and the news that I couldn't yet, wasn't at all amusing.

 

We ended up 1 mile out of that town sleeping in the car. Not ideal.

 

 

 

[SambaS]

However it was well worth the detour. I fucking love Slovenia!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Stopped for a much needed coffee in a place called Koper, and learned the Slovenian for propshaft from a friendly local

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

The sea was wet and the Volvos, brown.

 

 

 

 

 

One especially for Corsaviour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dollywobbler]

 

 

http://s15.postimg.org/y0dyta0ob/WP_20140622_022.jpg

 

WOW!

[Sigmund Fraud]

 

Please be a Vatican City registered TR7.. still haven't looked up the numberplate to check.

 

[anorak] The TR7 is from Varese, I'm afraid. Vatican plates are SCV (Stato de la Citta de Vaticano). "SCV 1" is the Pope's plate, naturally. [/anorak]

[Noel Tidybeard]

WOW!

quite

[SambaS]

Another bonus country:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim Bergerac]

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHWOAR. Never realised that they went so far in facelifting these. Looks like a pretty desperate attempt to modernise it. WANT LEVEL reached.

[vulgalour]

It's like the more you drive, the better the quality of the spots along the way combined with some beautiful scenery.

[SambaS]

After leaving Umag in Croatia we headed back through Slovenia, and into Italy for a treck over the Alps to Austria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Felt a bit weird trying to take in the beauty of this place as we had to divert. A couple of bikers had an accident only seconds before, I think we were the 3rd car to stop. One biker was on the floor body down head up on fire along with his bike, the other flew about 60 ft over a fence into a locked car park. I wondered at first why no one was dragging the man out of the flames but his neck was broke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Day 7:

 

As you can see there nice 2 ltr jugs of beer. I think we had 2 each then went onto 1/2 pints with everyone else.

 

What happened next nobody knows. It has been erased from both out memories but we woke up with a flat battery. Thankfully car in same spot. Here are some mystey photos from in the tavern:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sappada:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Austria:

 

We just got over the Italy-Austria border to a pez station and encountered a problem. I was waiting on my wages hitting my bank the next day and was broke. Tom had lost his travel money card thing so we were pretty much stuck. I drove round the back of the pez station under the motorway bridge and found this lake "Brennersee". Here we managed to negotiate some funds from back home and be on our way to Innsbruck.

 

We also bought an Austrian Vignette to use the motorways though probably could have done without.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of working girls in Innsbruck. That's about my only lasting memory. Other than the ride down into it being quite nice.

[SambaS]

Day 8

 

We woke up early, we'd driven back up the mountain to get away from the city hoping it would be safer to put the tent up.

 

We headed West through Austria towards Liechtenstein.

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Once in Liechtenstein we set the sat nav for the nearest Burger King and headed straight back out again into Switzerland.

 

After a good feed and wanting to see more of Liechtenstein we headed for a place right up the Alps called Malbun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did a lot of "up" before the road came to an end.

 

Then we decided to try walk right to the top of this Alp.

[SambaS]

 

 

 

 

We wanted to get to this pole. But the mist came, it got steeper, and at one point I slipped and slid down a few meters which scared the shit out of me, so we decided it was probably not worth dieing for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Coming down from Malbun we encountered what some may consider a bit of a problem. One bend prior I had pointed out to Tom that the crash barrier was no longer and it was a sheer drop to certain death, how did he feel being on the right, looking down.

 

 

 

 

 

Next bend I went to brake and noting happened. I shouted FUCK!!!! Tom jumped and wondered what was up, in those few seconds I considered crashing into the wall on the right to stop, I went for first and pumped the brake and probably the handbrake too and somehow the car came to a stop.

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

[philibusmo]

This is one awesome trip. Keep the updates coming as each chod spot and Polonez malady is keeping me interested.

 

It's giving me ideas for my own continental tour, just not the same continent.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Amazing thread. I've just procrastinated for the last half hour, reading it from the start. What happened to the Scottish FSO save and what sort of cost did your road trip end up totalling? Really fancy doing something similar, but would need to try and convince my fiancée!

Also, what happened next?

[SambaS]

The green Polonez is still scheduled to be back on the road next year, I think the last few panels are in the post from Poland.

 

Total cost in fuel for the trip was £650.98

 

But £150 of that was paid to the ADAC

[SambaS]

After the brakes cooled off we gingerly headed down and into Switzerland to stay with my stepdad's brother for a few days in Rapperswil near lake Zurich.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

Yes, yes that has just melted off.  Scary stuff!  This is a proper adventure.

[SambaS]

Once over the German border we headed through the black forest to find a camp site.