From Tanzania, my trip continues on to Romania, a country in Eastern Europe. I flew to Stockholm via Turkish Airlines. From Stockholm, Prof Sweet Tooth and I will once again do our road trip to Romania. The first time we did our road trip was to Pyrenees in 2015.
It was a long drive from Stockholm to Romania, crossing 5 countries in 3 days. Prof Sweet Tooth has excellent driving stamina and good sense of directions. Although I did apply for an international driving license, I did not drive this time because 2015's attempt to drive his car has proven traumatising for the both of us. Haha.
Day 1 to 3 of Romanian Drive
Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 1 to 3.
15/9 Day 1: Stockholm -- Denmark -- Germany
16/9 Day 2: Germany -- Czech Republic -- Slovakia
17/9 Day 3: Slovakia -- Hungary -- Tara Hategului, Romania (sleep for the night)
In all the 3 nights, we slept in the car. He drives a Citroen C4.
Must-Incur Costs
(1) Petrol in Stockholm - SEK645.40 / EUR65.38 / 50.07 liter
(2) Petrol in Malmo - SEK476.88 / EUR48.31 / 37.14 liter
(3) Petrol in Dresden, Germany - EUR58.82 / 46.35 liter
(4) Petrol in Budapest, Hungary - EUR62 / 43.07 liter (Gosh, petrol in Hungary is expensive. Look at the amount of petrol we got compared to the one in Germany and Stockholm)
(5) TWO Bridge Ticket in Denmark - SEK440 + DKK240 = EUR44.57 + EUR32.25 = EUR76.82
(6) Vignette for Czech Republic (30 days) - EUR17
(7) e-Vignette for Slovakia (30 days) - EUR22
(8) e-Vignette for Hungary (30 days) - EUR19.10
(9) e-Vignette for Romania (30 days) - EUR10
Optional Costs
(1) 15/9 Lunch at Burger King, Sweden - SEK125
(2) 16/9 Lunch at Germany - Pasta EUR8.99, Schnitzel EUR10.99, Fanta Drink EUR2.79
(3) 17/9 Lunch in Hungary - 2 bowls of goulash soup EUR7.20, Bread EUR0.40, Coke EUR1.50
(4) 17/9 Toilet in a Rest Area, Slovakia - EUR0.50 (it is so expensive to use toilets in Europe)
The Story
During our drive, we stopped at a few places for Prof Sweet Tooth to stretch his legs and rest his eyes, and also for food.
150916 Morning: In Sweden, we stopped at Brahehus Ruin. This place is free entry.
The ruins of Brahehus Castle are located 3 km outside of Gränna in Jönköping County in the province of Småland, Sweden. The ruins sit 270 m above sea level and 180 m above the lake Vättern, providing a panoramic view of the lake and the island of Visingsö. Built for Count Per Brahe the Younger in the 1640s, the castle was abandoned by the 1680s and suffered a fire in 1708. The castle is near the modern E4 highway and is a popular destination for recreation and tourism. Source from Wikipedia.
There was a small candy shop in the tourist center. I saw how they were made. I think these sweets will make my teeth break. But I like their colours.
150916 Afternoon: Medieval Stone Church in Hallsjö, Kronobergs län, south of Sweden. Unfortunately, there is no Wikipedia information or anywhere on the web about it. So, I have to type the description below from the signboard.
The medieval stone church in Hallsjö which is now a ruin, was a rectangular hall church and is thought to have been constructed during the latter part of the Middle Ages. It probably replaced an older wooden church. The walls were made of selected, split stones, the corners and doorframes of dressed stone. In front of the southern entrance, there was an added-on stone porch. No pictures survive of Hallsjö church and there is no information about the internal appearance of the church in the written material. In 1873, a 12th century image of Mary was found. It was made of copper covered with gold and enamel which probably originates from the medieval church's profession crucifix. The church is Dorary has a front and a church bell from the medieval church in Hallsjö. Source from the signboard in front of the medieval stone church.
We continued the drive for an hour and stopped by at this huge moose outlet place, whose place I did not snap a photo of. But what got me interested is that this place sells Moose Droppings. I have no idea what do people does with the moose droppings. Probably it works as a form of art decoration in the house. Can anyone enlighten me?
This has become my favourite food during the drive. Romantica tomatoes are large and juicy. They sell them cheap in Romania, but as we all already know, whatever that is sold in Sweden is expensive. So, we bought 1 packet and hoped we find some in Romania.
