tesla road trip – Page 2 – Travels and Trades

Jun 18 – Last Day in Slovenia

This is our last day in Slovenia. This country was a huge surprise for us as we didn’t know much about it. Koper and Ljubljana (pronounced L-yoo-ub-lee-anna) were some of the top small cities I’ve seen in Europe in my life this far. I am a pretty well traveled dude (I think) but this has made me realize I know very little I know even about European countries/cities. We went out in Koper last night and I was in awe at just how well put together and just how nice it was. It was so clean, developed and “fine”. Who would have thunk that Slovenia was like this? I didn’t. Pure ignorance. Ljubljana was the same way, perfectly clean, pastel, serene and beautiful. We will definitely return to Slovenia.

We’ve got a lot of the itinerary complete now for Leg 2

1. Rammingen (Near Munich)

2. Wurzburg, Germany

3. Neudstadt, Germany

4. Cologne, Germany

5. Berlin, Germany

6. Copenhagen, Denmark

7. Stockholm, Sweden

8. Gothenburg, Sweden

9. Bergen, Norway

After that, it’s back down into mainland Europe and over towards UK/France. We depart back to Cayman on Aug 31.

Jun 11 (Verona)

We’ve now settled in the hilltops overlooking Verona. We sadly left Arona after having an awesome visit at the farm. Ash and I both said we’ll likely return there every year. The people that run the B&B are some of the best people I’ve ever met. I highly recommend it (www.incocco.com).

On the 8th, Ash and I made were lucky enough to be treated like VIPs at the Last Supper painting. We got up to the receptionist who pretty much was super rude to us but when we dropped the name, everyone stopped and apologized profusely and ushered a man from the back to take us in. It was wild, people were moved out of the way and we were given a completely private tour of the painting and its history. All I could think about when looking at it was one of my best friends that always calls his dinner–> supper. Drives me mad. Anyways, will remember that forever. Definitely was special.

The drive to Verona was uneventful, we left at about 12:30 and arrived at the Verona Supercharger at about 2:45pm. We charged and made our way up to the hill. The roads on the way there were super skinny and we’re avoiding using the car until we leave. The bus stops 3 min away from the house anyways.

We paid 27 EURO to go into the arena, and I think I’ve never been so ripped off in my life. It was 2 hallways filled with KISS band equipment. That’s it. Oh yeah, Kiss is playing there tonight, the entire Verona city centre is KISS fans.

On Saturday we leave for Slovenia which I am really excited about, it’ll be a longer stop (5 days) and the location looks super serene. We’ve decided that we might actually go more west on this trip (towards France/Belgium/Netherlands) and cut out time from Scandinavia. Maybe Brittany? Anyone that has recommendations please post in the comments 🙂

This is where we are parked (house is just above)

The arena, we payed 27 EUR to see! What a crock.

Emma watching me write the blog 🙂

Jun 6 – Trip Report

From Malta to the Laplands and everywhere in-between (in a Tesla S)

The Start

Waking up at 4am, we showered and got into the car, ready for a very long and exhausting day dealing with language difficulties and stressful driving conditions. We had prudently packed the car the night before, fitting in 3 suitcases, an iMac, and several smaller items. Most of it fit in the Frunk (front trunk in electric cars) though our biggest computer and suitcase fit in the back seat along with Irina. We arrived to the Malta ferry at about 5am and though we were supposed to board, the attendant informed us that we have to pay extra for our car as it is so long. So that took up some time and annoyance. Once aboard, the 1.5 hr ferry ride was smooth, we said good bye to Malta and I got in a quick nap in preparation for the drive through Sicily.

