PART 2: THE JOURNEY
There are some great travel books; 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', Eric Newby's travel books and of course 'A Time of Gifts'...
This blog isn't one of them....
It is meant to be a simple log of places seen, the route taken and other miscellany.
Usually the lows help to accentuate the highs but in truth there were very few lows and it seems churlish to focus on these.
Some items ended up being difficult (and probably 'unwilling') to describe and they will be part of the fog of the journey.
12 countries driven through (not including Britain)......
TRAVELLING
My Car
I think I should start with the method of transport. It wasn't a glamorous split screen VW camper van or a classic car; just a straightforward Audi A3. Small enough to drive through tight city centre streets but large enough to stow all my 'anticipated' luggage and the gamut of car safety equipment that was required by all the countries intended to be visited (more later...).
I did consider buying an old left hand drive car with 100,000 miles on the clock that I could re-sell after my return showing 106,000 miles on the clock, but I just didn't want to be waiting on the side of a road deep into my journey trying to work out how to call a recovery vehicle and then wait for the car to be repaired.
The car did feature in a number of posts.. sneaking into the picture either in the distance or while parked by the side of the road.
The car had to display a 'GB' sticker.. the new licence plate, without the EU circle of stars, assumed that the UK had left the EU...
The satnav was a 21st century 'wonder'.. It became known as 'Julie' (after Julie Walters) during the journey as I felt it started to have its own personality; one of resigned impatience for all my mistakes when obviously taking the wrong direction.
Generally we would make up and all would be well.
The 'wonder' is that when driving through the numerous countries and cities, I had up-to-date traffic information for each location. In the 'old days' I would have to use driving maps that showed the general direction to our destination but could never show detailed information on city centres but in particular road works and other obstructions; let alone giving alternative routes.
I use my satnav all the time in the UK but to have my car have the same functionality for all countries was really liberating. This would not have been possible had I bought the left hand drive car with 100,000 miles on the clock....
Most cars now have great satnav systems but it still doesn't take away the wonder of using the facility right across Europe.
'Julie' and I finally fell out driving between Berlin and Munster. I kept on being re-directed back to a closed motorway. The only alternative was to drive in the wrong direction for enough time to discount the last 50 kilometres. This led to a 2 hour extension to the journey. Obviously not the fault of the navigation system... just the delay in the update...
But I had my comeuppance at the Hook of Holland when directed round and round the freight terminal, not the car & passenger terminal. I wasn't alone... I followed a collection of vehicles of a British Air Corps company doing exactly the same......
Postscript to the journey....
Two weeks ago I drove into the back of another car.... After nearly 6000 miles of driving through Europe without a scratch.. I had my first ever self inflicted accident since passing my test....
Driving on the Right
The car being a right hand drive car, the advantage of having the gear stick on my left while getting use to each country's 'driving styles' did make a difference. I'm left handed so it feels the most natural anyway. Even driving a left handed car in Europe, I still find it difficult using the gear stick with my right hand...
Generally there was no problem in driving on the right in any country; perhaps only in the Baltic States where the 'A' roads (primary) were only single lane. Overtaking convoys of lorries was impossible but without time deadlines it was better to stop at one of the many stops and wait awhile and then drive on.
I had a simple routine for all other major roads.. always look left even if there didn't seem to be cars travelling up in the fast lane.I noticed a momentary blind spot on the left, regardless of having the mirrors set to give full view. I am suffering from a crick neck but it is worth this rather than driving into fast cars
Roads
Its necessary to separate motorways with A and B roads as the contrast in many countries was to great to lump together.
Highlights:
- Driving across both the Storebaelt,linking east and west Denmark (18km long) and the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden (famously known as the 'Bridge' on the TV series
- Driving through the rolling hills of Fyn island in Denmark and southern Sweden north of Ystad.
- Driving into the heart of Austria from Salzburg
- Driving into the heart of Budapest, arriving at the Danube river front
- Driving, linking Spotify, listening to my favourite songs...
- Best surfaces: Germany
- Worst surfaces: UK (appalling roads driving to and from Harwich) and Serbia going south...
- Most roadworks: Germany....not surprising as the roads free of roadworks are the best
- Noisiest surface: Sweden... a different stone mix to all others (my opinion only..)
- Busiest: Hungary, a main artery linking north and south
- Fewest vehicles: Sweden, travelling north, and Serbia (from the boarder to Novi Sad)
- Fastest; legal: Germany.. between road sign speed restraints
- Fastest; illegal: Poland... drivers in large SUV's must believe they are in Germany..
- Most surprising: Poland. I had previously thought the roads would be flat; not the case.
- Drivers respecting the spirit of the law and with each other: Germany
- Best surfaces: Denmark
- Worst surfaces: Latvia.. the drive into Riga was truly awful
- Most scenic: Austria (not necessarily surprising)
- Driving the wrong way: Krakow centre, escaping from the pedestrian centre. Budapest.. reversing for a kilometre after finding the temporary route has no exit..
- Turning Left: In a number of cities, it was not always possible to see where the road is....
- Most enjoyable city to drive through: Vienna
To be continued......
