Driving

ROAD TRIP 2016

Another road trip!
For me it's the best way of spending a few days. Driving.
This year 2016 my wife and I went on a road trip passing by several cities and countries we have never been in or we wanted to go back here in Europe, and the final choice can be seen in the map:

Road Trip 2016

Day 1

Porto, PT to Bordeaux, FR -- 1000km

First day, a long day to go from Porto direct to Bordeaux, France. About 1000km or 10 hours. Just a bit boring, nothing to remember. It's the 'price' for living in one 'side' of Europe.
On arriving as I already know Bordeaux I choose a restaurant and a hotel outside of town so it would be easier and faster to have dinner, go rest and next day start early.

Bordeaux, France

Perhaps because it was weekend I drove by many trucks just parked.

Day 2

Bordeaux, FR to Dijon, FR -- 670km

Next morning the weather was grey with some light rain, and the day went by with nothing noticeable. To cross France is terribly monotonous, always the same landscape, the same highway, the same speed. Boooring.

Crossing France

After 7 hours driving we arrived at Dijon and went to check in at a small hotel, not expensive, a farm house from the XVI century updated to our days.

Hotel Le Sauvage

The small things were a delight to see, like our bedroom ceiling

Dijon Hotel room

Even my Honda Civic Tourer had a special garage to sleep in, it had been an animal area many years ago

Dijon Hotel garage

Time to go see the town. I like to chose a hotel near the old part so I can walk, much more pleasant than to drive again. I like to drive but not in towns.
Dijon is a nice town

Dijon, France

Nice to walk, nice houses, lots of people. A bit cold as it is October.

An amazing roof that shines! Common in eastern european countries it is a pleasure to look at, specially in sunny days.

Dijon, France

There were many metallic owls on the side walks all pointing to the cathedral, so we were told; couldn't verify.

When travelling we try to have a light lunch sometimes in a café by the road or in a burger house or similar, and have dinner in a restaurant.
We walk on the streets and when we see a restaurant that looks nice and with acceptable prices we go in.
Here in Dijon we found an old typography now transformed in restaurant; lots of books and old machines. Our table was in a kind of mezzanine. Very nice.

I was able to see the start of a F1 GP!

The food was good as usual in France. Probably the best country when talking about food.

Day 3
Dijon, FR to Würtzburg, DE -- 580km

Now to Würtzburg in Germany. I picked this town because it was in our route. As hotels in Germany are expensive I looked and looked for one not so expensive and found one; only it was so bad I regret having choose it. I got a cold during the night. Terrible.

But first, in the road to Würtzburg I stopped in a rest or service area and there was this strange Peugeot.

Peugeot

I had an idea of seeing photos some years ago, and enjoyed seeing it now.

After checking in at the hotel in Würtzburg we went to see the city. It was rainy and a bit cold so the impact was not the best. It looked nice, though.

Würtzburg, Germany

The main church was a bit different with it's bright colours...

Würtzburg, Germany

...and statues of Adam and Eve by the front door

There is an habit of drinking a glass of wine standing by a Bar at the end of the day, a bit like we use to go to a café to have a beer here in Portugal

By a pedonal bridge

Then Berlin.

Day 4
Würtzburg, DE to Berlin, DE -- 480km

Driving here in Germany is a bit different because there are no speed limits. Well, to be exact there are areas with no speed limits and other areas with speed limits. And there are a lot of cars. So we can't relax, and almost no use of cruise control.
Also there's a rule different from other countries: when someone turns on the signal to change lanes then that someone gains the priority and the other cars have to slow down or even brake a bit. And no one gets mad!
At first it was a bit confusing but then I got the hand of it and works great. No one minds of going in the right lane, the slow lane, because knows that can change to a faster lane anytime without care.

Berlin, Germany

In Berlin time for family, always a good time.

Day 5
Berlin, DE to Wroclaw, PL -- 340km

From Berlin we went to a country where I had never been, Poland.
It was October and the scenery was beautiful with all the autumn colours.
Wroclaw was a German city with name Breslau till the II war. It's something strange for me see so many border changes as Portugal has the same borders almost as always.

In the border I stopped to buy the vignette but the cars don't need it. Nice! I also bought some currency as I was leaving the EURO zone. Hope some day Poland use EUROS also, it makes travel and in general life easier.
After that the highway was terrible with some type of small defects that made me hope for the best as the car was shaking horribly. That was for about an hour and the rest of the highway was normal.

Wroclaw is a city not famous but very nice and pleasant.

Wroclaw, Poland

It was destroyed during the II war in 70 or 80% and rebuilt. Is now a pleasure to walk by.

We did a tour in a tuktuk so we could learn a bit more.

WW2 bomb in Wroclaw, Poland

In this church wall there was a bomb from the war. It didn't explode so they decided to keep it there as a memory for the future.

In the streets there were many gnomes, near a hundred so we were told.

Gnome

Downtown everything was very nice and tidy and clean and a lot of people walking even with the cold we could feel although it was just October

Wroclaw, Poland

Here our room had twin beds - they told us it's the normal; if wanting a one bed room then we had to ask for.

Lotus Hotel

We wanted to buy a bottle of a medicine common in Portugal so we went to a pharmacy; they hadn't but they looked in the internet and made a small bottle of it! Nice!

The dinner was at a restaurant as we usually do, and try to find interesting but not expensive one. This one was in a old house.

Restaurant

And a nice bar for a hot chocolate

BAR

When driving in foreign countries there is always some stress so the help of these signs is welcome

Street signs in Wroclaw, Poland

A good surprise. I left Poland with the wish to be back .

