Gersen Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 It began..... Boss "Go to Italy and help customers or I will destroy you!" Me "I don't wanna, they break things that weren't broken and then I have to fix them. Why do we keep giving them things to break?" Boss "Go to Italy and sort out customers or I will eat your brain, minion!" Me "Fine, fine, you win. But only as long as I can fly so I can miss as little work as possible, eat the poorest of food and stay in the cheapest hovels" Boss "Fool, you dare to defy me? You shall know my wrath!" My Boss After much reluctance on my part I was made to take several extra days off and made to drive my Z across Europe. I was further punished for my insolence with instructions that under no circumstances was I to pass on any rich cream based sauces or nice hotels. The final insult was I was forced to work at every minute to stress test the company credit card Well that's how I remember it anyway I set off, only pausing to pack my lead shoes and pick up a friend whos interests were similarly petrol related. A quick hop through the Chunnel had us in France As I had done the stint to Dover my compatriot selflessly volunteered to look after my pride and joy with a steady 70mph cruise on the Rue Anglais while I grabbed a much needed nap. I drifted off and awoke having my neck snapped back against the head rest and then my head hitting the roof. Confused and somewhat dazed this unusually rough ride was explained by my friend. Turns out that it was just a particularly harsh speed bump (he reassures me they are common on French autoroutes) and absolutely nothing to do with crossing the slight ramp upto a road bridge at a speed normally only encountered by those reentering the Earth's atmosphere. I suggested to me co-driver that a more sedate pace might be the order of the day. In hindsight it would appear my powers of persuasion are sadly lacking. Still this gave me good laugh.....or rather it did until it turns out that a large on the spot fine is the order of the day and I'm the only one with cash Still the slight hiatus afforded us an unexpected morsel of amusement. The foreign chaps dispensing the justice turned out to be quite nice.....but there is nothing funnier than seeing an unpleasant and aggressive German telling Frenchmen with large guns that they are incompetent and can't impound his care. Turns out he was wrong. Then an uneventful stop at a hotel in Strasbourg. Unremarkable, that is, other than a terrible meal and the two worst bottles of wine I have ever had. They were unique in being the only beverages I have quaffed whos flavour that the entire contents of a mini bar failed to remove and had me debating whether or not to go for the complimentary shampoo and conditioner too. Unconsciousness mercifully followed. Next morning there was a quick nip over the Rhine and things got going nicely. A stretch of de-restricted Autobahn and the TomTom allowed me to prove that the speed limiter doesn't kick in a 155mph....but it does a bit after. Obviously this made Deutschland pass us by unusually quickly. Then there was Cookoo clocks, Nazi gold and chocolate covered Heidi's everywhere. Well there wasn't really but it was Switzerland. The roads were straight, clean and uninteresting and the scenery was .......quite vertical. Hard to tell where the road goes....I'm going to guess between the two mountains? So.......going up then? Genius idea this - Davos to Stelvio pass, 13,000 ish feet and still sunny. Last car park before the summit - why were the construction guys down the road laughing at us though? Bugger Back down then.....ah this really is the weather closing in then? Bugger, bugger, bugger! Arrive Italy - some boring non car stuff - and work related stuff and amazing food. Time to leave - what's on the way home? Some funky little town down there. They were turning it into a race track at the time. Had a drive and walk round it. Seems vaguely familiar for some reason. Nice tunnel under a hotel too 760 miles to Calais? It ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Quite and adventure, oops I meant work. Fab pics. Especially the last one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alessandro Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 It sounds like you had great fun, I'm italian and I was thinking to go to Milan with the Z next summer, how many time did you filled up? P.S. we are not that bad......... are we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Exellent gives me a nagging need for a road trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccaman Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Sounds like a great (& long) trip. Brave to risk the Zed with those Italian drivers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alessandro Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Hey all, Just tought to drop few tips on how to drive in Italy: * a red trffic light doesn't always means that you have to stop, and, if you must make sure that your are off the line a second or two before the light change. * no such thing as give way at round abouts or junctions... if there is a tiny space to go than go * if in doubt, just go, others will move * park where you can not necesseraly inside the lines. just joking with nthe new EU regulations we have become good guys too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walbertonio Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 The things you have to do eh... Great story & pics there, nice one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harman350z Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Sounds like fun, i would hate to see the fuel bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gersen Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 It was an awesome trip – I strongly recommend doing something similar at least once in your life. Italy has amazing roads, food and people. The Swiss have great roads too (no sense of humour about driving quickly however!) I'm italian and I was thinking to go to Milan with the Z next summer, how many time did you filled up? A fair bit! See below P.S. we are not that bad......... are we? Yes! J/K - once you get used to the idea that people will drive straight at you, cut you up, undertake and squeeze into any gap possible and………are expecting you to do the same it all becomes really easy. If you are a pedestrian the rule seems to be never even look at the cars as you cross the road. I love the way the mopeds and bikes ride around the people crossing on the pedestrian crossings at a green light though! Genius. Food was fantastic, people were great, Sounds like fun, i would hate to see the fuel bill! Some stats Total distance 1884 miles, Total fuel consumption 80.5 gallons (365 litres) Average MPG 23.4 Cost in Tolls €142 Shortest distance travelled in 1 hour 22 miles (thank you Milan traffic!) In Nice, after over 1000 miles, our mpg was above 29 mpg – then we made it back in one day to get the Chunnel back and it dropped to 23.4! A quick bit of maths means we used more fuel on the return leg from Nice to Calais (760 miles, 42.5 gallons, 17.9 MPG) as we did on the entire outbound trip….. (1124 miles, 38 gallons, 29.0 MPG) Made it back in under 8 hours including fuel and bio breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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