Write Up THE ITALIAN JOB

[Pauliebhoy]

Day 23
Last night’s dinner came courtesy of Just Eat, because the hotel menu appeared to involve rather more edible flowers than actual food. Sometimes you just want dinner, not something that looks like it should be entered into the Chelsea Flower Show.

After breakfast we headed over to the Bletchley Park campus, but rather than visiting Bletchley Park itself, we went to The National Museum of Computing.

Of course, before any of that, there was a far more important historical exhibit to inspect — a rather lovely silver BMW Z3 sitting in the car park.

The museum was fascinating. We listened to some excellent talks and demonstrations about Enigma, the wartime codebreakers and the machines developed to crack German encrypted messages during WWII. Seeing the machines working and having the whole process explained properly brought it to life far more than simply reading about it.

One of the guides made a particularly striking point. He talked about the widely held view that the work of Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park codebreakers shortened the war by around two years, and then went further, suggesting that without that advantage Germany might have had time to develop an atomic weapon capable of being used against London. Quite a sobering thought — although that latter part is very much a historical “what if”.

We had a couple of family things to attend to during the afternoon, then in the evening met up with my sister and brother-in-law, our nephew, our niece and her boyfriend for a really good meal at a Turkish restaurant in Milton Keynes.

Tomorrow we’re heading north to East Yorkshire, where we lived for 17 years, to see our daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

 

[Pauliebhoy]

 

[Pauliebhoy]

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Day 24 & 25

We’re nearing the end of the trip now, so it’s probably easier to lump the last few days together rather than pretend anything resembling a proper itinerary still exists.

One thing that will never cease to amaze me is why really nice hotels insist on buying rubbish, cheap breakfast products.

You can have a beautiful room, immaculate reception, lovely staff…and then breakfast arrives.

Bacon swimming in white salty brine because it’s been wet-cured within an inch of its life. Sausages with the texture and flavour of deflated balloons. Scrambled egg that has apparently been sitting under a heat lamp since about 6am, slowly turning into building material.

And then they expect you to come back.

I judge hotels not only on the room and hospitality, but on breakfast too. My personal hotel return rate is probably about 30%, which may explain why nobody has yet invited me onto the board of a major hotel chain.

Anyway…

Day 24

We left Milton Keynes and headed north to see our daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

Our destination was East Yorkshire, where we lived for 17 years and raised our children from late primary-school age right through to them leaving home for further education or work. So, although we don’t live there anymore, it still feels very familiar.

We stay in a lovely Airbnb just five minutes from our daughter’s house. It works really well: we get to spend plenty of time together without completely invading their family life, and everyone gets to retreat to their own corners when required.

We’d brought our grandson a few presents from the Airbus factory, which went down very well. After a couple of hours of grandparent duties, we retreated to the Airbnb and ordered an Indian through Just Eat.

Civilisation restored.

Day 25

The day started with toddler rugby.
Honestly. It’s a thing.

Imagine rugby, but with considerably less understanding of the rules, more random running, occasional possession of the ball and absolutely no concern whatsoever about team tactics.

So, basically, quite a lot like professional rugby.

After that we went to have a look at a new brand of motorhome called Atom. They’re made by the same group that built our Chausson motorhome, but instead of going through dealers they’re selling directly to customers.

And, conveniently, their first showroom happens to be about ten minutes from where we’re staying.

It would have been rude not to look.

We looked.

We’ll be keeping the motorhome we already have.

From there we headed into Beverley for a wander around the market.

Meanwhile, Mandy took the opportunity to repack the car, creating a little more room for all the things we haven’t bought yet.
Because apparently, after nearly four weeks away, there are still things left to buy.

We will meet up with the family tonight for some food and drinks.

Tomorrow we head over to the lake District for our final night before we head home on day 27.

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Parked up at the Airbnb

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Parked up at the Airbnb

 

[Pauliebhoy]

My grandson Building up his collection

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Starting early in his grandma's car

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Day 26

Before checking out of the Airbnb, I measured the opening at the gates, as we’ll be returning next month with something substantially bigger.

I know, I know… why take a motorhome to an Airbnb?

Quite simply, there are no campsites nearby and the Airbnb is convenient. Sometimes practicality wins.

My daughter’s house is only about 10 minutes from a McDonald’s, so I went round, collected breakfast for everyone and we ate and drank it in the garden. Very civilised — if you ignore the hash browns and paper cups.

After saying our goodbyes, we set off for the Lake District and our final night away.

A couple of pit stops later, we arrived at the hotel at around 4pm and checked in.

Then began the expedition to find our room.

After a few minutes, I seriously considered going online and hiring a Sherpa.

Down some stairs, up some stairs, downstairs again, then up another two flights. I’m fairly certain we briefly crossed into another postcode.

Eventually, we found it.
Opened the door…
…and it stank.

Lovely room, but clearly suffering from some sort of drainage problem. The best description I can give is a tramp’s vest after a particularly energetic summer.

To make matters worse, there were no suitable connections for the Fire Stick.

