Jouke Kleerebezem in the driving seat of the
1972 Renault Estafette 1000 Studio Car camper van

On 30 June we leave Amsterdam to unbeat our bearings and drive the Studio Car via 't Mulra in Hoog Keppel and the Schafbachmühle camping site in Schleiden to Mittelhausen near Strasbourg. From here we set off to cross France to Italy and onwards to Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, returning home via Kassel's 13th Documenta before the end of August.

Jardin des Souvenirs, Strasbourg

Val di Rhêmes setting

"Extravagance... it all depends on how you are yarded!"

Henri David Thoreau

Outside the simple yet clean toilet building his products are listed, inside we are invited for the 'dégustation'. We end up uploading some 'Notes Blanches' and Juliénas.

Jean-Paul doesn't think it is such a clever idea to have 4 'computers' connected to the Internet at his Val di Rhêmes camping site, while here you are supposed to relax and let it all hang out...

In Jullié, France, 5-6 July 2012

Liliane of the 'Hansel et Gretel' bed and breakfast shows us to the same room which we occupied in May 2011 when we had to say goodbye to my dear uncle Kees. This seems only right, since we are here to disperse his ashes at the 'Jardin des Souvenirs' in Strasbourg. Also otherwise our return visit does not disappoint us. Liliane's sumptuous garden and kitchen provide the best breakfast one can wish for, including her accidental appearance for a laughter filled chat. I'm pretty sure she's going to want an iPad for her next birthday, if only to play the Thai Cooking app which Pam demonstrates to her to much exaltation...

Where 'Melon' is a grape and otherwise all's fine as well, including the appearance of Elisabeth Oudard as the new caretaker, the ever trustworthy monsieur Bideux to install a new pressure balloon to increase water power and our first Canal du Nivernais cycling experience to be a grand success, full of promises for the coming weeks.

In Mittelhausen, France, 2 july

In the 'Café de Tannay', Tannay, France, 3-4 July

We land at the Domaine Franck Besson's camping site. This one is a 'camping à la ferme' and since F.B. is a 'viticulteur-recoltant', an independent wine producer, of which there are hundreds on the Beaujolais slopes east of Macon, his is a wine producing farm.

German power plant, Rheidt

At the shore of Lago d'Idro, Italy, 9-10 July

For one night we can occupy a lake side prime spot. The site is like Castricum: an all Dutch family affair. Great anthropological studies to be made here.

Camping Bled at the lake that saw many international rulers. Next to its camp site we see a first Plecnik piece.

In Kobarid, Slovenia, 10-11 July

In Bled, Slovenia, another lake shore, 11-12 July

The first Slovenian camp site is 'Kamp Koren'.

Slovenia's capital city is Plecnik's work and home from 1931-1957. Not entirely unrelated it is a cyclist's paradise where those on wheels happily share every side walk and pedestrian area with those just on their feet.

Ljubljana, 12-13 July

AND FOLLOWING DAYS:

Near Postojna, 13-14 July

We escape the Ljubljana camping grounds when over morning tea we overhear tonight's swimming pool party's sound check pump up the volume. From the 72km remote camp site of Pivka Jama we will return to L. tomorrow to visit the Zjale cemetry with its many Plecnik temples and tombs.

In Dolensjke Toplice, 14-15 July

DT. is a small spa. An evening concert introduces us not only to the 'More' close harmony orchestra from Split in Croatia but to all the village's inhabitants and the spa's clients, parking their crutches against the wooden beer tables to join the audience.

End of the road at Val di Rhêmes

Sluice in the Canal du Nivernais

In Podcetrtek, 15-16 July

Camping 'Natura' is integrated with the Aqualuna water wonder land to which we are welcomed by the most unnatural figure of a life size concrete elephant and other exotic species born from a Disney inspired jungle imagination... Podcetrtek itself lies on the Croatian border formed by a small river. When we return from a quick cycle tour we hit upon a border policeman on the way back. After a rather surrealist discussion in Slovenian German, about whether we enter Croatia or come back to his post or leave Croatia to cross the river back to the camp site at another location he sells us a tourist pass valid for unlimited border crossing over the next two weeks, at €1,17 per person.

The last vulture of the Val di Rhêmes
before a successful reintroduction program
started

Roadside gladioli

Ptuj, 16-17 July

The Drava river at Ptuj, Slovenia 16 July 2012

After Maribor which disappointed me a bit as European Cultural Capital 2012 -- but certainly we did not give it much of a chance, still being impressed by Ljubljana's total cool -- Ptuj delights immediately along the Drava river, its ancient houses rather well kept and occupied, with a hint here and there of its communist decades and crowned by a sturdy 'grad', a castle which displays grotesque traditional masks and costumes worn at carnaval occasions.

Being the last of the spa related camp sites and our last night in Slovenia Lendava Terme is primarily interesting for its free mineral bath. The camping is otherwise of mediocre quality and just serves us as a jumpboard to Lake Balaton south of Budapest, where we hope to pick up Rolf and Roemer from the airport Thursday 19.

