July 03, 2004
We're doing the crazy thing
Next Saturday, as the kids rise with the sun, we will quickly dress them, throw something to eat at them and buckle them into the car. Then we will drive for three days until we are in Germany.
Sounds crazy? It sure is, for various reasons. Everybody knows that driving long distances with toddlers is a no-no. It's hot and our car has no air con. The Romanian stretch from Bucharest to Hungary consists almost entirely of country roads with crazy drivers and truck traffic from Turkey to Western Europe. Oh, and Doug can only come as far as Budapest. He has to get back to work on Monday.
I did this trip before, last year. So why am I doing it again? Oh, it saves us a buttload of money in air fares. Plus, the car is registered in Germany and we are buying a new one, so we need to get this one back to its home country in order to get rid of it.
I'm sure it's better this time around. I'm used to Romanian driving, speak some Romanian and the country is not completely strange to me anymore -- so the overall experience should be a bit better. Plus, this time, the quality of the roads will increase as we go, so that's nice (of course, we are driving back as well, but that's for later in August and I decline to think about it just now).
Survival strategies:
- We bought a powered cooler which will supply us with cool drinks and unspoilt fruit and snacks on the road. Always a plus.
- We are going to use Vomacur -- the best thing against carsickness and, as a pleasant side effect, it makes the kids sleepy. To be used only in emergencies, of course. Which will arise, of course.
- We know of a nice outdoor museum in Arad where we can stop and run the kids around. We know of a McDonald's in Pitesti. (You know, only as a parent in transition countries will you learn to appreciate the glory that is McDonald's.) We know the best childfriendly rest stop on the autobahn right after Passau. All important mile stones, as this trip goes.
If I survive, I shall report back around the 12th, or so. In the meantime, I'm trying to get all the essentials together, check oil and water and all that, and get mentally prepared.
If our esteemed readers have suggestions as to where to stop on the road (with kids, so safe and clean is a must), step forward now. Thanks.
Posted by claudia at July 3, 2004 06:23 PMThere is also a McDonalds in Deva, but it is a couple of blocks below the main E68 highway, if I remember correctly. (as I think about it, I always go left and directly into downtown Deva when traveling Bucharest -> Arad, and so I may be wrong, the McDonalds is on the road you will stay on. Like all McDonalds, you can't miss it.)
Szeged to Budapest is pretty flat and nothing there, so I usually fly along this portion of your trip and don't have much to add. Still, what you might want to do in Austria is stop in Melk, the huge monastery mentioned in the Book and the Movie, The Name of the Rose, is very nice.
I am embarrassed to say that I have never actually toured the Monastery, but still pausing in a little café below it's imposing yellow and gold massive bulk has always been happy for me. There are area's of the city where no vehicles are allowed, so the kids can wander while you have a piece of Austrian pastry and a cup of coffee.
Sublime moments.
Best Wishes,
Posted by: Traveller at July 4, 2004 05:33 AMSzeged to Budapest is pretty flat and nothing there
Yeah... it's an amazingly uninteresting stretch of road. I'm always glad when I get off the country roads and can enter, what is it? M3? Something. Then it goes faster, at least. We have throw Doug out in Budapest and after that, the next stop is Vienna to overnight. (This particular stretch - Szeged to Germany - I've done many times. We lived in Belgrade before, you see.)
Melk, yes. I've always wanted to stop there, the monastery looks really impressive. All the white and gold and the great location above the Danube. It's marvelous to look at.
Our stops will largely depend on whether the kids are concious and/or cooperative at the moment we pass the various sites. If they are good and behave well, or even sleep, then it's on, on, on. If they are whiny and such, it's STOP, no matter where we are.
Thanks for the tips. Highly appreciated.
Claudia
Enjoy the trip... remembering past family trips, I can't imagine being the adult on one of those.
Any chance you guys are driving through Regensburg?
Posted by: Stephen Lazer at July 5, 2004 01:12 AMAny chance you guys are driving through Regensburg?
As a matter of fact, we are. Passau, Regensburg, Nürnberg, Ostheim. (Don't worry if you don't recognize that last one - it's a small village in Lower Franconia.)
However, at this point, we'd be about four hours away from the end of the trip... Knowing me (and my kids), I'd probably not want to stop until we're actually there.
BUT. We are also going back, you know!
Claudia
Let me know if you're interested in stopping and have a chance too. When are you guys coming back? I go back to the states at the very end of this month.
Posted by: Stephen Lazer at July 6, 2004 02:56 AM