Guest blog: Goodbye Greece, stage 3 begins

Saturday and guest blog with Elisabeth Haug

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After a few days we want to start moving again, because we had an unplanned stop in Dubrovnik, the stay in Greece was a little shorter than we thought. It was still quite ok, Greece is still there. Left early from Thessaloniki to get as far up as possible. Had decided on a "driving day" so we left at 06.15. It was quiet on the roads and we quickly drove up to the border with Macedonia. The roads in Greece are very nice. It is probably our "road favourite" so far. 🙂

Novi Sad in Serbia

We wanted to go to Novi Sad in Serbia but it was quite far (75 kilometres). We drove on to see if we would reach the city in one day or if we would have to sleep on the road. The border between Greece and Macedonia went smoothly and it rolled on nicely. So was the border between Macedonia and Serbia. We reached Novi Sad in the late afternoon and were happy with the driving day.

We had set the GPS to a campsite near the centre called ExpoCamping. When we got there, there was nothing, no sign of a campsite at all. We quickly changed the GPS to an Autocamp 6 km away. Drove through the town once more and believe it or not, no camping there either. EMPTY!!! TomTom, sharpening, no good.

Now we started to get very tired and started to realise that there is probably no camping nearby, we then saw an inn. We stayed there one night and had a very nice dinner. You have to be flexible, nothing is fixed. Then it usually turns out well. Sleep at the Inn and a nice breakfast was taken before we drove on.

It was probably not intended that we would get to know Novi Sad this time so the next stop was Budapest (32 miles). It went really well to drive but the border between Serbia and Hungary took time. Luckily you can make coffee and move around in the car. Elias lay down on the bed and watched a film. It took about 3 hours to cross.

Budapest

We found a campsite in the middle of the city called Romai camping. 22 euros per night, right next to the tram and 10 metres from a water park. Perfect place for us.

Margateta Island, Palatinus Baths

We wanted to find something child-friendly in the city so we went to Margaret Island. Right in the centre of Budapest, an island. We went to a bath called Palatinus. Big area with a lot of pools. There were children's pools, water slides, hot baths, simply something for everyone. It was very hot so we were in the pools most of the day.

After swimming, we rented a golf cart and drove around the island. There was a small zoo, some museums etc. Very successful, Elias thought.

Restaurant Mandragora

After the day on Margareta Island we went further into town and found a cosy restaurant. We can highly recommend it, well prepared food and very competent and friendly staff. We had duck and chicken, some duck liver for starters and for dessert: iced coffee, chocolate cake and Irish coffee. The only miss was that there was no whiskey in the Irish coffee. 🙁

Can't stand it, let's move on!

When it is about 35-40 degrees in Budapest, it is VERY hot, even by the pool. After a couple of days I panicked a bit and said that we have to go to a lake, a little fan would not be wrong. So said and done. We packed the car and went to Podersdorf am see. A very nice campsite in Austria, right on the Hungarian border. 22 miles from Budapest so it was a reasonable driving day.

Podersdorf am see, Austria

We have been to this campsite before and were very satisfied even then, clean, many toilets, nice swimming. The lake is reminiscent of both Lake Constance and Lake Balaton. The lake is only 2 metres deep so it is a paradise for those who want to engage in windsurfing, kite surfing or similar. You can tell by the guests that there are a lot of different sports going on. Many of the campers have a wide range of equipment at their sites.

Well now we are sitting and enjoying a warm summer evening in Podersdorf am see. We know that we have "some" miles left to Ventspils, more precisely 158 miles. We estimate 4 days to drive but since it will be about 18 degrees and rain there, it is difficult to motivate ourselves to go north.

Now the plan is to leave by Sunday and then it will be 4 days that we will drive a little every day, and then take it easy for a day before the ferry takes us to Nynäshamn.

It goes fast even though we are going to be out for 6 weeks. Things are happening all the time and when we look back at our pictures we have taken so far, we see that we have been to many fun places and straightened out many strange situations. Next week we will drive through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The adventure continues to the bitter end 🙂

Did you miss the last part of the trip? Read the From Dubrovnik to Thessaloniki

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