Month long self drive Europe trip report!
 

My husband and two sons(18) &(12) left Canada on March 17 for Germany, Switzerland, Italy & France. We flew with Air Canada with new problems into Frankfurt. Our first night was spent at the Sheraton hotel airport as we had to pick up our rental car the next morning. The hotel is quiet and we found it fine for our one night stay before we started our one month journey. We picked up our rental car at the Europcar counter the next morning. I highly recommend bring your own Garmin navigation system(or similar) as the navigation system in the car we rented was useless. We relied on ours(which we named Daniel) immensely!! I don't know how people travelled around Europe with out a Nav. System...lol. We drove down the Autobahn to our first stop at the beautiful Baden Baden. We stayed at the Brenner's Park Hotel & Spa. I highly recommend this hotel as we were treated very well and the location is great for stepping out to eat or check out all the shops. We went on a day trip into Stuttgart to check out the Mercedes Museum. Okay, not my favorite but I'm travelling with three males...lol. The museum was actually very interesting. But the drive on the highway was not. Being that it was the Easter weekend coming up the Autobahn was a mess. But once we made it made it back to our beautiful hotel in Baden Baden all was forgotten.

After a two night stay in Baden Baden we headed to Switzerland. Our destination...Lucerne. The drive was slow as it started to snow. Somewhat disappointing as we couldn't see the mountains. We arrived in Lucerne and found our destination easily. Thank you Daniel! We stayed at the Hotel Scheizerhof. Pros: Location! Location! Cons: The stinkiest hotel we've ever encountered. They allow smoking everywhere! It smelled so bad of cigarette smoke that we had to put towels at the base of our hotel room door. It actually seeped through the walls and we had to moved one night at midnight as there was a "Salsa Party" below us. It really ruined a beautiful hotel. The food was not fantastic either. Luckily the weather cleared the next morning and we awoke to the most amazing, breathtaking view! Clear blue skies with the snow capped mountains and glistening lake with hundreds of swans swimming. Breathtaking!! We walked around the city and walked on the Kapellbrucke bridge. We visited the transport museum and the glacier museum. Did some shopping. Bought Swiss Army knives...of course.

We found Switzerland to be our least favorite country that we travelled through. The people were not as friendly as I expected then to be. We found Italian's and the French much more friendly and we had thought the opposite would be true. Sales people were the rudest of all. You know how you place your purchases on the counter while you wait to pay. Well that must have been a no no in this store as she actually shoved my purchases off the counter. We also encountered a rude sales person while my husband tried to buy cigars. We were informed "not to touch anything" like we're two years old. All in all our memories of Switzerland is they smoke a lot. I also found it strange that we would buy something with Euros and they would give us Francs back as change ripping us off every time! I would tell others to come to West provinces of Canada to see breathtaking mountains, lakes and scenery before recommending Switzerland. Along with friendly people that don't smoke everywere. My opinion! A note on the driving. We drove through the tunnels with absolutely no problems. No waits. This was a worry of mine as I've heard you can wait for hours to go through. I'm also claustrophobic but this didn't bother me either in case anyone else worries about this.

Next report will be on my home land of Italy as we head to Lake Como.

I look forward to your next installment but 2 points you make stand out...

Why would you pay in euros and NOT expect Swiss francs back in a country whose money is the franc? I live in Canada too and don't expect stores to take American money or give change back in US dollars if they did accept the foreign currency...

I've been to Europe several times... the first time for several months traveling in a VW van and have never had a GPS and amazingly was lost very rarely. How did I perform this feat... MAPS.
Paper folding ones. They still work just great! LOL

Rob

traveljunkie, I'm glad you enjoyed your month long trip.

However, I must say that we have found the Swiss to be polite and friendly on our trips. Some may be a bit more "formal" than others but you will find that with the Germans and some Austrians also. And when we lived in Vienna years ago, I was told that you do not pick up the merchandise like you do in the US, especially the vegetables at the market. I got yelled at in German for picking up potatoes!! That's just the way it is over there.

We used a GPS on our last trip in September and found it to be a blessing also. I am usually the navigator while my husband drives. It was so much easier for me and allowed me to pay more attention to the scenery than the road signs!

