It took months of blood, sweat, and tears but the time for our honey moon had finally come. We planned a loop that started in Munich, Germany, headed south through Austria, crossed northern Italy via Venice, the Dolomites, and the Lake District, then headed back through Austria to Munich. We would finish the trip with a long weekend in London with family.
The Route
Non-reving at peak season would be a joke, so we gratefully took my Mom's offer for positive space tickets. The best deal was via Finland on American Airlines. We left Denver on a Mad Dog (MD-88) to Chicago then connected to a cattle car 767-200 for the red-eye to Helsinki, Finland. There we had an nine hour layover, which we used to catch up on some sleep. The final leg was on a Finnair jungle jet (EMB-190). I have to say the jungle jet was pretty damn nice, it was the most comfortable leg of the journey. There was a man with superhero strength BO in the back, but we had a few buffer rows between us. We arrived in Munich at 6:30pm, 25 hours after we left.
Going Over the Top
Riding Bitch in the Cattle Car 767
Catching Up on Sleep in Finland
Hand Held Bidet in the Airport
(I was way too shy to try it)
The View from the EMB-190
Sunset at Our Hotel in Munich
Driving in Europe was going to be a highlight of the trip for me (and a source of anxiety for Jo). The best part of renting a car in Europe is the cheapest car is the best. They are small, fuel-efficient, and most important sporty by American standards. I really wanted a BMW 1 series hatch (my dream daily driver), but Hertz wouldn't let us take a BMW into Italy (we would find out why later). Instead we got the next best thing, a Ford Fiesta. Seriously, the Ford Fiesta was the shit! In America driving a Ford Fiesta is an act of humiliating utilitarianism. European Fords have a long and rich history of motor sport that have resulted in a completely different vehicle than the junk we get in the states. Supposedly this has changed with the most recent generations of Focus and Fiestas. If that is true I would sell the E30 for one. I'm going to test drive one tomorrow.
The Ford Fiesta was the Shit!
Our metallic black murdered-out version had the 1.4 liter motor (that's too small and fuel efficient for the US), manual transmission, and got 50mpg. It had alloy wheels, adjustable headlights, integrated blind spot mirrors, a better steering wheel than the M Coupe, cloth seats with orange highlight stripes, and an entertainment screen that connected blue tooth, aux inputs, traffic alerts, and radio. It was the shit!
Murdered Out with Alloy Wheels
Better Steering Wheel than the M Coupe
Full Control Center
Metal Pedals
Cloth Sport Seats
We put it to good use. Stay tuned!
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