Celebrating my 60th year with some very good friends on a road trip to Tuscany
OUR MERRY GROUP
Les (me) & Anne (East Yorkshire)
Davy & Caroline (Scotland)
Ken & Verity (Southampton)
Nic (North Yorkshire)
Jason (Oxfordshire)
Ian & Michelle (Cambridgeshire)
Nigel (Surrey)
Nathan (Corfu)
Edouard (France)
Jean Loup & Caroline (France)
Romain (France)
Erick (France)
Les (me) & Anne (East Yorkshire)
Davy & Caroline (Scotland)
Ken & Verity (Southampton)
Nic (North Yorkshire)
Jason (Oxfordshire)
Ian & Michelle (Cambridgeshire)
Nigel (Surrey)
Nathan (Corfu)
Edouard (France)
Jean Loup & Caroline (France)
Romain (France)
Erick (France)
Wanting to do something special for my birthday I contacted some friends with regards to doing yet another continental road trip, this time taking in the beautiful region of Tuscany, once again using the help advice and resources of Agni Travel (http://www.agnitravel.com/travel/index.asp)
Wednesday 25th May 2011
Setting off for Michelle & Ian's
Setting off from home Anne and I met up with Davy, Caroline & Nic at Blyth Services on the A1, from here we carried on Southwards to Peterborough where Ian & Michelle kindly let us stay overnight, this made for a shorter run to the Dover ferry terminal the next day where we would meet up with Ken, Verity & Jason
...............Can't find another leaving home picture :(
Thursday 26th May 2011
Leaving for Dover
Dover Ferry Terminal
We met Ken & Verity at the terminal but Davy & Caroline went on a sight seeing tour of the docks.............that's what they told us anyway
Dunkirk to Metz
Setting the Sat-nav's to avoid tolls we made our way to the Metz B&B where we would meet up with our friend Edouard
Stopping for a coffee while Jason sorts out a small problem with his engine
B&B Metz
Driving into the car park at the Metz B&B we were greeted by Edouard who had arrived there earlier, once unpacked and freshened up it was time to take a stroll to our favorite eating establishment .........."The Crocodile"
A fine meal was enjoyed by all ..........and possibly some wine
Friday 27th May 2011
Metz to Zams (Austria)
Having driven this route in the past I planned once again to drive down along the banks of Lake Constance/Bodensee then through Friedrichsafen...............Big mistake!!!! traffic was horrendous and our group got split up so we had to arrange a meeting point between ourselves a few kilometers further along the route.
The pictures below show the last of our top down driving before misty, rainy, horrible weather set in, this lasted all the way to our next hotel the Gasthof Kreuz http://www.gasthofkreuz.at/
.........and then it got slightly moist
Gasthof Kreuz
It was still damp and miserable on our arrival at the hotel with Jason and Edouard still to catch up due to the continuing engine fault on the Lotus
Fortunately they both made it in time for our food session
The next morning showed better potential for the weather prospects (I was the only one up when these pictures were taken)
Saturday 29th May 2011
Zams (Austria) to San Gimignano (Italy)
Another fantastic drive over the Dolomite's and down through Italy
Ian & Nic making sure Michelle does a good job on the windows
Leaving Austria we set off for our Villa in Tuscany, not before saying farewell to Michelle & Ian who were heading off back to England as they had only joined us for the journey as far as Zams, it was great having their company this far
With the weather improving all the time we made our way down to Tuscany
Then we arrived.......
Later that day our friends Jean Loup, Caroline, Erick and Romain arrived to join our merry group, a day or two later I had a wonderful (belated) surprise Birthday party.............but they still couldn't get me away from the BBQ
Some random pictures of our time spent in Tuscany
Wednesday 1st June 2012
Nigel & Nathan arrive completing our party
Enjoying a great pizza meal on the night we made arrangements to meet the next day for one of our final outings, this became "final" in more ways than one for Anne and myself.......................
Thursday 2nd June
Drive out to Siena,
From Siena some of us drove on to........ Some place on a hill?
In these pictures are some of the last group shots of my old friend Slapa.........My MR2 Roadster
Slapa's last journey
Although this looked like an horrific accident the actual roll was very slow and could have gone either way.
Speed or reckless driving was not a factor as the road conditions were terrible at the time and I was in the middle of a line of traffic when it occurred something possibly gave way but I will never know, both Anne and myself undid our belts, dropped to the.....roof, opened the door and climbed out without a scratch.
There was even a memorial for it
That evening we celebrated the demise of a car I had owned for nine years and how it had looked after us till the very end.....
Friday 3rd June 2011
A day to contemplate and organise our journey home, even the weather seemed to change reflecting our mood ......
Saturday 4th June 2011
The worse day of our holiday, watching our friends depart for the drive home............
Not long after our friends left our own journey back arranged through the insurance began, firstly with a taxi to Sienna where we collected the little car in the picture, from there we went to Buenconvento where our poor car had been taken, there we collected as many things as possible before saying farewell to our old friend, then on to Florence to get our flight home....
My thoughts
Despite the unfortunate accident at the end of our holiday, we had a fantastic time from leaving home, to meeting friends, having a fabulous journey, staying in brilliant accommodation (Thanks Agni Travel) and enjoying the wonderful Tuscan scenery, sights, towns, villages, food, drink and hospitality.
Would I ever go back?...................................Of course!!
Would I ever go back?...................................Of course!!