Well a major blow has just been landed on the road trip. We were trying to get the calibra registered and on the road before we needed to leave. Disaster has struck. While getting an originality check, we were called to come collect the car, then informed that the police were on their way. Turns out the car is either a stolen or crashed vechile that has been rebirthed. To add insult to injury, I still had to pay the man 80 euro for the checks, he gave me a piece of paper saying the car was illegal and handed me to the police. I mean, I could have done that myself FOR FREE!!..
SO now there is no car, it left on the back of a tow truck, and no plan for the summer. All we have to do is try to make it for the Cat Empire concert in Amsterdam.
Never fear, at this moment we are hatching a cunning plan.
More details soon.
Car Preparation
The major news for today is, the car is ALMOST ready to go. We got it back from the mechanics today, the fuel lines have been replaced and new brakes fitted. A few small bits and pieces need to be done, including replacing the rocker cover. But these are all jobs I will get to slowly over the time before we leave. Im going to send it to the Opel dealership to get a few more things checked before we leave.
Tomorrow the registration will be completed, and then it will be on the road for a proper test drive. Luckily I will have the trip to Trnava for the Youth Camp preparation and also trips to Poprad and back to the youth camp in order to get used to the car much more, and also driving on the wrong side of the road (which they do in europe..)
Once I have the car washed and ready, perhaps I will also buy a Sat Nav before we go (if I have some money spare,, but dont tell Lucia :D... )
Tomorrow the registration will be completed, and then it will be on the road for a proper test drive. Luckily I will have the trip to Trnava for the Youth Camp preparation and also trips to Poprad and back to the youth camp in order to get used to the car much more, and also driving on the wrong side of the road (which they do in europe..)
Once I have the car washed and ready, perhaps I will also buy a Sat Nav before we go (if I have some money spare,, but dont tell Lucia :D... )
3 weeks until departure
Well the date of leaving draws steadily closer. With it the planning gets more intense. I have started printing maps of the internet and looking at the route on google maps. We still have to source a europe map and also the information about each country we are visiting. Not sure about what we will do in each country yet, just know that we want to see these places, Hopefully we will find some things.
The plans so far are only to see the Frankfurt Baha'i Temple, The Cat Empire, hire bikes and ride around Amsterdam, see The Tour De France, Drive the Stvelio pass in Northern Italy/ Southern Swizterland..
We are also hoping to go canyoning in Slovenia and looking foward to a few days on the beach in Italy. :D..
The car is still not on the road yet, Its still at the mechanics as he needs to get some more parts, also I still havent got a 30 day paper from another car place. This paper tells the police (when I go to register the Calibra) that even though I have owned the car for longer than 30 days without registring it, I haven't changed anything on the car and it is still the way it was when I bought it.
Hopefully I will get the car back and on the road this week.
Once it is on the road, It will get a test drive on the 20-21st June, as we are going to go to Trnava, for a training day for the junior youth camp. The thought is that we might go somewhere friday night in eastern slovakia, to give the car a good run and make sure there isnt anything that we are worried about when we go for the trip. It will definately have new brakes on, which I am happy about considering some of the mountains we will be driving through in Swizterland and Italy.
It also looks like the trip might start on the 26th June, as we may go to Poprad and stay at a friend of Lara & Kati's. This will be a pretty cool thing to spend some time with friends before getting down to the work of Junior Youth camp and then the trip.
It doesnt look like Lara and Ludo will come with us for even part of the trip as they have made some of their own plans. Thats the way it goes, we still have some time so we will see what we can plan, It would be great to meet with some more friends on the trip.
Anyway, going to go look at www.roughguides.com (thanks mum) to get some more information about places.
The plans so far are only to see the Frankfurt Baha'i Temple, The Cat Empire, hire bikes and ride around Amsterdam, see The Tour De France, Drive the Stvelio pass in Northern Italy/ Southern Swizterland..
We are also hoping to go canyoning in Slovenia and looking foward to a few days on the beach in Italy. :D..
The car is still not on the road yet, Its still at the mechanics as he needs to get some more parts, also I still havent got a 30 day paper from another car place. This paper tells the police (when I go to register the Calibra) that even though I have owned the car for longer than 30 days without registring it, I haven't changed anything on the car and it is still the way it was when I bought it.
Hopefully I will get the car back and on the road this week.
