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Final day of this grand tour, transit through Sweden. The ferry from Rostock arrived in Trelleborg at 06:00. But we couldn’t get of the ferry until 07:00 since we were parked in a corner behind lorries. Since breakfast on ferries usually are quite bad, we decided to go to our old hometown Helsingborg. There we had breakfast at Fahlmans, an old café in the city center. There is also a sports car friendly garage nearby, Sundstorgsgaraget.

After refuelling, we drove north on the E4 through Småland and into Östergötland. Then it was time for lunch. We had discussed this with one other member of the group, who was driving in the same direction. So, we met at a well known café not far from Mjölby. In the small village of Väderstad you can find Centralkonditoriet. A café that dates back to 1912. People travel far to go there in the Summer. But on a Monday in September it’s calmer. It’s well worth a visit if you pass by. The E4 motorway passes about 10 minutes drive from Väderstad, just south of Mjölby.

After lunch, we drove all the way home. Which is north of Stockholm, in Åkersberga. In total we drove 676 km today. A rather uneventful day that finished off a very nice vacation with good friends. The next blog post will be a summary of the tour including highs and lows. Stay tuned for that. Also, comment or get in touch if you have any questions about the route and the places we’ve visited.

Last day in Germany, driving from Dresden to Rostock. The ferry leaves at 10:30, so we were in no hurry. After breakfast we took a walk through the old town and along the river Elbe. There were both a Farmers market as well as a triathlon competition going on. So we couldn’t park the cars in front of the hotel again.

One member of the team came up with the great idea to visit Classic Remise in Berlin. So we stopped there for lunch and to admire the cars. The lunch was very expensive but the cars were interesting to see. So, I’d suggest that you eat elsewhere.

After Berlin, we drove straight to the ferry terminal. We are now waiting for the boarding to open and to get on the boat to Trelleborg for a nights sleep on the sea. We’ve driven 422 km today.

We continue our journey north. Today we drove from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Dresden via Munich. We clocked 595 km on mostly Autobahn. It was rain and 10 degrees in the morning and the clouds were hanging low. Due to the weather, we decided to go to the BMW museum in Munich.

The building that houses BMW Welt is impressive. It’s a gigantic showroom of BMW cars and motorcycles plus MINI. There are several restaurants and a shop. Next to this is the BMW museum. This turned out to be a very confusing experience. The exhibition sits on several floors. It’s easy to miss a set of rooms. We were also confused by the fact that many modrls from the BMW timeline were missing. We’ve since learned that there is another BMW museum in Munich with more classic models.

After Munich, we headed towards Dresden via Nürnberg. Lot of traffic and heavy rain made it rather stressful. There were also several roadwotks going on. Driving to the hotel in central Dresden was a lot easier than in Berlin. We made some impression when we parked outside the hotel, us in the F-Type and two friends in the group that arrived at the same time in their two Lotus Evora.

Today we drove 363 km from Brescia to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. 28 degrees in Brescia, 12 at Stelvio pass and now 10 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We drove through a lot of beautiful villages. Lots of serpentine roads and not so much traffic. We only had one GPS mishap, but it turned out to be a good one. Some of the villages has very narrow streets. In particular when you drive a low and rather wide sports car. So, going around is sometimes beneficial.

Stelvio pass wasn’t very crowded today. No snow either (which they got a week ago). For the first time we drove down the road to Switzerland. We’ve read that this would be the best of the three roads. After driving it today, I tend to agree.

We drove with the top down most of the day. In the end, the rain come. So, from Ried to Garmisch-Partenkirchen we drove with the top up. We met several groups of sports cars today. Making their way to or from Stelvio.

The hotel for the night is Dorint Sporthotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The garage is ok, the room is spacious but a bit worn. Check-in was a joke. 20 minutes waiting and then having to fill in a form with the same details that we’ve already given when booking. I thought this was year 2022, but I’m clearly wrong. We had a beer and a sandwich in the bar before calling it a day. Tomorrow we’re heading to Dresden for the last night in Germany.

Today we decided to explore Lago Iseo, 30 min drive north of Brescia. It turned out to be a beautiful little lake. Much less busy than Lago di Garda. We managed to stay on the coastsl road for most of the time. We did one wrong turn where we ended up in a tunnel. But managed to get back down to the shore via some very narrow roads. The F-Type isn’t built for old Italian towns.

We had a wonderful lunch in Predore. The best food and service so far on this tour. Grilled sea bass with vegetables, liquorice tiramisu and cappuchino. My wife had Tangerin sorbet with vodka(!) as dessert instead of tiramisu. So, if you are in the area, go and visit Il Gabbiano in Predore. There is a good parking area not far away, next to SS469.

On the way back to Brescia we took the oportunity to wash the car. It was more a grey cat than a black cat. Tomorrow we’ll head north again, stopping in Garmisch- Partenkirchen.

Today, most of us have been exploring Brescia. One couple drove down to the Ferrari museum in Maranello. All other started the day by visiting the Mille Miglia outlet in Franciacorta. After this we drove inte the center of Brescia. We managed to find a garage with a ramp that worked with the F-Type. Still a bit exciting to drive into since it’s impossible to see what’s in front of you with the long bonnet anf low seat position.

We visited the castle back in 2015. But went back there again today. It is worth a visit just because of the views. We also visited one of the museums there. The armoury is on top of the castle and it was rather warm today. So we were the only visitors there. Lots of armor from 15th to 18th century. It’s good to see that they continue to restore the castle.

We then went down the hill and had lunch at a small restaurant. Pasta with black truffle, which was very good. After that, we walked around the city center and did some shopping. It works well even if we don’t speak italian and the italians don’t speak english (or swedish…). Tonight we’ll have dinner at the hotel.