Wednesday 3 November 2021

The Great European Drive : Conception and start

Conception

The idea behind driving into Europe had been raging since our move back from Hong Kong. I always felt travelling and stopping randomly in cities on your own accord in a much more adventurous approach to travel. It feeds the gypsy inside all of us for the short period we often need change.

We had already done a few forays in to Europe using our older car but it was no longer our companion. Although we had a new car (a fast ford focus), the idea of going around Europe in a fast Ford didn’t agree with the family’s idea of comfort. And it was to be a family trip so we swapped to a Land Rover and the Europe Road Trip idea was conceived. The idea was to use the large Land Rover for a couple of years starting with a drive one of the best road in the work the GrossGlockner High Alpine pass a scenic road near the Austrian Alps. 

The approach was to take a 2 week trip through the most scenic sights through Europe to get to Austria and then take the most scenic road back.

The plan

So our plan was as to experience the mountain. fast German roads, Milan and do some Swiss hikes. The plan was as follows:

DateStartEndEst Mileage (km)Est Travel
Time
Points of Interest
Sat 3rd AugLondonVianden, Lux3697h24mLeave early and get to Vianden castle by afternoon, Visit is EUR 5
Sun 4th AugLuxembourgManneheim3144h29mVianden Castle to Neurbergring in the morning - Ring Taxi (BMW M3). Ring opens at 8am

Drive to Koblenz and follow the
Rhine Valley - UNESCO World Heritage site. Drive from Koblenz to Bingen (Rhine Valley and Rhine Gorge)

Bingen to Mannheim
Mon 5th AugManneheimStuttgart1101h50mDrive from Mannheim to Stuttgart in the morning.

Do
Ludwigsburg Palace and Stuttgart city in the afternoon and evening
Tue 6th AugStuttgardSalzburg3143h49mDo Porsche Museum in the Morning at 9am. Then Drive to Salzburg potentially do eagles nest today to reduce stress on the following day.

Austria requires a permit / driving
Wed 7th AugSalzburgSalzburgNo Driving Day - Explore Salzburg (https://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/top10/domquartier-salzburg)

Salzburg Residenz Palace (Mirabell Palace and Gardens)
Hohensalzburg Fortress
Mozarts Birthplace
Hellbrunn Palace and Trick Fountains
Squares and Streets (DomQuartier) walk
Thu 8th AugSalzburgInnsbruck4927h21mDrive out from Salzburg to : Austrian Mountain Roads Drive

(1) Eagles Nest (https://www.kehlsteinhaus.de/) this is back in Germany

South to Zel-am See and down to Zlan

(2) Goldeck Panoram Road (Zlan to

(3) Grossglockner High Alpine Road : Zell Am See to Rojach (https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/index)

(4) Gerlos Alpine Road : Krimml (Waterfall) to Tyrol

(5) Swarovski Crystal worlds - open until 10pm
Fri 9th AugInnsbruckInnsbruckPotentially to space out the above
Sat 10th AugInnsbruckMilan5686h17mInnsbruck to Marenello (3h51m) - depending on starting time come via Lake Garda

Ferrari Musuem

Drive to Milan
Sun 11th AugMilanMilanNo Driving Day - Around Milan City
Mon 12th AugMilanMilanNo Driving Day - Around Milan City
Tue 13th AugMilanComo2791h35mAround Lake Como
Wed 14th AugComoComoNo Driving Day - Around Lake Como
Thur 15th AugComoInterlaken2453h15mDrive to Interlake and around Interlaken
Fri 16th AugInterlakenInterlakenSwitzerland Mountain Roads Day

Great St. Bernard Pass, Martigny
Furka Pass, Guttannen
St.Gotthard Pass, Andermatt
Sat 17th AugInterlakenInterlakenSwitzerland Hike Day (https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/experiences/summer-autumn/hiking/32-most-enjoyable-hikes-search/)

The Eiger Trail - 6km trail altitude loss of 800m (downhill hike) - https://www.nomadasaurus.com/beginners-guide-hiking-in-switzerland/

Grindelwald ZipRider
Sun 18th AugInterlakenInterlakenHornliweg Zermatt - Matehorn base hike - 4.2km with 700m altitude gain - https://www.nomadasaurus.com/beginners-guide-hiking-in-switzerland/
Mon 19th AugInterlakenRhine falls2192h21mStay at Rhine Falls
Tue 20th AugRhine FallsHome94910h15mWay home
3859

So overall it was going to be a 2 week break and a return to the UK before exam results season. The rest of blog entries will be taking you through the trip above with the key sights we saw and the thing to watch out for and the things to avoid.

We packed camping gear but no one wanted to rough it and the approach was to book hotels as we go. Good hotels in location where we were planned to stay for a few days and just places to sleep where we were just stopping over.