Once it is on the road, It will get a test drive on the 20-21st June, as we are going to go to Trnava, for a training day for the junior youth camp. The thought is that we might go somewhere friday night in eastern slovakia, to give the car a good run and make sure there isnt anything that we are worried about when we go for the trip. It will definately have new brakes on, which I am happy about considering some of the mountains we will be driving through in Swizterland and Italy.
It also looks like the trip might start on the 26th June, as we may go to Poprad and stay at a friend of Lara & Kati's. This will be a pretty cool thing to spend some time with friends before getting down to the work of Junior Youth camp and then the trip.
It doesnt look like Lara and Ludo will come with us for even part of the trip as they have made some of their own plans. Thats the way it goes, we still have some time so we will see what we can plan, It would be great to meet with some more friends on the trip.
Anyway, going to go look at www.roughguides.com (thanks mum) to get some more information about places.
Early Planning:
After much deliberation Lucia and I have managed to come up with a Itinerary for the trip. Taking into account the few things we would love to see and roads that I would love to drive we have filled the 24 days with 3000km of driving seeing 13 Countries. Trying to save as much money as possible, and because we are doing the journey for the sake of a road trip, we have decided that we will camp as many nights as possible. This will mean that our destination goals of each day will change as we come to areas where we can camp at night. We have tried to keep driving distances to a minimum each day, around 200km, so that we have enough time to explore the area we are driving through, as you never know when you will return to a place. Also we have decided that it is a good idea to spend some time on the beach in Italy, hence the 3 days in Trieste.. woo hoo...
Itinerary:
June 28th: Bratislava -> Trnava (Slovakia)
June 29th: Trnava
June 30th: Trnava
July 1st: Trnava
July 2nd: Trnava
July 3rd: Trnava
July 4th: Trnava
July 5th: Trnava
July 6th: Trnava -> (somewhere in Czech Republic)
July 7th: Czech Republic
July 8th: Czech Republic
July 9th: Czech Republic -> Nurnburg (germany)
July 10th: Nurnburg -> Frankfurt
July 11th: Frankfurt -> Cologne
July 12th: Cologne -> Amsterdam (Holland)
July 13th: Amsterdam
July 14th: Amsterdam -> Brussels (Belgium)
July 15th: Brussels -> Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
july 16th: Luxembourg -> Vittel (france)
July 17th: Vittel -> Zurich (Switzerland)
July 18th: Zurich -> Vaduz (Liechenstein)
July 19th: Vaduz -> Stelvio (Italy)
July 20th: Stelvio -> Verona (Italy)
July 21st: Verona -> Venice -> Trieste (Italy)
July 22nd: Trieste
July 23rd: Trieste
July 24th: Trieste
July 25th: Trieste -> Ljubljana (Slovenia)
July 26th: Ljubljana -> Zagreb (Croatia)
July 27th: Zagreb -> Kaposvar (Hungary)
July 28th: Kaposvar -> Sloznok (Hungary)
July 29th: Sloznok -> Kosice (Slovakia)
July 30th: Kosice
July 31st: Kosice -> Rackova Dolina (Slovakia)
August 1st: Rackova Dolina
August 2nd: Rackova Dolina
August 3rd: Rackova Dolina
August 4th: Rackova Dolina
August 5th: Rackova Dolina -> Bratislava (slovakia)
The days in Trnava are for the Junior Youth Camp and the Days in Rackova Dolina are for the Baha'i Summer School. We feel these are a great way top begin and end such a big trip.
The Car is nearly ready, Its at the Mechanics getting a few things fixed, and hopefully registration will be complete in the next few days.
The last thing to get ready is accomodation, most places are not available for bookings, it seems you must arrive and then ask for somewhere to sleep. Have to look into the laws for where you can camp for free in Europe (like National Parks) because this will help us save a little money we hope.
We will also hopefully have two friends join us for a few days of the journey, Ludo and Lara. Another Slovak and a Fin. Hopefully we can work something out with them, making an ever bigger adventure.
If you know of anyone in the places we are heading, we would love to hear from them and possibly meet up. It is always great to see people who actually live in the places we are heading.
Cant wait to get going now!
