Back in the Czech Republic - April 2014

Here we are back into Europe again, after a trip from Wellington through Sydney to Hong Kong, where we had a much needed break, before heading on a long flight to Frankfurt then Prague. Leigh has developed a bad chest infection and struggled with the flight but we made it. Once in Prague we caught our faithful Airport Express bus to the main railway station and onto the train to Ceske Budejovice – feeling like we were almost there. 

In Ceske Budejovice, our wonderful friend Klara picked us up and transported us to Vanni (who was looking good and very pleased to see us). We are now parked up in Klara’s driveway and waiting for papers we will need to get Vanni into Serbia and Romania. This is good timing as Leigh is not well and just relaxing in Vanni on these sunny European spring days is good for us both.

It is lovely to reconnect with Klara and her delightful boys, Adam and Dominik who have both grown so much since we saw them last year. We feel so privileged to be welcomed into their family and to enjoy real Czech life. Denisa, Klara’s sister, is due to arrive here on Wednesday and we are so looking forward to seeing her again. It is Denisa, with her partner Anita who we met in Wellington back in 2010, who has been such a wonderful help regarding Vanni and our Czech connections.

Our route for 2014 (Read this in conjunction with the map below)

After leaving Klara’s place, we will drive to our first stop, Olomouc (pronounced olamoatz) in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. We will then cross the border into Southern Poland heading towards Auschwitz and Krakow.

Depending on the political situation, we hope to continue east into the Ukraine. Unfortunately, the state of affairs appears to be worsening. If we do get to the Ukraine our route will take us to Lviv, then after a circuitous route through the towns at the base of the Carpathian Mountains, we will head to Kiev, the capital. 

                       

Assuming things are still OK in Ukraine, we will make the long trek south/south-east to the Askaniya-Nova Biosphere Reserve where we hope to see buffalo, antelope and the unique Przewalski horses.

From there we were planning to go to the Crimea but obviously this is now completely out of the question. Instead, we will probably head west to Odessa, our last stop in Ukraine, before entering Moldova.

After some wine tasting in Chisinau the capital of Moldova, we cross into Romania to stay on the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. This area has the 3^rd largest biodiversity in the world and is a UNESCO protected site. Leaving there, we will continue south along the coast of the Black Sea before going inland, where we cross from Romania into Bulgaria.

After driving through the small villages of central Bulgaria, we will head back to the Black Sea coast where we will spend a good part of the European summer. We will then meander through mountain villages of southern Bulgaria before heading to the capital, Sofia.

From there, we cross the border into Serbia and head south towards Kosovo, traveling through some interesting geological formations en route.  Pristina, the capital of Kosovo will be our southernmost stop on our 2014 trip.

Leaving Kosovo, we re-enter Serbia and travel north through small Serbian villages, to cross the border into Bosnia & Herzegovina. There, we drive to Mostar, then weave our way along a wine route to Sarajevo - being mindful of the apparently ever present landmines! After travelling north through Bosnian villages we again re-enter Serbia, heading to Belgrade, the capital.

After a decent stay there we will head east again into Romania aiming for the capital, Bucharest. We then spend the next month meandering all over Romania on a slow northward route. At the northern most point we hit a series of ancient wooden churches, we then head west and begin our homeward journey. That takes us through Hungary and Austria fairly quickly as we have already travelled extensively through these countries. 

We aim to be back in Ceske Budejovice in the last week of October, before flying home to New Zealand.