She's Electric!

In the words of that great 20th century thinker Hannibal Smith...'I love it when a plan comes together'. 

For the past few months I've been poring over maps, guidebooks and consulting the internet to devise a route for our next adventure. That plan has now come together.

Regular readers will know that in recent years I've taken to discovering Europe by car. My travels have already taken me through many parts of France, Belgium, Luxemborg, Switzerland, Germany, Northern Spain and Austria. One of the countries missing from this list is Italy. I first visited Italy in the 1980's taking a fast hydrofoil across the Adriatic from what was then Yugoslavia for a day trip to Venice. A few years later I did the same thing with Mrs B and out two young daughters. We did all the tourist things - including riding through the canals on a gondola. For a landmark birthday Mrs B took me to Florence for a lovely short break. 

In more recent travels I've crossed the border briefly into Italy - once on Zugspitz, Germany's highest peak where you can cross from one country to another, and most recently on foot during a walk in the French Alps. But all in all I've spent hardly any time in Italy so this year I plan to become much better acquainted.

I've planned a route that will take us across the Channel, through Belgium and Luxembourg before we break our journey in Germany. Then we'll cross the border back into France, and after an overnight stop, travel through Switzerland stopping in various places before I drive over the Alps into Northern Italy. Once in Italy the plan is to explore the Italian Lakes, visit Verona, Bergamo and Mantua. A return journey will be made via the Mont Blanc tunnel through France and passing Geneva (where I hope to visit CERN), taking in the ciy of Nancy before we spend our last few days in Flemish Belgium. It will be another epic road trip in which we should experience some very different cultures and cuisines. 

To prepare for the trip I've not just been consulting guidebooks and maps. I've been flexing the mental muscles - and learning a new language. I joined our local University of the Third Age and became a founder member of a beginners italian group. We meet weekly, working through a text book, watch videos, listen to conversations and support each other in our efforts to become more confident reading and speaking a new language. I've supplemented this with daily lessons on Duolingo so my vocabulary has expanded, although the intricacies of italian grammar are still a challenge. Whilst far from fluent I hope I'll be able to 'get by'.

The second bit of preparation involves my mode of transport. For some years I've wanted to travel as sustainably as possible and reduce the environmental impact of our explorations. As I love to go to out of the way places public transport isn't always viable, but this year I'll be minimising our impact on the environment because the whole trip will be taken in an electric car. 

Late last year I bought a second hand, but still fairly new, EV that has a notional range on a full charge of 300 miles. Its a dream to drive, quite quick - 0-60 in 7.9 seconds and packed with kit to make driving both comfortable and safe. I was reassured that the rapid expansion of EV charging points in the UK and Europe, and the ease of finding them on various apps makes long distance travel perfectly feasible in a EV.. This year we've had trips to the New Forest, South Devon and Anglesey which have all been easy to do as lots of car parks now have EV charging points.  

Journey times between places on long trips are of course a little slower but having a break on a long drive is no hardship and chances are we'll arrive more rested than if I'd hammered down the motorway for hour after hour.

All that's left now is to pack bags with clothes, gadgets, plug adaptors and everything else we might need before setting off. 

Buoni viaggi!