Saturday 4 July 2020

Istanbul - The clash of continents

Istanbul - The clash of continents

Given a long time has drifted since the last update, its time to track back to the summer of 2019. An eagerly awaited point in the year as exams finished, work commitments were no longer handcuffs to life and everyone could look forward to totally unleashed time. Our primary destinations had been European and US since moving back from Asia as we focused forward to areas not explored. Our holidays have also change in structure as we've moved from planned travel to more unplanned exploration.

Our trip to Istanbul was to get back a little taste of the orient that we had been missing. The trip was part of a wider exploration plan over the summer. But driven by wanting a pool, heat and down time we headed to Istanbul. The trip was a made up of two segment - the first two days we lived slightly away from the city centre in a more "resorty" hotel and the second half we changed hotels to the city centre, right into the middle of a 24 hour central shopping street. We have never changed hotels while on a holiday but it was a relatively seamless experience apart from the packing/moving/unpacking which knocked a few hours out of a morning.

Istanbul is a really interesting city, a clash of cultures, modern hotels with modern locals living a western life contrasted with a more traditional Islamic areas and culture permeate Istanbul. My sense was that there was a 50/50 split in cultures and there was coexistence with made transiting from one experience to the other seamless and completely normal.

The tick box points of the city

 All visits to Istanbul will cover the key sights of the Hagia Sophia Museum and Blue Mosque both situated in Sultan Ahmet and very close to each other and if you have limited time in Istanbul this is probably where you should focus. The areas around these two site are the primary tourist arteries of Istanbul with the other tourist sites close by. These two site together with the Grand Bazaar are the primary place to cover on any day trips to the city.

The Hagia Sophia museum tends to be the more interesting of the two places primarily due to its history over the ages and the various empires and culture was in the region. The picture below show what you can expect inside the Sophia Hagia and its surrounding areas. Not being a muslim, the call to prayers at various points during the day broadcast in the area are an interesting and gravitating listen. It primarily left me wondering how do you select the muezzin, is there a talent contest to it ?

The Blue Mosque is easy to navigate and slightly less awesome then I imagined but i may have possibly build up wild expectations. The queues for the various attraction can be long and in 2019 when we went there were a number of touts disguised as legitimate tourist guides who can provide queue jumping tickets. The primary means they use seems to be to arrive early and buy batches of tickets ahead of the tourist hoards. We did go for one of these guides and while the queue jump was a welcome break from the heat the guide's ability was reasonable. But its worth it based on the queue jump solely.





The picture below is of the Hagia Sophia taken from the square between it and the Blue Mosque.




The Grand Bazaar is very close the museum and mosque. The bazaar is a intricate building with a multitude of traders catering to the invading tourist armies. While you can shop to your heart's content, one of the more sedate experiences was to sit and drink tea in the market's cafes and try out the small dishes of food there while everyone rushes around you.





Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace was the main seat of the Ottoman empire and contrasts well with the more western influenced Dolmabache Palace slightly further out along the Bosporus. The palace has a queuing system and is an extensive set of areas to visit. A thorough visit can take time, we spent a few hours at the palace as its was more extensive than the Blue Mosque. The maps and directions are clearly laid out and Islamic design influence is clear to see here. The museum primarily gives you a taste of the Ottoman empire. The photos below capture the grounds and what you can expect to see. 







Expect to see interesting designs and gardens, the palace museum can get busy so be ready to negotiate crowds and especially heat at the height of summer.

Beyoglu - the throbbing heart

After spending the day at the palace we spent the evening at one the bars/restaurants in Beyoglu we went to Istanbul 360 for dinner. Safe to say the views are spectacular and the ambience is excellent. We timed it perfectly with the setting sun.





Beyoglu is filled with shops, ice cream booths, baklava cafe's and of course shisha lounges galore. The area has a 24 hour buzz about it being very close to Tahiri Square.

Dolmabache Palace and life in Istanbul

Dolmabache Palace is much more akin to the large building and palaces you see around the rest of Europe. Its located further along the Bosphorous so you'll need to take the train to see it. We saw the palace and combined it with a boat tour along the Bosphorous half way to the Black Sea.








Views from the Bosporus Cruise

There are various cruises along the Bosporus and this was bottom of our list of things to do but we did reach it. The answer to the question was it worth it is 50/50. Its a long couple of hours on the boat and there is not much to do as such you are riding along the water way that geographically separated Europe from Asia. The one thing that was fun was landing on the one of the side in Europe taking a short boat journey across and landing in Asia. The view are interesting and you may spot dolphins and some mega ships.




Galata

We spent our last morning in Galata, after breakfast we pretty much ran down the street catching various means of transport to the tower. The tower is worth a visit if you want view across the city.







Definitely a city worth doing, there are a few other places around Turkey worth doing. But we'll leave that to a future journey.


Saturday 2 March 2019

Automotive : So your car's cambelt has snapped....

A car's cambelt snapping in generally perceived to be a catastrophic event. My first experience of this was recent and on my first car a Vauxhall Zafira (model A) holding a million pound of sentimental value. Faced with some biting reality from the RAC recovery service individual, its time to scrap this car and a validation from my usual mechanic who's advice was to let it go now. With 144K miles on the clock it probably was time for it to take a rest and the time to let it go.

