Dave’s marvellous Mini of doom

Dave Smart Gorge Du Verdon I packed up early, preparing to do battle with the gorge, I was almost chased off the camp site by a French guy who wanted […]

Dave Smart The hills around Monte Carlo Before leaving, I researched the Gorge Du Verdon, an area where Top Gear filmed a race between the RS4 and the speed climber […]

Dave Smart A day round Cannes and Antibes I had no plans for the day but, after chatting with a girl that I shared the room with, I decided to […]

Dave Smart Capers around Turin I planned a trip round Turin to visit a few places from the original Italian Job and tried to discuss this with the owner of the […]

Dave Smart Lake Iseo to Turin I managed to book a hostel in Turin on the intermittent WiFi connection in the campsite and decided to head for Lake Maggiore which […]

Dave Smart Messing around on the Stelvio I left the campsite about 10 and headed for Livigno for some cheap fuel ( about 85c/l) and then headed for the west […]

Dave Smart Lake Iseo During the night I heard waves on the lake lapping against the wall and thought I ought to get up and retrieve the beer so it […]

Dave Smart Maranello Had a bit of a lie in after the stresses of last night and left the hotel about 10.30 I went for a quick drive around town […]

Dave Smart Bit of a subdued start I was up early to put a ticket on the car so I didn’t get clamped/towed as they seemed to be pretty sharp […]

Dave Smart More wiggly bits In the morning I had a quick blast around Rome, complete with Jim, who I’d met the night before and shared a room with. We […]

Dave Smart Day 28: Heading for Rome I had thought the ferry was due to dock at about 6am but, as it was, we didn’t dock ’til just after 9am, […]

Dave Smart Day 27: Heading South With a fairly early start, I headed south for Greece intending to stay in Thessaloniki over night. As I left the city, the road […]

Dave Smart Day 26: Sofia After a relaxed start, with a simple but wholesome breakfast in the hostel, I wandered into Sofia itself. I had heard mixed reviews of town […]

Dave Smart Day 25: Heading back west I had been toying with the idea of popping into the Ukraine on this trip, but decided against it as I think it’s […]

Dave Smart Day 24: Working for my keep again Another late start, and today we went to the beach. We spuddled around looking at other villages that Gramy had considered […]

Dave Smart Day 23: Touristy stuff Waking up at another strange angle, we had a relaxing morning and decided to do some touristy stuff. Fairly close to Nevsha is a […]

Dave Smart Day 22: The case of the incredibly disorientating bed The bed in the guest room at Gramy’s was circular, which I found a very strange experience, there being […]

Dave Smart Day 21: To the Black Sea Coast I was up early for a quick tour round Bucharest then off to visit some friends near the Black Sea coast […]

Dave Smart Day 20: Bucharest Determined not to turn up in a major city looking for a place to stay again, I was up early and on the Internet to […]

Dave Smart Day 19: Cluj-Napoca to Brasov I wandered around Cluj in the morning, a really pretty little town, and scribbled a few more notes about the preceding days travels […]

Dave Smart Day 18: Off to Transylvania After little thought I decided to keep on going East and headed for Transylvania and managed to get lost on the way out […]