Tour 2018 -3 Car Drive to Misano MotoGP Report

Khulu

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I can’t believe I’m actually writing a car trip report! I’ve been a biker for over 47 years and cars have always been a utilitarian necessity to me, and still are, but needs must. I started a new contract job early 2018 (having been out of employment since Nov. 2017) and by the time I got around to thinking about booking our (my misses and me) usual flights to Bologna for the Misano MotoGP the costs were through the roof. She suggested we could drive and I took it to the next level and suggested making a trip out of it for two weeks and that’s when Florence and Rome entered the plan.

Day 1 – Thurs. 30th August
It’s time to head over to start our first car road trip to mainland Europe.
The worst part of my journey is always the long, slow slog through England (sorry to all the English but it’s true - 630 miles to the channel tunnel from home). This time I’m leaving from work (Ayrshire) and that will save me about 200 miles to the tunnel.
We’re up at 06:00 and head out to the local Costa to pick up two coffees to go. I’d added two hours of travelling time to what it should take (just in case) and we got to the tunnel well ahead of our booked slot. The machine told me I could pay an extra £75 and travel now (aye, right) or wait 30 mins. And travel for no extra charge (that’s the one we’ll take).
While milling about the services / shop area I booked a hotel near the centre of St. Quentin so that was us sorted for the night. I found the hotel, parked on the road across from it, checked in and then went looking for somewhere for dinner.
We found a lovely square (place) and a nice evening was had by us both.

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Day 2 – Fri. 31st

Eventually, we find our way out of the St Quentin one-way system and get back onto the A26 peage heading for the Mont Blanc tunnel. Once into Italy I have the opportunity to stop and take a picture of the glacier.

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Where to go next was the question in hand as we drove east across Italy.
A couple of years earlier I had been in Palma, on work, in the middle of December and it looked really festive. Plus, my local host took me to a great restaurant in the evening where we sampled the local delicacies (both food and wine.) That was it we’ll aim for Palma and hope I can remember the turns I took to get to the hotel I used then and see if they have a room for the night. I navigated, from memory, and they had a room. Excellent. Parking involved three tight reversals around corners to get into the hotel’s enclosed atrium but I made it. Fine, into the room and then out for a bit of sightseeing and then try to find the same restaurant I was in before. The sightseeing went fine but I couldn’t remember which direction the restaurant was in and went the wrong way, initially. This started to annoy my misses as her right ankle was starting to get painful (mangled when a drunk driver took her out from her bike in Arkansas back in 2004). I eventually found the correct road to go (lucky for me) and sat outside, in the evening heat, and had a brilliant meal suitably washed down with a few drops of a nice red. I was forgiven!

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Piazza Garibaldi

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Day 3 – Sat.1st
After a little breakfast (mainly coffee) we headed out to Florence. Only we didn’t, actually. My wife had read about the old walled city of Lucca (fortunately it was on our route) and fancied a walk around the top of it. Sounded like a good idea so Lucca it was. However, it was not to be. As we approached Lucca the rain got heavier and heavier and heavier. I was driving on high curved bridges (don’t even think about the Lombardi one that isn’t in Genova anymore) and it got so heavy the Italians were pulling over at the edge of the bridges! Shit! I carried on, very slowly, and got to Lucca but the rain was so heavy the old wall was generating waterfalls and turning the grass into a moat! I did a slow drive around the town and then headed out in the direction Florence. The rain did, eventually, disappear but it took a while. We’ll have to visit Lucca another trip. Onwards to Florence and my bike Nav V took me right to the hotel front door. Actually, I drove past it the first time as I couldn’t see it and had to work my way back around a one-way system and abandon my car on the pavement (narrow road with lots of buses) while we checked in. That done and my car disappeared for the rest of our stay into an underground car park nearby. Time for a walk about (with a map in hand) and get our bearings. Of course I had to take a few photos too.