Now, I can tolerate many things in life, but apparently foul drains and no Fire Stick is where I draw the line.

So I hired a scooter, packed emergency rations, and made the return expedition to reception.

The chap there couldn’t have been more apologetic and offered us Room 41.

Ground floor.
Doors opening onto a terrace beside a duck pond.
A newer TV with HDMI and USB connections.

RESULT!!

We’re in a lovely part of the Lake District, although very much in the back of beyond — a place I’m strangely familiar with, having found myself there many times over the years.

The hotel also has a miniature Lakeland village model which is genuinely fascinating. Hats off to whoever built it, because the level of detail is incredible and it must have taken years.

Tonight we’re eating in the hotel, so there’s absolutely no pressure to go anywhere.

Which, after today’s hotel-room orienteering course, is probably just as well.

At home we have a small forest attached to our garden. We get frequent visitors every day, such as Red Squirrels, pine martens and various birds. At night we get Owls.

Lovely.

Mandy actually leaves out food for these creatures. Lots of food. She buys peanuts by the pallet. So tonight we have ducks on our terrace.

So she crumbled up the hotel biscuit offering and fed them.

Now we have hundreds of them.

I also happened to park next to an MG and, following the MG-related posts over the last couple of days, took a photo especially for @Lechenich and @Brian James

Tomorrow we head to Glasgow to collect the M35i from Douglas Park after its warranty work, then it’s on to the ferry and finally home.

One last leg to go.

 

[Pauliebhoy]

The MG is an F registration

 

[Pauliebhoy]

 

[Pauliebhoy]

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Don't know how we are going to get Mandy's new pets home!!!!

 

[mwpe]

The MG is an F registration View attachment 369933

Good picture shows how bloated cars have become.

 

[Synclare]

That was a right crackin good read - what am I going to follow now it's over

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Day 27
Last night’s dinner at the hotel was superb.

Mandy had the lamb Sunday roast and I went for the surf and turf.

Both excellent.

Possibly too excellent, because although we vacated the room at 10.00am, we didn’t actually reach reception until about 11.00am.
It’s a big hotel.

Fortunately, we’d hired local guides.

Checked out, loaded up and finally got ourselves moving.

A quick blast up the motorway brought us to Penrith.

We like Penrith.

Or, to be more accurate, we like Cranstons Food Hall.

If you’ve never been, go.

We were exceptionally disciplined.

We only spent £100.
Admittedly, this was mainly because there was nowhere left in the car to put anything.

From Penrith it was back onto the M6 and onwards to that great northern landmark…

Junction 43.

There’s a Tesco there.

To most people, it’s simply a supermarket.

To people travelling home to Scotland, it’s practically Duty Free.

Scotland has minimum unit pricing for alcohol, currently 65p per unit. That means a litre of 37.5% gin or vodka can’t legally be sold in Scotland for less than about £24.38.

Cross the border into England and suddenly familiar bottles can be considerably cheaper.

So, once upon a time, the British booze run involved a ferry to France.

For us it now involves coming off the M6 at Carlisle.

Much less glamorous.

Better parking.

Here’s the bit that always makes me smile.

Minimum unit pricing isn’t actually a tax, so the Scottish Government doesn’t collect the difference created by the minimum price.
Essentially:

“Let’s make the cheap bottle more expensive.”
“Okay. Do we get the extra money?”
“No.”
“Right.”
“Excellent meeting, everyone.”

And there’s another wrinkle.

If alcohol bought online is dispatched from outside Scotland, Scottish minimum pricing doesn’t apply to that sale. The Scottish Government itself has recognised the potential incentive for people to buy across the border or online from outside Scotland.

Which explains why Amazon can occasionally resemble Scotland’s largest off-licence.

So somewhere in Tesco Port Glasgow there is probably a bottle of gin that arrived in June 2025, is still sitting there in September 2026 and has now started wondering whether anybody loves it.

Meanwhile, its identical cousin has travelled north from England in the back of somebody’s car.

This isn’t a political post.
It’s simply an explanation of how a pleasant drive home somehow turned into a lesson in retail economics.

Anyway…
Tesco Junction 43.
If you’re heading north, remember it.

We certainly did.
Supplies acquired, we collected the M35i and headed for the ferry.

After everything we’ve driven through over the last 27 days, the final 13 miles home were completely uneventful.
No mountains.
No foreign motorways.
No hairpins.
No dramas.
Until…
Coming round the bend in our own village…

Mandy passed @Stevo7682 on the way home from the Scottish autumn run

Twenty-seven days away.
Thousands of miles.
Several countries.
Ferrries, mountains, motorways, hotels, food, shopping and adventures…

…and the dramatic finale happened about five minutes from the house.

Perfect really.

Tomorrow: lessons learned

 

[Pauliebhoy]

Day 28

A great start to the day: waking up in your own bed.

Although it was slightly alarming to discover just how dark it is at 6.45am now compared with a month ago. Apparently, while we’ve been driving around Europe, Britain has quietly started winter.

First job of the day was unloading the Z.

