So I went on holiday! [Warning: Megga Photos topic!!!]

[CTCNetwork]

Hi,

So late last year I decided I'd like to go on a long holiday. Driving. And take in some of Europe!
After some mumblings with SWMBO as to who was paying for it all (mostly me thank you very much! :D ) I worked on some sort of itinerary for the trip.

Where did I want to go? The 'Ring? Stelvio Pass? Berlin? After some debate and google mapping to check the route, times and distances I got the destinations sorted.
Start in Nottingham.
Drive to Dover with ferry to Dunkerque.
Dunkerque to Hamburg.
Hamburg to Berlin.
Berlin to Dresden.
Dresden to Munich.
Munich to Zurich.
Zurich to Stelvio Pass (We stayed in Vilpiano about 30 miles away).
Stelvio (Vilpiano) to Neuburg.
Neuburg to Nuerburg and the Ring.
Nuerburg to Amens in France.
Amens to Dunkerque.
Ferry from Dunkerque to Dover and back to Nottingham.

That was one l-o-n-g drive!!! Luck we spaced it out over 3 weeks!

I saw mention of requiring a badge for driving around in German cities (On VOC Link later) so tried to order one from here:
Environmental Badge (https://umwelt-plakette.de/sprachauswahl_foreignshop.php?SID=3d55a2891eba71cd ec709b227703933d&transmitter=&navID=&lang=2&step=1&country=26)...
Saw the delivery time and winced. Tried again but they didn't like my alternate address in Berlin!
So I got the badge in a local Hamburg DEKRA for €5 and not the £29 the above wanted!

Anyway, I digress...

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Rabbits packed away to suitable accommodation we were packed and off.
Something forgotten/missing en-route (and we hadn't even left Nottingham!) delayed us a little.
Now running a little later than wanted we did get to Dover but at 7:45 and not 15 mins earlier. Rats!!!
So the crossing was the 10:00 one.... That was two hours lost...

Once arrived I set the route to get to Hamburg. 6-7 hours driving and a break for food and we'd make the city without issue.
I didn't plan on:
1) Dutch holiday makers returning from Germany to swell the traffic!
2) Lots of road works!
3) Bad weather. it was raining like there was no tomorrow so driving (in the roadworks) was no fun.

by 11:00pm We had had enough so decided to stop somewhere in a hotel and get some sleep.

Hamburg the next day and had an enjoyable wander about.

Trip to Berlin was uneventful and we spent a couple of days walking around. It was the lead up to the Berlin Wall Celebrations so we got to see a few of the displays and such as well as read about the horror stories of the attempted escapees and so on..
Sobering stuff. And I got some nice blisters as evidence of our wanderings! Great!!

On then to Dresden. This was one I did want to see so we had 3 nights here.

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One thing you can see in Dresden is the dirty old buildings. It;s not dirt like there was in London or other city's. That's the fire damage that remains from WWII..
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A fine example of the East Germany architecture!!!
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You gotta be kidding!! :)
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While we were in Dresden there were outside film shows. My German is non-existent so we gave those a miss..
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Staying in a rented flat @ €60 a night bang smack in the centre of town. I was able to enjoy some home cooked Chilli! Yummm... :)
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We were up on the 3rd floor. Whole flat and free wifi..
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On to Munich for a stop-over...
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Off we go to Zurich. A nice drive but uneventful stay. Had a quick wander about and saw just how expensive Rolex watches can be!! In the wrong shops mind!
Apparently, we found out afterwards we managed to find a Hotel in one of the worse parts of Zurich! Think I'll stop in Geneva next time!!

So off again but this time to Stelvio. I was hoping to do the journey via Davos and then head towards the hotel via the pass but thanks to SatNav vagaries we missed out on that. Nice views on the way though...
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And so we hit the Stelvio Pass. That is one windy road!! Full lock on every turn just about!!
Our visit was just before a Cycle race on the weekend so there were loads of cyclists to contend with! Mind you, there were loads of motorbikes whizzing about too! Stunning views mind... :)
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And the top at last...
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Don't look down.. LoL :)
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We headed down the pass, whilst the road was fairly clear and managed to get some speed down the hill, but soon caught up with some wise driver in a short wheel base coach who got stuck at one of the bends!!! He didn't have consideration for the traffic coming the other way.
Silly billy!!!

Having sampled the delights of Stelvio we headed back in Munich direction and had a stop at Neuburg...
Then headed off to Nuerburg...

We arrive at our hotel for our visit to the ring... Nice clear weather then!
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Got 6 laps in. Three each day. Delays because of accidents on both days too. First day a BMW went through the Armco and two motorcyclists had accidents. Second day another motorcyclist slipped...
I must have taken 10k miles off my tyres on the way round, the screeching was terrible!!!
Fun but scary!!

And so we leave Nuerburg on our way to Amens in France....
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Very nice cathedral. Well, as nice as they can be! But here in Armens they do a light show each night on the Cathedral. Interesting and different.
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After a couples of days resting (and I needed the rest, I'll tell you!) we headed back to Dunkirque and the Uk...

Car was pretty much faultless bar the exhaust rattle brought on by the company that made it doing a pre-MOT adjustment! I'll be back to get that sorted soon!!!
All in all and nice trip!!
Total miles? Lots: 3240 miles...!

Next time it will be the Transfagarrisan Highway (http://www.360concept.ro/panorame/sibiu/transfagarasan/)!

