Around the World day 9 driving Prague-Bratislava-Budapest

We started somewhat early, left the hotel by 730am. The drive should have taken about 4.5-5 hours, depending on stops. For the most part it was an uneventful drive. Stopped for snacks now and then, but wanted to arrive in Budapest. We are only in Budapest for one night, so we wanted to make the most of it and get there as soon as was reasonable.

As we drove from Czech into Slovakia we saw the signs directing us to buy road signs. That was the words used, in English. I didn’t want a road sign, so I just carefully followed the ever-changing speed limit signs. As we left the border crossing area and I saw the cop I realized, WAIT, I DO need a road sign, that’s what they are calling my driving toll tag thingey. While preparing for the trip I read somewhere about needing something to be able to drive thru, but that it was CLEARLY marked. This was not as clearly marked as I would have expected and certainly not with words like “Julie pull over here now and pay some money to drive on our roads.” Ok, fast-thinking here and I proactively approach the cop (feeling like Bill Murray in Stripes heading into Czechoslovakia, but wanting to do it right). I ask about needing something for the car, he rolls his eyes at me (yes, literally) and points me back to where I need to go. A couple of sketchy u-turns and wrong ways later, I get to the place to buy the toll- sticker for the car. I spend a minute with Ms. Eastern European stereotype bluntness, pay my 10 Euro and move on, toll sticker in hand.

After all that we spent less than an hour in the country of Slovakia. We knew it was close to Hungary, just not HOW close. Nor did I know that we would also need a new toll tag for driving here. I used to live in Europe and where I used to drive, we never had to stop or worry about that.

We made it all the way into Hungary, following another car, and never got the darn toll tag thingey. One illegal u-turn later and we’re in line for Hungary’s version of Ms. Personality and get our tag. We won’t know until we return our car if we got a fine for the few miles we drove in waiting for a place to turn around.

The drive itself was easy, full of rule-followers, not at all like Germany. There seemed to be a contest on who could drive slowest on the autobahn instead of fastest. Speed limits were also not always clearly seen, so I am thankful for my GPS telling me the speed limits.

We only had one night in Budapest, so in order to make the most of it, we hopped on a double-decker tour bus to see the town. A couple of hours later, we got a good taste of the city. It’s a nice nice place.

We hadn’t eaten really all day, except the typical junk food you need for a road trip. We asked for a suggestion from our concierge, and we got a fancy schmancy place that looked like QUALITY food, not GOOD food. So we walked a little more and found a yummy and reasonable Italian place, full of local and tourists. Bacon wrapped chicken on a skewer with caprese salad and wine for me, coke and a spicy salami pizza for him. Would totally go back to eat there. In/out for just under $60.

We drove over the river and up the hill to the Citadella and got some pretty pics of the city at night.

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The next day for us brings driving to the coast of Croatia. We’ll pass thru Zagreb and we’re staying in Zadar.

I think I owe a blog post on what gadgets I brought, I will try to do that tonight from Zadar, today will hopefully be a boring driving day.

Previous Post

Around the World day 8 Prague

Sep 22
This was again mostly a work day, with our breaks for food and wandering around. The day started thankful that the hotel had breakfast for us (thank you Sheraton Prague). It was a nice place, they took good care of...
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Yup, loaded title I know it. I will start by saying the young man that gave me my massage was perfectly polite and respectful. With that said, it was the weirdest massage ever. Ever. I am currently in Zadar, Croatia....

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