MARCH – JUNE 2004
PART 4
INDEPENDENT TRAVEL BY SENIORS DRIVING EUROPE
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To read Part 1 of the Diary Click Part 1 page.
Today we went for an early morning drive to look at the beautiful Amalfi coast "before everyone gets up" Denise said. Ha ha! We left at 7.30am and when we got to Sorrento on the coast the traffic was terrible. We were in a 'convoy' along with 17 tour buses and that is where we stayed driving the Amalfi Way for about 3 hours. We could only drive along the coast at about 10k per hour with hundreds of cars driving in both directions and looking for parks and hundreds already parked to see the view. The road is so narrow that cars had to back up to let buses through. Numerous S bends and switchback made it a nightmare. Wonderful views however and perfect weather and we could take lots of photos at that speed.
When we got to the village of Maiori we gave up and turned left for a road to the Autostrada back to Pompeii. Bad mistake. Although the sign said 'To the A3' it didn't say how far away it was. So over the mountains we went again on tiny roads with switchbacks and small villages for about 60 minutes. We got to Corbara, then to Angri but somewhere we took a wrong turn (again) and ended back at Angri - yes angry for us. Studying the map we finally ended back on the A3 Autostrada. I also ran a redlight on the road which turned out to be a one lane tunnel but we managed to scrape through without hitting an oncoming car! Back to the hotel and pizza lunch.
We caught the train from Pompeii to Herculaneum in the afternoon. Herculaneum is ruins similar to Pompeii but closer to the coast and have been nicely excavated. Quite impressive to walk through it. Then took the train back to Pompeii. (80 Km).
Visiting the Blue Grotto was one of our funiest experiences. In the morning we took the train to Sorrento (4 Euro), then found our way down to the wharves and booked a fast ferry to Capri (12 Euro). This was a very comfortable ride out to the island. It is a warm 24C today. At Capri queued for 30 minutes to get into a small speedboat (16 Euro)which takes about 20 people and takes the tourists to the Blue grotto. Then at the Blue Grotto it is hilarious, as you have to clamber into a small rowboat and lie flat on the floor as the rower rows to a ticket booth (boat) to pay 16 Euro and then rows into the cave through a tiny gap in the rock wall. About 4 people fit into the rowboat. The guide then sings O Solo Mio and Volare while he rows about for about 2 minutes in the cave along with 6 other rowboats. All the guides are singing different songs at the same time and there is a cacophony of noise! Crazy, but it is nice and blue inside. We give a 5 Euro tip to the rower. This was Denise's big wish to do on the trip because she would be too old to do it on our next trip. Then back out the cave and climb from the rowboat into the speedboat and back to Capri.
We booked another fast ferry to Naples (24 Euro) which was about to leave. It takes 40 minutes and very comfortable. We walk around Naples and note the poverty and beggars. Rubbish and grafitti everywhere, also dingy apartment blocks and traffic is heavy (more motor scooters than Florence). We look at the beautiful Cathedral (Duomo) and the National Archeological Musuem with magnificent marble statues inluding the Farnese Bull. We then have to find the special railway station for the 'Circumvesuviana' which is train back to Pompeii. We jump on the train and ask a passenger if the train goes to Pompeii and also check with the conductor on the train. However it is the wrong train! It does go to Pompeii (the town) and bypasses the Pompeii Scavi (ruins) where our hotel is. So we get off and wait for another train back to the right station and go back to hotel and get some pizza on the way (again).
Well, we made it to Venice today. Not much to tell about the trip. Travelled the whole day on the Autostrada (toll road) for 9 1/2 hours and did 930km. Most of the way was overcast with some rain and 20C. Very good driving on the Autostrada. The cost was 40 Euro but better than travelling on minor roads and getting lost. Also we could travel at constant 130 Kmh (except when there were roadworks!) and stop at the Autogrill for coffee and lunch and toilet. The autostrada took us right from Pompeii past Foggia, Bologna and Padua to Venice. Arrived there about 5pm and found the exit off the tollroad and into Venice to the car park (Tronchetto) where everyone has to park. We left our heavy luggage in the car similarly to Rome. The attendant tried to sell us a boattaxi to the city but as the guide books told us not to fall for this trick, we caught the Vaporetto (boatbus) to San Marco stop. Finding the hotel Ai Do Mori was a little tricky as the street name was different from that on the directions we had. Another hotel with narrow stairs but a nice room overlooking the street and is 20 steps from St Mark's square and next to a McDonald's. A quiet itinerary here to relax for 2 days. We walk around in the early evening and then at 8pm a huge black cloud comes over and a thunderstorm unleashes. All the restaurants rush to get the tables and diners inside. We have dinner at a nearby restaurant and when we come out St Mark's square is 6 inches under water and people dance about in the water in the dark.
