Puoi ascoltare questo podcast e leggere contemporaneamente la trascrizione completa qui sotto, ma prima di seguire la trascrizione ti invito ad ascoltare senza leggere! Con un approccio positivo e curioso, accetta il fatto che non capirai tutto! Cerca di intuire il significato, poi dopo usa la trascrizione per arrivare ad una comprensione completa. Buon ascolto! E buon viaggio!

This year, my family and I decided to take a road trip to England from our home in northern Italy. It all started as just a fun idea, but it quickly took shape. It became a trip that would take us to five different countries: Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and England.

After only a few evenings of looking at possible destinations, checking distances online and discussing our options we decided on a 10 day round trip and began booking hotels. I think if anyone had told me that we would drive 3500 km in 10 days I would maybe have had second thoughts. However, as I often tell English learners, one step at a time is the best way, and any doubts I had about the big distances were soon put behind me after the first few days on the road.

My wife and I love travelling and experiencing new destinations, who doesn’t right? We’ve done some great trips together such as California, Japan and Kenya, but never such a long road trip, and now there are three of us! Our daughter, Maya, is 10 years old and we felt it was the right time for her to take this road trip with us. Fortunately Maya shared our enthusiasm about the trip from the start, especially about visiting France, and saying a few words in French. However, due to the many hours in the car we borrowed a portable DVD player so she could easily pass the time. This was definitely a good decision, between a nap, and a book and a film she had no big issues with the hours in the car and we rarely heard that classic line: “Are we nearly there yet?”! 

I have to say that Day 1 was tiring, firstly because we were a bit nervous about starting the journey and secondly because we took the busy motorways of north Italy, which always require a lot of concentration. From the A4 to Milan we headed north through Switzerland   and then through the 16.9 km Gotthard Road Tunnel. Eventually we arrived at our first hotel in a small, pretty and relaxing place called Glottertal near Freiburg in south-west Germany.  

The second day was easier driving but also quite long because we drove all the way to Bruges in Belgium. Along the way we stopped for lunch in France in the beautiful city of Metz. In an indoor market we found a stand selling food, so we had a go at ordering a baguette with jambon, fromage … and a few other things we managed to say!

In Bruges we organised to stay for two nights because we wanted to have a break from the driving. Sunday in Bruges was a beautiful sunny day and we had an amazing time exploring the city. We even treated ourselves to a horse and carriage ride around the old town. It was very touristy, but great fun! Belgium is famous for chocolate, waffles and beer and yes we tried them all!

A big motivation of mine for the road trip was the desire to truly feel the distance between our home in north Italy and my beloved England. When I was a child my parents took us on holidays to the south of France from England by car and part of me wanted to relive those experiences. Also my Mum and Dad had been out to see us here in Italy by car many years ago and for a long time I had wanted to do the drive myself. My Dad used to be a driving instructor and he had a big passion for motoring and cars. When I drive I often feel like he’s with me, so I was keen to do the trip also in his memory.

So, after Bruges the next part of our journey was a huge emotion for me: crossing the English Channel! On the outward journey we decided to get the Eurostar, which was an incredible experience. You drive directly onto the train in your car and then the train takes you under the Chanel in only 35 minutes. If you want to save time it’s definitely worth the extra price compared to the car ferry, also because it’s a unique experience.

However, for the homeward journey we decided to use the car ferry and afterwards we all agreed it was the more pleasurable and fun way to cross the Chanel. The Dover-Calais crossing takes about 1 hour 40 minutes. It’s a great leisurely way to travel and I like feeling the sea breeze on my face and the gentle roll of the boat.

While in the south of England we promised our daughter a trip to Legoland in Windsor and the fun-tastic-plastic world didn’t fail to deliver top fun with an overnight stay in their woodland village. Then we drove back down to the south coast to stay with my cousin John, who I hadn’t seen for quite a few years. He is a volunteer for the RLNI (The Royal Lifeboat National Institution) who are always on standby to rescue anyone in trouble around the coast of the UK, Ireland and the channel islands.

John’s business is organising boat trips for tourists along the coast from where he lives in Newhaven, near Brighton. And if you’re ever in the area check out his website: sussexboattrips.com.

He took us out on an unforgettable boat trip to see the world famous white chalk cliffs called The Seven Sisters and further along to The Beachy Head Lighthouse. The Seven Sisters have been the settings for many films such as Harry Potter and Robin Hood with Kevin Costner and recently they have been filming Gladiator 2 along the cliffs.

The cliffs are white because they are slowly but continually being eroded by the sea. This creates caves at the bottom and eventually the cliff face above falls down to reveal fresh white chalk. On the other hand, in the busy port of Dover, the cliffs have been protected from erosion by a man made wall at the bottom and so they don’t crumble as much and as a consequence they have become dirtier with some soil and vegetation. So if you want to see the best white cliffs, go to The Seven Sisters!

Much too soon it was time to take a bigger boat trip, on the ferry back across the English Channel, but not before a stop over in a hotel in Dover, where I had one of the best full English breakfasts I’ve ever tasted – yum! On the morning before getting the ferry we went for a walk along the beach and got talking to some brave swimmers from Barcelona who were in training for a cross Channel swim! A challenge that requires a support boat, the right weather and enough training and courage to face a 12 hour swim. We decided that the ferry was a better option!

Once back on mainland Europe we set off towards the French city of Reims, famous for its gothic cathedral. Here we stayed in a cheap hotel chain, the bed wasn’t too bad but the pillow was too small and the breakfast was virtually non-existent, but you get what you pay for, as they say! Another down point of the trip I want to share are the super sensitive speed cameras in France. I advise you to pay special attention to the speed limits. I’m sure my car was flashed by a speed camera just south of Reims – I’m expecting a fine through the post pretty soon. C’est la vie!

The day after Reims, we drove down to Switzerland to stay just outside the beautiful capital city of Bern. Other than the historic city, my wife wanted to visit the Paul Klee museum. I really enjoyed learning about this interesting modern artist who was part of the famous German Bauhaus movement, before the arrival of the devastating Second World War.

Then for our last night we stayed again in Switzerland at a friend’s house in Lugano. The next day we were only hours from home, but instead of going towards Milan and the super busy motorways we decided to take the slower, but much more beautiful route through Sondrio, Passo del Tonale and Trentino. It was the perfect picturesque way to conclude our super road trip!

I had many motivations for doing this road trip with my family and although I was slightly concerned about the distances in the car it was much easier than I thought and I enjoyed it so much! The joy of arriving in England by car, the ever changing landscapes, the weather, the countries and languages, the sense of adventure and accomplishment, it was wonderful and it has given us all so much energy and inspiration.

In the case that it may be useful to you, and also to encourage you to do the same, in a nutshell this is how we organised our road trip!

We … 

• created a spreadsheet to include daily estimated departure and arrival times, accommodation, and places to visit;
• used Google maps and other people’s stories online to discover and decide on our route;
• booked the hotels and the Channel crossings online;
• checked we were covered for insurance and car breakdown, also in England;
• made sure our passports were in order (necessary for the UK);
• bought a spare tyre and checked the car was fit for the journey;
• pre-paid the “vignette” for Switzerland online;
• used google maps in the car as our navigator (mobile coverage is a must);
• took a travel fridge in the car with food and drink supplies!

Now you have no excuses! Why not start planning your road trip today!