Jim's Junket

What to do. As a virtual traveller I can either follow ‘local’ conditions or just ignore them and get on with the trip. In the UK the weather conditions are about freezing, just plus temperatures in most places. Heavy snow in some.

In Bucharest, Romania, where I arrived two days ago, it has been subzero weather of -20c or so. People are dying here and many main roads and travel services have been shutdown. I found that my route out on Wednesday morning was closed, as were many other main roads, and the amazing webcam scenes said it all. This weather calls for chains on the wheels and a good heater in the camper. I found a hotel online that had an underground car park, so this morning I set off south towards Turkey and, hopefully, warmer weather and a clearer road.

http://www.nineoclock.ro/14-people-have-died-from-frostbite-since-freeze-warning-issued/

The weather is bad. Heavy snow has closed some roads and temperatures seem to be breaking records across Eastern Europe.

Budapest is actually two cities combined into one: Buda, to the west of the river, and Pest, to the east. It was unified in 1873.

There are some cities that you must go and see. Prague dates back 1,100 years, with the first foundations laid in 885. Most of what you see here was built before Columbus discovered America!

Actually, this is an issue for me. Lief Ericson travelled around Greenland and Nova scotia about 500 years before Columbus was even born, but he was Norwegian, so nobody was particularly bothered, it seems.

Anyway, back to the tour. Prague is so heavily saturated in culture it would be impossible to experience it all in a day. No visit would be complete without a visit to the castle or old town square. I managed to get along to see the impressive Astronomical Clock, which dates from 1410 and is on the south wall of the old town hall. The clock ‘s function covers so much information you should take a look here.

The weather is now very poor and incredibly cold, so I am going to have to skip most of it before lunch and venture south to finish the day in Budapest. Tomorrow I have to travel pretty much all day, as I worked out that I have been doing less miles than I need to.

After a good night’s sleep in the centre of Nuremberg, I left early this morning in the direction of Dresden. Breakfast was a simple continental fare of bread and jam [Although I did get a hard boiled egg too, but wasn't sure what to do with it. Locally, I understand you cut it up and put it on bread. This is similar to such food architecture in Denmark, where I lived for a few years.] and I wanted to catch a few sights before heading out.

Nuremberg is famous for many things, but the Nazi uprising of the 20′s and 30′s carved the most memorable images for most. To the south east of the city centre is the Deutsches Stadion (“German Stadium”). This is a vast area, surrounding lakes and buildings that were used every year for the Nazi party rallies. The seated area alone held 400,000 people. Hitler’s intention, when he had won the war, was to hold all future Olympic games there. (Obviously, only the Aryan nation need apply.)

Despite my better judgement, this is impressive.

Nuremberg is also the host of the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. In 2011, more than 79,000 people attended from all over the world across the six days. If it’s food you are interested in, you can get a great Bratwurst here.

More toll money from my budget, as I need to make today’s destination quickly. I am going to Meistersdorf (Now merged with Mistrovice), my wife’s ancestral home in Czech Republic. It doesn’t actually show up on Google maps, so could you put in a word Anna? Should arrive about 12:30 for lunch. ps. The camper van is doing well, but could do with better heating in this heavy weather. Lovely sound from the engine though.