Roadtrip 2014 (Europe)

[Silvia6]

Period: 1-26 August 2014

The Route: Romania (Bucharest) - Hungary - Austria - Germany - Netherlands - Belgium - France - Luxembourg - Germany - Austria - Slovenia - Croatia - Hungary - Romania (Bucharest)

Total km: 7556,4 km


Day 1 (1 August): Bucharest (Romania) - Szombathely (Hungary) - 1100 km

Even though it was August, the hottest month of the year...I didn't feel that at all. I left Bucharest at 5:30 in the morning, as I was hoping to reach the border around 11 o'clock in the morning. The traffic, which is usually very heavy should've been much lighter at 5 o'clock in the morning. But it wasn't. And the fact that there is no highway to cross Romania didn't help at all. The road to the border (Nadlac) mostly has 1 lane per each way. Which were all crowded...to which you add the stray dogs which run freely all over the country, the badly behaved drivers that you must constantly avoid...and other things that make driving through Romania very tiring and annoying (driving in Romania gives you the feeling that everybody is constantly trying to kill you).

But I knew all that , and this is why I tried to leave as early as I could. After 3 hours of driving it started raining. And it did not stop until I reached Hungary. Rain, cold, swearings addressed to the careless drivers, trucks, so many trucks, curves (yeeey)..traffic jams....2 accidents on the road..so the traffic was stopped. So my plan didn't work out. Reaching the border around 11 o'clock was out of the question..all things considered. I did reach the border ..but not at 11 o'clock..at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

After crossing the border (Nadlac) the sun finally came up and I could dry my wet clothes. I usually prefer to avoid the Hungarian highway, not because it is bad or anything, but simply because (due to the relief) it is very windy. I don't know why but I really don't like that highway. But now, because I was in a hurry, of course I took the highway.

So.. add windy and noisy to the wet clothes and boots and you have one grumpy female motorcycle rider.

The good thing about Hungary is that everybody is so well behaved in traffic and the roads are very good so you can cross the country in a few hours. So, reaching Szombathely, which is at the border with Austria, should present no significant problem. And so it was. In ~ 3 hours I was already at the hotel, with a big happy grin on my face, unpacking my things and tasting the local Hungarian beer.

The next two days were programmed for relaxing and for catching up with my Hungarian friends.

 

[Silvia6]

Day 2 (3 August): Szombathely (Hungary) - Austria - Weißenhorn (Germany) - 780 km

Relaxed and ready to go I started my second day of roadtripping. The plan for this day was to cross Austria and reach Weißenhorn (Germany) where I would stay 2 days. In theory, all looked well. Driving should be smooth, and I should reach my destination in ~ 7 hours (or so Google maps said), especially since in Germany there is no speed limit ...so...let the fun begin!

But it wasn`t like this.

Crossing Austria was really nice and easy, as always. I have a thing for Austria. I really love driving in this country. The roads as so nice and so well signalled, everybody is extremely polite, lots of curves and the scenery is breathtaking. Everything is so well organized and...just very nice!

But Germany wasn't like this at all. It was my first time in Germany with the motorcycle, so I honestly expected it to be very similar to Austria, if not the same. I entered Germany from Hallein, continuing my journey through Munchen and then Weißenhorn. Piece of cake, isn't it? Weeeell, not really. Since on all highways all over the world you can find plenty of gas stations, I didn't worry when I had only 75% of my fuel tank when I crossed the border with Germany. After a while, my fuel tank showed 50%..and then...30%...and there was no sign of any gas station. So, I slowed down..to decrease the fuel consumption and hoped for a gas station soon. But of course there was none! And I was already on the fuel reserve..which meant maximum 56 km! Hmm..the first thing that I did was to stop on the emergency lane and try to get someone's attention. I had my warning lights on, I waved at cars, I jumped up and down...but..nope, no result.

Ok, it was time for plan B. Plan B meant to drive on the first lane with my warning lights on and with a speed on maximum 60 km/h, hoping that someone (or the police) would notice or stop me ...which would be a great moment to ask where I could find a gas station. But that didn't happen . No police and nobody even bothered to stop.

And it was time to go to plan C: leave the highway and hope to find a gas station in a village around the highway. I left the highway at the first exit and drove while looking for a gas station. Which I soon did. After a few km I actually saw a gas station. YESSSS!!!! HAPPINESS!!! ....but that soon fade away...as it was closed (it was Sunday). I actually didn't expect a gas station to be closed. Usually they are open 24/7. But not in Germany.