I have to agree with Rob about the currency. Since the Swiss Franc is the currency used in Switzerland, you would have been better off using them instead of Euros.

Look forward to hearing more about your trip.

LOL...My point was that they ripped us off with the change even though they say we can use Euros to pay as that was all we carried with us and found that since they accept Euros we thought it wouldn't be worth going to exchange it. But oh well, maybe their math skills aren't good...lol. That was just our experience and I report like it happened. Maps? What are those...lol.

Okay onto Italy. The best part of our trip! We entered Italy with clear skies and warm sunshine leaving cold Switzerland behind us. Our destination : Carate Urio. We rented a lovely apartment over looking Lake Como. VRBO listing: 13861. I highly recommend this place. It's clean, modern, great location. First agenda to get groceries. Even though I'm Italian I do not speak Italian. Unfortunately my parents never spoke it when by the time they had children here in Canada. We needed to get groceries. Within walking distance there's a little tiny grocer owned by the loveliest family that don't speak a word of english but it doesn't matter all you need is a smile and lots of hand gestures...lol. We walked by George Clooney's residence. Took some pics of his gate. That's all you can see from the road. The views from Vista Lago is enough to make you say if you died right now it would be okay.

We drove up the lake and made stops at the numerous quant little towns along the way. The road is narrow beyond belief. I could not imagine the traffic here in summer. If you are planning a trip to this region I would highly recommend spring and fall. Our favorite place was the town of Menaggio. We enjoyed walking along the lake surrounded by palm trees and flowers. We enjoyed our first gelato here too. The first of many. I really don't understand why Italian's are not fat...lol. As it seems young and old always had a cone in hand. We sat outside enjoying our lunch people watching. Perfect!

We also did a trip to the famed Villa d' Este. The gardens are extraordinary even in late March. The history of this Villa is truly amazing. Arabian Nights was filmed here as well. I'll have to watch the movie now. We went into Como and went shopping at a mall. I don't recall the name but it wasn't to memorable anyway.

For the most part we spent most of our time at Lake Como taking in the scenery.

Our next stop is the Villa Francheschi outside of Venice. This is another highly recommended destination. The nightly rates are reasonable if you compare them to Venice. It's only a ten minute drive to the parking lot on the island of Venice. Great location and pretty too. The grounds are beautifully manicured and the staff are top notch. I had the best spaghetti in all of Italy here too!

I must say we must have had the good weather fairies following us on this trip. The day before we went into Venice was hazy and cloudy as was the day after we went. But the day we explored Venice was clear blue skies! You can imagine the pictures we got! The colours were just incredible. We really loved Venice. We loved exploring all the walking streets...getting lost and found again. Finding interesting shops off the beaten path. Bought some lovely masks. Went on the gondola and our gondolier(hope that's right) took us down water ways not on the typical tourist ride. It was truly a memory we all never forget.

Some tips. I would walk if you are parking your own car into Venice. As we stood in long lines waiting for the water taxi to come. We walked back and it was a breeze. If you're not beat by the time you go home. Buy some art from the painters selling their work. Say a very firm no to the peddlers with their fake merchandise. It was quite comical watching them set up and quickly having to gather their stuff as the police approached. Sometimes they left stuff behing. Quite amusing. We witnessed quite the police chase. It ended with the peddler losing all his product and the police getting quite the laugh about the whole thing. A true cat and mouse game. We were also approached when we were getting out of car for a "cheap boat ride" into the city. Ignore them as well as they are overpriced.

Well I must attend to my gardening. Our next stop is the city of Trieste. Where my father grew up.

Tried to edit the fact that my parents never spoke Italian to us kids but it wouldn't let me edit...lol.

traveljunkie28,

What you consider a "rip-off," the merchants probably consider a reasonable charge for the service of "exchanging" your Euros.

s

Okay seemed to have bothered you with my feeling of being ripped off on change comment. First of all we asked the hotel what the exchange rate is and it wasn't near what the two stores charged us. Taking into account not all stores will be the exact same. Needless to say we made all our purchases with Visa.

I had read on other forums that in some European countries store clerks will try to rip you off. It's just a fact. In Italy there is something I read about called the "slow change" . Where the cashier will hope you accept the change given. But reality is they owe you more. When there is 10 people standing behind you waiting to be served and not being able to understand the language can cause confusion when dealing with foreign money. We never encountered this on our trip.

