Day 1: Drive to Macerata
We left Stuttgart approximately 6:30 PM and with the help of our NAV system, head for Munich in Bavaria to pick up Dan. Drive from Stuttgart to Munich takes about 2 hours and is pretty much uneventful. The Bavarian landscape is more rural then what I know of Germany from Baden-Württemberg and reminds me a little of home with its vast forests of evergreen trees. It really was quite beautiful.
Map of Bavaria. See Munich in the middle bottom.
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It was pretty well dark by the time we reached Munich. We pick up Dan, who has the undeniable benefit of working for a German beer brewery. Telling us that we can procure a whole keg of beer just by driving to his work place, we immediately put off leaving Munich in favour of this godly persuit. But like the quest for the Holy Grail, our target was always just out of site... Dan only knew how to get to his brewery by train, by car he was totally confused (not surprized haha)... Even our NAV system, by now dubbed Big Brother (even though the computerized voice was clearly female) failed to help us navigate the city of Munich (but in truth we just didn't know how to operate it correctly). I think I saw most of Munich by car that nite, and it was beautiful, but it was time we got underway. We were looking at a 10-12 hour journey until we reached Macerata and it was now close to 8:30. But after many excursions, false turns, one-way streets, and no less then 6 times asking for directions, we stumbled upon the brewery and claimed our prize. A whole keg full of fresh brewed beer just for us! Now in good spirits we confidently drive out of Munich and head south into Austria!
Jose drove from Munich into the country of Austria. But seeing how it was dark and raining, we could barely see any of the countryside. All we could make out was the impression that we were surrounded by vast mountains. The drive from Munich and through Austria took several hours. We passed through the city of Innsbruck the site of a Winter Olympics several years ago. Then with Austria behind us, we entered into Italy.
Map of Austria. We passed through the thin arm on the left, through Innsbruck.
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When Jose got tired, I took over the wheels. The car rode like a dream and driving on an autobahn with no speed limits makes one's foot heavy! With confidence and speed, I navigated into the Italian landscape. With Dan and Jose fast asleep, me and Nate passed through the city of Verona, yes star crossed lovers haha! Several hours later, I am falling asleep and I hand the wheel over to Nate, who eventually hands it over to Dan. At 6:00 AM in the morning we finally reach Macerata, totally exhausted... Big Brother successfully navigates us to the house of our Italian contact. And yes we woke him up at 6 in the morning, but he was expecting us. Meet Dan number 2, actually a Mexican living and studying in Italy with his brother. He tells us we are to stay at his brother's place. Dan2 introduces us to a real Italian and we are shocked to see his flagerant use of the mullet rat's tail. But a nice guy nonetheless. After a quick breakfast, we are shown to our place and sleep several hours before continuing our adventure.
Map of Italy. We entered from the top and passed Verona (green), then continued south and passed close to Bologna (yellow) and finally reached Macerata (blue).
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Below are the pictures from Day 1, the drive from Germany to Italy but there are not so many since it was dark most of the time...
Pics from Day 1 of the Italy Road Trip.
Me standing next to our pimpin' new ride in Stuttgart!
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Dan and Jose pig out on some bread sticks from the back seat. We are now driving in Austria, and I am behind the wheel...
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The bread sticks get the better of Jose and he passes out haha!
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Here we are in Macerata and this was our room.
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Nate was too slow to claim a bed (there was only 3) so he got the floor instead. He seems to like it though...
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Continue on to Day 2 by clicking here.
