A Journey to Remember

I've had my last big adventure and oh what an adventure it was! In the British system we have the luxury of a two week holiday in the spring. Naturally I decided to take full advantage of this time off. My friend Karine, the French teacher at our school, is moving to the middle east next year. In order to do so, she needed to take home some important items including rabbits. So, we rented a car and headed across Europe to her home in France.

Our journey there took 30 hours of straight driving and took us through Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; Munich, Germany and finally into France. We didn't make many stops on this portion of the trip because of our loaded car. We did take the time to go into Vienna and see the grand buildings of the city.

After 17 hours, nourishment was needed!

Upon arriving in France we visited a large amount of people and places. Our first stop was Reims, France, a region where authentic champagne is made. While there we went on a champagne house tour, visited a 1000 year old Basilica and Catherdral which is actually taller than Notre Dame. We then headed South to Karine's hometown which is a small village near Le Mans. It was here than I experienced true French lifestyle including eating two large meals a day complete with apperatif sessions and dessert. In her village there were approximately 800 people and one out of two people all have their own wine cellars! It was during this time that I actually learned a little bit of French as her parents only speak French. After spending a week of eating, shopping and bonding with friends, we began our return journey.

Our roadtrip continued from France to Switzerland, down to Italy, following the coast through Slovenia and down Croatia. We then cut across Bosnia, Serbia, through the tip of Bulgaria and ended in Romania.

The Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps were gorgeous! The drive through them was a real treat and although much of the snow had melted, there were still covered portions. We took about three and a half hours to make it through the mountain range and we landed in Italy. When we finally arrived in Venice, we had to look for parking. This was a challenge and pricey endeavor simply because Venice is a walking city. We ended up finding a garage that charged 22 Euros for 0 to 12 hours. Venice is unique city. There is a plethora of gondolas. When we first entered into the Piazza Roma, the city's charm is not obvious; however, once you find the center you immediately get hooked. It was a place where one could easily get lost, be alone on one street and lost in a crowd in another. The buildings were colourful and closely located together. Once away from the water, it was a struggle to find any landmarks or street signs. It was here that I saw the Rialto bridge and St. Marco's Cathedral.

Our next day was spent driving along the Adriatic Sea Coast in Croatia. The drive was quite curvaceous but incredibly pleasant. Where the first part of our trip was spent with rain, the sun shined for us on this day. It was at the end of our Croatia experience that the exploration really began to get interesting!

We drove through Split, Croatia with the intention of entering Bosnia from a connecting road. After traveling on some rather questionable roads, we finally arrived at the border control. All went well untl we were asked for our green card. The green card is the international proof of insurance which is on a green piece of paper. We were told we would have to go back or wait until 7:00 a.m. the next morning to buy one. We opted for the legal choice of finding an alternate route and headed back down the coast towards Dubrovnik when we were once again stopped by customs and border control. Apparently we had found Bosnia again! As you can imagine we were feeling a bit of trepidation when the man just waved us through, without even asking for passports. At this point we once again changed game plans and took an off-the-beaten-path road that took us throughthe desolate and rocky Bosnian countryside. Deciding we were utterly exhausted we stopped about 25 kilometers from Sarajevo, the Capital of Bosnia, where we slep in a less than glamorous hotel where the heat was lacking and the man at the desk pocketed the money and simply sent us on our way.

In the morning we had the pleasure of a Bosnian bus blaring traditional music, waking us at 6:30 a.m. This serenade lasted about an hour! Bosnia is an overtly poor country but it's natural beauty is breathtaking! The majority of our day was spent cruising on winding roads through lush green hills and mountainsides. We were treated to the sight of many Bosnian's picnicking and taking advantage of warm temperatures and the bank holiday. We were also quite suprised by the prominent presence of police officers, which could be found about every thirty minutes or in any new town. Having enjoyed our excursion in Bosnia we were ready to enter Serbia. This was a task easier said than done!

The first border crossing in Serbia was called Bajina Basta where we were denied entry due to our lack of green card. However, this border control officers directed us to another border crossing where we were told we would be able to purchase the required document. Using our fantastic negotiation skills we worked our way back into Bosnia (without the greencard) and headed to the next crossing option. It was here tha we waited almost an hour for our document, approximately 125 Euros, and then were told it couldn't be done due to the May 1st bank holiday. A bit frustrated, we were once again sent to yet another border crossing to try our luck. As we turned around to re-enter Bosnia, we were recognized by the officers. We explained we needed a green card for Serbia and but were unable to obtain it. Somewhere in the course of conversation our absence of a Bosnian greencard became known and a new challenge was present! We were pulled over and very kindly directed and actually lead to a small bar to purchase an illegal Bosnian greencard. The payment was 25 Euros, which was really quite cheap in comparison to our Serbian paper. We took our fake document back to the Bosnian patrol man, who politely looked over them, and headed to our next post.

It took us roughly an hour and half to find our next possibility but were able to travel through some flatter portions of the country. It was here, at our third crossing, that we actually purchased legitimate Serbian car insurance for 125 Euros. It was here that we stopped for some hamburgers which were slightly greasy, sausage tasting and didn't come with a bun. It took us roughly 5 hours of driving to cross Serbia where the roads were less than stellar but fairly flat. It was here that saw the first and only bit of irrigation (since coming to Romania) for crops! Unlike Bosnia, Serbia had what appeared to be a larger agricultural base and many fields present.

Fields in Serbia

Through it all, it must be said that both the Bosnians and Serbians were warm and friendly. We were always greeted with smiles and patience, and they were more than willing to help two lost foreigners!

At around 1 in the morning we finally found the Bulgarian border. It was here that we had to go through 7 stations to get into the country but luckily were only charged nine Euros for the privilege. Our time in Bulgaria as we drove only for about an hour before coming to the Romania border control. Now, it must be said that we figured we would be back in Bucharest by around 6 a.m. These plans took a drastic turn when we realized we had to take a ferry to cross to Romania! We waited in the car until 6:00 a.m. before taking the ferry across and then driving four hours back to home sweet home Bucharest!

On the ferry to Romania

What a trip!