Five countries 2days

A week late, I admit. But not ommited:




Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany!

Thats Zloty,Euro, Forint, Euro and Euro again.

Not the easiest thing to navigate when the police in Slovaki

Hungary has such a toll and so does Austria. Around 8 Euro for 4 days to a week, just in case anyone is looking to travel anytime soon.a takes away most of the Euro currency due to a minor infraction... Apparently one has to buy a vignette for the use of

Slovakian Highways.... Tough luck on about 20 Kilometers of such roads travelled.

My friend Nicole did me the great favor

of coming to pick me up in Poland and drive me to Munich. With all the luggage and tools I had up in the little room in the datcha, any bus or plane ride would have been an ordeal.

This way we got treated to an ever changing landscape, a series of small towns and big cities, rain and sunshine. Endless fields of sunflowers and surprisingly, olive plantations!

Thankfully none of the border crossings were as intense as the one to Ukraine. Although we would have had a bit of time to find out about traffic regulations...

A quite exciting round trip. Even without acquaintances with local police. Relying on a navigation device, we headed south west, not quite realizing which way we'd end up going. a friendly Slovakian who helped us secure the proper sticker for the windshield was ahead of the game and wondered whether we'd be traveling through Hungary. It turned out that we were. At the border we stopped and payed toll- slig

htly disappointed that it's just a receipt, and not a sticker- exchanged Zloty for Forint, felt rich for a few hours, until we had to pay for a hotel room.

Still inexpensive for the location. I can see why Hungary is a popular destination for Germans.

We stayed in the town of Miskolc, had some great Gyros with spicy ketchup, that I remembered they are famous for, braved the constant rain and enjoyed the local beer somewhat more than the local Rock and Roll band.

The next day we got up early to continue on to Budapest, which we now knew was along the way. And what a treat that turned out to be: Beautiful weather and a stunning display of palaces and cathedrals along the danube. I'd love to spend a week there sometime in the future and wander and explore the streets and stores that rival any great city on this continent!

We gave ourselves an hour and a half, before speeding along the highway past Vienna and Salzburg, skirting the North edge of the Alps on to Munich. We

arrived just in time for Brotzeit ('breadtime'), the bread and cold cuts evening meal, much to the delight of my niece Pia! Not Bavarian beer to greet us , but the northern Becks, but we weren't picky after a day in the car.

I went through my tools and sent most of them up to Bueckeburg with Nicole, who continued on home on Sunday. I will follow her by train tomorrow, to start project three!