Again, I tried to stop some of the very few cars that passed by the road, but ...again, no luck. I couldn't drive with the motorcycle further on, as I had almost no gas left. So, time for plan D: wait for somebody to come
by for fuel and....I didn't wait for too long, somebody indeed came to fuel. Of course I went to that person, explained my problem and ...problem solved. My baby had a full fuel tank

And I was on the road again. And it started raining. Heavily. Oh, joy!

I continued my journey through the heavy rain and left the highway to find the village for my overnight stop. One thing I learnt from this experience: the German roads are not so well signaled after you leave the highway. And since my GPS ran out of battery, the only thing left was to ask for directions. And that was a funny experience as well since my German skills are pretty limited (due to lack of usage) and close to zero when it comes to understanding dialect. And a lot of Germans answered my questions in dialect )

All is well when it ends well: I finally reached my second overnight stop not in 7 hours, as google stated, but more...due to highway works, traffic jams (I learnt my least favourite word in German: 'Stau'), accidents ..and so on!

But I had 2 days of rest and relax...and to dry my motorcycle equipment!

 

[Silvia6]

Day 3 (5 August) - Weißenhorn (Germany) - Berlin (Germany) - 700 km

Rain, traffic jam, road works, accidents (not involving me), no free WiFi in Germany..and powerful smell of manure. Yeeey, Berlin!

Pitstop 2 days to experience Berlin: met, absinthe, beer, Berliner curry wurst, cookie shake, Brandenburg!...

Netherlands..here I come!

 

[Silvia6]

Day 4 (7 August) - Berlin (Germany) - Groningen (The Netherlands) - 600 km

Rain and speed limits. Coming from Germany, with its 'no speed limit' highways, the 100 km/h speed limit in the Netherlands seems a bit too low. Especially if it's raining.

But still, the Netherlands will always remain to me one of the dearest countries that I've visited. And I will always return with much pleasure. I have visited the Netherlands before (Amsterdam) but not on the motorcycle. I cannot explain the 'love at first sight feeling' that happened when I first set food in the Netherlands but I wanted to come back for more: I truly believe that the Netherlands is one of the best countries in the world and its people are the nicest and most open minded people I have ever seen. Yes, I am biased and yes, this is a very personal opinion which doesn't necessarily reflect the absolute truth. I just love this country.

But with the weather it's a different story. I hate the weather in the Netherlands. Now it's sunny. The next minute it's pouring rain. After 10 minutes it's freakin' hot. Then it's cold. No, wait, it's hot. No, wrong again..it's raining...

But the capricious rain did not steal any of the charm Groningen has, nor the pleasure of visiting it. Initially I also wanted to visit Giethoorn but due to the weather I decided to stick with Groningen. I really liked this small and quiet city (with free WiFi even in the buses ). I tried some local specialties: raw herring (which is delicious and now I'm addicted to it), kibbling and fries, of course, I visited the Nautical Museum and Martini tower and after that I just wandered around the city spending some time in the market.

 

[Silvia6]

..and some more pics from Groningen

 

[Silvia6]

Day 5 (9 August) - Groningen (the Netherlands) - Texel (the Netherlands) - 200 km

As I am really obsessed with water and islands and lighthouses, my visit to the Netherlands had to include a visit to Texel. I've seen some pictures and I had a discussion with Cloggy, who posted some pics from the island and when I planned the route I also included this location. And I was not sorry.

So, off I go to Den Helder to the ferry and ....to Texel! The ferry is fast (the crossing takes ~ 20 min), well organized (as everything in the Netherlands) and with free WiFi (heheh, yes, I have an obsession with the WiFi after visiting countries such as Germany that have no concept of free WiFi).

I don't know if all the island is like this but the part where I stayed was so quiet and peaceful that I actually had the impression that I am at the end of the world and I am the only person in the world. I liked it.

Local beer and raw herring again . Plus nice conversations with the reception guy, who also happened to be a biker.

And of course it rained!

