Footers, CG__ & Scrut's Thundercrawl Escapades
This space is reserved mostly for the ramblings and musings of the three of us, who pretty much through the misfortune that one of our number is getting hitched have found ourselves about to jump into a £200 Mondeo for a leisurely jaunt across Europe. I say the ramblings of the 3 of us, but if I'm honest I haven't mentioned this to Charlie and Matt yet - so it could be just me...
Tuesday 27 July 2010
The final curtain
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Dude, where's my car?
Having a arrived tired we prepared for a night out and I was provided with what only can be described a attire that would only be worn by a stag. Thankfully it did not involve over exposed body parts. Photos will appear I am sure. A good night followed in a bar where they free pour sambucas and give you triples instead of sinlgles. I am just not sure they know what they are doing and sure enough we were the last to leave as everyone else had gone home. A fitting end. When back at the hotel the whiskey cupboard in reception was getting seriously eyed up by gregor however fortunaltely remained shut
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Sunday 25 July 2010
Cow Rustling and mountain Passing...
than a cow getting winched into the air by a helicopter! And as luck
would have it we got to see just that yesterday morning at the
starting point for the day! The initial hilarity, which caused us to
pull Ecto to one side and watch in wonderment, soon gave way to a more
serious mood though when us along with fellow Crumballers realised
that we might actually be witnessing some audacious Swiss Cow rustling
taking place... Is that the reason that Swiss cows wear them bells?
Probably not, but I'm starting that rumour off anyway.
It was a rainy, cloudy morning in Thun yesterday which meant that I
had to miss out on the promised cable car ride up into the misty tops,
a shame for some but a huge relief for me who managed to delay the
unavoidable involuntary bowel movements which are my standard reaction
to being 5 foot off the ground!
My relief was short lived however, as straight after lunch in
Interlakken with the whole crew we set off towards locarno, whic
involved some serious corner work along two mountain passes with sheer
1000 foot drops into a canyon only a fence away from the Ecto and Matt
at the wheel giggling along the way. The brakes were stinking and the
engine got seriously thirsty (6 litres in quick time) while I had to
spend most of the journey lying down in the back seat so that I
couldn't see the drop on our right hand side - great. Apparently the
views were gorgeous I really have no idea!
Anyway, there's a few more things to add to this blog before we finish
with Italy tomorrow including another brush with foreign officialdom
in Italy where we got relieved of 165 Euros to drive away! We'll
update you with more on that a bit later. Cheers, Ed
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Friday 23 July 2010
Reflections on the trials and tribulations of trans-European travel
Your scribes have a fair bit of experience with this driving across Europe lark and it seems like a good time to get all educational on your asses, so let's share some tips on driving across Europe.
1) Google use a Space Shuttle to time their routes - allow yourself more. We've seen this on a number of occasions; I've been promised London-Pyrenees inside 12 hours before and I can tell you as FACT that if you a) urinate and b) drive a car that needs petrol, it takes the best part of 24. Even with rotating drivers.
We just about made the Google time for Berlin-Krakow by virtue of the fact that our chariot could happily maintain 110mph in the face of roads like washboards. If any attention had been paid to the law it would have been at least an extra two hours.
Today Google said 8 hours Boulogne-Thun and we stopped 3 times, for a total of about an hour. Time taken: pretty much 12 hours. Lesson: reality will kick in somewhere and it will take ages.
2) A positive, helpful attitude is paramount. This is perhaps the most important thing to remember for long distance driving journeys, not just for dealing with each other but for dealing with others too.
I'm pretty sure we were staring down the barrel of a heavy fine today when stopped by the gendarmerie but with some politeness, acquiescence and good humour we were able to drive away from two potential French road traffic violations without so much as a slapped wrist.
We also haven't killed each other after many similar trips.
3) It's only people from the UK that do this kind of shit. Try explaining to most people in the UK that you're driving across Europe for "a laugh" and they look confused and say you're mental. Try explaining it to anyone in Europe (France especially) and they literally can't get their heads around it.
So assume that all of our continental cousins think you're an idiot and it will help you to understand where they're coming from when you inevitably annoy/ upset/ confuse them.
Right, there's a beer in front of me and food due any second so I'll sign off here. Hopefully this post has elevated our blog into the "Serious Travel Information" arena - look out for the next instalment on Expedia.
Gendames
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