150916 Evening: I saw a beautiful sunset as we headed to the bridges to cross over to Denmark. Guess what, the price of the bridge fee has increased from last year. I wonder if they increase it on an annual basis. Last year on our Pyrenees road trip, the bridges fee was SEK425 and DKK235. This year, SEK440 and DKK240.
160916 Morning: Our breakfast. Mushroom soup cooked in a rest area (where we slept the night before) and ginger water. A piece of banana and some Romantica tomatoes. Can you see the trucks in the below photo? Truck drivers spend the night here too.
160916 Afternoon: Lunch at a restaurant along the Germany highway. It was a bad traffic jam and Prof Sweet Tooth is not a fan of traffic jams. I mean, who is? Especially when you drive a manual car. Lunch - Schnitzel, Pasta and Fanta Drink. Prices are at the beginning of the post.
160916 Evening: On our way to Prague, Czech Republic. I asked Prof Sweet Tooth where should we get the vignette.
Vignette is a form of road pricing imposed on vehicles, usually in addition to the compulsory road tax, based on a period of time instead of road tolls that are based on distance travelled. Vignettes are currently used in several European countries. The term is of French origin, and is now used throughout Central Europe, as well as in Italy (vignetta).
Vignettes are used in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. In most of these countries a small, coloured sticker is affixed to a vehicle windscreen, but in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia these have been superseded by electronic vignettes. In Moldova and Romania vignettes are required for the use of any road, and in Bulgaria are required for the use of any road outside built-up areas. In the other countries vignettes are required only for the use of motorways and expressways. Source from Wikipedia.
We found that there is a huge signboard for the sale of vignette before reaching the border of Czech Republic along the highway. Yay! We did ask in petrol stations but we could not find any that sold. Vignettes are so expensive. To buy a vignette, you need to show your vehicle documents - car registration documents.
Prof Sweet Tooth did not bring any but only his insurance documents which thankfully he did in case of emergency during our drive. Unfortunately, an insurance document is inappropriate to cross over the Romanian border. That caused us a lot of trouble. Apparently, in Sweden, a driver is not encouraged to put their vehicle documents in the car in case of theft, but the details can be found on Transport website. Once again, this was very difficult to be explained to the border control officers. We were stuck at the border for an hour trying to explain to the officer, and we were given warnings not to repeat. During our exit from Romania border, the officer initially declined our plea and requested us to turn back and wait for a truck to transport the car across the border. But he changed his mind and gave us a warning.
We left Czech Republic in 40 minutes and bought the Slovakian vignette before the border. This time, we got an e-vignette, which means no sticking is required on the car, unlike the one we bought for Czech Republic - in above photo.
170916 Afternoon: We had mackerels and cinnamon bread for lunch behind a petrol station in Slovakia. We did not have any Slovakian currency and could not buy anything to eat. Yes, we were still hungry.
45 minutes later, we reached the border of Hungary, where we bought the Hungarian vignette. It is actually pretty convenient, the places they set up to buy the vignettes. In Hungary, we got an e-vignette too.
We stopped by at a restaurant along the highway to see if we can find any food with our Euro currency. Yay to Marche for accepting Euro! We were so happy. Of course, Euro means expensive food. We tried the famous local food - goulash soup. Spicy yummy soup.
Goulash (Hungarian: gulyás [ˈɡujaːʃ]) is a soup or stew of meat and vegetables, seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating from the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, goulash is also a popular meal in Central Europe, Scandinavia and Southern Europe.
Its origin traces back to the 9th century to stews eaten by Hungarian shepherds. Back then, the cooked and flavored meat was dried with the help of the sun and packed into bags produced from sheep's stomachs, needing only water to make it into a meal. It is one of the national dishes of Hungary and a symbol of the country.
We reached Romania border that night from Nagylak, Hungary. There was a slight hesitation from the Romanian border officer to allow us to pass through because Prof Sweet Tooth did not bring his car registration card. The officer looked at me and my passport and asked who am I. I introduced myself and told him I am here on a holiday. I am not sure if he allowed us through because he pitied me that I came so far but he wished us good luck on the Romanian roads because it is not allowed to drive without the registration documents.
We bought the Romanian e-vignette at a shop a few metres away from the border. The lady at the counter wanted to see the registration document too. Prof Sweet Tooth showed the insurance document and snapped a photo of the chassis number to show the lady. One of the locals was attempting to clean Prof Sweet Tooth car, and he got very worried telling the local to stop.
Finally, we are in Romania! Phew.
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