Living in a city sometimes makes it difficult to go off road, because distance may be a factor to take into consideration.
This time me and my wife drove for 5 hours living my town, Porto, on a Friday afternoon just to get to the starting point. It was almost midnight when we arrived so just collected the roadbook, numbers for the car doors (got the number 4), some other stuff from the organization the Automovel Clube de Portugal (acp), and off to rest. A very nice and comfortable hotel in the middle of Alentejo area, south east of Portugal.
My 99 Honda CR-V
Next morning time to get up early, apply the stickers on the doors and check the other participants.
Only a few SUV like my Honda CR-V Gen1: 3 Dacia, 1 Suzuky, 1 Freelander and 1 Honda CR-V Gen2. The other were big ones like the Toyota I parked side by side.
Another Honda CR-V in the Hotel Car Park
By 8h45 we had a briefing about rules and how to behave when off road. We were going to cross some private properties and even a National Park by a special permission.
Also time to start talking with other participants in this trip, all car enthusiasts and nice people.
The road book was thick!
Road book
We started with 1 minute intervals so each team should follow the road book.
Lots of dust
Very dusty roads
The first part was just easy driving till a place called Monte do Vento where we had a nice break to recover from the dust.
Monte do Vento
After that and many km more we arrived at a special place called Pulo do Lobo (Wolf' Jump) because there's a water stream between rocks and we can cross it just by jumping from rock to rock.
Pulo do Lobo (Guadiana River)
The car park
Where is the CR-V
Then more km and the first real difficulty of the day, specially for my CR-V as it doesn't have short gear box - a water crossing followed by a hill climb
After that we arrived at a nice place, Pomarão, where we had lunch
Pomarão -- CR-V x Amaroq
Side by side with a BIG one, a VW Amarok
After lunch a passage with extra difficulty for my CR-V
Photo credit: acp
It was too deep so the CR-V touched ground, but it didn't stop!
Only a terrible noise came from under car, time to have a mechanic from the organization to check it and it was just a cover protecting a cardan in the middle of the transmission shaft. Nothing much. (A few days after this I went to a Honda dealer to have it inspected and it was ok - a very solid Honda).
Later I was told that some of the 4x4 didn't try that and went around.
S.Domingos mine
Next place was an abandoned mine, an interesting place.
S.Domingos mine
Just ruins
S.Domingos mine
From there we went by an old train rail way now without the metal tracks but allowed to drive thru odd places. No photos.
Then another nice town, Serpa. There we visited the 'Museu do Relogio' (Clock Museum) where we were told the history of clocks. It's private and also has a restoration shop where they fix very old watches from all over the world.
A few more km and we were back to the hotel for a good night rest.
SECOND DAY
Next day started in a very normal way
As usual we let the other before us go away so we follow the road book; but no success! The instructions were not what we could see and find, we came back to start over, we tried to find way points, nothing.
And we have some experience with road books, sometimes we are following others and are able to say 'Hey! They are going in the wrong direction!' so we go in the good direction, but not this time.
Very frustrated we went by road to a meeting point in another town, Aljustrel.
Alentejo
From there on the way crossed a few water ways, agricultural fields and as we approached the coast the ground became more and more sand type.
Photo credit: acp
A few up and down hills, some of them with noticeable difficulty because of the inclination and the sand but no big problem for the Honda CR-V.
We arrived at a dam and to our surprise an organization car was in a kind of hole! Time to relax and watch the works
Fonte Serne Dam
Fonte Serne dam
After that we went as a convoy till a place Herdade do Cebolal where there was a wine taste and a lunch in the open air, chicken cooked in big pots.
A shadow! Nice!
That was the end so a few more hours driving and home again
Back home
No problems with the CR-V, just in need of a good clean...
...and the will to go in another off-road adventure is up! Off road in Alentejo, Portugal September 24-25, 2016
On this day we went to a new country, Czech Republic. Crossing the border we had to stop to buy the vignette, meaning a sticker to be able to drive in the highways for one week. A better system than other countries use.
Driving in different countries allow us to see different systems, languages, signs.
Then Prague where we stayed in a central hotel not expensive but a high price for keeping the car in a closed area. Anyway better safe than sorry.
Red Chair Hotel
From the hotel we could walk all the main historic area.
Prague
Lots of people although it's October.
Prague
As a touristic city everybody speaks English. Nice. And the beer is quite good and famous.
Day 7 Prague to Augsburg, DE -- 420km
As Prague is something I will go back someday for sure, the next city, Augsburg in Germany is a city with nothing to make me go back.
It was nothing special.
The place where we stayed had a colorful wall.
Augsburg
Dinner was in a small restaurant nearby, the food had a strange smell but was very tasty; there I asked for a small beer and the waiter said "We don't have small beers!" Ha Germany right.
Day 8 Augsburg to Neuschwanstein to Lake Como, IT
Next visit was to a famous castle said to have inspired Disney. I don't know if that's true but the castle was impressive. Neuschwanstein is said to be the most visited monument in Germany and it was the result of a mad Bavarian King.
Neuschwanstein
The scenery is beautiful
View from Neuschwanstein castle
Lots of people! And this was the end of October; can't imagine during summer time.
Neuschwanstein castle
Photos are forbidden inside the castle, and no way of buying postcards or calendars or whatever with photos. We have to pay to visit it, that's the only way to see the interior. But it was a well spent time and money.
Then back on the road on the way to Italy crossing a little bit of Austria and Switzerland.
