With already a lot of posts about Watches & Wonders, the amazing people and stunning watches, I want to do something a bit different.
As some of you know, I like flying but I hate airports. Especially the Boarding process where you have to take of belt, shoes, watch and stuff. Put liquids in little transparent bags and where you feel treated like cattle on the way to the slaughterhouse.
So instead of flying to Geneva by plane, I went by car. Since it's about 1.050 km from my place it does take some time.
I went to bed way too late and had my alarm set at 3:30 AM. At 2:30 I get a message from a good friend and unfortunately I sleep very light and it woke me up. Great start of the journey!
Anyway, an hour later my alarm rings and I get out of bed, still quite tired. I had already packed my bags the evening before so just a quick bowl of Cornflakes, a quick toilet and I was ready to go.
I had put the car outside of the gate so I wouldn't wake my family that was still fast asleep. A quick wrist shot and off I went.
My watch of choice for this trip: the amazing Flieger 5 Big pilot in Titanium.
Traffic was quite dense despite the early hour but I made good progress and had left my country (the Netherlands) just before 6:00 AM when the speed limit gets reduced from 130 to 100 km/hour.
Germany was quite busy too with plenty of roadworks. At around seven I stopped at a gas station and had a nice double Espresso and a croissant. With a 90 liter fuel tank I didn't need to fill up yet.
I had now done about 280 km in just over 3 hours. Not bad!
Another 3 hours later I pulled off the highway to find a so-called 'Auto-Hof'. These are fuel stations just a bit off the highway and fuel prices can be about 50 cents per liter cheaper as on the highway itself!
I added 60 liters (exactly, I was lucky) and now had done 515 km. When on a roadtrip in Germany, you have to get a Bockwurst with Senf!
Coming back to the message I received at 2:30, it was from Tilo who asked if I could pick him up in Basel. He lives very close to the highway so it was hardly any detour and since my trip went smooth I had plenty of time (or so I thought at that moment).
Not long before 1 PM I pull up at Tilo's place in Basel.
A quick espresso and a sanitary stop and off we went!
Since I had been on the road for quite some time by myself I was getting a bit tired and it was great to have Tilo accompany me. He showed me the mountains and knew the names and he also was helpful in explaining all the different speed limits in Switzerland. Knowing from a previous roadtrip you better stick to those limits or it becomes expensive pretty quickly!
The drive to Geneva went fine but then I had to drop off Tilo in the center at his hotel. I've never experienced worse traffic and it took about 45 minutes to do less than 3 km.
Luckily for me my AirBnB was at just 15 minutes from Tilo's hotel. There was no space to park in the street so I had to find a nearby underground parking. At about 350 meters that wasn't too bad.
After 13 hours and 11 minutes, I parked the car and headed to my AirBnB after a total of 1044 kilometers. The car performed admirably and I was glad I had my winter tyres removed just before the trip. On a few open stretches I was able to rev the engine to the max (9000 rpm) and experience what these cars are made for.
After a long day in the car, I was happy to walk to the restaurant. A lovely stroll of a bit less than an hour. The weather was awesome and the views of Geneva stunning!
The dinner was great but I was quite exhausted and this was only the start of the event! It was lovely seeing so many old friends and a bunch of new ones too.
This was my first Watches & Wonders with the Collectors Forum group. My previous 2 visits were as guest from IWC Amsterdam (Thanks Bas!). Both are great and I am looking forward to yet another one. Maybe already next year?
Thanks for taking the time to read this long story and many thanks again to IWC and Tonny for making this trip an unforgettable experience.
Kind regards,
Clemens
