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Pan-European Roadtrip
  • Kutt Niinepuu
  • Marge R

Pan-European Roadtrip

A 20-day adventure by Kutt & Marge Read more
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  • Pan-European Roadtrip
    Covered metal gallery in the Parc des Sources built in 1903, runs 700m long
    The Hall des Sources feels a little barren now, but i can imagine the place bustling with activity…The "bar" of the five springs used for curing: Célestins, Lucas, Hôpital, Chomel and Grande GrilleThe Grande Grille comes out of the ground at 39*CA little carbonated with a hint of sweetnessThe large thermal establishment from 1899-1903, neo-Moorish style.

    Vichy - Hall of Springs

    May 19, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    This small town (population of around 45,000), is famous already since the Gallo-Roman times for healing and therapeutic properties of its springs.

    Here’s a wiki page with its rich history:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy

    The water really comes readily and eagerly out of the ground here - confirmed 😄    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip

    Deutschland über alles!?

    May 19, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Germany welcomed us with our first highway jams, which tend to begin quite abruptly, so keep your eyes up front and look out for those blinking hazard lights and start to break in advance. There were a couple of close calls…

    A really hot day otherwise and we soon found out why there was consistently over 30*C.    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip
    Baden-Baden Trinkhalle (pump house) as part of the Kurhaus spa complex
    Nice apotheka in downtownWould not want that kind of alarm set for 8AM in the morning 😅Entrance to the funicular stationThe ride costs 6€ together in both ways per person. Completely automated.Photos cannot really convey the steepness and altitude of the railway...Two wagons move alternatively up and down, meeting at the centerVista without Windows (pun intended)This will make your soul sing and appreciate the beauty of nature 🥰

    Baden-Baden

    May 19, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    This spa town in southwestern Germany’s Black Forest, near the border with France, was on our list by a recommendation of a good friend.

    With a population of some 57,000 residents it is quite small and compact.

    It felt like a town we would gladly live in ☺️

    The main attraction of Baden-Baden is, of course, The Merkur Funicular Railway (Europe’s steepest, and most technically advanced, funicular railway).

    The ride is already an experience, but looking down from the tip of the near-700m-high Merkur mountain is truly breathtaking!    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip
    If you don't know "Deutsch", you can easily make several offences at once here! 😂
    Some cafés are seriously restrictive of their clientele 😅

    Nuremburg (Nürburg)

    May 19, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    While driving from Baden-Baden we were engulfed by a thunderstorm. It was raining cats and dogs occasionally and the speed dropped to around 70kmh. The roads were amazingly efficient at diverting the rainwater, but the mist from other drivers reduced visibility to 50m. Sky was constantly lit with lightning close and afar… so that’s why we saw temperatures above 30*C before.

    Nürburg was strategically placed stay-over spot on our way back.

    From here onwards we hope to have our last night in Warsaw - and then already sleep at home 🏡

    We did not plan to visit any sights here or to spend here any more time than necessary, hoping to have a few hours to spend tomorrow in Dresden instead.

    We stayed at Radisson ParkInn - an affordable and a dependable bed.

    —

    When a car enthusiast thinks of Nürburg, he imagines the Nürburgring (https://www.nuerburgring.de/) - so did I.

    And I really wished to drive one lap on this world-famous racetrack where car journalists have ordered all kind and type of cars by speed and handling. There are open-track days, accessible for everyone.

    Not one, but THREE, “known” unfortunate conditions inhibited us to enter the track:
    1. We would not arrive at open hours.
    2. The car is full of stuff which would fly around
    3. There seems to be a minor puncture in one of the front tires - there’s weird noise coming from it at certain speeds and I would really like to drive the car home myself…

    So maybe on another day… ☺️    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip

    Autobahn experience

    May 20, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Maybe we did not see the “proper” German autobahns on this route, but I was seriously not impressed by them. Maybe I had unreasonably high expectations of the hyped-up “full-throttle” driving there. The reality was quite different - yes, there was no speed limit, but there were “only” 3 lanes, and most of the time two of which were occupied by lorries inching past each other ☺️
    I must speak to a real-life truck-driver and ask him - why is it, that all of them have the same speed limit at 90 kmh, but some drive at 88 or 89, and the others behind them cannot stand the “vast” speed difference 🤦‍♂️

    Anyway, driving in the “3rd lane” was not about just pushing the pedal to the metal - it was serious work accelerating and braking alternatively, because fam-vans kept “leaping” into your lane not minding the huge relative speed difference… I enjoyed the sport for a while, but to be honest, sticking to the overall traffic speed was much more enjoyable.

