European Tour 2018

Our tour of Europe 2018

Where did those 90 days go!

/ meyouandpogo2 / 2 Comments

25th June 2018

Dave posting,

Well folks, we have been living in Pogo for 90 days, we have covered 6,334 kms and visited 11 countries. Travelling through France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, a quick dash through Slovenia in to Croatia, then we entered Montenegro avoiding Bosnia and we turned northwards through Serbia and Hungary and continued north into Slovakia.

Along the way we have have some great adventures including exhilarating river rafting and riding the longest, highest zip wires, Cathy found her sea legs on the ferries, we’ve met some great people and made new friends.  We have seen the most amazing cities, cathedrals, basilica’s, historic buildings, all types of architecture, castles, fortress’s, informative walking tours, boat trips and enjoyed many different views of the countryside, hills, mountains, gorges, rivers, lakes, forests and plains, we have had a wonderful time.

We were in typical holiday mode in Croatia and we overspent, we felt like we were on holiday for a month with all that hot sun, sea, coastal views and that chill out and enjoy it feeling.

The front and rear brakes have been replaced along with the suspension mounts, plus the fresh water pump has also been replaced.

We have free camped/wild camped for 31 nights without any problems.

Together we have faced a few challenges and problems and here we are to tell the tale.

v2 costs

v3

Here are the numbers if you are interested!

Our budget is €55 per day, so for 90 days = €4,950 (euros)

Spent €6,928.34 in 90 days, including repairs, therefore we have overspent by €1,978.34. This is an average spend of €76.98 per day.

If we exclude the repairs which we hadn’t factored into our budget we are over budget by €1,194.63, having spent €6,144.63, this is an average of €68.27 per day.

Fuel consumption is 27.5 mpg.

Spend in each country per day

*France; 5 days – €92.94

*Belgium; 2 days – €28.75

*Germany; 2 days – €66.51

*Switzerland; 2 days – €21.99

*Italy; 12 days – €89.84

*Slovenia; 1 day – €15.00

*Croatia; 35 days – €88.03 (excluding repairs)

The good news is that our spending has decreased in the last three countries we have visited!

*Montenegro, 9 days, we have spent €497.71 (€55.30 per day)

*Serbia, 11 days, we have spent €599.60 (€54.55 per day)

*Hungary, 8 days, we have spent €401.91 (€50.23)

Hopefully if we carry on reducing our spending we might be back on track in a couple of months!

Dave

 

Bobbing about in Visegrad – Hungary

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Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd June 2018

Cathy posting,

Dave wants to pack up and go, it seems Budapest has its own micro-climate, it’s 25c first thing as we wake but the temp is more like 30c we slept terribly a combo of heat and the Palinkas, not having those again. We haven’t done much of the sights in the city apart from walking around viewing them from the outside, we both really wanted to go inside Matthias Church up in Buda but it’s going to have to be a return visit in cooler climes. I tidy the inside of Pogo getting ready to set off, the usual things, cupboards secure, fridge secure and locked, dishes washed, Dave is outside getting fresh water with a watering can from the nearby tap and Pogo gets a big drink ready for some free camping, awning away, chairs away he just about to unplug the electric hook up as a lady drives her camper into the bollard holding at least 6 hook ups knocks it down and drives right over the top of it bollard! The noise made me jump out of my skin. Dave comes inside as it’s not safe to touch the bollard, he’s melting, sweat dripping from his face like a melting ice lolly. Continue reading →

Serenaded in Budapest

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19th& 20th June 2018

Cathy posting,

Pogo is still parked up in Camping Haller just inside Budapest and today we will take a walking tour of the city, we’ve decided  to do the afternoon one as we enjoyed our night in Budapest just a little too much and getting back late meant we arose late with slightly sore Continue reading →

It’s a load of tripe!-Hungary

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Sunday 17th June 2018

(sorry this blog should been posted before the world cup football one, we’ve got gremlins!)