Zamira, Hungary, 18-19 July

Lake Balaton is 'most definitely' the lot of water we expected it to be! The very slow slope leading into it makes you walk kneedeep forever.

Balatonalmády, Hungary, 19-25 July

Balatonalmády's 'Yacht' camp site is our home for 6 days with Rolf and Roemer.

Man wading Lake Balaton at dusk: "L'homme dans le vide"

Henri David Thoreau

Anomalies
(traced) >
(spotted) >

Budapest-Balatonalmády, 19 July

We drive the Estafette backwards out of a traffic jam, following some 20 cars behind/before us. Via the center of Budapest we reach the airport after some more improvisational u-turns, in time for R+R's half an hour delayed flight from Paris. The drive back down to Balaton takes more time than expected but the camp site and its surroundings at first sight seem a promising mix of semi-mundane and leisurely facilities. If a bartender mixing Mojito's isn't a first sign, what would be?

Balatonalmády, 20 July

Balatonalmády's 'Yacht' camp site sur place...

Balatonalmády-Tihany, 21 July

We change wheels and cycle uphill to the Tihany peninsula, some 50kms. in all.

Balatonalmády-Nemesvámos, 22 July

Another hilly ride takes us to the Baláca Roman Villa at Nemesvámos.

Balatonalmády-Vesprem, 23 July

Finally we find a good market with lots of fresh produce at Balatonfured.

Balatonalmády, 24 July

The boat crossing to Siopok has odd hours that we cannot meet... This hot day is entirely spent al the Balaton shore, also while it is our last day at the camp site, leaving for Budapest tomorrow.

Balatonalmády-Budapest, 25 July

Packing up the camp site under an overcast sky that has produced accidental showers since last evening. Hoping to keep the gear dry.

Shared Balaton space

Castle Garden Hotel, Budapest, 25-28 July

Budapest temporary hiding place

Pool billiard in the field at the Bogacs country fairground

Budapest-Bogacs via Eger, 28-29 July

Saturday Night Fever! How could we have forgotten about the Central European weekend 'animation' habit, big time. Camping out at the edge of the small and primarily local occupancy spa village of Bogacs, when evening falls the volume of the different parties apparently closely surrounding us increase at the same pace as daylight disappears... Judging from the repertoire we detect a birthday party, a country fair, a spa hotel one-man band and at least two backyard drinking extravaganzas. After a short frustrated meditation on what this will mean for tonight's sleeping comfort we decide that if we can't beat them we better join them. On a short stroll we behave Hungarian with the Hungarians, and Polish, and Slovaks. We take in the country fair with its rickety swing mills, pool tables and shooting gallery, marvel at the busy splashing in the termal pools, open until late at night, sip a Bikaver in the hotel-cum-hospital style facility where couples aged 40 and up dance and sing along popular tunes from the electric piano and vocal chords of a single performer in the corner of the hall. In short: we plunge back in time some 50 years, the resulting timelag increasing so much our fatigue that we sleep right through the ongoing wee hours jingle jangle.

We drive the Estafette backwards out of a traffic jam, following some 20 cars behind/before us. Via the center of Budapest we reach the airport after some more improvisational u-turns, in time for R+R's half an hour delayed flight from Paris. The drive back down to Balaton takes more time than expected but the camp site and its surroundings at first sight seem a promising mix of semi-mundane and leisurely facilities. If a bartender mixing Mojito's isn't a first sign, what would be?

After a parking incident in front of the hotel where both the Estafette and the rented VW are booked within no time by an overly zealous officer who emerges from out of the shrub surrounding the public parking lot while we check in at the hotel, the VW is picked up and the camper van is welcomed on the hotel's parking lot, to stay there for three days and a Facebook photo session on request of the manager. Link will follow. The hotel meanwhile is most definitely recommendable, we hope to pay Tripadvisor respect to it!

Bogacs-Tokaj, via Eger, 29-30 July

Camp sites are sparse, the Dutch ANWB travel organisation only lists a couple, mostly concentrated around lake Balaton. Other documents like road maps show the incidental sites which in our experience lack basic comfort or even hygiene.

Near Tokaj we follow a seemingly recent sign directing us to a camp site which does not appear in any of our documents. At 800 meters we aproach a small bar with a large extension that holds European ambitions -- or rather, as we soon find out, once held. Today the place is like a leisure facility for the locals. On the side of a large natural swimming pond a small building is erected where again taps are dangling from the tubes or completely missing. Electricity ditto swinging in the air. After a day when temperature rose again high in the 30s, celsius that is, we enjoy a Borsoni beer before we head off to Tokaj to test our luck. Also there however no camp site is listed in any of our documentation. But of course this center of a world famous wine industry has such a facility. Must be.