Our next stop was the beautiful town of Trieste. This part of the trip was very special to me as my father was born here. Trieste is an hour from Venice near the Slovenia border along the Adriatic coast. Not only being the birthplace of my father that intrigued me but it's rich history. Invaded over and over again since the 1300's. Ruled and occupied by Roman, Austrian, the French and Germany.

Our hotel was the Duchi d' Aosta situated on the Piazza Unita D'Italia. The piazza, with the Adriatic Sea in view, was one of the nicest we seen in Italy. With our feet still sore from our Venice trip we set out to explore. We came across a Roman Theatre much to our surprise as we didn't know Trieste had one. The Canal Grande was charming with several outdoor cafes and shops. At the end of the Canal is Sant' Antonio Square where the Sant' Antonio Nuovo church sits. An impressive example of neo-classical design. Another impressive if not curious example of design is the Marian temple of Montegrisa. It sits high on top of a hill looking completely out of place. It resembles a modern pyramid. Another place we visited was the Duino Castle set high on sheer cliffs. Miramare Castle is another beautiful castle situated on the sea. The park surrounding the castle has more than 2000 species of plants, trees and shrubs. Many are very rare.

Trieste isn't usually on the tourist radar. But I highly making a stop here if you are going to Croatia or Slovenia. I have read negative comments about Trieste on forums and I found none of it to be true. I admit I would not want to stay longer than 2 or 3 days as the sights can be seen in this time. The people of Trieste were not as welcoming as other Italian cities. I'm sure that was only because it isn't a big tourist destination.
We did find the best chinese restaurant though. We always get a laugh that we ate the best chinese food ever in Italy! I wished I remembered the name of the restaurant. They were so friendly and even gave our son the bowl and spoon his dessert was served in.

Okay I'm a big planner of our trips. I always book our accomadations myself but this time I missed two nights. After Trieste we were homeless...lol. We just got in the car and drove.

"I don't know how people travelled around Europe with out a Nav. System...lol"

We use these new things called "maps." Many are made of recyclable paper, and you can actually carry them around with you and use them to research routes and alternatives when you are away from your car! Not only are most low cost, but some you can even get for free--and you don't need a 50 page users guide!

Lighweight, good for the environment, low cost, easy to use. lol

That will be my last entry on this thread if all I get is knick picked about every little comment. We did use maps by the way while in the city walking around but we live in the new age of technology and we found the Nav. system extremely helpful. You do not need to read a :50 page manual " either. You just enter your destination and that's it! Give it a try instead instead of fighting with a map some time! Good bye!

tj28, I fully agree with your GPS comments. We travel to France annually, and I would never again go without my Garmin unit (“Madame La Carte” - glad also to see that other folks also name theirs!).

semimike,

Thank you!! I was beginning to feel attacked that I use technology. Maybe they are joking...;-) I highly recommend Nav systems. They are easy and a stress reducer. lol. "Daniel" was a lifesaver. Especially when we came to road construction and had to be re routed. Who has time to whip out a map driving 150 on the Autostrade ;-)

traveljunkie--I was only joking! That's what the lol meant. It's hard to tell how sensitive someone is over the internet, so I'll remember not to pull your leg when you post another time. And please do keep posting as your report was very helpful.

We have always done fine with maps, so we'll probably stay with them. But if someone else finds a GPS useful, go for it!

lol= laughing out loud (or lots of love if one is feeling blue) Relax. I'm enjoying your report.

BTW I sort of agree about maps. A GPS is great - and fun even. But a REAL map is more useful in in a lot of situations. In fact some small villages in the UK and France - don't know about other countries - have had to put up signs telling unsuspecting motorists/truckers to not follow their GPS since the programming is sending folks down farm tracks or blocked roads or under too low bridges.

traveljunkie, I am enjoying your report. Please continue.

I am afraid I am a Luddite and still use maps rather than a GPS, but more power to you if it works for you.

Waiting to hear about the rest of your trip.

I'm loving this, please continue!

Jake1,

Thank you for setting that straight. :-)

To all the others with the kind words Thank you as well.