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Big Doors:

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Medici:

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Local market:
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Cosmo Medici:
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A couple of dudes:
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Uffizi Museum (tomorrow's main place of interest)
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Here's one of me:
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Ponte Vecchio:
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Piazza della Signoria by night:

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Rub his nose for luck:
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Day 4 – Sun. 2nd

Up for breakfast but we’re 10 mins. early and the jobsworth on reception wouldn’t let us in because it wasn’t opening time yet! We only wanted orange juice and croissant and they were already laid out but he wouldn’t let us in. Arse! Yesterday we did a recce at the Uffizi gallery so we could get in the queue early which we did and it certainly did fill up quickly. Four hours and loads of photos later we emerge from this amazing place.

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In the queue early:
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Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi gallery:
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Where else could we go? Endless choices but we pick the Galleria dell'Accademia first as my wife was desperate to see the original statue of David. At 5.17m. (17ft.) he’s an exceptionally tall guy! What they could do with marble back then (early 1500’s) is absolutely amazing!

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Next it’s time to visit the museum dedicated to Leonardo Da Vinci; was he an amazingly clever bloke, or what?

Another self-portrait:
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A multiple blade table saw anyone?

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Security everywhere:

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Day 5 – Mon. 3rd
We had to visit the Basilica di San Lorenzo and, I must admit, I thought it would have been more ornate on the inside than it was. Another couple of museums were on the visit list (unfortunately I can’t recall their names) then it was time to feed the local pigeons and find an eatery for the evening’s entertainment because tomorrow we head for Rome. (I wonder if we’ll bump into Russell Crowe?)

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Giant bronze doors:
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Another museum:
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Day 6 – Tues. 4th
We leave Florence and head down to Rome for more cultural experiences! I booked a hotel in the Trastevere area as this is, allegedly, the wining and dining area of Rome (and it turned out to be just that.) There was, limited, car parking at the hotel’s front door and I managed to squeeze into the last space. It wasn’t going to move for three days so that was fine and I saw it every time I passed. There was a tram stop right across the road (well, in the middle of the road actually) and two trams ran all day – one to the Coliseum and the other to the Piazza Venezia. I didn’t know this when I booked the hotel but very handy (and lucky) nevertheless! What follows are a collection of photos from various areas of interest around Rome.

Piazza Signoria:
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Coliseum:
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Top of the Spanish steps:
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And at the bottom:
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Trevi fountain:
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Trastevere for dinner:
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Pantheon:
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to be continued...........
 
Day 9 – Thurs. 6th

We'd better check out the Pope's place before we leave (it's only good manners after all we are here):

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Painted to match the decor:
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A big sphere that opens up and rotates:
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Their scaffold covers are decorated so you know what is behind:
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Here's a big carpet on the wall:
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After three days of Roman culture it’s time for the main event – Misano MotoGP!
We meander across Italy heading for Pescara, on the Adriatic coast, then up to Ancona and Cattolica where we’ll reside for the racing duration. Rome to Pescara was a lovely drive across Italy and a route I’ll have to do on the bike one day. I find the hotel (after driving across a pedestrian precinct) and park in the last covered bay available.
To say that Cattolica is a supporter of Mr. V. Rossi would be an understatement.

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Day 10 – Fri. 7th
It’s bike time, at last!
I don’t take many bike racing pics. anymore unless I have my DSLR and zoom with me as they’re just too far away to be any good (in my opinion) so there’s none here. Here are a few “other” pics. instead. Two great racers from years Ago (sic) and, sadly, one no longer with us.

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Day 11 – Sat. 8th
A few photos.

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Day 12 – Sun. 9th
A few more photos

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Day 13 – Mon. 10th
It’s time to leave Cattolica and head for home. I had already ridden up a section of the Brenner pass earlier in the year heading for the Dolomites so I thought my wife would enjoy the drive up the valley. She did! We stopped at Bolzano for some lunch in a piazza and then headed past the Bodensee and into western Germany.

Bolzano:
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We bypassed Stuttgart and, after about 560 miles that day, I asked my misses to check the map and find a wee town close by for a stop for the night. Annweiler was just ahead so I turned off and headed for there. I asked my Nav V to find a hotel and I picked one up the hill out of town by about a mile. Kurhaus Trifels was the name of the place and they had rooms available and we were just in time to get dinner too. A great dinner washed downed with local red wine ensued and we finished the evening sitting outside with a nice glass of wine. At this point the chef walked past and we thanked him for a lovely meal and discovered from him he had been trained in a Michelin 2 star restaurant. It showed in the quality of the food.