Another good nights sleep here at Lake Balaton free spot, we are so far behind with our blog that we decide to make a concerted effort to get a few blogs done whilst we are enjoying the views of the lake, undisturbed, quiet with a bit of shade.

Our Mi-Fi data on our 3 mobile SIM in Pogo ran out two days ago. Cathy had called O2 as she had also had some charges on her phone bill Continue reading →

Lake Balaton is enormous! Hungary

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Saturday, 16th June 2018.

Dave posting,

We were undisturbed in our free camping spot last night, there’s nobody else around, we could hear a slight gentle rumble of trains passing by occasionally but it didn’t stop us sleeping.

Lake Balaton is a major holiday destination with beaches, volcanic hills, resort towns and high-rise hotels along some of its 197km shoreline.

It’s the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe and one of the country’s top tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake. It’s 77 kms long, 14 kms wide, with an average depth of 3.5 metres, the maximum depth is 11 metres. It’s approximately 40 times the size of Lake Windermere UK. The colour is the lightest sky blue you have ever seen, in fact in certain light it looks almost white, the photos might not do it justice. We think this remarkable light colour is due to it shallow depth and cleanliness of the water.

The museum is 50 metres away, it’s interactive and with a very good view-point over the vast expanse of water, we paid £4.25 entry fee. We quite enjoyed our time in there, great facts and information about the lake, life of the locals, it’s a shipping museum really, lots of info about its recent safety aids and development.

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Balatonfoldvar Museum

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The water is so light it looks white!

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not quite right!

On an average summer day there could be up to 100,000 people bathing, rowing and sailing here. In a matter of minutes the weather can change it a storm, a gale warning system is provided by the observatory of the Hungarian meteorological service in Siofok. The warning system is made up of 31 bright, flashing & revolving lights all around the edge of the lake, these can easily be seen in daylight and darkness from any position near the lake no matter where you are. A storm warning is first sent to the captain of the water police of Lake Balaton indicating the expected wind force and direction.

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View from the museum

The lights will either flash at 45 times a minute or 90 times a minute dependent upon the severity of the storm. When the signal system is showing the normal flashes of 45 then the wind will not exceed 40kph in the next few hours. over 60 kph it flashes at 90.

Lake Balaton is fantastic for bathing with an average water temperature of 22 degrees in the summer with highs of 27-28, now that’s incredible considering the amount of water here.

Afterwards we walk north along the paths to Balatonfoldvar for about 4 kms passing expensive houses that have super views across the water, we drop down off the high path and on to the lower shore side area, crossing the main railway line the weather today is better for us, warm but with a strong breeze, we could walk for miles when it’s like this. This whole area feels similar to a riviera in Europe but it’s not so busy, the private properties, rental apartments and a few hotels edge right up to the water, no doubt costing a lot of HUF’s! There are many jetties and laddered steps into the water.

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We stop for a paddle, Cathy the fish is thinking about getting in, maybe we will come back tomorrow suitably equipped.

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Come on in it’s warm!

The shady tree lined boulevard covers the sandy shingle paths, reminiscent of Paris, there are cyclists, parents with pushchairs, teenagers and families all out this morning enjoying themselves.

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Boulevards all along the side of the lake

The marina comes into view as we explore the area, this place looks popular with many modern new boats moored up. We are just 135 kms from Budapest.

Time for some refreshments, two small beers sitting on a jetty watching the world go by but the humidity has increased a lot in the last couple of hours, we’re melting once again, we sit in the sofas feeling totally relaxed as we chat about some of our adventures so far and where we might go in the next few weeks, we have really taken to this way of life, travelling, meeting new people, visiting and discovering places for the first time.

We’ve walked 10 kms today, not much really but were pleased we’ve done it in this heat, and now it’s time for tea.

Good night,

Dave

PS – some comments have disappeared from the blog, I’ve managed to put them here;

From Flyfishing adventures “Another wonderful place to add to our list. Thanks for sharing😁”

From Sally “Looks a lovely spot!”