We have a tour of the Doge's Palace booked at 10am - it is the Secret Itineraries tour - and this gets you in the Doge's palace without queueing and is also a very good tour to places in the palace where tourists cannot go otherwise. Then in the afternoon we just wander around peacefully along all the small canals and over all the bridges admiring the city. The place is really funny with about 50,000 tourists walking about seemingly lost going round in circles through the small streets which are only 2 metres wide! Denise does the laundry and I find an internet place to check emails and upload photos. At 8pm there is another thunderstorm such as yesterday and floods St Mark's square again.
Today we buy a 24-hour boatbus pass which will take us through to 10am tomorrow and be able to get out of town. We ride down the Grand Canal and see the sights. We get off at a market and inspect the fish and vegetables and meat. We sit down to have a cappucino and then grab a takeaway pizza (for the last time). We also eat great gelati and fruitsalad (in a cup) from stalls along the way. Back on the Vaporetto to St Mark's square and the queue is now shorter (3pm) and we go into the San Marco Basilica. We then jump on another Vaporetto and travel to the Lido Island and back. Although there are some dark clouds tonight there is no thunderstorm although there is lightning in the distance.
At 9am we take the Vaporetto for the last time back to the car park Tronchetto and pay 54 Euros for 3 days. The car is still there and intact. We find our way back to the autostrada going north to Cortina d'Ampezzo. The temperature is 23C but as we get into the mountains it starts to get colder. At 11.15 we get to Cortina and it is 13C. We then take the scenic road around Lago di Misurina and take wonderful photos of the Tre Cime di Lavarado mountains (three chimneys). Then we pay 20 Euros for the privately owned Panoramic Road to the top of Tre Cime. It gets down to 9C there and we are in the snow left over from winter. Many people walk this road to the top but it is very steep. At the top there are about 30 cars and there is a great view over the mountains.
We go back to Cortina d'Ampezzo and take the road to Bolzano - which is supposed to be the Dolomite Road. However after a few kilometres we find the road number is wrong and we are going north, not west. We turn around and go back to Cortina and check out the road signs. We then try again to drive to Bolzano but same thing - wrong road! Back at Cortina we check a roadside map and try to work out where the Dolomite Road starts. We drive a different way now out of town and suddenly I see a sign to the Falzarego Pass - that's where we want to go! Now it's easy to follow the signs. Later I worked out that road to Bolzano avoids the Dolomite Road and goes to Bolzano a safer way. Unfortunately we wasted about an hour which doesn't help our itinerary.
We travel the beautiful Dolomite Road with 33 hairpin bends going up and up to the Falzarego Pass (2105 metres) with snow on all the mountain tops. This is also a favourite route for motor bikes and we see hundreds. We try to buy lunch at a roadside cafe but they insist we sit down and be waited upon and we just want a takeaway sandwich. So we leave and a few kilometres down the road try again and this guy makes us beautiful ham rolls to go and we continue on. We go through the Pordoi Pass (2239 metres) and the Gardena Pass (2121 metres).When we get to a junction, we have to bypass the road to Bolzano (not enough time) and take a scenic road through the mountains north. Another beautiful drive but lots of S bends and scenery. At 4pm we hit the autostrada going north and east to Lienz and just put our foot down as it is a long way! Traffic is quite heavy here with lots of trucks but then eases off as we get to Austria.
We cross the border and check the huge sign showing the speed limits etc. We also have to buy a disc for registration for 7 days (vignette). This is compulsory in Austria and yes, we do get checked by an inspector when we park at a food stop on the highway. We get to Lienz at 6.30pm and have the only setback of the trip when the hotel we've booked is closed. We walk around it but definitely locked up tight. Next door is a pushbike shop and luckily for us the mechanic is still working and directs us to another hotel and rings up to check availability. He then instructs us how to get there and in 5 minutes we are there. It is the Goldener Fisch Hotel and we have a first class room, one of the best of the trip. We then go down the street to dinner and have a nice meal. (440 Km).