Tokaj-Vinné, Slowakije, 30-31 July

At 6:48 a sound system is turned on with a loud creak. The cleaner of the pool apparently needs musical support with his job. He immediately turns the volume down but the quiet peace on the lake side empty cafetaria's terrace, where I sit since 6, has gone. Actually I am studying the 'Rustiek kamperen' guide, for Czechia and Slowakia. While ever once in a while we love to be immersed in the local animation of the countries we are visiting, I feel a need coming up for a quieter, yet wilder for its natural qualities, setting for the coming days.

Vinné-Poprad, 31 July-1August

What was I thinking this morning before we left Vinné!? Local animation tonight includes the slot machine packed Admiral Bar and 'EROS' top floor of a distinctly former Eastern block Deluxe Hotel in some dark outskirt of Poprad town, where we land in the blind, after desperately having been misguided by our Slowakia map, as far as camp sites are concerned.

Athmospheric phenomena in Eastern Slovakia

Yesterday anyway was a long and at times stunningly beautiful detour inevitably leading to where we didn't intend to go. Waking up on the first of August meant wondering where we landed and where to go from where we do not know where it is exactly... After studying our maps we have to conclude that we did not venture too far off of our intended track. So we find this Dudo Café with its 'wifi zone' window shield, just around the corner, sit down with the documentation and our iGear to upload and post while sipping lattes and sharing local caramel and chocolate sweet cakes. Ah! So this is where we find ourselves!

Sky over Lower Tatras

Once drifting along with such marvelous clouds, directions can only improve. From Paprod we advance to Levoca where we spend the day in awe with the wood scultpures by 'Master Paul' (Majster Pavol) and from his workshop, dating from the early to mid 1500s. All originals are in their natural habitat of the St. Jacob church. They can't be photographed. Behind the almost 19 meter high gothic altar artists do restoration work. A young woman wears an iPod, we hear faint contemporary music from another source. Since we do not want the guided tour starting in half an hour, we are left alone in the company of only a couple of other tourists with non-Slovakian origin. The peace in the empty church is overwhelming.

Unrestored Mother and Child by 'Majster Pavol' of Levoca

Poprad-Vysny Medzev, 1-2 August

After Levoca for the next couple of days we hope to hit a quiet, rural camp site. Vysny Medzev promised to be exactly that. Near Kosice, former Czechoslovakian capital and today the second city of Slovakia after capital Bratislava.

After Levoca for the next couple of days we hope to hit a quiet, rural camp site. Vysny Medzev promised to be exactly that. Near Kosice, former Czechoslovakian capital and today the second city of Slovakia after capital Bratislava.

Sokol camp site, Vysny Medzev, 2-6 August

Did we do well coming to this beautiful quiet orchard camp site!

View West from the Estafette at the Sokol camp site in Vysny Medzev

Sokol is the best camp site for this moment in our trip. We spend 5 very quiet nights here and only use one day to be as ambituous as to visit nearby Kosice, once capital of Czechoslowakia, now second largest city of Slowakia and home of the State Opera. Kosice is not enough near by to make the trip by bike however. Harry rents his car out at 25 eurocents per kilometer, including gas. At the end of the day ee are very pleased to add 84 smooth kilometers to our account.

Vysny Medzev-Kosice, 4 August

We cover this 2013 European Cultural Capital in a day. It's precious and world famous gold treasure, dug up in 1935, without the legitimate one third of the value award for the construction workers who find it, almost 3000 gold coins and few other gold pieces, is under 're-organisation', with no doubt for the upcoming 2013 festivities and international culturati invasion. We are just a year early, too bad.So we content ourselves with the other centuries old attractions.

Working our way back into the past we start at the 2012 Carrefour supermarket, subsequently followed by the 1970s look-and-feel (flee-)market, the traditional Slowakian '12 apostels' restaurant, the 18C 'East Slowakian Museum' (where we learn about the re-organisation of the gold treasure which is the reason it is not on display, but find full recompensation in their natural history wing), the Baroque Jezuit church, where as in any of the churches and chapel this Saturday afternoon a wedding ceremony is taking place at the time of our first passing mid afternoon, the 14-17C Urbanus tower and the 14-18C St. Elisabeth cathedral. Like on previous occasions, international tourists or for that matter any visiting crowds are missing from the scene. Kosice seems almost empty on a Saturday afternoon. The three wedding groups fill the scene. Another concentration of folk can be found between the ice cream and pastry parlour and the 'singing fountain', a first-for-Slowakia Russian construction from the 1960s. It dances more or less identical to any tune from the planted speakers in the shrub surrounding it, but the coloured spotlights promise a halucinating 'son et lumière' experience in the evenings, when we will long be resting on our own piece of green at Sokol.

Empty market stalls at the textile and flee market in a Kosice suburb

East Slowakian Museum natural history hallway

Vysny Medzev-Prybilina, 7 August

From the peace of rural East Slovakia and the hospitality of Harry and Jana at Sokol we move up to the Western Tatra mountains for some hiking.