Itinerary:
June 28th: Bratislava -> Trnava (Slovakia)
June 29th: Trnava
June 30th: Trnava
July 1st: Trnava
July 2nd: Trnava
July 3rd: Trnava
July 4th: Trnava
July 5th: Trnava
July 6th: Trnava -> (somewhere in Czech Republic)
July 7th: Czech Republic
July 8th: Czech Republic
July 9th: Czech Republic -> Nurnburg (germany)
July 10th: Nurnburg -> Frankfurt
July 11th: Frankfurt -> Cologne
July 12th: Cologne -> Amsterdam (Holland)
July 13th: Amsterdam
July 14th: Amsterdam -> Brussels (Belgium)
July 15th: Brussels -> Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
july 16th: Luxembourg -> Vittel (france)
July 17th: Vittel -> Zurich (Switzerland)
July 18th: Zurich -> Vaduz (Liechenstein)
July 19th: Vaduz -> Stelvio (Italy)
July 20th: Stelvio -> Verona (Italy)
July 21st: Verona -> Venice -> Trieste (Italy)
July 22nd: Trieste
July 23rd: Trieste
July 24th: Trieste
July 25th: Trieste -> Ljubljana (Slovenia)
July 26th: Ljubljana -> Zagreb (Croatia)
July 27th: Zagreb -> Kaposvar (Hungary)
July 28th: Kaposvar -> Sloznok (Hungary)
July 29th: Sloznok -> Kosice (Slovakia)
July 30th: Kosice
July 31st: Kosice -> Rackova Dolina (Slovakia)
August 1st: Rackova Dolina
August 2nd: Rackova Dolina
August 3rd: Rackova Dolina
August 4th: Rackova Dolina
August 5th: Rackova Dolina -> Bratislava (slovakia)
The days in Trnava are for the Junior Youth Camp and the Days in Rackova Dolina are for the Baha'i Summer School. We feel these are a great way top begin and end such a big trip.
The Car is nearly ready, Its at the Mechanics getting a few things fixed, and hopefully registration will be complete in the next few days.
The last thing to get ready is accomodation, most places are not available for bookings, it seems you must arrive and then ask for somewhere to sleep. Have to look into the laws for where you can camp for free in Europe (like National Parks) because this will help us save a little money we hope.
We will also hopefully have two friends join us for a few days of the journey, Ludo and Lara. Another Slovak and a Fin. Hopefully we can work something out with them, making an ever bigger adventure.
If you know of anyone in the places we are heading, we would love to hear from them and possibly meet up. It is always great to see people who actually live in the places we are heading.
Cant wait to get going now!
The Idea
After much thought, Lucia and I have decided to fulfil a dream of mine. This summer, we are going to go for a road trip around europe. The trip will begin and end with a Baha'i activity. The beginning being the Junior Youth Camp in Trnava, and the End being the Baha'i Summer School in the West Tatras in Eastern Slovakia. This leaves us 24 days.
At this moment the major obstacle is to try and get my Opel Calibra ready for the trip. It is a desperate struggle of mine at the moment to get the car registered, insured and road worthy. It has spent the last two days at the Mechanics getting the brakes changed, a fuel leak fixed, exhaust welded, and timing belt changed. Hopefully when I get it back it will be in great running order and we can get insurance that will cover us for the trip around europe.
Other than that, we have a tent, and the car to sleep in, we also are hoping to have enough provisions to make it through the trip. We have also managed to arrange to see a close friend in Cologne Jasmin , A Cat Empire Concert in Amsterdam and also a stage of The Tour De France.
Its shaping up to be an amazing trip.
Keep your eyes on this page for more news and updates as we prepare, set out and debrief our journey here.
BRING ON 28th JUNE!!
At this moment the major obstacle is to try and get my Opel Calibra ready for the trip. It is a desperate struggle of mine at the moment to get the car registered, insured and road worthy. It has spent the last two days at the Mechanics getting the brakes changed, a fuel leak fixed, exhaust welded, and timing belt changed. Hopefully when I get it back it will be in great running order and we can get insurance that will cover us for the trip around europe.
Other than that, we have a tent, and the car to sleep in, we also are hoping to have enough provisions to make it through the trip. We have also managed to arrange to see a close friend in Cologne Jasmin , A Cat Empire Concert in Amsterdam and also a stage of The Tour De France.
Its shaping up to be an amazing trip.
Keep your eyes on this page for more news and updates as we prepare, set out and debrief our journey here.
BRING ON 28th JUNE!!
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