This is another adventurous day we have looked forward to - to drive the Grossglockner Strasse through the mountains of Austria. The road is closed for about 8 months of the year due to the snow. We leave Lienz (23C) and travel past Heiligenblut onto the Grossglockner Strasse. We have to pay a toll of 26 Euros to enter the road. First we drive up the Franz Josefs Hohe which is about 8km and goes up to 2369 metres and is a deadend road with a large multistorey carpark at the end. The carpark is free and we go to look at the mountain scenery. This is the site of the Pasterze Glacier and the temperature is 4C.
We then drive back down and at the turnoff (roundabout) we take the road to Zell am See. This is the actual Grossglockner Strasse. It is about 40km long and rises to 2571 metres and from the highest pass there are magnificent views. Except today! The pass is covered in low cloud and it is snowing! We crawl along at about 20kph in very low visibility and there are 37 hairpin bends (they are signposted). The Grossglockner peak itself is 3798 metres high above us. It is an adventurous drive nevertheless especially with dozens of the motor cycles going in both directions. We drive over the top of the pass but cannot see more than 10 metres in front of us with 3 metres high snow piled up on each side of the road for about 30 kms!
We then go down to Zell am See a pretty village near a large lake (See). We take about one hour to find our pension and luckily someone directs us to the Railway station and from there it is only 2 streets away. We book into the Pension Muellauer and have a very nice room. We go for a drive and for lunch have a Yiros on a roll. Then we drive around the large lake (Zeller See) and stop near the shore for a relaxing time. From there we can see the snowcovered mountains all around the town. We then drive to nearby Kaprun to look around. For dinner we go to McDonald's as we do not wish to go to a restaurant and we cannot see any takeaway shops. (100 km).
This was a relaxing day although we did a lot of exercise. It's a sunny morning and we visit the Stubach Valley nearby. It a great drive through a lush green valley with a stream tinkling alongside the road and stark mountains ahead their tops covered in snow and low cloud. At the end the road gets very narrow and with impossible steep switchbacks. Luckily we don't meet any cars going in the opposite direction. It's a deadend road so we drive down again and then on to Krimml where there is a huge waterfall (3 actually). We park in the carpark and then start the climb to the waterfall. There are 3 stages of the walk, and the path is constantly rising but good for walking. Along the way there are lookout points for taking photos and also a few seats for resting. We walk to stage 2 at 1300 metres up and stop and rest. It's a wonderful and magnificent waterfall. That's enough and we go back down again and back to Zell am See. We then walk to the Zeller See to ride in a pleasure boat, but everything shuts at 4pm and we are too late. For dinner we go to McDonald's again. (130km).
After an early breakfast we leave Zell at 8am in glorious sunshine and drive to Gerlos through the Gerlos Pass 1600 metres high. There is a toll to pay. After that we hit the highway to Innsbruck, where we miss the exit to Germany! So we go for a scenic drive through the countryside and back onto the highway. We then try again and exit correctly and then it is plain driving via Imst and Fussen to Schwangau. We cross the German border about 1pm and follow the signs to Neuschwanstein Schloss (because the pension is only 400 metres from the castle ticketbox). So we get to Schwangau and at the T junction Denise says turn left - and yes we're on the romantic road and there is the Romantic Pension with the castle high above it! Exactly as Denise ordered it. We book into the King Ludwig suite which has a beautiful view of the Neuschwanstein Schloss (castle) from the room. This castle was built by mad King Ludwig II and is the fairytale castle used by Disney.
So we walk over to check out the ticket procedures ready for tomorrow. Then drive to see the Tegelberg cable car, and look for an Internet place but it is closed. For dinner we go to a restaurant in the centre of town and sit outside and I have a meal and a large German beer. (400km).
Today we do the tour of Neuschwanstein Schloss (Denise's favourite) and Hohenschwangau Schloss, which is the family castle of King Ludwig. The tours are booked by time and language and there is 90 minutes between the 2 tours. The castles are magnificent to see and after the Hohenschwangau tour that we drive to the Tegelbergbahn and take the cable car up 2000 metres. It's 29C weather and from the top the view is magnificent. There is a launching pad for hang gliders, of which there about 20 launching while we watch, fantastic sight to see them gliding in the air above Schwangau. Then back down again and we go to the adjoining Rodelbahn which is a bobsled run and have a go. In the early evening we went for a walk to the Alp See and then had dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday. (10km).
