If this is Tuesday, it must be Denmark, Germany, Austria and Italy

Regular readers of the blog know that we are not leisurely travelers.  We cover a lot of ground in our trips driven by the curiosity about what is around the next bend.  Moving constantly as we do, our travels are truly about the journey, not just the destination.

We returned from Iceland on the ferry that connects Seydisfjourdur in the east of Iceland to Hirshals at the very northern tip of Denmark.  After three days of sitting idle, we had no trouble getting started (both us and the van).  We rolled off the ferry and zoomed off down through Denmark.  We dropped our problematic van and exchanged it for a sporty little Renault Clio.  I guess there is something about this trip, as Deb’s brother Michael wagged; French diesel  vehicles.  However, the Clio is brand new and quite fun to drive and does not spew clouds of smoke.

After a quick clean out of the camper we loved to hate we were off.  I downshifted onto the ramp happily noticing that there was no puff of blue smoke and we were soon speeding along at 120 kilometers per hour down the expressway.  After a month in the lumbering old van, and now much lower to the ground, it felt like we were going 120 miles per hour. 

I set the navigation in the car and noted that it was 1100 miles to Padova,  I thought with a little luck, light traffic and the high speeds of the German Autobahn we could make it in two days even though it was afternoon by the time we got on the road.

The trip down through Denmark was uneventful and we continually marveled at the trees.  This was not because the trees were special,  but just that Iceland was as devoid of trees as the California desert.  There was not much to keep us entertained other than the backlit huge cumulus clouds in the clear blue sky. 

Within a few hours we crossed the border into Germany (which was barely noticeable in the modern EU).  However, there was a fairly major change in road manners.  Even though going 120kph, suddenly I felt like I was standing still as cars rocketed past me going well in excess of 100mph by my estimation.  Even though the speed limit was only 130kph, I realized that this seemed to be only a suggestion.  So, I put pedal to the metal and was soon cruising along at about 140kph (about 87mph) and still felt like I was not going very fast in comparison to much of the other traffic on the road.  

At 140kph, the kilometers unwound like the altimeter of a diving plane and we found ourselves deep into Germany late in the day and, after some dithering on the internet, we found a hotel for the night the old fashioned way, by driving up to the first place we saw.  It fit the budget and our requirements of clean, relatively quiet and nothing moving in the room other than ourselves.  It turned out to be a charming little hotel and after a restful night and a very nice included breakfast we were on our way again.

We zoomed past Frankfurt and skirted Munich in the rain.  Then, in the late afternoon, just as we entered Austria the clouds started to lift revealing our first glimpse of the Alps.  After miles and miles of flat land followed by rolling foothills,  the first views of the Alps through the mist was quite dramatic.  The granitic spires rose out of tree cloaked hillsides interspersed with vivid green meadows.  Castles seemed to spring from rocky outcroppings.  The road wound through a river valley that splits the Alps from north to south.  The transit took a few hours and as the sun was setting in brilliant orange flashes through the clouds, we  rolled out onto the Veneto plain near Verona and in another hour arrived in Padova to be welcomed by our good friends Ruggero and Donatella.

We had not seen them since Nico’s wedding (their son and, as we fondly call him, our Italian son) we had a lot of happy catching up to do.  After a little  Prosecco, a lot of Cabernet Franc, a “light supper”  of antipasto, soup, and Mackerel  in pesto sauce we tumbled into bed exhausted after our two day, four country dash.

Ruggero prepping lunch