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30 August 2009

The tour is now completed, 8393 km (5216 miles), 30 days (half spent in the same place), driving through 7 countries (France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Belgium and England). In the next few days the site will be update will lots driving information, in particular about Italy. For the moment you can enjoy the pictures. Note that many pictures have been taken while driving to show how the roads looks like.

24 July 2009

Just a few hours to depart for the the long drive down to the bottom of Italy, Capo Passero, located approximately at the same Latitude as Tunis. The first leg will be one of the longest, from the Isle of Man to Reims in France and we except between 16 to 18 hours travelling including the ferries. We will update regularly this page with latest news about driving in France, Switzerland and Italy

18 June 2009

It is now about 5 weeks before our departure on our long drive to the bottom of Sicily.

Everything we need is now being organized. The car had a full service done by AUTO SOLUTIONS LTD (Unit 3, Kirby Estate, Braddan, Isle of Man, ) plus new tyres and new cam belt.

We decided to buy a Waeco 48liter fridge to carry in the car with double power, 12v DC car and 230v AC mains to be able to bring the fridge in our hotels during the stopover nights. Being 5 people, we found it became quite expensive at every stop to buy cool drinks and food therefore the fridge will allow us to carry more things with us, and will save both time and money. Far rather be spending the money on Gelato in Italy than a road side stop!

There was also a small change on the plan, instead of stopping in Battipaglia for an over night we are going to stop before Napoli (in a place called Itri, near Gaeta) to visit a relative.

20 May 2009

Probably you are wondering why this name has been chosen. Are you? The name comes from the fact that the Isle of Man and Sicily have one thing in common; the 3 legs (triskelion) on their flag! And because we are travelling from the Isle of Man down to Sicily on this trip we have given it this name.

This is the second family holiday we are going to do since we are back in Europe. It is a longer trip compared the one we did last year, and we have estimated it will be about 7500 kms in total if not more. The distance between the Isle of Man and Sicily is about 3000kms x 2 plus all the driving around, therefore it should be close to 7500. A word of advice to those planning a similar trip: make sure you're going to use a reliable car. It would be better if it's covered with a CAR INSURANCE policy. Why? You wouldn't want your road trip to be ruined by car/engine troubles, so better be safe than sorry.

The plan is to travel the first leg being the UK freeway, at night (our ferry will arrive at Heysham at 23h30) and get to Dover to catch the ferry at 9h30 the next morning. We should arrive in the late morning in Competrix near Reims in France.

The following day we will make our way to Milan, this should be about 10 hours driving. We will spend 2 days there and then drive down to Battipaglia a town near Salerno (100kms from Naples). Battipaglia is very famous for Buffalo Mozzarella.

Will spend a day there and then on to Cosenza for an other night. The following day we will be driving to the bottom of Sicily, to Palazzolo Acreide, where our hotel is located. We will be spending 2 days there visting Capo Passero, the southern most point of Sicily, Siracusa and surround. We will also go up to see the vulcano Etna near Catania

After that we will go back on the main land to a town called Tropea in the Calabria Region, where we will be spending the next 2 weeks on the beach. After that we will be on our way back to the Isle of Man stopping one night in Milan and one night in Calais.