Where were we up too... well after Greece we stayed with my grandad for another couple of weeks until we found a suitable campervan for our European road trip. Unfortunately when we were looking there was nothing that we wanted and then there was also the debate about do we get one with a toilet and shower or not. Well the decision was made really simple when we looked at our finances and realised we didn’t have quite as much as we’d hoped, so we opted for the shower in a bucket/can and pee in a bottle option! So with Frank the Tank in the driveway and after visiting some rellies and raided their cupboard of all the camping gear we could we were set.
So the weekend of the Notting Hill Carnival, we headed up to London to see Julia, Corrine and Rachel as well as my uncle before heading to Dover for our ferry crossing to Dunkirk, France. So after staying in the van in the main street in Dover, we got the ferry and shortly arrived in France before heading off to Belgium (yes 3 countries before 9am is what we are all about!) Driving through Belgium, on our way to Ypres, within minutes of crossing the border, we got pulled over by a police man which was fine except when Jase reached in the back to open the side door of the van, the policeman got rather flustered and wondered what the hell Jason was reaching for. Anyway we continued onto Ypres and then that night stayed in Bruges and were really impressed how easy it was to find a park in the city centre... sadly that hasn’t been the case in other cities.
Had a few nights in Bruges which we absolutely loved – much better city than movie! Then onto Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent all of which were very pleasant but we were so excited about seeing Amsterdam, we couldn’t wait to leave the country. On the way out of Belgium, we realised that is was not only Aussie Fathers day but Annette’s birthday and both Jason’s Mum and a aunt’s birthday so had to pull by a Maccas for a few hours to Skype the entire family. Anyway a few hours later, we headed for Amsterdam to stay with Imogen, a mate we met on the vodkatrain who kindly let us crash at her’s for a few days. On the way there and after detouring a million times trying to find a place to leave the car safely for 3 days, we received a message saying that Imogen had a hair disaster and was sick as well, so we felt we may be slightly imposing on her by crashing at hers but as we were nearly there, we weren’t going back. So we arrived at her place, 4 hours later, only to find her door buzzer doesn’t work so Jase and I are stuck yelling from the street to the second floor window for 10 minutes hoping Imogen would hear us! Luckily she did and she poked her little smurf looking head (blue hair dye) out the window and we were all sorted and even managed to score her double bed! Amsterdam was great and saw all the main sights including Anne Frank’s house, a tour of the Heineken brewery, the infamous Red Light District which we had to go to 3 times just to make sure we had taken it all in and a few good nights out and about!
Not wanting to leave, we made it back to the car in the god awful weather and drove to Berlin, via Hamburg for lunch. Although we expected it to be a pain in the arse parking in central Berlin, we managed to find an open air car park near the ICC stadium and the metro and just parked up for 3 nights which was perfect and only 8 stops from central city. A few times security drove past and we often got a few interesting looks when we stepped out in the morning brushing our teeth in the car park but we never got booted! We loved Berlin, so much history, culture and great food! Even managed to dodgy the German metro tickets which helped keep us under budget, although we have had a few tantrums from the hubby about the lack of food he has been getting and how life isn’t fair etc but he now knows that if we want to stay travelling, he needs to zip it J He has actually approached me and suggested 2 new career ideas both for one when we are away and another when we get back. Apparently his current job is going to include bag snatching from old ladies but I have yet to see him approach one and even more concerning outrun one! The other job when he gets back to Australia is to become a male escort for the elderly, then snatch their purses...righto! On one of our the last days in Berlin, we managed to get up early (10am) and make it to the free walking tour which was really good and we had a great guide showing us around, who even cried at the coming down of Berlin wall part of the story. Anyway the next day touring the city we bumped into 2 Aussie girls who we met on the day before’s tour and met up for dinner and a few drinks...we even had a shower in a bucket for them so we looked presentable.
Next day we headed out to Poland and within minutes of crossing the border, a Mercedes was flashing his lights and demanding we pulled over, so in the torrential rain Jase, assuming it was cops pulled over. Within seconds, the driver was at the window, saying he has a baby in the car and has no fuel but if we took his “gold” rings could we give him 20 pounds...a scam if ever I saw one! So we quickly drove off and so did he surprisingly even with no fuel! So the plan was to see Krakow for a day and then head to Auschwitz (which for some reason we thought was in Germany!?!?!) so managed to find a park at the bottom of the main tourist attraction in Krakow and wandered up to the castle which we thought was rather boring and nothing like we expected. Anyway got back to the van and noticed the side door lock was slightly bent, but then thought nothing of it (you haven’t seen the rest of the camper!) and tried to set up the GPS to figure out how to get out of Krakow only to find the GPS, 2 iPods and a camera had been stolen from the glove box. Luckily though the thief had put back neatly the playing cards in the glove box (phew!) but meant we were stuck and had no idea where to go or what to do. So after quizzing a few taxi drivers, English REALLY is not common in Krakow, we managed to find a police station and report it. A full afternoon later with very uncooperative police, we had the report in hand and made a bee line to the nearest Harvey Norman style store so we could buy a new iPod and GPS so we could leave this awful country! A few hundred dollars later, and after being very pissed off we headed out of town to the only thing that felt safe to us – a petrol station with truck parking!