Woke to another sunny 29C day and drove to Schloss Linderhof (another castle of Ludwig) and did a tour. This is another huge castle and grounds. However it is being renovated and the front of the castle is just a huge colour photo! Then to Oberamegau and parked and walked around to look at the beautifully painted houses. After that we drove to the Tegernsee (lake)and all the way around it which is a scenic drive but where the scenery was there was no parking! We then continue on to Austria for the 2nd time.
We then drive back into Austria and to Salzburg on the highway. We get the correct exit and the hotel is right there, Etap Salzburg Flughaven. We book in with our pre-arranged booking and credit card (this is excellent way to go) then take the bus into the city centre (about 6 km). We walk along the river and visit the Mozart Plaza and the Rezidence Plaza and look at the sights. We have dinner at a small bar which was quite empty, but as soon as we start eating the place fills up! We're starting a trend. We then take a taxi back to the hotel. (290 km).
Today is Corpus Christi and a public holiday in Salzburg (although we didn't know that). We drive to Germany to Berchtesgaden where there is a saltmine to visit. On the way there we are stopped by police as there is a Corpus Christi procession on the road. So we (and about 40 cars and buses) wait 15 minutes until the road is clear. At the saltmine we are dressed in protective trousers and coats. Then we take a small train (with about 70 people) into the mine and then get off and tour the mine on foot. This involves gliding down a wooden slide twice to lower levels. Then into a boat which goes across a huge brine lake 300 metres below the surface! This was a great experience. We then visit the town of Berchtesgaden to have a look and lunch at a stall near the Railway Station, then drive back to the hotel for a rest.
Then take the bus to the city and see more sights: Mirabell Garden, Cemetary of St Peter, Domplatz, Salzburg Cathedral. There is also a classic car race throug the town on closed roads. Then take the funicular to the Fortress on top of the cliff and visit the Monastery of St Peter. Back down to ground level and buy strassberg sausages in a roll with mustard and a bottle of German beer at a stall. Take a taxi back to the hotel. (80km).
Today is Denise's birthday, and it's in the summer for a change.
We left Salzburg at 8.30am and take the highway to Linz. We then get off the highway to drive the Romantic Road along the Danube. We look for a place for takeaway food at a village along the way but they only have table service. We continue onto Melk to visit the Melk Abbey. It is sunny and 19C and we park and walk into the main street. We find a butcher shop who makes ham rolls, great. So we finally learned to get food on the run.
Then we drive around looking for the Melk Abbey but we cannot find it. We look at the map and drive back and forth. No sign anywhere for the Abbey. After 20 minutes Denise says follow that sign "Stift Melk" and we get there! Stift means Abbey! We visit the magnificent abbey and then take the road along the Danube until we get to the highway to Vienna.
In Vienna we planned to park at a 'Park and Ride' and we know where they are, however there is no exit from the highway to get to one of the eight P&R. So we drive straight into the city of Vienna in peak hour traffic. I suddenly see a P&R sign pointing left but there are 3 lanes of traffic and I cannot cross in time. So we go to the next intersection and turn left. We then try to get back to the main road but it takes 15 minutes before we figure it out. We then make the correct left turn. So we follow the signs for about 4 kms! It was a stressful 20 minutes drive across Vienna looking for the small P&R signs. We finally get to the Parking station and I do a left turn against a red light to get into it (nearly get killed).
We take our 2 cabin bags and take the Underground to the city centre of Vienna and walk to the Am Operneck Pension right in the central mall Kartner Strasse overlooking the Opera house, fabulous location. We book in at 5.30pm and go to look for food. We eat at Nordzee a popular fish franchise and have a nice fish meal with a glass of wine. (390km).
We get breakfast in our room here! Then we take the circle line tram around the city to have a look. After that we walk to the nice Stadt Park and see Strauss's statue and others. We the visit the Sacher cafe for their world famous Sacher Torte and coffee (expensive). Then to the St Augustine Church and St Stephen's Cathedral, followed by the Hofburg house of the Habsburg family, St Michael's Church, practice session at the Spanish Riding School to see the horses. About 5pm we eat some sausages in a bun with mustard and take the Underground to the Wiener Prater which is a huge amusement park with 100s of wild and exciting (?) rides. We spend a few hours there and then return to the pension.
