Belgrade - Budapest - Bratislava - Brno - Praha

  Prague, Czech Republic
Monday, December 17, 2007

Itinerary : Belgrade - Budapest - Bratislava - Brno - Praha
Dates : 12th December to 17th of December 2007
Mileage in Europe : 1600 km
Mileage so far : 22550 km.

Nothing really exciting on the road as it was a highway road from Belgrade to Budapest. We arrived in the early afternoon in Budapest, so we decided to ride around town before stopping in a hotel. This little ride around town was a nice way to have a first view of Budapest but it wasn't without any consequence as we got stopped by 2 policemen. Since my departure from Singapore, I'm still not entirely comfortable (or disciplined) with the road regulations in the country I visited and when I took this one way road in the wrong direction, 2 policeman jumped out from their hiding spot between 2 cars! Very cheeky! They had a police uniform but I don't know if they really were! They looked really dodgy and their uniform looked like a fake imitation...Nevertheless, they still told us that we had to go to the police station to pay a fine of 50 euros each, to which I immediately replied that surely we could pay a penalty and settle the fine on the spot...At first they refused but when Kevin started crying and explained that 50 euros was 2 days of gasoline budget, they revised their decision...Hmmm...Then they took out their "English-Bulgarian" dictionary and awkwardly explained that we had to discreetly slide the money in the fine and give it back...Anywhere in the world, it's the same technique! The fine was 100 euros but we finally settled for 10 usd! Not bad...

When we found a reasonable hotel on the "pest" side of the city, it got dark quickly and so we jumped into our winter clothes and walked around town. Nice city walk and it really felt like Christmas with markets and hot wine stalls in the main squares...Needed a couple of hot wine cups to counter the freezing temperatures...

X'mas mood!

hot wine stop again in the x'mas market....

King's castle by night....

the artist part of me took this pic...

I dont know what this is but it's nice...

We took the next day off from riding and visited Budapest by day. Went to the King's Castle on the Buda side of the city, the citadel to have a top view of Budapest, and had a quick picture in front of the parliament. Too be frank, it was a very cold day and it was a difficult day sightseeing...So you will notice that there are a lot of pictures in front of hot wine stalls! Where we must have spent most of our time!

The parliament in Budapest...

Hot wine heating technic...

budapest from the citadel...

The danube with view of budapest...

the citadel, freezing cold!

Thank god I was not born 80 years ago!

hot wine heating session again!

The next day we were off to Praha! Excited to finally get to discover this capital after hearing so much about it! Well I didn't get to discover Praha that day as we decided to stop in Brno, which is the second biggest town of Czech republic. It was just too cold that we decided to take it easy and stay in Brno for the night...I set a new personal record while on my way to Brno which is the shortest stay in a country. Indeed, I stayed in Slovakia exactly 46 minutes! Just the time to cross it! The only thing I can say about Slovakia is that the highway is good...And the only Slovakian I met was the immigration officer! I didn't take any picture of Slovakia as I thought that a highway picture would not be interesting...The only real highlight of the Brno stay was a signboard! Showing the direction to the motogp track, that's about it...

The next day was one of the most difficult ride of the trip...Not that the road was bad but it was really cold! It was minus 5 degrees the whole time! I rode at minus 15 in Kashmir but I felt this ride to Praha was colder! I guess when I was in Kashmnir I never went faster than 60 km/h, whereas we were riding at 120 km/h on the highway to Praha. Couldn't feel my toes and thank god Kevin bought proper shoes and didn't keep his hiking shoes! He would have been really moody and probably rented an helicopter to go to Praha! We were stared by people overtaking us in their car the whole day! Probably cold themselves just by watching us! I arrived in Praha with dried snot and saliva all over my hood that I had a hard time removing it! Probably pulled out a few moustache hair with it...Nevertheless we found a great hotel just beside the old city square...

The next day I finally got to discover Praha! The highlight of this Europe tour! Beautiful place and you walk in town with your mouth open as you can't help yourself from being stunned by the buildings...Everything seem so old but still well preserved...I think that they must have been spared from the WWII bombings which helps...We spent the whole day just walking around Praha. We of course had a sandwich in the old city square and went to the castle, before ending the day by a quick stop at the torture museum...Loads of nice pictures...

Matchar! they opened a bar for you here!

the castle...

Charles bridge leading to the castle...

I think a broom was stuck in his....

The cathedral...

the old city from the castle...

Charles bridge...

car tuning started a long time ago...

"ouch" chair in the torture museum!

They were nuts in the medieval times!

The old city square with the astronomical clock...

In the evening, I went for my last evening walk in Praha and most probably of this trip, and I went to do some quick shopping before visiting the "sex machines" museum...I thought that it would be good for me to visit this museum and maybe it will help me keep a girlfriend for more than 3 months!

old city square by night...

the astronomical clock, by night...

the ancestor of peep shows...

boys and their toys...

the ultimate sex machine...not me! behind me!

adapting to the country...on my guard!

I guess this will be my penultimate entry before adding a last one when I arrive in Paris with the finish line pictures! Then I will still add 2 more entries after the end of the trip, when everything has settled down, where I will write my conclusion and give my trip awards, so stay posted! If you are off yourself for the holidays and won't be able to log on my travelpod before next year, well have a good X'mas and a happy new year!

Finally, I will end by dedicating this entry in this romantic city to my good friend Jimmy who is getting married to Sherry on the 3rd of January 2008 (I think!). I unfortunately can't make it but I'll have a thought for you guys on that day and will drink a glass of hot wine for your health and happiness! I see you guys soon...Oh and Jimmy, I hope you are not giving Sherry a pearl wedding ring! Haha!

I almost forgot...For those of you that want to join the party in Paris, you are most welcomed and I will arrive in Paris on the 20th of December on the Place de l'etoile at 19h00...No invitation needed, just bring your own bottle of champagne!