Day 6
Wroclaw, PL to Brno, CZ -- 290km

It's possible to go by the highway but I decided to go by a back road because it was closer and I could see different landscape.

And it turned out to be a beautiful road full of autumn colours.

Autumn colours

Just light traffic, very peaceful countryside and cold.

The border as usual in the European Union was simple, a sign and little else, and a sign to go buy a vignette

Just €8,80 waaaaaaay cheaper than Portugal
In the end of the trip my Honda front window looked like this

The scenery continued to be amazing

Here a small video along the road

Just beautiful

Brno is a big city but nice.
We stayed at a hotel in the top floor

Cyro Hotel in Brno, CZ

The view from the hotel was colourful

Time to see the city - a big, monumental city but nice to walk around. A lot of walking as the city is a big one.

Brno

Tram in Brno

People and tram share the streets without a problem.

Day 7
Brno, CZ to Graz, AU -- 320km

Early morning, and the car temp indicating 4ºC. That's cold for october.

4ºC

Graz is a big city, monumental. Lots of people outside sharing the streets with tram, no problem.

Graz

We went in a lift (funicular) to a park up a hill to see the views.

Graz

It was an extense area with interesting details. A clock tower and a bell tower to warn the city about big problems.

Graz

A stone with lots of cities and the distance -- Lisbon is just 2198km away!

Graz

Downhill we took the stairs - a lot of them!

Around the city we could see many old buildings, here the opera house

Graz Opera House

We found a nice restaurant where we had dinner. And I thought at last I'll try one of the famous sausage!
As my knowledge of german is almost non existent, I found the word wurst in the menu and asked for it as appetizer.
What came was just cold ham :( nevertheless the whole meal was quite good.

Day 8
Graz, AU to Trieste, IT -- 320km crossing Slovenia

From Graz we went to Trieste in Italy. We crossed Slovenia. The border had a strange decoration

Austria - Slovenia border

And another stop to buy a vignete, a stamp to put on the windscreen. This one was €10,90 and valid for a few days, a week I think. Not bad.
As it was our second time in Slovenia and we already know the capital, Ljubljana, we went through Maribor. A nice town.

Maribor, Slovenia

Just cruising around we went by a small area like suburbs

Maribor, Slovenia

No cars!
Crossing Slovenia we did a short stop for a light lunch. Whenever possible it's picnic style.

Somewhere in Slovenia

Then we arrived in Trieste.
Some trouble to find the hotel as it was in a no cars street, but we did find it. Also a Park near by as usual.
After carrying the bags by hand more than usual, time to see Trieste.

Trieste, Italy

It was full of people. And being an harbor there was a big boat just near the street

Trieste, Italy

A very nice town

Trieste, Italy

Also very old monuments; this church was something

Near All'Arco Hotel inTrieste, Italy

Also by night the main square looked amazing perhaps a bit too white light

Trieste, Italy by night

Day 9
Trieste, IT to Venice, IT -- 160km

So near and yet so long to get there! It was sunday morning, the highway went fast but the long bridge to get to the Parks was full of cars - stop and go for an hour!

With the car in the P time to get the Vaporetto to go to the hotel.
It was a modest hotel but was expensive! Only much more late when back home I found out that it was a special day, some kind of festivity I couldn't find more info about. The prices were about 3 times the normal.

Time to walk around Venice and get lost in those narrow streets.
It was my first time in Venice and I could verify by myself why is so famous. I totally agree!

Venice, Italy

Soooo maaaaany people! And it was the end of october!

Venice, Italy

Day 10
Venice, IT to Albissola, Savona, IT -- 520km via Modena

Getting out of Venice was easy and driving around also easy - Italy is a big place and there are areas where it's difficult to drive and other areas where it's easy.

The highlight of the day was of course the Ferrari Museum in Modena. Wait! It says Maranello!
That's because there are two Ferrari Museums, one in Modena and another in Maranello. I just typed museu ferrari in the satnav/gps and followed the route.
As I didn't know that, I have a good reason to go back - to see the other Ferrari museum.

I choose Albissola because was a good driving distance for the day. I could have pick Genova also but I already know it and I consider it's not interesting.

Albissola, Italy

The view from the hotel we stayed in

View from Acqua Marina Hotel

A good place to rest by the Mediterranean sea

Day 11
Albissola, IT to Beziers, FR -- 450km

Ah! Côte d'Azur!

Beziers is one of the oldest cities in Europe, but not one of the prettiest with lots of buildings in need of some work.
A cathedral easier to look at from a distance as close by there are many old buildings blocking the view.

Beziers, France

A curious mural painting - looked quite real

Beziers, France

Here I had a hot chocolate too many - got sick and skiped dinner :(
My car stayed overnight in a car Park near by the hotel; it had something unique

Beziers, France

It had a kind of a roll between the car places so we could open the doors without damaging the other car.

Day 12
Beziers, FR to Biarritz, FR -- 480km via Carcassonne, FR

The south of France is really easy so we decided to go by Carcassonne. It's a very famous town and we already had been there but that day it was holliday so the main part was closed to the public - these french are crazy.
Not this day so we could enjoy the very old walls and buildings

Carcassonne, France

A nice area with lots of cafe, restaurants and shops

Carcassonne, France

After a few km we arrived at Biarritz, the last city where we were staying overnight in this roadtrip.

Biarritz, France

A beautiful town where the houses and buildings look as they had been recently painted, everything very clean and nice. It's a beach town but it was November so we enjoyed just walking around.
Good for a last night in a long roadtrip