Then the Alps...
Coming from a country with almost no snow it's always nice to see and
specially nice to drive on a road crossing snowy mountains. It feels
good.
From Switzerland to Italy we went by Stelvio Pass, a winding road up the Alps with turn after turn after turn... And it was getting dark; almost no cars or houses. The going down the other side was by night so not so pleasant.
Following the satnav (GPS) we arrived at Lake Como and then... it tells us to take a boat! Time to go back to a paper map and follow the go-around route.
Lake Como
It took some time and a phone call to find the hotel
Charming Bellagio Boutique Hotel
Only in the morning I was able to take photos
Lake Como - Bellagio
Day 9 Lake Como to Annecy, FR -- 400km
Living Como I was thinking 'I have to come back some day but on summer time because it looks so nice.
Anyway, we were going to cross the Alps again, now from Italy to France; and what a better way than thru Mont Blanc by the famous tunnel, so hard to excavate and with an historic accident? The toll there was €43! Such a high price!
Annecy was a nice surprise
Annecy
Beautifully preserved, lots of people
around, kids playing the 31 October with costumes asking treat or trick,
and a nice dinner in a brasserie. In France they have very good meat.
We stayed in a hotel by the castle, but we couldn't visit it because was closed when we arrived. A reason to come back.
Annecy
Day 10 Annecy to Carcassonne, FR -- 550km
From Annecy the road was very good and then highway till Carcassonne, another French old town.
Carcassonne
We stayed there in a hotel that was not very good and that fact didn't help to get a good feeling for the city.
We walked to the castle, but as was November 1st a holiday it was closed! Damn. Second castle we couldn't visit. Another city to come back, some day.
Carcassonne
Day 11 Carcassonne to Porto -- 1200km
One full day of driving. 12 hours to get home. Same well known roads. Feels good to be at home again and not carrying suitcases around. After all it was 10 nights in 10 different hotels.
My new Honda Civic Tourer was a good companion.
The final numbers.
Honda Civic Tourer
6380km in 11 days and the final average of 5.3l/100km.
320l diesel for €450 and €330 in tolls.
October is a good month to drive around Europe. Not yet very cold and not the summer crowd.
After many hours of surfing the internet reading about places to see, towns to stay, roads to drive, me and my wife started another road trip.
Day 1 Porto to Bordeaux -- 1000km
We started in Porto and ended in Porto, our home town, but google maps only allows for 10 pins.
The first leg of the journey was 1000km only to cross Portugal and Spain and a bit of France till Bordeaux.
10 hours driving (with stops) and as I did know a bit of the area just looked for a restaurant Buffalo Grill nearby the hotel and after a good enough dinner a good night sleep.
Next morning a new day.
On the road
Day 2 Bordeaux to Lyon -- 560km
A start with a cloudy sky, not much traffic and after a few hours we arrived at Lyon. A large city but very pleasant with an old roman area. I learned there that Lyon was the Roman Empire capital of Galia and there were many ruins to see.
Lyon
We ate at a traditional French restaurant and were having some difficulties in understanding the menu; a couple next table was really nice and helped explaining it for me. My French is not bad but not enough.
Lyon
Day 3 Lyon to Mulhouse -- 380km
Traveling in October has the advantage of less people on the roads, like here in a service area by the highway
This day was filled with less km and more visits. We went by Ronchamps to see a famous chapel by the architect LeCorbusier
Ronchamp chapel by LeCorbusier
It belongs to the city people, kind of private, so there is an entrance fee.
Parking by the chapel
Ronchamps
And next one of the highlights of the trip, a visit to Cité de l'Automobile the largest car museum in Europe so they say. It was started by two brothers and is now public. It has the largest Bugatti collection in the world and is possible to see around in a small electric convoy.
Cité de l'Automobile, Mulhouse
It lived to the expectation, so many so beautiful cars. Just love the Bugatti and the '50s F1. Also a group of horse less carriages, the beginners.
Cité de l'Automobile, Mulhouse
Next we went to see the city, the first of a series of beautiful and well preserved French/German cities.
Mulhouse
The building in the photo has walls painted to look like they are stone, but they are not. How do they keep the painting in such a good condition?
A nice small hotel
Hotel de Bale, Mulhouse
Day 4 Mulhouse to Colmar to Strasbourg to Baden-Baden to Heidelberg -- 270km
Only some km but many beautiful old cities to see. We started by the near by Colmar
Colmar
After some confusion and frustration because we arrived there very early - the time changed one hour and we forgot about it - we went in a small train tour. It's a good way of learning about history.
Then car again till another old city, Strasbourg
Strasbourg
It was Sunday and sunny and a lot of people everywhere! The main square, the cathedral, the canals, the old houses all very well preserved.
Time for a light lunch and road again till Baden-Baden, a German city famous for the baths.
We parked the car in a P that was far away from the city center so a long walk awaited us.
The city is nice, vibrant with people.
After the long walk back to the car we went to Heidelberg. Arriving by night and being so tired we just went to the hotel to have a good night sleep; so we have to go back someday and see the city center.
Day 5 Heidelberg to Berlin -- 640km
Long driving this day.
Just forward till Berlin.
Speeding in a Autobahn
Impossible to resist to the freedom of the autobahn...
And then the city and the daughter who is living there! :)
We went to a nice restaurant in a somewhat strange building
Berlin
The photo is terrible but the place remarkable. The restaurant accepted only cash! That happens a lot in Germany, looks like they don't like cards.
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