This has to be one of my favorite posts of all time, and due to its nature I will write it in English. Let’s see what I have in mind, it should be exciting.
Background. It happens that I have to take over this silly, little and beautiful car shown above, with the purpose of transfering it from Prague to Bucharest. When is that? Starting May 16th or 17th, or maybe on the 25th, the latest. However, the prospect of a long delivery trip is not really music to my ears, you know. That’s because I think the best route to Romania coming from Czech Republic would have to include countries such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. That’s not all: I am tentatively trying to get all this package into a 14-day period, for example, and rather cheap. It’s always good to save a buck these days.
Trip goals. Basically, I would like to go through and take a quick look (sometimes a better look, it depends on the city) at the following cities:
- Prague,
- Dresden,
- Berlin,
- Wolfsburg,
- Paderborn,
- Amsterdam,
- Rotterdam,
- Brussels,
- Dusseldorf,
- Cologne,
- Frankfurt,
- Heidelberg,
- Sinsheim,
- Stuttgart,
- Basel,
- Bern,
- Geneve,
- Montreux,
- Lausanne (maybe),
- Zurich,
- Sankt Gallen,
- Bodensee,
- Salzburg,
- Vienna,
- Bratislava,
- Budapest,
- Satu Mare,
- Bucharest.
At the time of the first official writing about it, I confess having no idea whether this is a realistic plan for such a period of time or if I am a bit crazy. It’s likely that I am crazy, but that’s ok. A man adapts, finds a way.
FYI, the cities outside Romania I’ve been to so far are: a couple of Hungarian (Budapest, Debrecen, Mateszalka), Serbian (Belgrade, Kopaonik, Novi Grad), Bosnian (Banja Luka) and Bulgarian ones (Ruse, Varna, Golden Sands), Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, and a small Dutch village that I can’t remember. Therefore, this is the perfect occasion to start covering more of Europe, and it’s a big thing for me.
Must sees. This trip somehow has to include most of the elements below:
- meeting my friend Siegfried in Berlin. Maybe Zoso, too.
- meeting a couple of friends in Rotterdam, Brussels, potentially Salzburg, Vienna, eventually any other city where I find – before I leave – that there are friends there.
- driving a number of Swiss roads, as I love perfect landscapes.
- seeing the Mercedes (and Porsche) museum in Stuttgart.
- seeing the Meilenwerk showrooms in Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Stuttgart.
- seeing the Volkswagen museum in Wolfsburg.
- seeing the Sinsheim museum, particularly interested in Concorde and some cars.
You would think that the trip is organized around the idea of seeing as many cars as possible, together with landscapes. In fact, I’m not as obsessed as it might seem, and I mostly care about the people that I am going to meet during the trip and what I will learn while observing things, asking questions, or reading preparation materials, blogs and the like.
Alone??? Hopefully not. Since I don’t have a girlfriend whom I could take with me right now, I am looking for friend(s) to join me on this road trip. Ideally, these are friends I already know to some degree, but they could be twitter users or so. If you feel you’re part of a category, and you’re interested, drop a line. Seriously! But… please understand that if we agree to do this, you’re responsible for:
- your arrival in Prague, by any means of transportation (I can give you good tips about that). Mine is already arranged.
- your accommodation, cheaper if there’s more of us anyway.
- your eating, drinking and having fun.
- some sharing of fuel cost, not much I guess, maybe free if you are good company.
On the other hand, you may be interested to join me for a part of the trip, which is fine by me provided you deliver yourself to the city where you want to start the trip on the day I will be there – to be announced soon.
If I don’t find anybody interested, I’ll post some hitchhiking opportunities on http://www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de, a website I used myself while being in Europe without a car, to commute very quickly and cheaply between cities.
Save my soul! I have to admit the fact that I am not really street-smart about what this trip means, though by the time I leave I am committed to change that. So please, help me out here with any type of recommendation regarding traveling to these countries:
- websites or blogs about these places, or about European road trips.
- websites where I can find very cheap official accommodation/hotels/hostels, or even free accommodation on the basis of networking between travelers.
- important road restrictions or issues related to traffic, GPS, radar detectors.
- great roads to drive on, with great landscapes around them.
- other (small) cities/places I haven’t mentioned along the route that are worthwhile visiting because of a certain reason (architecture, stuff…)
- other car-related tips, especially old timer/young timer shops.
- health information.
Note that I don’t expect you to jump with tons of recommendations and save my arse, but I would appreciate if you can indicate the smallest information that is useful.
There will be another blog post soon with the timeline of the trip, dates and stuff. Wish me luck!
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Stuttgart: clar trebuie sa vezi muzeele de acolo. La Mercedes am fost acum un an si e supertare, la Porsche am fost acum 15 ani si nu mai tin minte nimic!
http://www.technik-museum.de/museum_sinsheim_deutsch.html
Muzeul de la Sinsheim e ultramisto. In toata lumea sunt expuse doar cateva Concorde: unul la NY, unul la Londra, unul la Paris pe aeroport; asta e singurul expus in Germania. Dreamcars, oldtimers etc.
Elvetia: nu e nasol cu cazarea. Zic doar sa faci rezervare pe site-ul pe care ti l-am recomandat (http://www.jugendherberge.ch/) acolo si esti on the safe side. Noi am gasit locuri si in timpul campionatului european de fotbal anul trecut!
Fa “Montreux” pe Google Images… merita sa mergi acolo!
Recomandari cazare:
Amsterdam: Etap Hotel aproape de aeroport e supercool si foarte usor de ajuns cu masina.