Another nice day in Vienna, cloudy but 18C. First to the Hofburg palace to see Empress Elizabeth's (Sissi) private apartment and learn her tragic story. Then to St Augustine church for High mass. This is a sung Mass with a different choir and soloists every week, and many people come just to listen to the music. It is standing room only but after 10 minutes a couple leaves and we get a seat. We catch the train to Schloss Schonbrunn - another palace of the Habsburgs which has 1441 rooms - to rival the Versailles Palace. We eat at one of the many take-away food stalls at the railway station after we get off the train. Then walk to the Schloss and we saw about 40 rooms - that's plenty - looked at the grounds and the garden. We then went to a Money exchange in the city and obtained about $300 in Czech currency which we will need tomorrow. For dinner had Chinese meal.
Monday morning left Vienna and picked up the car at the Park and Ride, cost was only 9 Euros. We drove to Czech Republic, an easy drive, crossed the border at about 11 am. At the border our documents are checked by the Austrian guards but not by the Czechs. Just over the border there is a ticket booth to buy a permit to drive on the Highways (called a vignette, about 150 Kroner). Then we went off to find Cesky Krumlov. We take a few wrong turns and then miss the road altogether, however we continue onto Cesky Budejovice, and from here there are good signs and a perfect highway to Cesky Krumlov which is a lovely town. Cesky Krumlov is the second best-preserved historical town in Bohemia after Prague and is designated as one of UNESCO's World Monuments. We inspect the castle and village and then take the long trip to Prague in fine warm weather.
In Prague we have the hardest task to find the hotel of the whole trip. We have directions to the hotel, but from a different highway than we are on. It is about 5.30pm and we don't want to drive cross-country to the other highway. So we drive straight into Prague and don't know where we are. However after a while I see a sign for "Teplice" and I seem to remember that name from a map of Czech Republic which we have. So I just follow that sign across Prague and across the bridge (which is what we wanted). Denise meanwhile is frantically studying the photocopied maps which we have. After about 20 minutes following the signs, she spots a streetname that she recognises from the map and says we're on the right road. Amazing!
So she now knows where we are and directs us to the main road to the airport, because we are staying at the Hotel Comfort near the airport. The traffic is reasonably light for peak hour, and we do 2 more left turns and then we can see the hotel. But it is in an industrial estate and we have missed the turnoff into it. So I do a U-turn right across the tramlines in the middle of the road and back we go and find the entrance road to the estate. We then book in at the hotel and have a nice room. We are a long way from the city and there are no restaurants anywhere within about 4 Km. We walk to the bus and tram station but the food looks like it sat there all day and unappetising. Nearby is also a McDonald's where we know the food is fresh and we have a burger and also an iced coffee. (380km).
This morning had breakfast at the hotel, then the tram near the hotel to the city, about 40 minute trip. Walked along the river to Charles Bridge and looked at all the statues and the tourists everywhere. There are lots of Internet cafes here and we go to one to check our mail. Then we go to explore the Old town in very warm weather 25C. First to the Baby Jesus of Prague in the Church of Our Lady of Victor. Then from the Lesser Quarter up a long stairway to the Castle Square where we see the changing of the guards, the Archbishop's Palace, Wenceslas Chapel and Old Royal Palace. On we go to the Gold Lane and see Franz Kafka's house. We have lunch at the Kafka resturant. Walk back across the bridge and take a while to find the Valdstejnska Garden. Then catch the Underground back to the city centre, and check out Wenceslas Square (which is not a square but a boulevard and eat a sausage on a roll with mustard for a snack, and then buy a 24 hour tram pass and catch the tram back to the hotel. We then have dinner at the hotel but it is fairly standard buffet with little choices.
While we were there we saw an exhibition of Cows all over Prague, in the streets, shops, parks. There were several hundred cows and they have all been named and decorated by artists, some with a specific message or theme, such as the McDonald's cow. This exhibition travelled across Europe during Spring/Summer of 2004.