Des. . . ;)

[craigoodwood]

fantastic, thankyou :):)

[andy_d]

cracking pics , thankies

[deathrider311271]

that sounds like a right good trip, not too sure about the fuel costs for that trip tho lol

[Moosejaw]

Weird.
Is everyone else seeing these pics OK?

I've never had a problem with this site before and I can see pics on other threads just fine, but for some reason even when I directly paste the web address of your pics into the browser it won't show them?

Not even getting onto "oldvolvos4ever"

[TheJoyOfSix]

I hadn't realised so much of Dresden had survived - I thought it was pretty much obliterated. It's still sobering though...

Did you manage to do the Bavarian Studios Tour whilst in Munich? I've always wanted to go there as it has the set from Das Boot on display.

Stelvio looks fun, though as usual it seems that bloody cyclists ruined the trip.......

Did you get to see my future wife at the 'Ring?

[CTCNetwork]

Weird.
Is everyone else seeing these pics OK?

I've never had a problem with this site before and I can see pics on other threads just fine, but for some reason even when I directly paste the web address of your pics into the browser it won't show them?

Not even getting onto "oldvolvos4ever"
Not seen the issue before. Try the following link and see what happens:
http://www.oldvolvos4ever.com/photos/Holiday_2011/2011_069.jpg
I hadn't realised so much of Dresden had survived - I thought it was pretty much obliterated. It's still sobering though...
Yea, loads of scorch marks all over. Hopefully now since reunification there will be some effort into rejuvenating the place a bit.. :)
Did you manage to do the Bavarian Studios Tour whilst in Munich? I've always wanted to go there as it has the set from Das Boot on display.No, although we had 3 weeks, we were still against the clock!!

Stelvio looks fun, though as usual it seems that bloody cyclists ruined the trip.......Too right! And some of those Italian drivers could do with driving lessons too!

Did you get to see my future wife at the 'Ring?She said she was mine??!! :Banane45:

Des. . . ;)

[DuncVolvoTurbo]

Damn You! Those pics make me want to go to Germany even more now.

Seriously though, thanks for posting them up :D

[t5_monkey]

Wow awesome pics!!

Great holiday.... but the old stuff doesn't look old in Germany... looks like it was all reconstructed about 65 years ago :)

[CTCNetwork]

Hi,
Wow awesome pics!!

Great holiday.... but the old stuff doesn't look old in Germany... looks like it was all reconstructed about 65 years ago :)
Yea, some of the old buildings have been cleaned a little over the years. But there is a curious combination of the old old stuff and the newer East German buildings.
Where we stayed is a perfect example of how bad it could be:
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Des. . . ;)

[RobbieH]

Stelvio looks fun, though as usual it seems that bloody cyclists ruined the trip.......

Oi, I resent that remark :wac_tongue:

I could could the same about b****y cars ruining the climbs for us two wheelers :wac_nah:

peace and harmony on the roads man, peace and harmony...........

One of my favourire pics from my recent holiday in the Alps

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy61/RobHV70/Mont Blanc Rally 2011/P1000175Medium.jpg


Oh, sorry Des, nice pics and looks like a good trip.

[kebab10]

Looks like a good trip there. Lovely pictures too. Thanks.

[Moosejaw]

Not seen the issue before. Try the following link and see what happens:
http://www.oldvolvos4ever.com/photos/Holiday_2011/2011_069.jpg

Great pics, I can see them fine now. :D
Must have been some temporary glitch in the 'oldvolvos4ever' server.

I guess someone must have stuck another 50p in the meter. :)

[docjd]

Another thanks for great pics:thumbs_up:

[NewVolvo]

Those are some very lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing!!

[CTCNetwork]

Hi again,

Just sorted a few more photos out, from the phone this time..

Ohh look.. Queenie.. :)
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The remnants of the wall in Berlin...
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Checkpoint Charlie....
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Odd this. Middle of Berlin, small green space, and just look what you can find!!
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Closer look...
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This, strangely enough, was in Zurich. Knocked several times on the window/door but it appears to be "abandoned" or the owners was on holiday..
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Near Stelvio, where we were staying...
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And not far from the 'ring... :D
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Some video around some where so will get that ready as well..

Des. . . ;)

[thealchemyst]

got similar plans brewing for a "grand trip" round europe ive got to include the millau viaduct and the lingoto building and the pug museum in mulhouse and the buggatti collection there too, also monaco and stelvio plus the ring again. had most of it planned for a year or so even picked the hotels id like to stay in just got to sort the funds out (fuel will cost more than the hotels!!)
p.s. the transfugharison(spelling!) is awesome i would love to do that too but that would be a MASSIVE detour! lol

[CTCNetwork]

Hi,
p.s. the transfugharison(spelling!) is awesome i would love to do that too but that would be a MASSIVE detour! lol
The Transfagarasan Highway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%99an) (Transfăgărășan - but I haven't got all those funny characters on my keyboard!! LoL)

Yes, it is pretty much out of the way of everything!! But worth a few days driving up and down it. I hope...! Have to wait a couple of years now though.

Grand Tour of the UK is next I believe!

Des. . . ;)

[lillia]

Fantastic photos, thank you. Very inspiring! It's great to see people who aren't afraid to just throw some stuff in their car and get out there! Well done! :thumbs_up: