Museum day in Stuttgart

Yesterday was a museum day for us. We wandered through both the Porsche and Mercedes-Benz museum. Both had tons of amazing cars. 

Seeing the first production 911 Porsche was very cool. 

Fun fact: Mercedes began testing ABS and airbags back in 1969.

The restaurant at the Mercedes museum was really excellent. I had the cheese spatzle and it was delicious with a nice rose wine.

If you are ever in Stuttgart I highly recommend seeing both museums.

Here are our collection of tickets from each museum we have toured through, except Moto Guzzi as that museum was free.

Today we are on the road back to Frankfurt for our flight home. It's been a great trip but I do look forward to sleeping in my own bed.

A second post today....which could have many titles....

The titles in no particular order may be.....

So happy I almost (cried, danced, shouted for joy)

A month in Europe and this is the first one.....

From Frankfurt and beyond but back to Stuttgart to find.....

Those who know me, know what I like.....

All this to say I was so happy to finally have a bath tonight.

It's nothing beautiful or spa like; but that my friends is the first bath tub I have seen since leaving my home on September 29:

I love having baths and I had just accepted that for Europe this was a luxury I would have to give up till tonight and it was so nice it deserved its own post!

Como to Stuttgart

Today was our big driving day, 500plus KM to get from Lake Como area through Switzerland, a little bit of Austria and back into Germany. 

For the return trip to Germany we choose a different driving route through the Swiss Alps, we left Italy at 18 degrees, clear blue sky and sunny, within two hours our weather had changed a lot.....

The drive through the alps was so picturesque and beautiful. The temperature change was a full 18 degrees. 

Once we got through the alps we had rain the rest of the drive, and the beautiful  Italian sunshine is a memory.  We had to find our way along a detour when the highway was shut down which added an extra hour and a half into our drive today. Now we are in Stuttgart at our hotel, Gastehaus Munzmay. 

We are down to our last two nights in Europe. It's been an amazing trip! We have seen and experienced so much but I am looking forward to cooking our own food and sleeping in our own bed and not living out of a suitcase. 

Mandello del Lario

We woke this morning in Nesso and spent the morning driving around part of Lake Como. The drive was amazing, one of the most scenic roads, narrow, winding its way along the lake, tight corners, DH was enjoying ever minute of the drive. We stopped and took pictures and just enjoyed the moments. 

"il dolce far niente"

The sweetness of doing nothing.

We drove around the lake to our 

destination for today, Mandello del Lario. A small town on the shores of the lake. We picked up some mini pizzas and ate lunch on a bench over looking the water. We wandered town, stopped for a coffee and tea and killed time till 3pm, when the Moto Guzzi Museum opened for an hour. The purpose of stopping in this part of Italy.

The iconic red door to the factory. The museum had tons of bikes starting from their first in 1921 onwards. DH enjoyed looking at them all. 

Having learned the hard way that when you are outside of tourist hell, it is harder to find places to eat DH and I went to the local store and bought some bread, meat, cheese and olives for dinner.

Tonight we are sleeping in a very small B&B in Maggiana. A mediaeval village with a tower. The B&B has been restored and modernized and is quiet nice. The old village is charming but there isn't anything up here for food or beverage tonight as the one Cafe is closed on Tuesday. Good thing we had stopped in town already for food!

Lake Como is a beautiful area, especially if you like tight roads. Would be amazing on a motorcycle for sure!

Modena to Lake Como

Today we were up and on the road early, first back tracking to Belonga to see Ducati, we managed to work our way into an unexpected factory tour and then wandered the museum. It was quite an experience to watch how they still assemble most bikes by hand. 

By noon we began driving another 250km to Lake Como near the top of Italy. 

Tonight we are staying in a very small village of Nesso, at a little hotel called Locanda Tre Rose. The view is amazing of the Lake, the dinner and local wine was delicious.

La Sovana to Modena

Our first dinner at La Sovana was amazing, four courses of great local Italian food that included a beef carpaccio, vegetarian lasagna, veal, and chocolate lava cakes or heart cakes as they called them, with a bottle of La Buche, their own winery brand.

Yesterday we spent the day relaxing at La Sovana, I walked, DH went for a run, we wandered the town nearby called Sarteano, used the jacuzzi 

and enjoyed another great meal at the Agriturismo for dinner and today we said goodbye and continued our Italian road trip. 

Our destination for today was Hotel Casello in Modena. Within 20km of the hotel we have the Ferrari Factory and Museums, the Lamborghini factory and museum, Maserati factory, Ducatti factory and museum and probably many other one Italian brands. In our travels around town today we happened upon a Ferrari and Maserati museum. We wandered around for a while looking at old cars, old F1 motors and reading the history. DH was in his happy place.

Other than the car/bike stuff there isn't much else in this area, especially not on a Sunday night. We must have drove around for over an hour to find a place that was open to eat at. Thankfully we found a place and each ordered a thin crust pizza, with a litre of house red. The pizzas were the largest I have ever seen but very good and very reasonably priced.  We planned originally on two nights here but tomorrow we may continue onto Lake Como our final stop in Italy before heading back into Germany.

Port to La Sovana

Today we left the ship to continue on our European adventure. We drove about 250km into Italy's interior today to Siena, for the next few days we are staying at La Sovana Agriturismo. For the drive we stayed to minor roads to avoid Italy's very expensive tolls. We saw some beautiful sights and had a great lunch at a little roadside trattoria of thin crust pizzas.  La Sovana is beautiful. We checked in and were invited to a wine and olive oil tasting before dinner. Both the grapes and the olives are grown on their grounds and created excellent products. Not the biggest quantity but very good quality. We are looking forward to dinner on site tonight, if it's as good as the wine and oil tasting we are in for a treat!

La Sovana grounds

A small village we passed in our travels.

Naples (Amalfi Coast)

Today was our last port stop before returning to Civitavecchia and the end of the cruise. Our port was Naples, Italy but we left the city for a driving tour of the Amalfi Coast. This was a beautiful experience and again another area we would come back to visit. We did the tour with Marcello. He knows the area as he lives in the area and shared his knowledge with us throughout the day. The views of the coast were amazing and the lunch was wonderful. It took us nearly     5 hours to get down to our lunch spot but the drive through the mountains back to the ship was closer to 2 hours and was equally as beautiful but different again.

The village of Positano below us.

The view from our lunch, near Ravello.

If you look closely you can see the terraced gardens used to grow the local products found in the region. Our meal reflected these locals products and flavours of the area.

Mykonos

Today our port stop was the Greek island of Mykonos.  We spent the morning walking the town, seeing the sights, taking many pictures and we spent the afternoon sitting in a tavern (Marco Polo Taverna), enjoying some food, wine, beer, mataxa and ozo before walking back to the ship.

 It was an awesome day. The little village was busy but you could still find quiet streets to take some great pictures.

On our way back to the ship we stopped spur of the moment along the road for a swim in the Mediterranean. Neither DH nor I had bath suits but we made due and had a wonderful swim in the sea. Then we sat on a big rock my the shore to dry off and just enjoy the view. 

Probably one of my top highlights of the trip so far. 

Piraeus (Athens)

Today our stop was the port city of Piraeus. We didn't stay in port long as our destination for the day was the Corinth Canal and the ancient city of Corinth.  

We also had a few spare moments to enjoy a quiet light lunch at a cafe in modern Corinth at a little spot called Marinos Restaurant. The food and wine/beer was excellent and a nice break from the hussel of the tour group.

The Apollo Temple in the background at the ancient city.

The view from lunch.

The Corinth Canal from below.

All in all a great but very busy day.

Ephesus (Kusadasi Port)

Today was our day to see the historical area of Ephesus (Efes). Getting off the ship was still a bit like cattle slowly being herded but in general it was a much smoother process than Santorini.  We landed in the port town of Kusadasi, Turkey where we met up with our guide for the day. 

Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary. As it was Sunday it was crazy busy between tour groups and the Sunday prayer service. So we tried to get through that stop as quickly as possible. From there is was onto the ancient city of Ephesus. 

Some of the excavated ruins date back to 600BC. And only 10 percent of the ruins have been excavated and a lot haven't been re-assembled. It was amazing to see and to walk through the city. 

Istanbul

Yesterday was another sea day for us while we cruised from Santorini to Istanbul. For something fun we did a wine tasting and enjoyed the ocean views. 

Today was our first day in Istanbul. As the ship pulled into port around 6:30 this morning we could hear the "Call to Prayer", the haunting melody confirmed that we were no longer in a part of the world we know. 

DH and I were up earlyish for breakfast before we began our all day by foot exploration of the city. We saw all the highlights of the city including the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar.

We wandered streets, ate street meat for lunch and have now returned to the ship for a cocktail and some time off the feet. 

All together we figure it's about a 10-15 km day of walking. Istanbul is a unique and very large city of approximately 13-14 million people. It seemed that no matter where we walked the city was just busy.  

Santorini

Today was our first port. It was the island of Santorini in Greece. This was one of the two ports that made me choose this cruise. The tender process was very slow on the ship, it took nearly an hour and a half to get onto the tenders and we had tickets for #14, some people had numbers as high as 39. Once we got to shore at Thira (Fira) we had the choice of another long wait for the cable car, donkey or walking up the donkey path. We choose the walk up, it was a hard go but I did it! Right at the top we ran into (a somewhat planned encounter) our friends from back home Ted, Tina & Ellie who are spending the next year chasing summer. 

Together we walked through town then hoped into their rental car to Oia, which was a highlight for me. Oia is as beautiful as I had hoped it would be and a definite place I will want to return to in our future to spend more time.

After a wander through Oia it was time for dinner.  We found a great little restaurant on the side of the road and enjoy a Greek meal before being dropped back at the donkey path to walk back to the ship.

It was a wonderful day made better by the company we had, I just wish we had more time with our friends on Santorini.

Pisa to Port

Yesterday (October 6) was a driving day from Pisa to the port of Civitavecchia. We got the rental parked and embarked on the 11 night Mediterranean cruise. 

The country side was beautiful on the drive, but Italian speed limits are stupid and change way to frequently.

Parking at the port was easy and the transport to the ship was efficient. Once we checked in and borded the ship the excitement mounted. More than a year of planning and finally I was here. DH and I met up with the parental units on deck 15 by the Mast Bar and shared some wine and stories of the first few days in Europe. Our first dinner was great (as I had expected it too be) we all had the four courses.  With full stomachs we all slept well.

Today (October 7) is our first "at sea" day which is beautiful at 24 degrees but the sea is rocking even on this large ship. DH and I have explored the ship, played some ping-pong and spent sometime enjoying the luxury of a balcony room.  Tonight will be our first formal night and I am getting my hair done up in a bit.

All dressed up for formal night.

Tomorrow is our first port, Santorini! Hoping to meet up with Ted and Tina there.

From Germany to Italy

Today we drove from the German-Swiss border 620km to Pisa, Italy. The drive along A2 through Switzerland was beautiful. We noticed that gas was nearly a euro more than German and we were happy to not need to stop. But the scenery was so picturesque and all the tunnels through the mountains made for an interesting drive. And once we hit the Italian border and got through Milian the drive was beautiful as well. Lots of sweeping corners through the hills. The toll as we pulled off the Autostrada was more expensive than we had thought it would be, wish that Italy had a pass like the Swiss and Germans do.

The hotel was a last minute find on Bookings.com and is an old residence that has been re-made into a B&B. It's a good location and was an easy walk to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The plumbing is a bit slow to get hot water but that may just be our room location. The B&B is called Rosso di Sera. 

Tomorrow it's onto the port and onto the ship.  Our internet access will be spotty for the next 11 nights but I will try to post as regular as I can.

It was great to see  the Leaning Tower and we stopped for a nice dinner during our walk about town.  Here is the Tower all lit up for the evening (and without the tourist mass of the day around it)

A stop in our travels....

We had heard from friends (the Walterson's) that Switzerland was very expensive so today we drove as far as the German border (between 425-450km from Nurburg) on our way to Italy. We have stopped just north of Basal in a centre called Weil am Rhein at a small hotel called Ott's Leopoldshone. It's nothing fancy at less than 100 Euro per night but for tonight it will do. Tomorrow 650km to Pisa, Italy. 

DH and I went for a late lunch or early dinner of "street meat" and wine/beer this afternoon. And will probably do a light dinner or dessert in a bit.

This was the glass my wine came in, well it was good even if presentation was lacking. LOL!

Day 3 in Nurburg - Green Hell Driving Days

Today was our track day at the Nurburgring. There are not enough words to describe what DH and I experienced today. It was amazing, breathtaking, beautiful, fast, fun, entertaining and all around memorable day.  We successfully completed 13 laps of the Ring, at 21 kilometres in length each lap it doesn't sound like a lot but it took us all day. 

The Ring was closed for at least an hour 4 or 5 times today due to crashes. One involved a few motorcycles and an air ambulance to the nearest city. It wasn't looking good for the one rider. And it closed the Ring for 2 hours mid-day. 

I have never seen so many exotic and expensive cars as we have seen here. And the speed they are driven with is crazy. 

This is defiantly an experience we will want to repeat, perhaps for our 15th wedding anniversary.

I could go on-and-on about today but I will say goodbye now, it's time for some wine and dinner.

Day 2 in Nurburg

Today DH and I walked, and walked some more. All together we figure we walked, and hiked 15-20km. We walked around the Nurburgring and saw some factory cars getting track tested and took some great pictures of the Ring. 

We then hiked around the base of Nurburg Castle. The Nurburg Castle was built before 1166 and it was the Bergfried (keep) that we climbed up yesterday.  The Castle was built upon a 678 metre volcanic basalt cone.

And from there we walked back down and along the starting straight stretch of the Ring.

Our weather was wonderful today with no wind and very little fog.

Tomorrow is our track at the Nurburgring and we are both looking forward to that!

Day 1 in Nurburg, Germany

We left Frankfurt this morning and it was a nice and very quick drive to the little town of Nurgurg, a town known mostly for the racetrack that is nearby and our reason for stopping here, the Nurburgring.

Checking into our hotel was a breeze. With an afternoon of nothing planned we walked through the town, up the hill to the ancient castle and all the way up to the highest tower. This provided us amazing views of the entire valley and some great picture opportunities. 

After that we went over to the main Nurburgring track and walked around. Then we drove to a cute little town nearby called Adenau. We walked there Main Street looking in the shop windows. On our way back to Nurburg, we stopped at a turn out in the road and walked along a dirt road to watch some cars racing on the Nurburgring. A lot of car manufacturers have test and design centres around Nurburg and we got to watch some cars being tested on the Nurburgring. 

Our hotel is very cute, and you can hear cars on the racetrack from our balcony.