Living on an island (not big, but not small) “road trips” are not something that I have tended to make and those that I have not particularly “memorable”. However, the first that came to mind was the journey across Europe that I made with my partner many years ago probably just after we had finished college together. I’m not 100% certain what the car was, but we were in our early 20s and it was a really memorable trip for so many reasons.
I will only concentrate on the “memorable” bits because otherwise they will just be too vague. We set off with a portable kettle that plugged into the lighter socket, some clothes for various weather conditions (inc. cagoules – waterproof jackets that folded into a neat square zip package) passports and the idea to try to revisit Reggio Emilia in Italy where I had enjoyed some pleasant holidays with my parents.
We took the ferry from England to France and set off through France staying at random hotels that were listed in our ‘Logis de France’ guide and we came across on the route i.e. we hadn’t been very organised! I remember that the Loire river had lots of flies and that we stayed in the mountains somewhere where we were getting a bit worried about not finding the listed hotel. We drove higher and higher down increasingly narrow and twisty roads towards the top of the mountain with no obvious habitation in site. However there was no way that we were going to be able to turnaround and so we just had to keep going and hoping. We eventually found the hotel, which looked down over a very industrialised area in the valley on the opposite side from which we had approached. The room was very basic, with a wardrobe looking structure inside of which were the washing facilities. It wasn’t looking too good, but we had little choice by that stage! So we just unpacked our belongings and set off down to the restaurant in the hotel. Despite our concerns the food was wonderful (although I can’t remember what we ate).
Next we decided to drive over the Alps into Italy rather than taking the “boring” route through the tunnel. The weather was lovely driving up the French side, but as soon as we got to the top the mists descended. This was not helped by my partner, who was doing the map reading, commenting that off down the steep slope on our right there was a lovely Lake area that we couldn’t see through the mist and I was just concentrating on trying to follow the narrow mountain road. Eventually, still with heavy mist and near zero visibility my helpful ‘map reader’ announced that we would be coming to the Italian border soon. As it turned out this was a simple barrier + guardhouse for the customs official who needed to check our passports. Fortunately the mists were dispersing and we were able to see the border! (Note. There was no “Shengan agreement” free travel area in Europe at this time – I did say that it was ages ago!)
So now we had arrived in Italy and the next excitement was trying to avoid Turin – we didn’t! No, we ended up right in the middle of Turin having a crash course in the unique Italian driving style. (I now know why the Carabinieri police carry such large firearms over their shoulders.) Eventually we managed to escape and start our journey via Milan to Piacenza and beyond. Milan is the only place where I have witnessed a car crash where the 2 cars had literally welded themselves together along their entire length from front to back. I guess that neither driver was prepared to give way.
And that is where my memory ends. I know we made it to the hotel I remembered and we had a most enjoyable time, but that’s it.
Memory Jar 
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