From Dave “Hi FFFA, it’s a super place, we have really enjoyed our time here. Highly recommend a visit the Balatonföldvár museum, it’s got the highest view point of the whole of the lake. Thanks for reading our blog diaries. Regards Dave”

Our 10th country – Hungary

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Thursday, 14th June 2018

Dave posting,

A small amount of planning for today took place over breakfast here in Osijek, Croatia.

Hungary will be the 10th country we have visited on this tour. As we travelled northwards through Croatia to the Udvar border crossing, we need to spend our last bit of cash – 225 kuna’s before entering Hungary, so we will top up our LPG refillable system and buy diesel with the remaining kuna’s in Croatia. Continue reading →

Hot, hot, hot!!!

/ meyouandpogo2 / 5 Comments

Tuesday 12th June 2018

Dave posting,

Blinking eck, Cathy is up at 6am, it’s really cool and almost acceptable for us Brits! After Mrs E has drank her obligatory second cup of tea and plotting our route we quietly, ever so quietly left the free fortress car park and our friends, Jeanne & Tai, until next guys bye for now!

Osijek in Croatia is our destination; an hour later and we are at another border crossing at Backa Palanka, Serbia, although this time it was very straightforward with no waiting or problems. On the other side of the bridge we turned right and headed to the Hotel Danav near Ilok for a break. This part of north-east Croatia is surrounded by Serbia on three sides. We are so close to the border that our phones don’t recognise we are in a different country, which is a shame as our mobile contracts allow data useage in Croatia.

We rest here for a while, it’s very hot today. I suggest a coffee in the shade, hopefully there might be a breeze off the river and maybe we could take advantage of the hotels free wi-fi, well why not? loaded up with all our electronic devices we find a table and chairs with a view of the river and a power point! I did ask before plugging ourselves in! Two coffees and two glasses of water arrive and we read, write and research. The hours slip by and we become peckish, let’s have lunch here, it’s a pleasant spot, not busy and we can justify the cost as we intend to free camp here tonight.

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Free car park at the side of the Danube, Ilok, Croatia

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Looking at the border bridge and Serbia

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Coffee break i n the shade but it’s still 29c

We decide to move on and not stay here, nothing wrong with the location, we just wanted to get to Osijek, we set off at 3pm, maybe it was a mistake not to stay here, we are driving in to the sun and the heat intensifies as we travelled, Cathy was melting, we can’t believe it’s 37 in the van, the air con can’t cope, the air outside is hotter than inside, so there’s no point opening any windows. We pull over for fuel and a chilled drink from the garage, Cathy is not feeling well and we needed to stop. We can’t contain our excitement at spotting a LIDL, another reason to stop, shop and cool down! we love Lidl!

hot

In the cab, how hot is it ??? unbelievable!!!

The forecast is 95-99% humidity, we are eager to get to Osijek, get out of our very hot van, set up camp & cool down at another free spot by the river. The car park is huge, it’s almost deserted, no signs about payment or restrictions, park where you want kind of thing, there’s plenty of grassy areas, it’s part tarmac, part cobbles, level and thankfully there’s lots of shade from the large number of trees.

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Osijek parking

Now it’s 10pm and it is still hot at 28 at this time of night! it is such a still evening. We are tired, a little frazzled and we can’t be bothered to eat, so we lie down on the bed and try to relax in the heat. The nearby fairground is pumping out music in to the still night. We are restless, suddenly at midnight the wind appears from nowhere blowing cool air through the trees, we lie there with the windows fully open enjoying the coolness, it feels so much better now! A storm quickly follows and as the temperature drops we fall asleep.

