Yesterday was a fairly long day – having left Innsbruck in the early afternoon, we stuck to our plan for a scenic route to Trieste through the Dolomites. We were rewarded with one of the best drives yet, with hairpin bends to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and truly spectacular scenery. From the warmth of the valleys to the freezing, snow covered peaks, we enjoyed every minute.
The drive took its toll a little on the Jag – we seem to have picked a couple of transmission noises and a strange clunk. Also, the brake discs were pretty hot from all the downhill sections, and we lost a mudflap bottoming out with the extra weight in the car, but all seems to be running ok.
We didn’t quite make Trieste, but stopped off in a town called Portogruaro, still in Italy. As we arrived late and hadn’t booked anywhere for the night, we drove around for a while before settling on a cheeky little three star hotel. Because we are a little tired we opted for a quick bite to eat and an early night.
After several beers, a few glasses of wine and a limoncello we sat down for a game of cards and got to bed just before 2.30am. So much for self-discipline. Tonight we’re really going to get an early night, although Bob lost at cards last night and will be looking to redeem himself.
Some more news on the Chevy is that the insurance company have sent us mixed messages about repatriating the van. As things stand, it’s going to cost them too much and they won’t pay anything towards getting it back to the UK, although they might ship back the gear we have left in the back of it. On the bright side, we’re saving around £600 worth of fuel by not driving it round the whole route, so that’s something good we can take out of the situation.
As for today, we’re making excellent progress, and have left Italy for Slovenia. We stopped for lunch in what we think is the capital, Ljubljana, which turned out to be a very pleasant town indeed. We are now en route to Bratislava in Slovakia, where we’ve splashed out on cabins aboard an old cruise boat moored up on the river.
The cars are holding up fine, although the BMW is looking a little low at the back, and the Jag is showing signs of wear and tear. Today the cruise control stopped working, and Quent started formulating a plan whereby he could wire it up to his laptop and control the speed from that. Better still, we even discussed figuring out a way for folk back home to control the speed from their PCs there. Knowing Quent he might just succeed in his Jaguar modifications, although if he gets his hands on it, I’m concerned we’ll pull in to Dover and the doors and wheels will fall off.
The drive took its toll a little on the Jag – we seem to have picked a couple of transmission noises and a strange clunk. Also, the brake discs were pretty hot from all the downhill sections, and we lost a mudflap bottoming out with the extra weight in the car, but all seems to be running ok.
We didn’t quite make Trieste, but stopped off in a town called Portogruaro, still in Italy. As we arrived late and hadn’t booked anywhere for the night, we drove around for a while before settling on a cheeky little three star hotel. Because we are a little tired we opted for a quick bite to eat and an early night.
After several beers, a few glasses of wine and a limoncello we sat down for a game of cards and got to bed just before 2.30am. So much for self-discipline. Tonight we’re really going to get an early night, although Bob lost at cards last night and will be looking to redeem himself.
Some more news on the Chevy is that the insurance company have sent us mixed messages about repatriating the van. As things stand, it’s going to cost them too much and they won’t pay anything towards getting it back to the UK, although they might ship back the gear we have left in the back of it. On the bright side, we’re saving around £600 worth of fuel by not driving it round the whole route, so that’s something good we can take out of the situation.
As for today, we’re making excellent progress, and have left Italy for Slovenia. We stopped for lunch in what we think is the capital, Ljubljana, which turned out to be a very pleasant town indeed. We are now en route to Bratislava in Slovakia, where we’ve splashed out on cabins aboard an old cruise boat moored up on the river.
The cars are holding up fine, although the BMW is looking a little low at the back, and the Jag is showing signs of wear and tear. Today the cruise control stopped working, and Quent started formulating a plan whereby he could wire it up to his laptop and control the speed from that. Better still, we even discussed figuring out a way for folk back home to control the speed from their PCs there. Knowing Quent he might just succeed in his Jaguar modifications, although if he gets his hands on it, I’m concerned we’ll pull in to Dover and the doors and wheels will fall off.
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