Zic ca daca la Berlin stai la mine si pleci intr-o zi dimineata cu oprit 3-4 ore la muzeu la Wolfsburg, ajungi pana seara la Aamsterdam–acolo stai la Etap de care zic eu; acolo stai o noapte si apoi pleci spre Bruxelles cu halta in Rotterdam; in Bruxelles te asteapta alta cazare cu masa pusa! Apoi iti mai trebuie una/doua pe la Frankfurt/Stuttgart si apoi alea de care spuneam in Elvetia.
La ultima mea deplasare externa (aceasta luna), la intrarea in Elvetia dinspre Franta, un vames elvetian plictisit insa plin de zel mi-a controlat bagajele si intr-un rucsac aflat in portbagaj mi-a gasit detectorul Beltronics Vector 940… ” C’est interdit” mi-a spus el…motiv pt care a trebuit sa imi exersez franceza din liceu si am replicat: ” Je sais, ma’ je l’utilise seulement dans la Roumanie et Hongrie ou est perfect legale”. In replica, el s-a ambitionat sa faca un control la sange a masinii, nefiind scutit nici interiorul si compartimentul motor…
In tot acest timp, am ramas calm si am incercat sa il ajut in cautarile lui (probabil cauta droguri), oferindu-i raspunsuri la toate curiozitatile lui (de exemplu m-a intrebat de ce aveam in masina un binoclu militar – Pour admire les peisages, am replicat eu ).
Am creat in mintea mea, cateva scenarii legate de ce s-ar putea intampla legat de faptul ca a descoperit acel detector in bagaje. Cea mai sumbra situatie ar fi fost aceea in care mi l-ar fi confiscat si mi-ar fi administrat o amenda capitalista caz in care concediul meu de 14 zile – minunat pana in acel moment- ar fi fost compromis.
O alta varianta mai usoara ar fi fost sa-l confiste si sa ma lase in pace.
Mi-am creionat mintal o cale de atac in vreun astfel de caz: Eram la intrarea in Elvetia, in primii 10 metri de teritoriu elvetian (care nu e nici in UE nici in Schengen) si i-as fi spus ca in cazul in care acel obiect e interzis, sunt dispus sa nu mai intru in Elvetia si sa ma intorc in Franta (bine ca nici aici nu e legal dar asta e o alta poveste).
Din fericire nu a fost cazul. In urma incheierii controlului, vamesul a luat detectorul si a intrat in biroul din cladirea vamii, unde sunt absolut sigur, m-a introdus in sistemul informatic ca avand acest obiect. Dupa vreo 5 minute, a revenit cu el in mana si m-a intrebat: Care e destinatia acestui aparat? . I-am raspuns ca e un lucru personal pe care il folosesc doar in tarile in care folosirea lui e legala printre care si tara mea natala.
Mi-a repetat in franceza si germana ca in Elvetia e interzis iar eu i-am replicat ca nu va fi folosit in Elvetia. Mi-a inapoiat actele, detectorul, am dat mana,bon voyage, merci beaucoup et…au revoir. C’est la vie…
Ce a fost naspa din toata situatia asta, a fost ca m-am simtit ca un cetatean de mana a 3-a stand 40 de minute cu toate bagajele date jos din masina, in timp ce altor masini din UE (Germania, Franta, Italia) nici macar nu li se deschideau pasapoartele. In fine, nu sunt eu atat de sensibil incat sa sufar prea tare din asta…
Concluzia este ca nu prea merita sa ai detectorul cu tine cand mergi in strainatate…sunt putine cazuri in care e util. Mult mai bine e sa ai o navigatie GPS cu baza de date a camerelor de supraveghere si a locurilor in care se fac radare mobile. Bineinteles ca eu aveam si acest lucru (ilegal insa in Elvetia, Germania si Austria). In Elvetia daca esti prins cu astfel de POI-uri in GPS, amenda e de 10000 CHF si confiscarea aparatului (de parca asta ar mai conta). Insa eu aveam 2 SD carduri la mine, unul cu IGO 2006 plus (cu camere) si altul cu Tom Tom (fara camere). Intr-un ipotetic caz de urgenta as fi schimbat cardurile si asta ar fi fost tot…
Super excursie.
Pacat ca mi-am facut dinainte alte planuri.
Drumuri cu soare!
Whenever you pass through Brussels (and you should!) I will be happy to show you around & we’ll try to organize a tweetup of sorts.
When looking for places to stay in the many cities on your list, don’t forget the Couch Surfing network – http://www.couchsurfing.org/index.html. You may also want to check out the cities’ top tweeters on Twitter Grader – http://twitter.grader.com/location.
Finally, what is said above about radar detectors is true indeed; they are forbidden in most European countries now, most notably France is known for its very harsh measures against users (the detector is destroyed and the driver is fined).
@cdn
Thank you my friend, the best help comes, as always, from you.
Very good information on the radars, my Mercedes friend. Exactly what I wanted to know.
Multumesc, Mircea! Sa ne fie toate bune, atat mie cat si tie!
Excellent information, Christian, thank you! That’s exactly the website (couchsurfing) I was looking for, but had a lapsus about.
Is there some online list of which countries have restrictions on radar detectors? I know I can check each one of them individually, but you know, we like to have things in our lives as easy as possible.
Anyway, in terms of radar detectors, I’m not really planning to use it as I want to be driving normally, enjoying the views, my time, life in general. I will not be Romanian during this trip, as I respect each countries’ laws and local habits – even though it’s hard to be calm in a powerful Mercedes. In addition, the car is also helping me not attract attention, as it has Czech license plates.
I’ll get in touch with you when I decide which day(s) I will be in Brussels. As said on Twitter, there’s an extra friend there who’s helping with accommodation, meals, tours and stuff, but I think we should all meet because it’s a great crowd.
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