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It was 2Ba nice, fast trip ina comfortable sporty Lancia.
Planned time of departure: 13:00.
Actual time of departure 17:00:?:o
Date of departure: Wdnsdy 10 Feb 2010
Departure-point: my Parking Lot - St. Leon Rot (Baden),
Jet of Choice: Lancia Gamma.
Day 1 Goal: Lugano
Piloto: Me
Weather: bad & worse
Tires: 205er summer Pirelli
Possible Problems: darkness, hi mountains, freezin temps, ice, snow, 205 tires, tired Piloto
Trip Plan: Avanti !
Result: darkness, hi mountains, freezin temps, ice, snow, tired Piloto, some fuel starvation at & after km 450 of 550; some / much / only slow driving...in ice & snow.
Arrived at Hotel in Lugano: 01:00 11 Feb, ate a chocolate bar, hotel restaurant was closed..

Day 2 - depart hotel for W. Milano: 09:00 11 Feb.
Arrive W. Milan 11:00, after more mountains, freezin temps, ice, lots of some fuel starvation, snow & traffic.

Cancel 2d & 3d appointments for nxt day, which would have required more mountains, more km, more etc etc & perhaps my demise,

Day 2 - Return - Part[I /b] :
Goal: ... get far north, before darkest darkness
Departure: 11 Feb; 15:00 from W. Milan; Alps in reverse order, freezin temps, ice, snow, on 205 tires; some problems with fuel starvation cause slow driving; ice & snow cause slow driving, white kangaroos hopping on the highway cause some problems: Pilot hallucinating & snow blind.
Arrive at Hotel in Sursee, CH: 19:00 -- not possible to continue in ice & snow - time to stop & enjoy evening.

Day 3 - Retrun Part II
Goal: Home sweet Home
Depart; goodbye Sursee 10:00, freezin temps; no more high mountains (only low ones) ice, snow;a few problems with fuel starvation cause slow driving; ice & snow cause more slow driving; temp guage shows overheating 10 miles from home; however no overheating occurred

Time of arrival in snow covered St Leon: 15:00.

Piloto: tutto crazy, tutto kaputto; jump in a warm bed

Total Consumption: 2 Cappucino, 4L Aqua, 2 Grande Biera, 1/4 Vino Rosso (at lunch in W. Milan); ca 120 L Super Plus, 2L oil added in increments "just in case"

ca 1400km Gamma in Ice & Snow in the Alps: simply fantastic !!!

Lancia ! what else B)

Future Trip: none planned, in winter, in Alps...regardless of vehicle never again

All Right. Follow-Up Report. More Boring Trip News.

Backround; in order 2get2 places I didn't get to on last trip (above); I took a vehicle last week that should've gotten 2x mileage & been faster, Weather should have been a lot warmer. I took a Iveco Van .. pulling a trailer 2x its height & just as long. Both were full of (empty) pallets. So much for higher-speed; so much for great gas mileage, but weather was fine;).

I left my Lancia filled parking-lot on Sun 12:00; arrivingin Trento without incident at 22:00, taking a leisurly route; staying in the 'slipstream' behind family-vehicles pulling Travel-Trailers (aka "Campers") & averaging 90kph down through the Brenner Pass. Hey, that was a great trip; no snow, ice nor traffic; mileage was acceptable.

Mon AM: Fabio unloaded the pallets at Distillerie Trentine in Trentoland...where I (legally) purchased 20 cartons of Grappa ... so he wouldn't yell at me for asking him to unload & store pallets until they were picked-up by someone else. He knew I was coming, he was smiling when I arrived.

My Haus-Spedition (transport-company) picked-up & returned pallets to their original-home 2 days later, as was planned. They were returned to where the same Spedition was going for me anyway, to pick-up the same # of pallets (45) & bring them back to my parking lot ... but not bringing empty pallets. I had to hurry on the rest of the trip, to be able to unload 45 pallets 4 days later & to be home for Easter.

Yes, there are others who could unload the pallets, but it isn't really their job to do so & they never have any idea where to put the pallets, since 1/2 of the warehouse is filled with Lancia (& newer cars that are deregistered in winter)
I did my errands high up at top of Alps (well, not quite the tippy-top...but very high up...I guarantee you) leaving a now empty-trailer in the valley; where I was returning anyway. The Alps is always an adventure & I spent much of the next few many hours driving-scared. & thrilled.

I drove thru a Regione of Ital. Alps that I'd never been in before; a Regione of incredible & ancient beauty; a Regione that had recently been covered in German language Ital Car Mag "Auto-Strada"... located E. of Lecco & N. of Bergamo
I had a Caffe`in a Caffe`Bar that was reviewed in the Magazine....visiting this Caffe Bar was worth the entire trip & I got to drink a Caffe` Brand that I had never heard of before...& I thought I knew them all !
The owner of the Caffe`Bar had a rare Fiat he was selling. I read about this car, the owner, the Caffe`Bar & the Caffe` in Auto Strada some weeks previous, not having any idea that I would be there some weeks later.

No, I didn't ask to see the Fiat...I din't want to buy a Fiat 500 that Auto-Strada wrote a "less-then-glowing condition-report about"...at an "inflexible 'too high' price".

I was in Heaven, driving like a maniac, trying to not be run over by the really big vehicles, whose drivers drove like double-maniacs on-acid. They passed me in the most impossible places....& I let them !!

I was passed by a huge yellow cement-truck...going down a hill. 1km later there was a construction sight with a lot of flashing lights...flashing RED STOP RED STOP !!..so I caught the cement truck again. The smaller vehicles (thank you) were waved into a different lane than the bigger trucks, so I passed the cement-truck ! Yippee !! I have no idea if it was carrying a load of wet concrete or was empty !!

Yes, my hair is now grey & turning white by the minute.

I don't know why, but there was no heavy-traffic anywhere; it was like everyone had left town. Where were the tourists ? OK, it was still early in the Season ! I don't know why, but Hotel prices had dropped 15% as well; since my last trip to Italy (due to season ?) fuel prices didn't increase since my Gamma trip. I was happy, thus far. Still, I wished I had a Gamma in the mountains...but Gamma don't carry cargo & I had a cargo to pick-up.

From the time the 1st trip, in my silver Gamma, was not completed / was broken off, events were occuring that were in the control of persons that I had no wish to stop from being in control. From a sales point of view, the "deal" that was planned to take me to the top of the mountains in a Gamma & didn't, got bigger & bigger & is now contracted to remain big.
We all know the value of a contract executed in 5 languages, in 6 different countries. Value = big if it is big & zero if it is zero. I opted for the 'big' alternative, with a small commission. We all know that a small commission on a (continual, ongoing) big deal should result in a "big-commission". We will see.

Thus, having such a contract in-hand is not really a long-term guarantee of anything, but it could be !! .

However & still, the value of the contract has increased since the "unfinished first trip", with no input from me-
It increased from me filling a Gamma trunk (boot) with roasted Ital Caffe` in lieu of a cash commission ... which I did not get to do ! Increased to filling an Iveco Van with Caffe` in lieu of a cach commission, which I did.

So, if you see me smiling; it is because I am drinking / selling coffee...that didn't cost me a cent !! Well, it did..but when I have sold it all...I get the cash commission.

The big Iveco Van was so overloaded with Caffe that I immediatly drove (slowly) the Caffe`in the Van back down the mountain to my Haus-Spedition, where I loaded 80% of the Caffè into my trailer & where I asked the truck-driver who was driving to my warehouse anyway to pull the very heavy trailer behind his big truck.
He told me I had to hurry to meet him on Saturday AM: in my parking lot to unload the truck.

I hurried, I still made all other appointments I should have made & got home in time to unload. I unloaded the Iveco Van, which was 7/8 full of heavy Caffeè machines & 1/8 filled with Caffé .. then I slept for 2 days.

Of course, the truck didn't arrive on schedule...before Easter. It arrved 3 days after Easter....which was OK with me; I realy didn't look forward to unloading it on the Easter weekend.
When it did arrived, someone else got to unload it ! I was out delivering Caffè . Yippee !...but I had moved all the cars out of the warehouse prior to leaving, so the pallets could be driven inside.
When I returned from my Caffe` business on that day, the pallets were 90% unloaded & nicely lined up in the courtyard, so I got to put them into the right slots (known only to me) in the warehouse.

The truck had arrived 1/2 a day before it was supposed to & no one in my "office" complained about having to drive a fork-lift. I think that they (the office) think "it is a break from the office & we can smoke as much as we want"; but they have never told me this !!

PS: in 2009 - when a truck load of Gamma arrived in the same parking lot before the owners arrived (enroute to MM I in Torino), one of the 'office - ladies' was pressed into service to assist unloading the Gamma...she was so scared that she would be responsible if they "fell-off" the ramps that, when the owners arrived,...she was still shaking (tu) Good Job Barbara !!


End of Report.

Next Trip: 135 HP Fiat Stilo Coupe...no pallets & no Caffe`. Grappa ? SI ! Destination: South of France

Thank U 4 the PM's about this report. I have fleshed it out a bit, replying to ?'s about the trip.

Yes, those who commented "but, you are not in the Caffeè business" 'were right'; I was not really in this business previously ... other than to fulfill an every now & then request from NATO Bases.
However, now a days I am in the Caffe`business & hope to be in it for some time.

I am learning that "not all Caffe` served is Caffe`& that the bad Caffe`served in good Caffee` Bars is reserved for dumb Tourists & that the good Caffe` served in good Caffè Bars is reserved for repeat -business locals & persons dressed well.

I've also learned that if a Caffe`is "less than acceptable` that I have a right to demand a 'good-caffe`& that a good Caffe`is seldom found on the Highway in Italy...strong Caffe`yes, but for a good Caffe`, go elsewhere.

& that very good Caffe`Bars have only very good Caffe`& it is higher-priced for a reason !