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| EuroTrip 2010 begins in Germany! |
This was our first Christmas in Germany and Matt and I wanted to take a vacation to some place warmer than Germany but close enough to drive our car. It's not that we dislike using the train or taking a plane, it's just that we are big road trippers and wanted to experience a real "Euro Trip."
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| Austria |
Since Matt wasn't able to take off work for an entire week surrounding Christmas, we decided to take a vacation earlier in December. I searched our timeshare site, RCI, and found a beautiful resort called "
il Poggio" located on the hill of a medieval town called Celle sul Rigo in Tuscany, Italy.
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| Keys to our apartment at il Poggio |
We left Germany around 10:30 am and it was cold, wet, and dreary. We set out on what we thought would be an eight hour drive...twelve hours later we arrived at our beautiful resort.
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| Rhein river |
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| Crossing over the Rhein |
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| Austria |
We started on the Autobahn in Germany and drove into Austria where we had to stop and purchase a sticker for our vehicle. The sticker cost us 7.50 euros and was good for 10 days of unlimited travel throughout Austria. "Austria requires all vehicles using the autobahn to display an “Autobahn Vignette” highway tax sticker on the inside of the vehicle’s windshield. The sticker may be purchased at border crossings, gas stations in Austria, and small “Tabak” shops located in Austrian towns. Fines for failing to display a valid autobahn vignette on the windshield of your car are usually around $150." (
Travel.state.gov)
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| Passenger side photo shoot! |
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| Alps |
We didn't even realize we had entered Switzerland until we noticed the Swiss license plates on all the cars and a clearer view of the amazing Alps. I guess I expected there would be "Welcome" signs each time we crossed over into a different country like we have in the states each time we enter a new state.
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| Alps in Switzerland |
Once in Switzerland we should have purchased another sticker for the autobahn which cost us 40 euro. Some how we drove right through with no problem on our way to Italy but we were stopped at what I guess was the border on the way back home and had to purchase the sticker.
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| Switzerland |
"Travel on expressways (indicated by green signs with a white expressway symbol) requires purchase of a sticker (“vignette”), which must be affixed to the car’s windshield. Vignettes can be purchased at most border crossings points, gas stations and at Swiss post offices. Drivers using the highway system without a vignette are subject to hefty fines levied on the spot. Public transportation in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is excellent." (
travel.state.gov)
It was such a long road through Switzerland to Italy but the view was well worth the trip. On the way home we found a shorter route which got us home in nine hours but we missed a lot of the Alps so I'm so glad we did it once, that's enough!
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| Almost there |
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