European road network

I love driving. To me, roads are one of the best examples of good design and internationalization. A subject that deserves a special post just to comment how it all started and the evolution of these grey lanes (and signs attached to them).

I am a hardcore user of the Southwest highway Madrid – Lisbon. While driving along, I find quite often a special sign that usually appears on top of some traffic signs saying “E-90” with a green background. “E-90” stands for European route, and this one departures from Lisbon. But what I didn´t know is that finishes at the Iraqi border!

The most interesting thing is that it´s not a real highway 100% granted that includes four sea-crossings: Barcelona, Spain – Mazara del Vallo, Italy; Messina, Italy to Reggio di Calabria, Italy; Brindisi, Italy to Igoumenitsa, Greece, and Eceabat, Turkey to Canakkale, Turkey.

Here in Spain we have more that one:
E-1, running from Larne, Northern Ireland to Seville (and also sea-crossing…);
E-5, from Greenock, Scotland to Algeciras;
E-9, Orléans to Barcelona;
E-15, Inverness, Scotland to Algeciras;
E-70, from A Coruña to Poti, Georgia;
E-80, Lisbon, Portugal to Gürbulak, Turkey;

The one I like the most isn´t Spanish. It´s the E-10, running from Å, in Norway and ending in Luleå, Sweden, crossing some of the islands of those Scandinavian countries. The picture below says everything:

The only thing that sounds strange to me about these routes is that some of them include sea-crossing. Isn´t that strange? It remembers me the suggestions Google Maps used to give to go from California to Sweden (in Spanish).