Left Prague early in overcast conditions and soon crossed the border into Germany and drove to Berlin via Teplice and Dresden. It was a long drive on the Autobahn and very easy traffic. Near the city Denise was sleeping and I miss the exit to the ring route and drive into Berlin. It didn't matter as traffic was very light compared to other capital cities. Denise guided us in right across Berlin following the Centrum-Mitte signs and with a good map and we booked into the pension Am Scheunenviertel on the Oranienburger Strasse in former East Berlin about 2pm. The weather is unsettled with rain showers. The hotel gave us a parking permit to put in the windscreen so we could park in the street without feeding the parking meters. Then in light rain we went sightseeing the famous street "Unter der Linden" to the Brandenburg Gate, and queued up to visit the Reichstag (parliament) with a beautiful glass dome. We got in after about 40 minutes and were escorted in a secure lift to the top (glass dome on top of the Parliament chamber). A fierce thunder and rainstorm then hit which lasted about 40 minutes. For dinner went to the nearby Railway station which has lots of food shops, and we had a Chinese meal. (350 km)
Today walked to the Pergamon Museum which has an extensive collection of artifacts from Babylon, such as statues and parts of the temples and the Ishtar Gate. Then in showery weather took the 100 bus to West Berlin to look around. Here saw various Memorials to the War, the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial Church and the Damm. Went to the Ka De We Department store for a really upmarket coffee and cake in the Kafhaus das Westens. Back to East Berlin on the U-Bahn, to do some laundry. Then Chinese dinner (a different shop) at the Railway station.
This morning walked to Checkpoint Charlie where the American sector ended and to see the House at Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Mauer (Wall) Museum. This is a fantastic exhibition of the history of the Wall and the divided city of Berlin. We spent about 4 hours there to see it all, showing how people escaped from East Germany. Part of the Wall still stands and there is a large exhibiton called Topography of Terror detailing Hitler and the SS. Then took a bus to see the Victory Column, then a train to another part of the Berlin Wall which still stands. Had some dinner at this Railway Station and took the train back to the hotel. In the evening watched Germany in the Euro Cup on TV while downstairs hundreds of fans were crowded in the bar next to the pension roaring at the action.
Left the hotel, paid for the parking permit and jumped in the car at 8.30am (the car was still there out the front) to drive to Frankfurt am Main. Overcast and 17C and took the Autobahn south from Berlin, past Leipzig, then turned West and finally South again. At Frankfurt we found the exit from the Autobahn and then drove to the 'Motel One' chain which was right next door to the Etap chain. The driving was excellent and easy. We went looking for a local restaurant but didn't see any as we were in Frankfurt South somewhere. The nearby takeaway shop looked like the food had been sitting there all day, so we went to McDonald's which was next to the Motel anyway.(610 km).
Our last day of sightseeing! Drove to Bingen in heavy rain at times. Parked at the Pay and Display and went looking for a cruise on the Rhine. Yes we found one - the Romantic Loreley Cruise of 5 hours roundtrip. And being Monday it was halfprice for Seniors! Lucky. So we waited on the wharf with about 40 seniors and 20 backpackers and got on the cruise ship. People can get on and off at about 6 stops along the way so there is a constant influx of passengers. We sat on the outside deck to take photos but it was cold and windy. Inside the cabin was a troup of German singers entertaining with songs. They just happened to be going this way and got off later. At the end stop there was a one hour wait while the crew had lunch, so everyone got off to look around the small village of St Goar. It was raining so we sheltered at the Railway station but there was no food there. Back on the ship for the return journey, and drive back to the Motel. (170km).
We could have done more sightseeing today but we had enough after 90 days. Also I was nervous about returning the car and getting to the airport on time (the flight was 10.25pm). We had previously phoned to return the car at about 3pm at Langen which was not far away. We stayed at the Motel until 11am twiddling our thumbs and me getting nervous. We then drove to Langen and tried to find the Renault place. We had trouble finding the street so parked while we had coffee and something to eat. Then Denise went shopping while I checked out the streets. I finally found the street where we were supposed to be.
We the drove to the Car place but it was closed down and we had no idea where to find it. So we rang the phone number and after numerous calls got through and found the new address. It was only 500 metres away. The dealer checked the car and gave us a receipt and drove us to the airport where we arrived about 4pm. We had travelled 11400 Kms in 64 days in the Renault Scenic diesel and only one small dent. The car was excellent and never missed a beat.
Arrived at 5.30pm in Singapore tired out. We wandered the airport, then found some full-length lounge chairs to have a sleep for a couple of hours. Also there was lady giving free chair massages so we took advantage of that. Our next flight was at 10.45pm so we made our way to the check-in lounge and found seats there.
We did it - 92 days holiday in Europe! We loved every minute of it.
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