On with the trip. I wasn't too worried about finding a hotel as we are travelling during the slower tourist season. But we just had to choose where. On a previous planned trip to Italy years a go we were going to visit the city of Bologna. But we never got there. So, we thought why not check it out and see what it has to offer. Thanks to "Daniel" our Nav. we got a list of hotels. The boys wanted to stay in something "modern" as they told me they're tired of "old hotels". Not their style...lol. I agreed we could change it up a bit. We decided on the Una Hotel. We were pleasantly pleased with this hotel. Very modern in design. If you go to Bologna, I recommend this hotel. The concierge were very helpful with giving information on the sights. The bar staff were very friendly and extremely efficient. I do have a funny story about dinner one night at the hotel restaurant. Well it was funny to me any way. I was really craving a salad. Since we've been living on pasta and bread for the past two weeks. I needed a salad. All I wanted was some lettuce(or whatever they had) with tomatos, cucumber, some crumbled cheese. Something real simple. When the waiter served me my salad I actually cracked up. Pretending that my son said something funny so the waiter would not know I was laughing about what had been presented to me. An easy over sunny side up egg on top of a can of tuna, about 15 olives, 15 balls of cheese the size of melon balls on a bout 10 leaves of some sort of lettuce lay in front of me. I know egg is common in salad. But not a runny egg. I do like hard boiled egg in salad but this was too much. Not to mention the cheese balls. Needless to say I ate the tuna and went up hungry for a good ol'salad. I did get my salad at an Autogrill, believe it or not...lol.

Okay onto the sights of Bologna. I got side tracked on the memory of that salad. ;-) We were warned at the front desk that there was some Islamic protests going on at the Palazzo Communale. We were on alert but it was nothing much just some college kids sitting around. There was a lot of police guarding the area so we felt somewhat safe. We didn't hang around long. Walked over to the Le Due Torre(Two Towers). The taller one can be climbed but we didn't attempt it. It was built in the year 1109. The other tower is tilting quite notably. We snapped our pics and moved on as a lot of young adults were hanging around. Not that this bothers me but the fact that protests were on does. Things can get out of control quickly.

Here is an example of that. We walked down some of the smaller streets do some window shopping. When we came across an obviously drunk man arguing with a woman. We walked by and thought nothing of it. A few minutes later that same guy comes ripping past me and my 12 year old and grabs the guy playing a guitar and starts beating the crap out of him. With loud fist hitting another body sounds, my son starting crying. I didn't know which way to get around these two. People are yelling. Older Italian men were trying to break it up. I was worried for their safety. Then the police came and thump, thump, thump was all we heard. Well our 12 year was very upset, as was I but I never feared that we would be hurt. Kind of ruined the rest of the afternoon. My son just wanted to get back to the safety of our hotel room. So we headed back stopping only to buy some wine .

Bologna has the oldest University in Europe. Built in the 11th century. We didn't get over to it the next day. My son didn't want to walk around Bologna anymore. I have to respect that as he is young, travelling around foreign countries unable to understand the language. We went to an outlet mall instead. I'm totally fine with that. :-)

After our very interesting two night stay in Bologna we headed to the Tuscan hills. I could not wait to get the first glimpse of rolling green hills, towering cypress trees and vineyards.

The best is yet to come. ;-)

Hi tj,

just caught up with your report. I loved your description of the salad!

i think what you had was probably the chef's salad - his pride and joy, the epitome of his salad creations. it is actually quite common to add a soft poached egg to such a salad in europe - and I do this at home sometimes too.

but if it's not what you are expecting, I'm sure it can be a bit off-putting.

and I enjoyed the rest of the report too - even though I'm another map-reading luddite.

regards, ann

Wet egg on salad?
This must be your 1st trip to Europe, eh?
It's not uncommon to have egg where you'd least expect it.
Beware of egg (sometimes scrambled, sometimes sunny side up) on pizza.
Not good. They think it is.
But then, they probably think sausage gravy on grits is nuts.
I know that I do.

Just a comment about the salad. Yes, I know and have seen eggs on salad in Europe. My parents are European and put eggs on their salad. It was the fact I had requested a simple salad describing what I would like if it was possible. But obviously it was misunderstood. I do like everything that was in the salad just not so much of it...lol.

No not my first time to Europe. Just my first time encountering "the salad".