3rd to 6th of April 2011
« Back to journal
« Back to journal
3rd of April 2011
Finally I made it. One day later than planned, but I guess ok…the past weeks were really tough. Everything was last minute even though I planned thoroughly.
After saying & waving good bye I drove via Salzburg to St.Pölten, 60km from Vienna. Dirk joined me with his motorbike up to Bad Reichenhall, where we separated…my last F2F contact. Heading for my first target ( I didn’t know it would be St. Pölten..) sunshine was all the way with me but sad thoughts as well…
4th of April
In Munich in the morning already lots of rain, wind eastwards. An early start brought me to and through Hungary up to Debrecen (30km from the Romanian border) without a rain drop even though it was already very cloudy in the morning.
Hungarian border
5th of April
When I looked out of the window of my small pension in Debrecen in the morning: rain! Sh__ …it got me…but am I here for holiday?? :-) The whole day I drove in the rain on the catastrophic roads of Romania. Such roads would be classified as “cart tracks” in Germany and they would be closed for public use. Lunch somewhere in a small village, blue collar-workers all around (1pm in Romania IS lunch time) and looking to the strange animal; the friendly waiter spoke English. So happy and I ordered my vegetarian stuff and tea (Ceai, interesting because the word is close to Chai..) and coffee and coffee…while I saw the rain drops falling :-). Safely I arrived in deep RO, Bistriti after 340 tough kilometers. Yes, welcome back to RO…driving IS different here. If a driver sees a pothole (actually there are MANY on the road) he would do everything to get around…whether he lands on your side of the road or he just swerves + brakes violently to avoid the hole…wow.
6th of April
I left my Pension Stefani w/o breakfast because the sun was bright (and anyway they had nothing really to offer)…but only 10°C. I put an extra one on. I was in a good mode, heading again for Suceava (actually I wanted to reach this town already the day before). Well it took me another 4 hours (!) to reach this place…only 240 km!! Brought me back to the experience I made before: NEVER underestimate distances in foreign countries. And the patron (el jefe:-) of the pension told me that these would be only nice roads…2 passes I had to cross, one 1200m high, snow on the mountains, great driving and freezing fingers… Suceava is a relatively big city and I just made a refueling stop and had a nice conversation with a Romanian guy. So I moved on to Botosani, just another 30km…and now…: I am still in Romania! I thought I could make it to Moldova. Naja, what shall’s:-)
Meine schlanke Gazelle:-) Nicht so'ne fette BMW:-)) Na, hoffentlich fährt sie auch weiter so gut + der Fahrer!
I have never seen so many churches in the middle of construction like in Romania.
Finally I made it. One day later than planned, but I guess ok…the past weeks were really tough. Everything was last minute even though I planned thoroughly.
After saying & waving good bye I drove via Salzburg to St.Pölten, 60km from Vienna. Dirk joined me with his motorbike up to Bad Reichenhall, where we separated…my last F2F contact. Heading for my first target ( I didn’t know it would be St. Pölten..) sunshine was all the way with me but sad thoughts as well…
4th of April
In Munich in the morning already lots of rain, wind eastwards. An early start brought me to and through Hungary up to Debrecen (30km from the Romanian border) without a rain drop even though it was already very cloudy in the morning.
Hungarian border
5th of April
When I looked out of the window of my small pension in Debrecen in the morning: rain! Sh__ …it got me…but am I here for holiday?? :-) The whole day I drove in the rain on the catastrophic roads of Romania. Such roads would be classified as “cart tracks” in Germany and they would be closed for public use. Lunch somewhere in a small village, blue collar-workers all around (1pm in Romania IS lunch time) and looking to the strange animal; the friendly waiter spoke English. So happy and I ordered my vegetarian stuff and tea (Ceai, interesting because the word is close to Chai..) and coffee and coffee…while I saw the rain drops falling :-). Safely I arrived in deep RO, Bistriti after 340 tough kilometers. Yes, welcome back to RO…driving IS different here. If a driver sees a pothole (actually there are MANY on the road) he would do everything to get around…whether he lands on your side of the road or he just swerves + brakes violently to avoid the hole…wow.
6th of April
I left my Pension Stefani w/o breakfast because the sun was bright (and anyway they had nothing really to offer)…but only 10°C. I put an extra one on. I was in a good mode, heading again for Suceava (actually I wanted to reach this town already the day before). Well it took me another 4 hours (!) to reach this place…only 240 km!! Brought me back to the experience I made before: NEVER underestimate distances in foreign countries. And the patron (el jefe:-) of the pension told me that these would be only nice roads…2 passes I had to cross, one 1200m high, snow on the mountains, great driving and freezing fingers… Suceava is a relatively big city and I just made a refueling stop and had a nice conversation with a Romanian guy. So I moved on to Botosani, just another 30km…and now…: I am still in Romania! I thought I could make it to Moldova. Naja, what shall’s:-)
Meine schlanke Gazelle:-) Nicht so'ne fette BMW:-)) Na, hoffentlich fährt sie auch weiter so gut + der Fahrer!
I have never seen so many churches in the middle of construction like in Romania.