Local castle ruins that Hitler wanted to extend:
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Our room is the one with the light on:
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The circular ceiling of an old smoking room (cleaned up):
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A different season mural on all four sides:
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Day 14 – Tues. 11th
Left Annweiler after breakfast and, before heading for France then up the A25 towards the tunnel, we visited the local Netto discount store (think Aldi / Lidl). Being in Germany they sell beer by the crate (with money back for returns; I remembered this from visiting one in the Ramstein area before). Some goodies purchased and a crate of Erdinger Weiss beer at a fraction of the UK cost and we’re ready to leave. (Note to self : buy more beer next year). Further up the road we headed off the main route and ended up at the top of a hill in a wee remote village called Cassell that was about to close as lunch was over but we just made it, and no more. Nice place.

Cassell:
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It was only c. 16:00 so we headed for the tunnel (after a few hours in a hypermarche buying wine and cheese) and would stop for the night somewhere in middle England but, like all good plans, that wasn’t to happen. With England being turned into one big smart motorway set of roadworks it wouldn’t matter which route we chose. We chose the M25 north heading west – unlucky for us. We were stopped for about an hour in the dark because a van had overturned somewhere ahead. Eventually we headed north, slowly, and my wife kept trying online booking sites for a room for the night but nobody had space! Crazy. We stopped at some motorway services and had a coffee, swapped drivers and my misses headed for Scotland. We got to Ardrossan (just north of Troon for Wapping’s benefit) at 04:00 on the Wednesday. (According to my Nav V while on the M6 we should have been home some 220 miles further north by that time!)



Till Misano time in 2019!



:beerjug::beerjug::beerjug::beerjug:
 
Great pics! Artistry like that simply isn't made anymore, even for the non religious Rome and the Vatican are amazing places to visit...
 
Great pics! Artistry like that simply isn't made anymore, even for the non religious Rome and the Vatican are amazing places to visit...

Many thanks. You're correct they are amazing places and talent of that calibre doesn't exist very often now.
 
Wow, Florence look amazing. "Birth of Venus" all to yourself! I must do a grand tour in Italy someday.
They need to finish the plastering on that first church though.
 
Wow, Florence look amazing. "Birth of Venus" all to yourself! I must do a grand tour in Italy someday.
They need to finish the plastering on that first church though.

Florence was simply stunning!

I try to fit in a mini-grand tour of Italy ever year! - bike to Italy and the Austrian MotoGP and car to Misano MotoGP.
 
Thanks Iain....great stuff!

When we went to Rome last year we 'did' the Vatican on an early 'beat the line' guided tour which was worth every penny if anyone else is inspired to visit.

Off to Venice next month! And Orkney! Will I notice a difference?
 
Thanks Iain....great stuff!

When we went to Rome last year we 'did' the Vatican on an early 'beat the line' guided tour which was worth every penny if anyone else is inspired to visit.

Off to Venice next month! And Orkney! Will I notice a difference?

Thanks Gerard.

We didn't do a guided tour but we did the "beat-the-line" with a guide until we got the tickets inside and then we were on our own.

I think they'll both be wet - are you going on a circular tour route?
 
Another excellent report and some amazing photographs - many thanks for sharing them with us. I've now added Florence to my places to visit list....:thumb
 
Another excellent report and some amazing photographs - many thanks for sharing them with us. I've now added Florence to my places to visit list....:thumb

Thank you.
Florence is a good size as all places of interest are within walking distance of one another.
 
Absolutely superb pictures & write up... :bow

What some great places to visit.

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us.

Love the fact that it's a car trip....

:thumb

( jealous you bet ) ;)
 
Absolutely superb pictures & write up... :bow

What some great places to visit.

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us.

Love the fact that it's a car trip....

:thumb

( jealous you bet ) ;)

Thank you kind sir. :beerjug::beerjug::bounce1:bounce1
 


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