Arrival in Sicily

Once we arrived in Sicily we had about 350km range. We made our way to the Ikea in Catania which was perfectly positioned right off the highway. Southern italy city driving in the Tesla (a very large and wide car) is a dangerous affair and one I try to avoid at all costs. We got there with about 180 km range and we topped up to about 350km. We spent about 2-3 hours in Ikea while the kids played in the play area and the Tesla charged. Charge completed at about 1pm. We left towards another charge point in Palermo. Then the S-show started. It wasn’t a public charger but rather a private one in the ENEL (think Hydro) building. It took Ash like 30 minutes re language difficulties to have the security guard open the gates and let us charge, that was no easy feat. Pulling in the car was even tougher, the maniacal parking near the gate gave us maybe 1 inch wiggle room and that required us backing up and adjusting several times (into insane traffic) all the while hoping the gate didn’t close on us. Once in, we finagled our huge car in-between some of the smallest spots and we topped it up to about 240km which was more than enough to get us to the Dorno supercharger after departing from Genoa upon arrival.

The Ferry

The ferry is an absolute hell hole. Pretty much the worst thing you can experience on a “paid for” ship experience. Our 3 bed suite was basically a queen size bet with a small couch. The smell on the ship was body odour combined with stale smoke. The condition of the ship was gross, we had a 13 inch CRT tv from the 80s in our room. The lines/waits for getting on and off were bad as well. We got there early and were first on which meant most bottom garage (i.e. last out) So we were first in and last out. We had to exit our cabin at 5pm and wait till about 8:30pm in the hallway beside the garage enjoying the wonderful smells as mentioned before.

The Drive to Arona

What a beautiful drive! We drove up to the Dorno supercharger and had a bite to eat. It took about 20min to get a charge and we departed towards Arona. The autostrada was so smooth and a great drive. The speed limit is 130 and we set the cruise at 140 and made it to the B&B at 11:15pm. The trip starts here:

From Malta to the Laplands

We’re about to embark on a 3 month family road trip in our Tesla from one of the most southern points of Europe to one of the most northern. We’ll be using Superchargers along the way.

We leave Malta tomorrow at 5am and board the Virtu Ferry to Sicily. From Sicily we’ll disembark from Palermo aboard the GNV ferry to Genoa. Once in Genoa, we’ll make our way to a B&B in Arona and that’ll be our first real stop. From there, we’ll figure out where to next. The idea is to go to Innsbruck, but we might just head over to Lyon instead and loop back over towards Austria later. We prefer spontaneity, however, one thing is certain, we’ll be making our way up towards the northern part of Sweden and back.

The idea is go go through Northern Italy, head towards France and then back through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and through Germany (Dresden, Regensburg, Heidelberg, Berlin, Hamburg), Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and finally the UK). We are moving from Malta to Cayman Islands so we are going to try to end the leg selling the Tesla in the UK (so we can repurchase an American version in Cayman).

Epic Tesla Road Trip

Haven’t updated the travel part of the website in a while but as you’ll see below, you can expect a lot more updates in the coming 3 months.

Ash and I are going on a solo (sans kids) trip to Paris on the 23rd for 3 days. We will get back on the 26th and finish packing, and leave for the 30th on an epic 3 month road trip across Europe.

We’ll be driving in our electric Tesla and be utilizing the superchargers (free gas!) along the way. We’ll go from Malta by Ferry to Sicily and onwards through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and finally France and the UK. We depart the UK in late August to arrive back to Cayman Islands so the kids can start school.

We’ll be staying in B&Bs, airbnbs and hotels along the way.

Leg 1:

From Malta, we’ll board the Virtu Ferries and arrive in Pozzallo, Sicily. It’ll be a 3 hour drive to Palermo where we will board the GNV ferries to Genoa.

From Genoa we’ll travel to Arona and stay at a B&B for 4 days. We’ll then make our way to Innsbruck, Austria for another 4 days.

From Innsbruck, we’ll hit Salzburg and Vienna and make our way up towards Germany (Regensburg, Heidelberg/Rothenburg, Cologne, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg)

Black square are places we’ll likely stay and red dots are the super chargers.

Leg 2:

Sweden, Norway, Denmark

Leg 3:

France, Belgium, Netherlands

Leg 4:

UK/Scotland