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- Jan 29, 2006
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The main reason for getting the Barchetta back on the road was to do the road trip we had planned last year, but which I had to cancel (due to pressures of work.. boo). This year it ran a bit close to the wire, too, but having finished work on Thursday 26th we were finally on holiday!
The idea was to spend Friday organising things (still no itinerary!) and head to the tunnel on Saturday morning, but checking on Friday morning it became apparent that the tunnel was almost fully booked on the Saturday. A combination of the bank holiday weekend and the school half term, no doubt, but annoying nonetheless. As we were keen to get moving, we decided to ditch the planning and just wing it, so chucked some clothes in a bag and hit the road. A tunnel slot was booked for 4 PM on the Friday, and off we set.
All was going swimmingly until an accident on the M25 meant an unplanned excursion off-route and a mad dash to the tunnel to make our slot – which we made with 3 minutes to spare! Nothing like a little stress to get a holiday off to a good start..
I'd booked a hotel in Bruges for the first night so at least we knew where we were headed and that we'd have somewhere to stop when we got there. From then on we'd make it up as we went along, although the general idea was to go down to Italy to take the B home to its birthplace.
Of course, this was always assuming that it would make the trip.. the B has always been reliable but I've never really gone far from home in it. Having done a quick search on european breakdown cover, it seemed no-one wanted to know.. my B is a 1995 model, and getting cover for cars over 15 years old is nigh on impossible at a sensible price. The best I found was £280 for 14 days cover, so I thought I'd chance it
.
As it turned out, I needn't have worried. The B ran beautifully the whole trip, racking up 2,710 miles in 12 days. We drove through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, on everything from motorways to B roads. I kept a running total of the fuel we used and was amazed that for the overall trip we managed 40.1 Mpg. I think that's pretty damn impressive.
So, for fans of specifics, here was the itinerary as it panned out, or at least where we ended up stopping for the night..
27/05 Bruges, Belgium
28/05 Bitburg, Germany
29/05 Freiburg, Germany
30/05 Freidsrichshafen, Germany
31/05 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
01/06 Sirmione, Italy
02/06 Cuneo, Italy
03/06 Chambery, France
04/06 Lausanne, Switzerland
05/06 Mulhouse, France
06/06 Spa, Belgium
07/06 Home!
But, I hear you cry, this thread is useless without pictures! So here they are..
On the way out in the tunnel:
Heading south - services near Saarbrucken, on the way to Freiburg:
Random sandwich stop, southern Germany:
Service station, Austria. It has to be said, the nicest motorway services we've ever seen. UK, look and learn!
Sud Tyrol, Northern Italy:
Heading south again, Italian services:
Lake Garda. One of only 3 Barchettas spotted on the whole trip!
And finally, back home! Moncalieri, erstwhile home of the Maggiora factory. Arrived there on June 2nd, "Festa della Republica" or Italy day, hence the flags. Nothing was open anywhere, and between Moncalieri and Cuneo, where we stopped for the night, it p!ssed down in biblical proportions and my roof leaks. Fortunately, the hotel had underground parking:
Heading north, and another random sandwich stop. Switzerland this time, between Chamonix and Martigny.
Another service station, this time northern Switzerland, just south of the French border. A similarly middle-aged German couple in the Z3 had also got out for a stretch, we seemed to agree (by sign language and general consensus) that 2 seater sports cars are made for younger people's backs..
Another day, another underground car park. This was the Radisson in Spa, the car had to share it with it a gazillion MGs from the Belgian MG club who were visiting the circuit up the road..
And finally, back home. 2710 miles, 12 days, 12 border crossings, and 67 gallons of unleaded later..
Great car, great holiday. Sadly, the B will now be prepped for sale as I have the SLK and really can't justify 2 convertibles, but I will always have fond memories.
Cheers,
Plug
The idea was to spend Friday organising things (still no itinerary!) and head to the tunnel on Saturday morning, but checking on Friday morning it became apparent that the tunnel was almost fully booked on the Saturday. A combination of the bank holiday weekend and the school half term, no doubt, but annoying nonetheless. As we were keen to get moving, we decided to ditch the planning and just wing it, so chucked some clothes in a bag and hit the road. A tunnel slot was booked for 4 PM on the Friday, and off we set.
All was going swimmingly until an accident on the M25 meant an unplanned excursion off-route and a mad dash to the tunnel to make our slot – which we made with 3 minutes to spare! Nothing like a little stress to get a holiday off to a good start..
I'd booked a hotel in Bruges for the first night so at least we knew where we were headed and that we'd have somewhere to stop when we got there. From then on we'd make it up as we went along, although the general idea was to go down to Italy to take the B home to its birthplace.
Of course, this was always assuming that it would make the trip.. the B has always been reliable but I've never really gone far from home in it. Having done a quick search on european breakdown cover, it seemed no-one wanted to know.. my B is a 1995 model, and getting cover for cars over 15 years old is nigh on impossible at a sensible price. The best I found was £280 for 14 days cover, so I thought I'd chance it
.As it turned out, I needn't have worried. The B ran beautifully the whole trip, racking up 2,710 miles in 12 days. We drove through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, on everything from motorways to B roads. I kept a running total of the fuel we used and was amazed that for the overall trip we managed 40.1 Mpg. I think that's pretty damn impressive.
So, for fans of specifics, here was the itinerary as it panned out, or at least where we ended up stopping for the night..
27/05 Bruges, Belgium
28/05 Bitburg, Germany
29/05 Freiburg, Germany
30/05 Freidsrichshafen, Germany
31/05 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
01/06 Sirmione, Italy
02/06 Cuneo, Italy
03/06 Chambery, France
04/06 Lausanne, Switzerland
05/06 Mulhouse, France
06/06 Spa, Belgium
07/06 Home!
But, I hear you cry, this thread is useless without pictures! So here they are..
On the way out in the tunnel:
Heading south - services near Saarbrucken, on the way to Freiburg:
Random sandwich stop, southern Germany:
Service station, Austria. It has to be said, the nicest motorway services we've ever seen. UK, look and learn!
Sud Tyrol, Northern Italy:
Heading south again, Italian services:
Lake Garda. One of only 3 Barchettas spotted on the whole trip!
And finally, back home! Moncalieri, erstwhile home of the Maggiora factory. Arrived there on June 2nd, "Festa della Republica" or Italy day, hence the flags. Nothing was open anywhere, and between Moncalieri and Cuneo, where we stopped for the night, it p!ssed down in biblical proportions and my roof leaks. Fortunately, the hotel had underground parking
:
Heading north, and another random sandwich stop. Switzerland this time, between Chamonix and Martigny.
Another service station, this time northern Switzerland, just south of the French border. A similarly middle-aged German couple in the Z3 had also got out for a stretch, we seemed to agree (by sign language and general consensus) that 2 seater sports cars are made for younger people's backs..
Another day, another underground car park. This was the Radisson in Spa, the car had to share it with it a gazillion MGs from the Belgian MG club who were visiting the circuit up the road..
And finally, back home. 2710 miles, 12 days, 12 border crossings, and 67 gallons of unleaded later..
Great car, great holiday. Sadly, the B will now be prepped for sale as I have the SLK and really can't justify 2 convertibles, but I will always have fond memories.
Cheers,
Plug