We solved the need for a new car pretty quickly so then it became a question on whether to tackle the engine on the Zafira and let it live on.

Cambelt snaps are fatal (on certain/interference engines) as the internals of the engines get out of syncronisation because the belt that keeps them in sync breaks and essentially crushes/ breaks / bends the internals and this renders the engine useless. While this is not an educational post of how to fix things this is a post on how it's possible to salvage this situation with a bit of determination, the ability to learn, patience and hard work.

My general approach was to take the car apart bit by bit and recondition the top of the engine. Steps to do this are usually described in car manual, youtube videos and online resources. But his blog post was to show how easy it is to do, some of the problems you encounter and potential costs

How I took the car apart.


To get to the cylinder head you need to take apart the air intake, the timing belt mechanism, exhaust manifold, injectors, inlet manifold. Finally you will need to pull off the cylinder head gasket.
I would advise making lots of videos and pictures of all the things you remove so you remove how to put them back on.


Top of the engine (Z16XE)


The cambelt end of the engine


A well used cylinder head (after 144,000 miles)


Using a valve compressor to take the engine apart



A valve collett - a small retainer that keeps he valve in place inside the engine




A bent valve from inside the engine - this is the damage that happens when a timing belt breaks


something beyond the normal mechanic - a bent/cracked valve guide. these have to be done by a specialist 


Keep the bits separated - so that each piece goes back in the same place it came out from

I used old envelopes to organise the parts I took off the engine


the bottom end of the engine with the cylinder - before a clean

The bottom end of the engine after a clean

What did it cost me ?


The quote from the garage was in the region of GBP900. It cost me about 350 in parts I made some mistakes ordering for the wrong engine so I ended up spending about 60 pounds more than I should have. I had to buy a bunch of tools to get the job done the tools cost about 150. It took me a lot of hours about 12 of then grinding 16 valves into position.

The pitfalls.


Tightening bolts on a old engine tends to be a difficult and inevitably you tend to break them ! these are costly to drill out and no matter the videos on youtube inevitable I didnt not have the skills to do it and these complex jobs had to go to a machine shop.
Sheared bolts - that will cost you 25 to drill out

The lessons learnt from this was if the manual says use new bolts or screws or parts just do it !

Is it worth doing it ? That really depends on your ability and qualities that I outlined about. If you have those in abundance you can do it.


Dubrovnik and Kotor (Montenegro)

Dubrovnik

Our 2018 winter holiday started with mix feeling as it was a holiday with family - 1. This was largely symbolic of children fleeing the nest. This holiday was a late escape in early November so the weather in Dubrovnik was mixed. There was rain as well as sunny warm days. There were still a few brave souls swimming in the sea around the old town.

The one thing that was were told was the November was a season when the number of ships docking into Dubrovnik had eased and the oscillation of the population swell this brings was more controlled. The main summer season bring a host of ship docking into the port with close to 7000 tourist per ship coming into Dubrovnik. So be warned if you go in summer be prepared to queue and for things to be slow.

September and early October seem to be the best season primarily being outside the key holiday periods of the European countries. We went in November and out first day was relatively dry it was overcast and cool. Our subsequent days were sunny and hot.

The town

To get this out of the way early if you're a Game of Thrones fan there are numerous website that describe the key point in the series and i would be covering them systematically here. This is primary the lay mans guide to Dubrovnik and a taster of what we saw. The main thing to see in Dubrovnik is the walled town and within the walled town if you only do one thing it should be walking the circumference of the wall.

This is part of the Dubrovnik pass which gains you access to the wall and a number of museums and buildings. You can make use of the Dubrovnik pass in a day but more likely to if you are staying for a few days. Apart from the wall the peripheral attractions make up time. Here are some of the picture from a walk around the wall.













The walls really are an amazing walk and the rest of the city if good but does not match up to the spectacular images from the wall. Some of the other sites and shot f the city are below.









We did most of the city museums and churches on one day and we spent half a day at the island off the coast of Dubrovnik. This was the key Game of Thrones filming location.

Kotor

After a few days in Dubrovnik we ventured a little further out over the border to Montenegro where there is the walled city of Kotor. In a similar style to Dubrovnik though much smaller. Kotor seems to be blessed with a natural harbour but the approach to Kotor through a series of twisted valleys seems to be a harbour master's nightmare.

Dubrovnik to Kotor is a two hour drive and there is parking in Kotor so the journey is relatively easy. As always if you are going to do this trip during peak months of summer expect border delays.

Here are some of the pictures of Kotor








The dominant attraction in Kotor is a for high above the city below. The climb is about 40min to an hour for someone of average fitness. It does have a lot of steps and particularly uneven ones so be aware if you someone who has trouble with steps.

In summary

Both locations are well worth a visit with Dubrovnik being an absolute jewel. A city worth having a short break to and a destination well worth including in your cruise itineary.