Archive for July, 2007
After a week of "heavy metal holidays" at Metal Camp, we drove just outside the town of Tolmin to see the Tolminka gorge, part of theTrigalv national park. We’d been told be a few different people at Metal Camp that it was worth a visit and we certainly weren’t disappointed.
The water running down from the gorge was crystal clear and icy cold – very refreshing, especially as we were in the middle of an European heat wave. We took some time to cool off before moving on… Read more…
July 24th, 2007
After discovering the joys of Metal Camp with Anth last year, we returned to the beautiful town of Tolmin on the edge of Slovenia’s Triglav National Park for yet more "Hell Over Paradise".
After finding a good camping spot close to the river, we got up bright and early to pick up Lynda from Bled. After a bit of sightseeing we returned to Tolmin and settled in for another week of music and sunshine. Read more…
July 23rd, 2007
We left St Moritz and finally bid a fond farewell to Switzerland – an undeniably beautful land of stunning scenery, delicious food and an excellent quality of life.
Instead of driving directly east through Austria we took a detour north-east so that we could check out the tiny principality of Lichtenstein. This bizzare little country is bordered by Switzerland on the west and Austria on the east and is apparenty a good place to stash money if you’d like to avoid the taxman. Read more…
July 15th, 2007
After Lauterbrunen we took it easy for a bit, driving to the lakeside town of Lucerne where we camped for the night. We were hoping to try Raclette, yet another Swiss dish involving copious amounts of cheese, but on walking around the lake into town we only found one restaurant that served it and it was hideously overpriced.
So we had to be content with a kebab, a beer and a walk around the old part of town, most famous for its covered wooden bridges. Read more…
July 13th, 2007
After leaving Montreux behind we drove north and stopped in the town of Yverdon-les-Bains to visit the Maison d’Ailleurs, ("House of Elsewhere"). This museum contains ever-changing exhibits dedicated to "science-fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys" and when we visited we were lucky for them to be exhibiting the work of Christian Scheurer. Read more…
July 10th, 2007
We drove around Lake Geneva taking in the awesome scenery and finally came to rest in Villeneuve, just along the shore from Montreux. Montreux has been a haunt of the rich and famous for many years. It was a second home for Freddie Mercury of Queen and was immortalised by Deep Purple in "Smoke on the Water" when they sang of the night the Montreux Casino was burned to the ground by a fan letting off a flare gun at a Frank Zappa and the Mothers concert. Read more…
July 8th, 2007
Our next port of call was Geneva, where Viv was due to catch a plane back to England. Rather than take the most direct route though, we thought it’d be nice to go via the French Alps to take in the Alpine scenery.
When we set out from Burgundy the Sun was shining and so we optimistically donned our summer gear, pleased that the rain of the previous couple of days had passed. However when we stopped for a photo half way up to the Alpine town of Chamonix, the dramatic drop in temperature soon had us reaching for our jumpers and hoodies. Read more…
July 7th, 2007
After a few days getting hot, dirty, smelly and a little tipsy at Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix, we thought it’d be best to go somewhere relaxing for the next leg of our trip. We ended up in the Burgundy region, famous of course for its wine and also for having a colour named after it. Read more…
July 4th, 2007
After the relative tranquility of the Loire Valley we made our way to Magny-Cours for the French F1 Grand Prix. After winding our way through the massive parking/camping area, we arrived in time to find a good spot and settle in to watch the qualifying. Being the first time we’d seen F1 live, the sheer noise and speed of the cars was electrifying, and this wasn’t even the race! Read more…
July 2nd, 2007