Bye

Dave

 

Big hand, little hand, Novi Sad, Serbia

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Saturday 9th June 2018

We left Belgrade last night and headed for Novi Sad, our chosen camp was Coffee Kamp 75 kms away and we didn’t mind driving this late or in the heat as we figured with the windows open we would be better off than sitting in a hot van at the RV Centre, the air con isn’t doing much good at the moment either, when we arrived at the camp it was about 9 .10 pm, there were electronic gates with an instruction to call a number, We tried and an automated voice in Serbian spoke to us, we considered parking outside the gates but I didn’t want the owner charging us €20 at 7.am when he opened up so we moved on, finally nearer to Novi Sad I spotted a huge store next to the river much like a Costco and there were delivery lorries parked up, we drove down to it and decided it was ok for an overnighter, it was late and we just needed to go to bed, this morning we called ahead to Farma 47, luckily Dave’s phone worked this time, the lady spoke good English and told us her husband would be there to open the gate.

On arrival we were greeted to the sight of a lovely orchard and the owner explained that the trees were quince, he showed us into a homely undercover area and took us into the campers’ kitchen which was huge, cooker, sink, microwave, draught beer on tap! Just write down what you’ve had in his little book, Dave is impressed, we try it and it’s lovely and cold too! Oh, dear this could get dangerous!

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Farma 47, help yourself to draft beer

We have a little chat to the guy using google translate and his bit of English, I tell him we are going into Novi Sad this evening as it’s cooled down and he arranges a taxi for us at 4pm and to bring us back at 9 pm, he calls his wife for her to translate it to us, he says €10 each way but she doesn’t agree, it’s approx. 12 kms, oh well we will wait and see what happens. Taxi arrives on the dot at 4pm and when he drops us at the theatre square he says that it’s €10 as agreed with Farma 47 man!

We wait outside the National Theatre for a free walking tour of the city, meeting up with our guide Jovana and a guy called Nishant from Malmo in Sweden who is also taking the tour, it was a lovely evening spent walking around the city and hearing the stories of Novi Sad, the city is small and calm with a youthful vibe mostly because it’s children’s festival week, held in June & December and there are little ones everywhere, music is playing and there is laughter everywhere. It feels homely, Jovana was a good guide not rushing and allowing us all to chat too, it’s nice like that when the group is small, there are some beautiful buildings of pastel colours, little alleyways with cafes and restaurants and cool courtyards.

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Childrens festival Novi Sad

The children’s festival is named Zmaj after Serbia’s most famous poet and writer Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj (1833-1904) although a physician by profession he is best known for his children’s poetry, and today his nursey rhymes are sang all over Serbia. There is a statue to commemorate Zmaj in Novi Sad centre outside the Bishops Palace.

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Bishops Palace and Zmaj statue, the childrens poet

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street art

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makes a drab corner interesting
The tour ended at a statue on the Danube overlooking the fortress high up on the hill in the old town, the statue was to commemorate the 1,250 sent to their deaths under a fascist Hungarian occupation in 1942, several hundred citizens were shot and many interred in concentration camps, many evicted from the town and made to cross the frozen river, they never made it across falling through to an icy death.
Jovana told us about the clock, on the tower of the hill, it has it’s fingers the wrong way around, big hand for hours and small hand for minutes. This was to help the fishermen and sailors on the river to see the hour from a great distance.
Jovana had recommended several eating places and one of them Dave could not resist, chips and cheese in the Irish Pub! Jovana says there is a lovely courtyard and to ask for the local home-made chips and not the Nachos.

[caption id="attachment_2171" align="aligncenter" width="450"]chips mmmm, needs no explanation!

We had time to spare for our 9 pm taxi so we strolled around leisurely, we sat and had a glass of red wine and it came chilled, I’m not complaining anything cool in this weather is ok with me.

The next day was spent blogging and chilling out, the farm has goats and sheep, and a few came to visit Dave whilst he was working, they ate all the plants in the pot too until they were herded away by the gardener, Dave enjoyed a draught beer or too!

We have arranged to meet Jeanne and Tai again tomorrow in Novi Sad, they’ve decided to come here for a visit as it’s not far from Belgrade before heading Southwards on their adventure.

Later that evening the lady comes to collect the rent, she will not be here tomorrow, and we can make our own way out, whilst she’s chatting she tells us they do not have mosquitos here but we know they have lots of flies, normally I hate flies but these are preferable to the bitey mozzies!

Goodnight,

Cathy