TSJAP On Tour: 1st week: Point Alpha, Hase's outbreak & new home, family-good-bye, Danubia, enjoying Puszta

The long preparation time is over! We are finally on the road! We are writing this in southern Hungary, in hot Puszta at Klaras and Roberts house, where we are staying for a couple of days. With a delay of 2 days (due to an extra tour to Leuven) we were warmly sent on our trip by Kristin & Benny (thank you so much for taking the time) the morning of Tuesday 7th of July.

Time to go! We forgot to take a last picture
before starting our endeavor. Thx to Kristin is
preserved!

Ready for take-off.

Thanks so much to all of you for giving us such a great time in Brussels the last couple of weeks! We enjoyed so much being with you, partying with you, dancing with you, dreaming with you...
Saying good bye was not easy and we are looking forward seeing you all back next summer! We send you all kisses and hugs!

Travelling with us for the first two days was also Hase, our rabbit, spending his time in a cat box to the farm of Sabine & Thomas in Leipzig, where he was granted asylum for the rest of his rabbit life.

New foster family for Hase

Our first pit stop at a fast food restaurant would not be worth to be mentioned if ... well if Hase would not have taken an unattended walk. We didn't want to leave him in the warm car, so we put him in the shadow underneath the front bar. When we returned the cat box was empty. I found Hase quickly back next to a car wash happily eating fresh green leaves. I rated our chances low to get Hase back in his box, but I asked one of the car-wash-clients whether he would give me a hand to catch Hase. After a dedicated chase Hase has escaped into sticky bushes. We barely spotted him in the branches and I saw my low chances vanishing at all. I managed to push some of the bushes to the side and crawled in the woods, where I found Hase in place without backdoor. After some more struggles I managed to catch him and put him back in his box. Paul was not happy with Hase and made clear to him, that this should not happen again.

The first day of driving in hot weather was quite exhausting. The evening brought rough weather and great cooling.

We stayed overnight at the former german-german border, more precisely at Point Alpha, today a museum that shows the old observation towers, fences, border patrol equipment and other cruelties of the cold war.

Johann and Antonia show a lot of interest in this part of history and we try to explain.

We park our car on the empty museum parking place next to the American watch tower. Hase takes again his chances and a taste of freedom by escaping again. Johann, Susanne and Torsten try to catch him again and chase him from East to West Germany and vice versa. No daylight left, so we give up. We place the cat box without much hope that Hase will return, but surprisingly next morning we find him back in his little box. Apparently too much freedom can sometimes be overwhelming and hard to handle... (analogies with experiences of some East Germans fellows are accidentally of course).
The car is doing fine, but still some repairs need to be done. The water filter keeps us busy until late the first night. Paul sleeps in his new bed for the first time, jumps up and down to try the madras.

Day two brings us to Radebeul our home town in Germany, where our parents live. We are being awaited with a big good-bye-party, presents, champagne with friends and family. A great evening with great ambiance! Thank you so much!

Thursday 9th of July brings again a lot of work for Torsten. The water filter needs to be changed, a second tire waits for its place on the back side, gas bottles need refilling, little last bits and pieces need to be bought in the Baumarkt. The kids enjoy time with Oma and Opa and in the pool. But Reisefieber is stronger than anything else and we hit the road still late in the afternoon. All Mamas and Papas wave good-bye and finally it feels as we are really travelling. We stop at Bad Gottleuba and turn our new water filter system operational.

On Friday, we pass within one day Prague, Brno, Bratislava and Györ to reach the south of Hungary. We need the first time our four-wheel-drive since the highway is suddenly blocked due to construction works.

We are welcomed with open arms around midnight in summer warm Soltvadkert. I (Susanne) ride my first couple of hundred kilometers on Emma and it feels good and safe! Travelling with the kids goes well, we play a lot, read books, sleep and I keep explaining Paul not to climb on the beds and bang against the windows. Pauli starts 'talking': smiling and "badaa-badaa" means "I feel great and I hope you too"! :-))) We understand him even without understanding his language. When leaving Czech Republic highway police suddenly approaches us and it turns out that our little km counting machine did not work properly and we are considered to fraught on highway toll. After some explanations we all sign some kind of protocol, Paul gets some sweets and then we are allowed to roll on.
We rest in the evening at the Danubia Art Museum close to Bratislava. It is a nice memory refreshing since we passed the same place already four years ago, then on our way to Albania.