Clothes, shoes, balsamic vinegar, Italian crackers, French boat biscuits, Spanish vodka and several cartons of béarnaise sauce.

You know — the essentials.

I’ve posted a photo of the boot showing how we packed everything. It all had its own separate zipped bag: clothes in one, shoes in another, food in another and so on.

Let’s not kid ourselves, though. This was entirely Mandy’s doing.

If I’d packed the Z, we’d have come home towing a trailer.

So, looking back, what would I have done differently?

For a start, I wouldn’t have gone to Monte Carlo.

It’s clearly not designed for ordinary people like Z owners. Apparently you’re supposed to arrive by yacht, helicopter or with somebody carrying your wallet for you.

Apart from Barga, we generally stayed just one night in each place. Next time I’d probably choose fewer stops and stay longer, giving us more time to actually see the places rather than arriving, eating, sleeping and immediately pointing the bonnet somewhere else.

We could have sailed to Santander on the way down as well as coming back that way, but I’m glad we didn’t.

I really enjoyed France, and it has definitely come back into favour after our rather disappointing motorhome trip there in 2023. France, you are officially forgiven.

We stayed in hotels all the way apart from the final leg at our daughter’s. Next time we’d certainly consider using some Airbnbs.

Having somewhere to cook would remove the need to find somewhere to eat every night — something which proved slightly more challenging than expected on a couple of occasions.

What worked well?

Bip&Go.

We already have one in the motorhome, but this was the first time we’d used it in a car.

Absolute godsend.

There is something deeply satisfying about sailing through a toll booth while everyone else is rummaging for cards, coins, tickets and possibly their passport.

I also genuinely think the sat-nav in the Z is better than the one in the M35i.

It feels more responsive and tells you what your next move is much sooner. Less of the traditional sat-nav approach of:

“In 100 yards… SURPRISE! TURN RIGHT NOW!”

As for overall MPG and the total cost of the trip, I honestly couldn’t tell you.

Most of it was paid in advance because booking that way gave us discounts, so by the time we actually left it had entered that wonderful financial category known as “already paid for, therefore free.”

That’s my accounting method anyway.

One thing worth remembering if you’re heading to Spain: the rules around roadside warning equipment have changed, with warning beacons replacing triangles for Spanish vehicles.

There seems to be plenty of debate online about exactly how this applies to foreign-registered cars, but the chap at Spanish border control asked to see ours — so I was rather pleased we had one.

Ours cost about £40 from Amazon.

Now we’re home, it’s straight into a busy week.

Without really thinking this through, I managed to buy three vehicles in the month of March.

The motorhome in March 2023, then the Z and M35i in March 2024.

The result?

Three vehicles eventually wanting MOTs at exactly the time of year when we are usually somewhere else.

Outstanding planning.

So, although the cars’ MOTs aren’t actually due until March 2027, they’re both being done tomorrow so that from now on they fall due in September.

The motorhome is being done the following day. Its last MOT was only in January, but this gets all three aligned with September — a month when there is at least a fighting chance we’ll actually be in Britain.

Then the next couple of weeks are all about preparing for the next adventure.

This one is rather longer.

Around 23 weeks in the motorhome.

So unless BMW suddenly buys Chausson and produces a 660 with a BMW badge and calls it the Z660 M Touring, I probably won’t be documenting that one on this forum.

The rough plan is England and the Haynes Motor Museum — somewhere we’ve been before but happily revisit — then Plymouth to Santander.

From there we’ll head south through Spain to Manilva, which is about as British as Spain is legally allowed to become, then across into Morocco for a while, which conveniently also saves our Schengen days.

After Morocco it’s back into Spain, into Portugal, back through Spain again, then home via Santander.

After landing in Britain we’ll work our way through Wales, hopefully including the Vulcan simulator that @andyglym mentioned, visit family in England, and eventually make our way home to Argyll in April 2027.

But back to the trip we’ve just finished.

I take absolutely no credit for it.

Mandy organised the whole thing — the route, the hotels, the planning, the logistics and, judging by the boot of the Z, apparently some form of advanced degree in three-dimensional Tetris.

She deserves every bit of the credit.

What makes it even more remarkable is that she planned much of this while recovering from breast cancer.

That isn’t written for sympathy. She is fully recovered.

But it is perhaps worth saying because, when you’re going through something difficult, sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is much closer than you think.

A while ago this trip was something to plan and look forward to.

Now we’ve actually done it.

Thousands of miles, several countries, a packed little Z, some wonderful roads, some questionable roads, a lot of food, rather too much luggage, and enough memories to last us a very long time.

That was our Italian Job.

Take care everyone, and hopefully we’ll meet a few fellow Z enthusiasts somewhere on the road in 2027 , if not on one of the UK runs.

 

[Pauliebhoy]

How to pack a Z boot

 

[Pauliebhoy]

How to pack a Z boot

 

[Mint]

This has been an epic trip Paul. I've really enjoyed reading your and Mandy's exploits, it's been brilliant.
After our trip to Norway and this year's to [mainly] France I agree with lots of your summary. Especially about finding somewhere to eat out every night.