As soon as we arrived in the Czech republic things seemed a little nicer and calmer, so much so that I often got told off by Jase for having my head in the book and not looking at the country side... think someone is a little cranky that he has to do all the driving in Europe on his own as I still haven’t mastered the art of using a clutch especially on a prize winning van like Frank. On the way to Prague we stopped at Kutna Hora, which is a really small cobblestoned town that has a church made of bones. The church was built on a graveyard and the owner decided to use all the 40,000 bones to decorate the interior with them creating Chandeliers, crest of arms (which uses a bone from every part of the body)... really amazing stuff. Coming into Prague and half the van rattling from the cobblestones, we decided to splash out and stay at a caravan site for a few nights so we could recoup and get washing done etc and honestly it was pure luxury having access to internet, toilets and a shower 24/7 even if it was 1/3 of our daily budget. That night we popped into the city for a meal (schnitzel, of course) and couldn’t believe how stunning Prague was at night, it literally blew us away. Next day we decided to explore the city and buy a new camera replacing the one that was stolen and of course ran around the city for half a day trying to get the best price and find shops that were open but as much of a rush as we were in, we HAD to stop by the local Hooters and buy a T-shirt as this was one wish list item for Jase... big dreams hey ;-) On the way home on the train, a lady approached us and showed me a card/badge of some sort, so assuming she was poor and trying to flog me something I shooed her away only to find out she was a ticket inspector. Opps! Needless to say, my Czech isn’t exactly fluent yet...
Next day we did the free walking tour and learnt a fair bit about Czech history and then headed up to the Castle which overlooked the city which was again just amazing especially the church. We were really pleased we had our new camera to take some great shot, just a shame it now takes us double the time to see these sights as we have an up and coming professional photographer in our ranks who has to line up every photo and make sure it’s perfect! That night we just wandered through the city again soaking up all the architectural beauty before we headed off to Cesky Krumlov in the morning. After a few long hours in the van, and again deceived by Jane the “lying bitch” GPS, about how long it would take to get there, we arrived at Cesky Krumlov and in world record time found a park and went to explore the little town. We were so pleased we made this little detour as the town was just amazing with cobble stoned streets and lovely houses then we walked around the castle and just sat in a pub on the river for the afternoon planning our next few weeks... and then of course followed up by another pork knuckle! That morning we left for Austria and after driving the “Fast Route” through Czech we encountered a farmer who in the middle of nowhere and speaking no English told us to stop and wait. Now there were no cars in sight, no trucks, no roadworks...nothing so after 5 minutes where we could have gone, Jase starts revving the car and abusing this poor old farmer when all of a sudden we hear this massive boom. As it turned out they were bombing the countryside and obviously was a huge safety risk for drivers, the poor guy must hate tourists who have no idea yet rev the car at him! A few hours later, and via a Maccas (again) and a Park and Ride too small for Frank, we arrived at Rest Stop/Service Station not too far from town so we parked up. On the pro side there is a Maccas with Wi-Fi which we can pick up from the van and a free toilet BUT on the con side, we are parked opposite a factory that produces really bad eggy fumes all day so getting fresh air in the van isn’t really an option! And to legitimise our hours online and in the toilet, Jason has gone on an all McDonald’s diet – what a sacrifice hey!
In the morning, and after hours of research, we set off to explore Vienna and have to say think this is one of our favourite cities. Around every corner there is another beautiful and ornate building and we got a little camera happy, let’s just hope we can remember where we went! The only issue as that all the tourist attractions were either being updated or had advertising plastered all them which ruined it slightly but, never mind. After 5 hours we had pretty much seen most of the city and were totally pooped so headed back to the van, of course via a pub for a quick beer before crashing out. Of course, being in a another city meant another metro/public transport scam where we just get the lowest priced ticket and then claim ignorance being tourists, although the bus drivers seem to be letting us on for free rather than having to understand English, so works in our favour!
So to sum up our past few weeks of the trip... Frank is awesome and let’s hope he continues to stay that way, although the cracks are showing! Jase is getting hairier by the day and I am afraid I will lose him at the zoo. Carbs and Maccas are the only things in our diets and yes, we are still in love and happily married – just gone 6 months now! We are enjoying the trip, but feel the best of Europe is still to come with Oktoberfest in Munich next week then heading on to Italy, the South of France and Spain before returning to the UK.