 

[Silvia6]

...and more pics

 

[Silvia6]

...and more

 

[Silvia6]

Day 6 (10 August) - Texel (the Netherlands) - Amsterdam (the Netherlands) - 120 km

I left Texel island while it started to rain, of course. So I drove with low speed in pouring rain. Usually, if it's raining I prefer to speed up a little, to reach my destination faster and change the wet clothes. Normally this is possible, but not in the Netherlands. If there are 2 lanes, both lanes are driving with the same maximum speed. In my case, 100 or 60 km/h. So speeding up is out of the question. Getting sooo very wet..yes, very much in the question. And the traffic jam, oh the traffic jam on the Amsterdam ring...

And it was then that I realized that there are actually more annoying things than driving a motorcycle when it's raining. And that is:

a) driving a motorcycle when it's raining and there's a Dutch speed limit of 80 km/h...and one lane...then the speed limit lowers to 50 km/h
b) driving a motorcycle when it's raining and there's a traffic jam...on the Amsterdam ring
c) driving a motorcycle when it's raining and even if you're on the high speed lane (because, obviously, you want to go faster) nobody moves out of the way. Whyyyy won't you moooovee??? Whyyyyyyyy? Whyyyyyyyy?


But all in all, it was wonderful to see Amsterdam again!

 

[Erci]

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing this with us :thumbup:

 

[dainese]

Just see this topic, nice

Sent sa Nokia Lumia 625 using Taptalk

 

[Cloggy]

Thanks for sharing Silvia, it looks like an amazing trip. So did you like the kibbeling or did you just feed it to the seagull?

 

[nthdegreeburns]

Awesome travelogue...

 

[Silvia6]

Thanks for sharing Silvia, it looks like an amazing trip. So did you like the kibbeling or did you just feed it to the seagull?

I did!!! I loved it..but I also fed the seagull..which was very friendly and eventually sat on the bench with me. It was funny because the seagull caught the fish in the air, just like a well trained dog.

 

[Silvia6]

..and here comes the rest of the story:

Day 7 (12 August) - Amsterdam (the Netherlands) - Bruges (Belgium) - 270 km

I left Amsterdam while it was raining, of course, but luckily I didn't have a long distance to cover. I really wanted to spend a night in Bruges as I find this city very nice. I visited Bruges before (not on the motorcycle) and I liked it, so it was the natural choice to spend a night here and refresh my memories.

I admit, I like beer. And chocolate. And Bruges has plenty of that!

I arrived relatively fast, wet, of course. The biggest surprise of this city was actually the accommodation. The moment I parked my bike came the owner who helped me carry the luggage. Then he showed me the indoor garage for the motorcycle (big grin . I like it when my motorcycle is not parked outside in the rain).

Then he showed me my room. OMG! The cutest and nicest and prettiest and awwwwww ..room in the world! Hehehe, I'm definitely not the 'little hearts and roses' type of girl..but this room was absolutely delicious. Each room had
a theme. My theme was 'Romantic' )). CUTE!

And never ever in my life I have seen such attention to detail..regarding everything! The surprise was even bigger when I saw the breakfast! WOW..again.

 

[Silvia6]

more pics from Bruges:

 

[Silvia6]

Day 8 (13 August) - Bruges (Belgium) - Cumières (France) - 300 km

It was nice and sunny as I started packing my things to leave Belgium, but as I left Bruges the rain came back.

Yup, it was my dear old friend, the black cloud over my head which accompanied my throughout my journey. Only this time we've become friends. His name was Helmut. And sometimes he liked bringing friends with him: Fritz, Frieda and the whole family.

The highways in France are a bit weird. They have a lot of information but it is all crowded on a plate, which makes is a little difficult to read and decide which way you should go. It was a good thing that I had my GPS.

Otherwise I would have probably taken the wrong exits. As much as I like bitching about Germany, it is well signaled and you don't really need a GPS to reach a destination. But this is not the case in France.

One other thing that I noticed in France was the black cloud coming my way. It was Helmut plus... the whole family.

And I decided to stop by the emergency lane and put on my rainsuit. I stopped, I placed the side stand, checked if it is stable, got off the motorcycle, went to the topcase to get the rainsuit..bang...the motorcycle is on the ground!

Sh.....it! The first thing that came into my mind was 'how the hell am I supposed to lift that?!' FZ6 is a heavy bike, plus all the luggage it had...there was no way in hell I could lift that.

But I didn't have to think of options for too long as luckily, two cars stopped and helped me lift the bike.

Yey! Very nice people! The guy was also a biker, he had a Goldwing. Because I decided to install a custom made crashcage on the bike, the damage on the fairings was none. But the windshield was completely broken and the right blinker was loose.

