London to Nuremberg

Collection of passports from the Azerbaijan embassy went seamlessly, and with a full set of seven visas in our passports we were ready to go....

After a brief (lame) effort at re-packing the piles of kit in the car, we hit the road enroute Le Tunnel. Thanks to Airpets http://www.airpets.com/ for the awesome leaving party as we left.

Just two minor hiccups en-route to Folkstone - Firstly, Becky’s new diary slipped out the interior roof net, flew straight out the window and found a new home on the hard shoulder... Secondly, the heavy duty pneumatic support strut for the engine lid decided to ram the engine lid fully open on the M25.   The last thing we needed was an air brake, so the stut was unclipped and added to 'the pile' inside the car.

The tunnel and first section of the route through France and Belgium was all uneventful, a good thing. We lost count of the number of 'thumbs ups' and toots along the way, the car proved to be quite a hit with everyone.

Into Germany.....after 3 wrong turns in Bavaria, the last of which had us making a U turn in a pitch black, misty farmers field; Becky decided it was time to devise a special points system.... One point was to be awarded for each wrong turn made by the driver. Needless to say, by the time we hit Nurnburg I had a 5 point lead.

Dinner was spent at a Burger King truck stop, listening to the latest Stateside sounds broadcast by the U.S AFN (Armed Forces Network) 'Eagle' radio station.  Bizarre, but quite cool.

0150hrs After hours and hours of driving, almost all up steep hills, or so it seemed... we arrived at our hotel in Nurnberg. What a drive!