    And then we hit another traffic jam at about to enter Dresden. Usually the culprits were the roadworks ahead, forcing lanes together and creating huge lines at almost a standstill. This one lasted for about half an hour.    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip
    The Theaterplatz, with the theatre being behind me
    The famous Zwinger PalaceNymphenbad in Zwinger Palace complexNymphenbad from aboveView to the kings's statueKönig-Johann-Denkmal statue (1889)Lovely post office box, we saw the postman on a bicycle as well.Noce shade on the Brühlsche TerrasseAmazing green with the sun shining through!A view to the Brühlsche TerrasseThe sandstone in Dresden is almost black, but the reason for it is a chemical reaction - not fireThere was a fair going on in front of the Frauenkirche, and the atmosphere was jovial...Dresden's FrauenkircheGerman cuisine revolves around different types of sausage - "wurst". Did not fancy one at that day…Having eaten mainly white bread with variations lately, a good ramen felt really delicious!A local cookie-pastry bakery, where work was on display all day

    Dresden

    May 20, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Dresden is the 12th most populous city in Germany with almost 600,000 residents. The name of the city as well as the names of most of its boroughs and rivers are of Sorbian origin.

    It has a long history which you can devour here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden

    You should plan a day here to comfortably explore both the old part as well as the Neustadt. We only had a couple of hours and also needed to fit our lunch in it 😊

    More comments are captioned with the images below, but this was our last destination on this European trip before closing the loop and getting “back” to Warsaw, and then Tallinn.    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip
    Fighters were fast to the scene
    Lucky that it did not hit any vehiclesThe tree looks much smaller here than it actually wasIt was raining at least 5-6 hours straight through Poland and much of the Baltics.

    Rain and storm…

    May 21, 2022 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    The closer we got, the more it started to feel like home - weather-wise 😂

    The cyclone that had passed Germany a day before (lightning-storm), had not eased, but reached Poland.

    We even got an alert on the phone about strong winds and such. Trucks on the road were swaying from side to side in the extreme sidewinds.

    So in an effort to make a point, the storm fell a tree across the road some 500m before us. We were already beginning to mull alternative routes while waiting in the standstill, when young & strong German drivers joined forces and managed to break off the treetop, freeing one lane for the traffic.

    At the same time a fire brigade arrived already and started cutting the trunk - some mere 20 minutes later, in the middle of nowhere! 👏🏻    Read more

  • Pan-European Roadtrip

    Home sweet home

    May 21, 2022 in Estonia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    …aand after staying at the same roadside hotel in Warsaw as before, we reached back home late in the evening of our 20th day.

    Direct driving time: 127 hours 40 minutes.

    Total distance: 10,149km.

    Average speed: 79km/h (it felt faster! I was driving over 100 most of the time, and 140 where it was permitted).

    Average fuel consumption: 5,7 l per 100km (3.0 diesel, 180kw, 100-120kmh).

    Average cost of accommodation: ~70€ per night (mostly excluding breakfast).

    Average not-so-fancy-dinner for two with drinks: ~45€ (lunch around 30€).

    Other stats I need yet to compute, so will add here at a later time. Road tolls, fuel costs, etc.

    Thank you for following us!

    PS. In case you’re thinking of a similar road-trip, we have just one suggestion - plan more time for it! 😂 A lot of items were left uncrossed in the list for us in Spain and Portugal, and we would have loved the opportunity to just relax at a few more places. It was a really fast-paced trip.

    Let’s see what life will bring to us next time!    Read more

    Trip end
    May 22, 2022
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