I couldn't drive like this. No way.

One of the things that I always say to people is that there is a kit that all bikers must have. And that is:

1. plastic bags
2. duct tape/isolation tape
3. super glue

If you cannot fix it with one of these, you need to go to a service.

I couldn't use the super glue, as it was raining the glue wouldn't have lasted. So, I tried with the isolation tape. And it worked. The windshield seemed ok, and I hoped that it lasts until I reached my destination, where I would glue it properly.

Apart from this little incident, all went great. I reached my overnight destination and celebrate it with champagne, as I was in the Champagne region, in France. Vive la France!


The France experience was extremely nice, I liked the people a lot, not only the country. They are very friendly and welcoming. I visited champagne houses (champagne producers) such as Veuve-Clicquot, I was mesmerized by the large underground caves for the champagne, I was 'forced' to go to champagne tastings, I walked on 'Avenue de Champagne', where I was struck by the opulence, I went to projected light shows in different cities, I enjoyed the French cuisine, I visited the Notre-Dame cathedral (in Reims), visit the vines and learn many things about champagne and the process of making.


Great, great, great!

 

[Silvia6]

..more pics from France

 

[Silvia6]

..France again

 

[Silvia6]

Day 9 (16 August) - Cumières (France) - Luxembourg (Luxembourg) - Weißenhorn (Germany) - 750 km

I was really sad to leave France. I really would have wanted to stay more as I really enjoyed France. But it was time to go..I packed my things and placed them on the bike in slow motion and ~12 o'clock I was ready to go. I said goodbye to my friends, who were also my hosts and to the newly made friends in that area. And off I went...

As I said before, the roads in France are a bit tricky. They have a highway with tax, a highway without tax and the national route. As I wanted to save some money, of course I wanted to take the highway with no tax. But I missed one exit .

And I ended up on the entrance of the highway with a tax. Which is exactly what I wanted to avoid. Because there are no people at the lifting gate and everything is automated, it was difficult to find out information. But luckily I was not the only one in this situation, as there were more French with the same problem. We went to a building nearby, called the intercom and spoke with a person who advised us to enter this highway and in 300 m to take the first exit to the right. Since the gate was lifted, I proceeded to taking the advice given by the French lady.

That was not a good idea.

I took the first exit from that highway but not only did I not exit the highway with tax, but I was also getting far away from Germany, which was supposed to be my next overnight destination, and getting closer to the opposite way. That was not good. And of course there was no other exit from the highway. So I ended up driving ~70 km and changing highways until I ended up in the same point as before entering the highway with tax. Only this time they asked for my ticket.

Since I didn't take a ticket (the gate was lifted), I had no ticket to introduce in order to lift the gate. I weighed my options and even measured the gate distance but there was no way I could pass underneath it. It was time to call the intercom again. I explained to the lady at the other end what happened and she immediately entered the amount of ~40 euro, which is the penalty for losing the ticket. I started explaining again what happened and the fact that I didn't have a ticket in the first place. After ~40 minutes of explaining she agreed to enter only the amount for the distance I drove. Whew!

And there I was... back in the exact same point as two hours before ).

It was a really strange day, as many things went wrong. It was one one those days, which also continued in Germany!

As I had a lot of km to cover, I decided to speed up a little to catch up for the lost time. The weather was fine, but as the night came it became colder and rainy. Not to mention that there were a lot of work roads and again, the gas station problem. In order to fuel, I had to leave the highway and drive a few km until the gas station. The only difference this time was that the way back to the highway was under construction and there was a 30 km detour from the gas station until the highway. Just wonderful!

And due to tiredness and high speed I missed one exit from the German highway ...oops!

I noticed that my direction was not signaled anymore on the boards, so I stopped and checked on the map (which I couldn't see anymore as it was dark). Yup, I passed it...so..I had to turn back..and open my eyes to see the exit!

Yey! ..but I still had >200 km to go...

Actually, this was the most tiring day out of all the driving days...I was very cold and very tired..so I stopped for a while to drink a hot tea and eat a sandwich..and basically rest for 15 minutes. And after that I was good as new...back on the road and to my overnight stop!

A good night sleep and I was up and running 100% again.

I visited Friedrichshafen, which is at the border with Switzerland, watched the zeppelins..and off to the next destination!