BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      06-17-2011, 02:54 PM   #1
Artmasterx
Captain
Artmasterx's Avatar
46
Rep
884
Posts

Drives: 2007 BMW 335i
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MA

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2006 Volvo V70R  [10.00]
2007 BMW 335i  [10.00]
missing the 128i... & autoX

On the bright side, I am getting to do some traveling over here in Europe, and I thought I would share some pics from our recent driving trip to northern Italy...

Route: Belgium --> Telfs, Austria --> via Stelvio Pass --> Venice --> Florence --> Tuscany countryside & hill towns --> Cinque Terra (Italy) --> Belgium via Switzerland/Germany

The Stelvio Pass is really a very impressive road, though it's not terribly fun to drive because it is sooo steep that it is just stressful: blind hairpins, cyclists, bikers, and the falls to your death. The craziest people must be the cyclists... f'ing crazy. In about 20 km of road, you end up climbing over 1900 meter of vertical feet (topping out at about 2800 meter = 9300 ft = 1.8 mi). The air must get pretty thin that high, so those guys must have some good lung capacity.

If you are ever planning a trip to Europe, feel free to PM me and I may be suggest some nice things to see... my wife and I done a lot of traveling in the past year...

We have another driving trip planned in late July to hit Bavaria, Salzburg, Lichtenstein, Interlaken (Switz), and the Champagne region. There should also be beautiful driving through that area.

Enjoy (and sorry about the over-exposure, I could have used some serious HDR on a lot of these... but that takes too much time and a tripod.)

Stelvio Pass






Near Telfs, Austria


Tuscany


the Blue Flame!!! Our current car over here... 2000 Seat Leon, 110 HP TDI... eat your heart out





Cinque Terra




__________________
Current: 2007 335i sedan
Alpine White | Sports | Premium | Cold | Comfort Access

FORMERLY: 128i coupe
Alpine White | Sports Package | Black Leather

Last edited by Artmasterx; 06-17-2011 at 03:05 PM..
Appreciate 0
      06-17-2011, 03:10 PM   #2
and 1
winter mode
and 1's Avatar
Italy
62
Rep
2,057
Posts

Drives: 08 135i, 88 M3
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Somerville, MA

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
1988 BMW M3  [0.00]
2008 135i  [7.50]
nice pics buddy! cinque terre is a hell of a place. i know it'd be tough to give up AX, but this looks like a pretty sweet consolation prize! now go do a weekend at spa and rent a track car

i have a few tips for you about a few of the places on your list: bavaria in general, munich, salzburg, interlaken and switz in general. plenty about italy too if you go back
__________________
88 M3: BMWCCA J Sport
08 135: because streetcar

Appreciate 0
      06-18-2011, 12:59 PM   #3
larryn
Lieutenant General
United_States
2145
Rep
10,176
Posts

Drives: '97 332ti, '21 X5 45e, '16 GT4
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Seattle

iTrader: (2)

Rob, great pics! We miss you there too. I've never gotten to Stelvio Pass, but always jealous of those who do. I always wondered if it was a combo of butt pucker and coolness, and it seems that it your experience. Nice to see you are making the most of it!

I hope you were able to take the Jungfraubahn up from Grindelwald, when you visited Interlaken. Pretty much a spiritual experience.
Appreciate 0
      06-18-2011, 03:38 PM   #4
amancuso
Lieutenant Colonel
amancuso's Avatar
721
Rep
1,750
Posts

Drives: 330it, 428ix, 430i
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Lawrenceville, GA

iTrader: (1)

Wow, great shots, I envy your jet-setting lifestyle!!
__________________
2016 428ix, r, 2018 430iC, 2018 330it
Appreciate 0
      06-18-2011, 04:33 PM   #5
Artmasterx
Captain
Artmasterx's Avatar
46
Rep
884
Posts

Drives: 2007 BMW 335i
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MA

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2006 Volvo V70R  [10.00]
2007 BMW 335i  [10.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by amancuso View Post
Wow, great shots, I envy your jet-setting lifestyle!!
It certainly is one of the few benefits, that and the 7-weeks vacation (if only they paid more, then you could really make good use of it...). The list of places we have been: Paris, London, Berlin, Brussels, Prague, Rome, Istanbul, Brasov (Romania), Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria), Black Forest, Rhine Valley (Germany), Champagne region (France), Luxembourg, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Amsterdam, Madrid, and other smaller places within driving distance. And yes, basically all of our disposable income goes to travel... but that was half the purpose of moving here.

I don't regret moving here, but certainly miss the States sometimes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by larryn View Post
Rob, great pics! We miss you there too. I've never gotten to Stelvio Pass, but always jealous of those who do. I always wondered if it was a combo of butt pucker and coolness, and it seems that it your experience. Nice to see you are making the most of it!

I hope you were able to take the Jungfraubahn up from Grindelwald, when you visited Interlaken. Pretty much a spiritual experience.
Yeah, Stelvio is pretty awe-inspiring, but not the most fun driving road. I certainly don't regret going that way, even if it added 4 extra hours to our driving. Pictures can never do those massive landscapes any justice...

We are actually staying in Lauterbrunnen and plan to get out to some of the mountains. I am sure we will hit Grimmelwald (since we are in that valley) and may head over to Grindelwald. We will surely also go to one of the peak (Schilthorn or Jungfraujoch) as well. Anything up there should be amazing.

If you are interested, I attached a google earth file so you can see the route as logged by our GPS. I like to turn on terrain and you can really see how you drive up valley, mountains, etc... pretty cool. It also is cool for hiking if you have a trail GPS. Just unzip and open the kmz file in Google Earth.

There's a chance we may be back in the area in the 2nd half of 2012, but it is still pretty uncertain now and depends on all the practical stuff (jobs, etc.).

Keep enjoying things there and drive safe!
Attached Files
File Type: zip italy_GPS_google maps.zip (147.8 KB, 103 views)
__________________
Current: 2007 335i sedan
Alpine White | Sports | Premium | Cold | Comfort Access

FORMERLY: 128i coupe
Alpine White | Sports Package | Black Leather

Last edited by Artmasterx; 06-18-2011 at 04:40 PM..
Appreciate 0
      06-20-2011, 09:15 AM   #6
and 1
winter mode
and 1's Avatar
Italy
62
Rep
2,057
Posts

Drives: 08 135i, 88 M3
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Somerville, MA

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
1988 BMW M3  [0.00]
2008 135i  [7.50]
+1 on the jungfrau. i didn't go up from grindelwald tho. i took the cog train from interlaken bahnhof. incredible trip and views!
__________________
88 M3: BMWCCA J Sport
08 135: because streetcar

Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:57 PM.




1addicts
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST