Jodie Ponto Photography

St. What’s Basilica?  Leaning Tower of Where?  Anne Who’s House?   Spending 4 weeks getting intimate & interactive with the rest stops, service stations, driving conditions, and road rules of Europe was not exactly what my 18 year old self had in mind when she first set out across the Atlantic all those years ago with her Mountain Equipment Co-op backpack, Eurorail pass, and quick-dry travel pants.

This is what the Autobahn, Autosnelweg, Autoroute, and Autostrada look like through the windshield of Miss Quincy & The Showdown‘s English rental van:

Calais, France

Autosnelweg Windmills, the Netherlands

Autobahn Ausfahrt, Germany

Autostrada Porn, Italy

Country Road, the Netherlands

Rainy Autostrada, Italy

Autostrada Tunnel, Italy

Autostrada Alps, Italy

Autoroute Canola Fields, France

Autoroute Sunset, France

The Caribbean-colored sand of Rosignano Solvay’s Spiagge Bianche (white beaches) is a side effect of a nearby factory that has been manufacturing sodium bicarbonate for 100 years.

Every once in awhile I understand why people think touring with a band is living the dream. Like last night, when we stayed & played in a restored 17th century olive mill on a 75-acre farm estate that produces organic vegetables, fruit, and herbs.

Photos are from Fattoria dei Comignoli in San Martino in Colle, Umbria.

Rainbow over the Adriatic Sea at Raphael Beach in Civitanova Marche, Italy.

While in England I didn’t fondle the crown jewels at the Tower of London, watch Will and Kate parade their baby bump around Windsor Castle, hear Big Ben ring at noon, see the sunrise at Stonehenge (although I did have quite the adventure there 2 years ago), attend a church service at Westminster Abbey, see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, or have tea the Queen …. So don’t even bother asking.

What I did see in the past 3 weeks was more miles of motorways, A roads, B roads, and teeny tiny country roads than the average Brit has seen in their entire life.  Here’s what the UK looks like through the windshield of a big power-hogging right hand drive Vanny.

Cotswolds country road

Ribble Valley

Hampshire

Crossing the border into Scotland

M62

Rainy M5

This is what the English countryside looks like. You will probably enjoy the photo more if you know I traipsed through a farmer’s field in the rain wearing a flapper dress to take it.

Cheap bugger travel tip:

If you ever find yourself in Sherwood Forest and don’t want to pay the £3 parking fee just drive into the Staff Only parking lot and when you are questioned by the caretaker tell him you’re the band.

Robin Hood and Little John walkin’ through the forest,
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally, golly, what a day.

Major Oak, over 800 years old with a waistline of 35m and weight of 23 tonnes.

Forest frolicking for free.

Fun with Friar Tuck.

Robin Hood & Maid Marian go to Sherwood Forest Amusement Park, Part 1.

 Robin Hood & Maid Marian go to Sherwood Forest Amusement Park, Part 2.

What most people don’t know is that touring musician is really a synonym for trucker. The vast majority of time on tour with a band is spent in a vehicle. Life becomes a series of whizzing dashboard scenes and you become more intimate than you ever thought was humanly possible with gas stations, CBC radio, side of the road pee stops, and creative methods for amusing yourself and staying awake on long-haul drives.

That said, here is what 7,500kms of BC and Alberta roads looks like through my iPhone and the Vangina windshield.

Banff National Park, AB

Jasper National Park, AB

Crowsnest Highway, AB

Crowsnest Highway, AB

Medicine Hat, AB

Kootenay Pass, BC

Highway 95, BC

Kootenay National Park, BC

Kootenay National Park, BC

A few photos from a morning stroll around my frontyard (the beach, that is):

Our crumbling clifftop Mexican hideout.