If it's 11:00 this must be Hungary

You know how you hear about the tours that are 14 countries in 14 days? How about 4 countries in one day! That was our trip from Prague, Czech Republic, through Slovakia, across Hungary and ending in Zagreb, Croatia. We elected for the non-freeway and, we hoped, more scenic route. So we drove freeway across the Czech Republic & through Slovakia and just inside Hungary took E(for Europe)65 to almost the border with Croatia and then back onto freeway. Do you remember driving US10 from Spokane to Seattle in the 50’s? That is what E65 was like – not the dry high plateau part, but the twisty road with potholes and small towns with speed traps dotting it part. The towns all were stucco with red tile roofs – we are in Europe after all – and very lush and green fields and trees. It was a beautiful trip. As Bear put it, it could have been any side road in any place we have ever driven. And the freeways? They were freeways. Sound barriers in the major cities, mostly skirting the small towns through rolling hills with lovely deciduous forests.

We did have a moment of panic when crossing into Croatia. The not-so-freeway here is not of the “buy a pass with your VISA” variety but of the “throw money into the bin as you drive through the toll booth” variety. We had no Croatian money, only a few Euros, no idea of either the exchange rate or the toll. So we went on faith that, at the worst, we could plead stupido Americano and make something work out. When we got to the end of the pay part, although the toll booth operator couldn’t speak English she did understand pretty well and Euros were fine to pay in and the toll was less than the Euros we had.

And we did have another panic moment when we pulled into Zagreb and the printed directions from MapQuest did not line up with the road signs so we ended up somewhere in Zagreb with no idea of where we were or where we were supposed to be going. None of our maps gave us enough information to figure out where we were. These old European towns (every one we have been in on this trip at least) think that if a street keeps the same name for more than 2 blocks something is seriously wrong. But we were able to find a gas station that sold a fabulous map with a really nice saleswoman who showed me where I was and how to get to the bus station across the street(ish) from our apartment. Bear also found an ATM so we had some Croatian money (kuna valued at about 7 to the $). We were able to find dinner and had some traditional Croatian food with Croatian beer.

After all this I declared Tuesday to be a “day of rest”. For me that meant lounging around in my jammies most of the day and writing to you. For Bear that meant going for a walk through the tourist part of town in a torrential downpour. He did pick me up a treat on his way home. I like fruit with peanut butter on it for breakfast. We have had a hard time finding peanut butter over here (can you imagine!). Lots of Nutella but no peanut butter. Today he found me some they call it Kikiriki Namaz. I think I will call it kikiriki from now on.