.
A little more than a year has passed since my last road trip, so it was time to head out again seeking new adventures.
This time I planned to travel through Eastern Europe. These days I live in Florence - Italy, and therefore I have a considerable 'head start' for such a trip. I would not contemplate Eastern Europe if I was still living in London, - it’s just too far...
I did contact the 'usual suspects' from last year’s trip, but no one was really keen to drive such great distances. I can't say I was surprised...
-------------------------
Previous trip:
https://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/al...8s-european-road-trip-no14-great-reunion.html
-----------------------------
Some Background:
2019 marks the 30th anniversary of my leaving New Zealand to seek my fortune out in the 'big wide world'. I sold everything I owned & set off with a one way ticket to the unknown. I started touring around Europe and I found myself in Vienna on my 21st birthday. There I met a fellow NZ'er who had just returned from Albania. He told me many interesting stories from his travels around Eastern Europe, so I thought I would check it out for myself. I followed a looping circuit starting with Hungary, then Romania, Bulgaria, (followed by a detour to Istanbul & Thessaloniki), and finally up through Yugoslavia, and back to Vienna. I couldn't arrange a tour in Albania at the time, so I travelled there 1990 instead.
The Plan:
Basically, the plan was to return to many of the places I had previously visited in Eastern Europe and see what has changed in the last 3 decades.
The itinerary looked something like this:
Day 1: Sat 22nd June.
Florence - Tolentino - Bari.
--------------------------------------
Day 2: Sun 23rd June.
Durres - Tirana - Thessaloniki.
--------------------------------------
Day 3: Mon 24th June.
Thessaloniki - Kavala - Kardzali - Stara Zagora.
--------------------------------------
Day 4: Tue 25th June.
Stara Zagora - Mount Buzludzha - Ruse - Pitesti.
--------------------------------------
Day 5: Wed 26th June.
Pitesti - Transfagarasan(DN7C) - Sebes.
--------------------------------------
Day 6: Thu 27th June.
Sebes - Transalpina pass(DN67C) - Arad.
--------------------------------------
Day 7: Fri 28th June.
Arad - Szeged - Osijek - Slavonski Brod - Zagreb.
--------------------------------------
Day 8: Sat 29th June.
Zagreb - Ljubljana - Trieste - Florence.
--------------------------------------
Car Prep:
I didn't really do any specific car prep for this trip, apart from an Oil & Filter change, and giving everything a good check over.
I have had plenty of opportunity over the past year to complete many of the small jobs I've wanted to do for some time, for example, fitting a new radio (Retrosound Santa Barbara), fitting a fuel flap release handle, re-hanging the exhaust, fitting a new windscreen washer bottle and re-positioning the coolant reservoir (so I can fit an airbox & cold air intake), and getting a wheel alignment.
I was confident the car was in good shape...
Retrosound Santa Barbara, with music loaded onto USB stick.
Fuel flap release handle.
Repositioned Coolant Reservoir & New Windscreen Washer Bottle.
..
A little more than a year has passed since my last road trip, so it was time to head out again seeking new adventures.
This time I planned to travel through Eastern Europe. These days I live in Florence - Italy, and therefore I have a considerable 'head start' for such a trip. I would not contemplate Eastern Europe if I was still living in London, - it’s just too far...
I did contact the 'usual suspects' from last year’s trip, but no one was really keen to drive such great distances. I can't say I was surprised...
-------------------------
Previous trip:
https://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/al...8s-european-road-trip-no14-great-reunion.html
-----------------------------
Some Background:
2019 marks the 30th anniversary of my leaving New Zealand to seek my fortune out in the 'big wide world'. I sold everything I owned & set off with a one way ticket to the unknown. I started touring around Europe and I found myself in Vienna on my 21st birthday. There I met a fellow NZ'er who had just returned from Albania. He told me many interesting stories from his travels around Eastern Europe, so I thought I would check it out for myself. I followed a looping circuit starting with Hungary, then Romania, Bulgaria, (followed by a detour to Istanbul & Thessaloniki), and finally up through Yugoslavia, and back to Vienna. I couldn't arrange a tour in Albania at the time, so I travelled there 1990 instead.
The Plan:
Basically, the plan was to return to many of the places I had previously visited in Eastern Europe and see what has changed in the last 3 decades.
The itinerary looked something like this:
Day 1: Sat 22nd June.
Florence - Tolentino - Bari.
--------------------------------------
Day 2: Sun 23rd June.
Durres - Tirana - Thessaloniki.
--------------------------------------
Day 3: Mon 24th June.
Thessaloniki - Kavala - Kardzali - Stara Zagora.
--------------------------------------
Day 4: Tue 25th June.
Stara Zagora - Mount Buzludzha - Ruse - Pitesti.
--------------------------------------
Day 5: Wed 26th June.
Pitesti - Transfagarasan(DN7C) - Sebes.
--------------------------------------
Day 6: Thu 27th June.
Sebes - Transalpina pass(DN67C) - Arad.
--------------------------------------
Day 7: Fri 28th June.
Arad - Szeged - Osijek - Slavonski Brod - Zagreb.
--------------------------------------
Day 8: Sat 29th June.
Zagreb - Ljubljana - Trieste - Florence.
--------------------------------------
Car Prep:
I didn't really do any specific car prep for this trip, apart from an Oil & Filter change, and giving everything a good check over.
I have had plenty of opportunity over the past year to complete many of the small jobs I've wanted to do for some time, for example, fitting a new radio (Retrosound Santa Barbara), fitting a fuel flap release handle, re-hanging the exhaust, fitting a new windscreen washer bottle and re-positioning the coolant reservoir (so I can fit an airbox & cold air intake), and getting a wheel alignment.
I was confident the car was in good shape...
Retrosound Santa Barbara, with music loaded onto USB stick.
Fuel flap release handle.
Repositioned Coolant Reservoir & New Windscreen Washer Bottle.
..