We were up early due to a lousy nights sleep, attributed to the van being parked on an angle on the side of the road – lesson learnt! We made the last few kilometres to the border by 9am, where we had a relatively hassle free crossing, although it took some time to persuade them to change zlotys back to US dollars. We were away again before 11am in bright sunshine, and we weaved our way through some beautiful mountain scenery as we descended from the Tatra Mountains. The roads were poor, but there were some great rock formations up high along with many attractive little villages (each with its own church) tucked away in the hollows. petrol prices, and low octane fuel to boot, caused us to change our planned route (we were originally heading to Prague but needed to find some higher octane fuel asap) and head towards Bratislava, taking a few side routes to take in various attractions. Unfortunately, the castles and ruins were a bit disappointing – most notable was a real botched effort to renovate inside a castle at Zvolen. We put in another couple of hours after dinner along amazingly deserted roads and
towns – ‘big brother must have ordered everybody to bed early! We stopped beside the road just short of Nitra after some 80 km drive.
We made an early start next morning on an immaculate sunny day. It was really hot even at breakfast time and stayed that way most of the day. We made the final 100 km into Bratislava via the wine districts of Pecinok and Modra. However, we were ripped off again by Mr Fodder as no one invited us into their wine cellars for a sampling! We got considerably lost several times around Bratislava before we finally located the campsite, out on the Senec road a few kilometres. The campsite was obviously a very popular holiday spot for Eastern Europeans, with its swimming and sunbathing facilities around the lake. We grabbed another shower before trekking into town for a couple of hours of sightseeing, including St Martins Cathedral and the distant Bratislava Castle, followed by a couple of beers beside the Danube and a slushy meal of dumplings. We then took in a late night movie of Doomwatch, an overrated piece of crap, before heading back to the campsite at 11pm, a late night in
It was so warm that we slept outside and both had a remarkably good nights kip. We stayed around the campsite till around 10am, washing the van and weathering a short rainstorm. We then took into town for a further grocery stock up and to look at the castle before taking our final departure from our beloved Socialist countries. We got rid of the last of our loose cash in petrol, much to the chagrin of the proprietor. We got right through both border stops in around ten minutes, but those travelling in the other direction werent so lucky as there were around 50 cars queued up. Driving into Austria was like a breath of fresh air again. We stopped off after lunch for an hour or so beside the ‘not so blue Danube before being driven away by the mossies. We ended up pulling off the road just short of Wien for the night. We managed an improved dinner, with spuds ‘n all, but were again plagued by mosquitoes. We finished off with a pleasant couple of biers after dinner at the Karpatenskeller, a few kms out of the city.
on a bright sunny morning by a police car wondering what we were about, but fortunately they werent really interested in us. We had the usual navigational hassles before we found Campingplatz Sud der Stadt Wien. After an early lunch, we ventured into town where first stop was at Bohler Stahl for a 30 minute chat with a Dr Isner on potential job opportunities there. He was most helpful, but not optimistic – especially at 2,500S (around AUD100) a month suggested salary. We then took a general stroll around the Inner Ring, checking out the Opera House, St Stephens (gothic) Cathedral (357 spiral steps to the tower) and the main shopping streets of Karnthev and Rotenturmstrasse.
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