Tour through Central Europe

[Bekiekutmoar]

One of the things I like is to grab my car and drive through parts of Europe and enjoying a broad variety of landscapes and cities. It was the afternoon of saturday 16th of May when I drove out of my street and embarked on a nice 'grand' tour. After around 30 minutes the German border was reached. For me, Germany is like the Mün in KSP; it is rather close and offers lots of sights. But unlike the Mün, it luckily doesn't require a descent rocket to reach. First destionation was Frankfurt am Main, a city in the middle of the country and on of the financial powerhouses of Europe. Stayed there for two days and enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere of the city:

Sight from a boat.

Monday the 18th of May: time to get rollin' to the east and get to the city of Dresden in eastern Germany. Dresden got bombed to bits in february 1945 during WWII, but the destroyed historical centre got rebuild and looks very nice anno 2015. Stayed there for two days:

Dresden in the evening.

Sunset above the river Elbe

Two days later I drove into the Czech Republic with capital Prague as destionation. With a combination of broken Czech and English I managed to navigate through this magnificient city. Too bad the weather was somewhat bleak with grey skies and light rain, but nevertheless Prague was truly a sight to behold ... !

Centre of Prague.

Navigating the highway around Prague

The next day (21st of May) I drove south, did some sightseeing in the Czech town of Cesky Krumlov, and eventually reached Austria in the evening. The next day I drove further into Austria but this turned out to be a bad decision as the weather got worse with loads of rain and snow. A case of 'November rain' in May ... !

Wintry weather in the Austrian village of Obertauern

Wednesday the 23rd of May, it was time to flee the Alps and the terrible weather that more or less enveloped the whole mountain range. After a stop in the Austrian city of Salzburg, the journey went gradually northwest and the next stop was Dachau, a town notorious for the fact that it housed one of the (concentration) camps during WWII in Europe. After a walk through the former camp, I decided to head to a nearby hotel ... !

Salzburg.

Former camp Dachau.

24th of May; time to go home ... ! Though on the way back I visited a site where grotesque machines digged coal out of the ground. Really, the location would fit well in a grim Sci-Fi movie as gigantic machines are literally eating away enormous portions of land and towns are abandoned and destroyed while the iron beasts approach.

Gigantic machines (note the cars nearby)

[Herr Rictus Bingo]

The center of Prague is marvellous ! The gigantic machine looks like a scrap-made from a post apo film

[LordFerret]

Nice pics!

That's a lot of driving, although I can relate - I enjoy a nice long ride as well, especially when it's on roads never traveled before. There are lots of really nice river cruises as well too, down the Rhine or Danube. Nice trip = Passau to Budapest ... arriving in Budapest at night (Beautiful!).

[xtoro]

Fun stuff! I recognize many of those places! I lived in Wesel Germany for years, and the Netherlands was a common Friday or Saturday trip to go for dinner and movies. Mostly Arnhem, Malden and Zevenaar (which has the best steaks and salmon at a place called De Markt, and the best all you can eat ribs next to Movie Unlimited!). Been to The Hague a lot too. My wife and I went on regular road trips, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Prague, Slovakia, Poland, Belgium, France, Hungary, Czech, Luxembourg... We actually want to MOVE to the Netherlands next. The Germans and Dutch are super friendly and hilarious,we have friends in both countries

[lajoswinkler]

Oh, I miss Prague.

[Bekiekutmoar]

Well, speaking of Prague, one building caught my attention for being a bit odd; a TV-tower with giant sculptures of crawling babies on it. Seems like the locals aren't very fond of it either:

[lajoswinkler]

I've been up there. Great view both from the foundation and from the top. The babies are an ugly addon that became permanent. The building itself is very modern looking, but older people usually don't like it because it reminds them of totalitarism in the past.

[PakledHostage]

The babies are an ugly addon that became permanent.

Are there trains nearby? Maybe it is a reference to Trainspotting?

[lajoswinkler]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDi%C5%BEkov_Television_Tower#David_.C4.8Cern.C3.BD_sculptures

I don't know about the trains. I went there on foot after getting off at Flora metro station where IMAX cinema is. I did not know I could've used the metro to reach Jiřího z Poděbrad. I was exhausted cause of the hurry.

As you can see here, it's not close.

[Bekiekutmoar]

Yeah, it seemed a bit away from trains/metro. Got off from station Florenc C and walked half an hour to Táboritská (street near the tower and my hotel was there)

[justidutch]

I think Prague is my favouritist city I've personally visited so far. Loved it. I would urge everyone to go there once in there life; the old historic part is like a fairytale.

Barcelona, on the other hand, is like the inside of Dr Suess's brain.

[PakledHostage]

Barcelona, on the other hand, is like the inside of Dr Suess's brain.

Gray, moist and squishy?