I mean't to post this last year but life got in the way, and I'm now on the sofa nursing a 4 week old baby girl, waiting for her next feed during the craziest moments I've ever lived through, so no better time than any to reminisce about when I could actually leave the house and do something petrolheady. I'm not sure if anyone here is interested but figured I'd put up some pics and ramble a bit on what I could remember of it.
When I found out last summer that my wife was expecting I immediately panicked myself in to thinking I needed one last road trip before I became knee deep in dirty nappies and milky puke. Stelvio was always up there on my to-do list and @gav525's Euro trip convinced me that a run through the Swiss Alps in to Stelvio was what was needed. My wife hates long car journeys and as much as I enjoy my trips to the Nurburgring with my mates I knew I wanted this one to be a lone-wolf trip.
What Car?
I thought my Supra was great on the German autobahns so should be perfect to get me down through mainland Europe to Switzerland and Italy, but I also figured the MX5 would be more fun in the twisty roads once I got to the Alps. After a bit of research though I soon realised though it was too much driving and was working out pretty expensive so I looked in to flying and hiring a car.
This is where I discovered that Hertz had an offer on for Abarth 595 Turismos for less than 100 Euro for 4 days out of Bergamo Airport near Milan.
So flight and car booked and with some assistance from a couple of you guys I mapped out a route which took me west towards Switzerland then over the Swiss Alps before down Stelvio and in to Lake Garda.
I pre-booked a couple of hotels and a few days after our 12-week baby scan last September I jumped on a Ryanair flight to Bergamo.
Day 1: Bergamo to Blitzingen
A quick and painless early morning flight from Belfast International to Bergamo, out the front door and up to the rental carpark led me to this wee roller skate.
I've always had a wee thing for Abarths, especially hearing a few of them with aftermarket exhausts, so I was looking forward to driving one. I don't know if this was standard kit but this one had a built in TomTom sat nav, but when I plugged my phone in to the usb it brought up Apple's Carplay so I could use Google Maps and Spotify I threw my bag in to the tiny boot and made my way out to the toll road towards Milan. Once through the city and out in to the countryside the roads got quieter and the mountains larger.
Through a few tunnels before heading up in to the hills towards the Swiss border I didn't really stop other than for a vignette for the Swiss motorways. The scenery really started to get interesting before reaching my first pass which was the Simplon Pass at just over 6,500ft.
A short run after I ended up in Blitzingen which was my first stop for the night. It was only when I went looking for a bite to eat at dinner I realised that it's true that Switzerland really is feckin' expensive. Basic pub-cooked £20 pizza and a £5 Coke it is then.
*The village of Blitzingen. Not my picture. I don't own a drone or that tall - thanks internet*
When I found out last summer that my wife was expecting I immediately panicked myself in to thinking I needed one last road trip before I became knee deep in dirty nappies and milky puke. Stelvio was always up there on my to-do list and @gav525's Euro trip convinced me that a run through the Swiss Alps in to Stelvio was what was needed. My wife hates long car journeys and as much as I enjoy my trips to the Nurburgring with my mates I knew I wanted this one to be a lone-wolf trip.
What Car?
I thought my Supra was great on the German autobahns so should be perfect to get me down through mainland Europe to Switzerland and Italy, but I also figured the MX5 would be more fun in the twisty roads once I got to the Alps. After a bit of research though I soon realised though it was too much driving and was working out pretty expensive so I looked in to flying and hiring a car.
This is where I discovered that Hertz had an offer on for Abarth 595 Turismos for less than 100 Euro for 4 days out of Bergamo Airport near Milan.
So flight and car booked and with some assistance from a couple of you guys I mapped out a route which took me west towards Switzerland then over the Swiss Alps before down Stelvio and in to Lake Garda.
I pre-booked a couple of hotels and a few days after our 12-week baby scan last September I jumped on a Ryanair flight to Bergamo.
Day 1: Bergamo to Blitzingen
A quick and painless early morning flight from Belfast International to Bergamo, out the front door and up to the rental carpark led me to this wee roller skate.
I've always had a wee thing for Abarths, especially hearing a few of them with aftermarket exhausts, so I was looking forward to driving one. I don't know if this was standard kit but this one had a built in TomTom sat nav, but when I plugged my phone in to the usb it brought up Apple's Carplay so I could use Google Maps and Spotify I threw my bag in to the tiny boot and made my way out to the toll road towards Milan. Once through the city and out in to the countryside the roads got quieter and the mountains larger.
Through a few tunnels before heading up in to the hills towards the Swiss border I didn't really stop other than for a vignette for the Swiss motorways. The scenery really started to get interesting before reaching my first pass which was the Simplon Pass at just over 6,500ft.
A short run after I ended up in Blitzingen which was my first stop for the night. It was only when I went looking for a bite to eat at dinner I realised that it's true that Switzerland really is feckin' expensive. Basic pub-cooked £20 pizza and a £5 Coke it is then.
*The village of Blitzingen. Not my picture. I don't own a drone or that tall - thanks internet*
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