04.01.13 An update on my travel

I made maps of the places I stayed at during my travel from London to Sofia the past two months. There was a lot of excitement and surprises during my travel, but I would do it again in a heart beat. I will have to travel back to Sofia again in early Spring and I am excited to do so, but this time more flights and less driving. I am currently working on a travel plan for that trip.

Here are the maps that cover the journey.

 Taking a train at London's Charing Cross Station on the 20th of November, I arrived at Dover Priory Station.

 I caught a ferry to Calais France, crossing the English Channel

 

 Got the Hertz rental car at the Coquelles section of Calais

about 4 PM and drove to Reims France where I stayed the night

 I left in the morning of the 21st for Berne Switzerland

 Arriving at Berne around 7 PM I was told that my hotel reservation was non existent, so I decided to drive to Lugano
a 3 hours drive south, but I got tired and pulled into a Holiday Inn Express in Rothenburg CH around midnight

 The next moring, 22nd Nov. I drove to Lugano 

and stayed there for two nights. I LOVE LUGANO!

 I left Lugano on the 24th and drove south to Milan and then

east to Brescia and north to Bolzano Italy via the Alps

 After two nights in Bolzano, I drove to

Cortina d'Ampezzo high in the Italian Alps, it's a famous

ski resort, where the some of the first Pink Panther film was made. I love Cortina in any season.

 A tough drive through the Italian Alps in a snow storm

that got me stranded in it lead me to Werfen Austria

The hotel was a total mistake so I did not stay but instantly booked a hotel in Salzburg Austria for 2 nights.

Salzburg is a beautiful city, home of Mozart.

 

 The hotel in Werfen that I wanted to sty in was in the castle there, but it was booked solid

 On the morning of the 28th of Nov. I drove to Vienna Austria

and stayed two nights, I love Vienna

 I headed south east to Buda-Pest on the 30th and checked in to this art boutique hotel that was full of artwork from local artists

 The drive on the 1st of December from Buda-Pest to Timisoara Romania was starting to show the East Europe of the old Iron Curtain Days. Drab. I stayed two nights in the Hotel Timisoara in the city square, a beautiful hotel with a lot of Romanian contemporary art, a must visit.

 Firstly, I did not want to go through Serbia, but I trusted my Garmin GPS and instead of taking me all through Romania into Bulgaria, it took me through most of Serbia, a most dangerous and treacherous trip. I arrived late at night in Sofia only to get a hotel room that was not to my liking, so I checked out the next day and moved into the Hotel Anel, a beautiful hotel with, you guessedit, a lot of local artist's works. I booked a week in the hotel so I could do the work I was sent to do at Saturn Engineering, the company that is making one of my inventions.

Sofia is a intriguing city beautiful in some parts, but still in many ways in the shadow of past Soviet control. It was cold, it snowed, but it was a delightful stay and I met some wonderful people at Saturn, and one beautiful lady, Denitsa.

 I left Sofia on 11 December and headed for Zagreb Croatia. I had to drive all through Serbia and I did not want to sty in Serbia, so I did the 12 hours drive to Zagreb and got there late that night. Zagreb was a surprise, it is a beautiful little city and full of Xmas cheer and festivities. I stayed at Hotel Dubrovnik a beautiful old hotel with modern updating

 On the morning of the 14th I headed for Brescia Italy and had to go through Slovenia first and cross the border into Trieste Italy. I was not pleased with my room at the hotel in Brescia so I stayed only one night and headed for Lugano the next morning in a heavy snow storm

 I was happy to be back in Lugano again, it is always so beautiful in any season for certain. Here I go through the Italian and Swiss Alps again. LOL

 On the 17th of Dec. I left, sadly, Lugano and heade for Nancy France, through the last leg of the Swiss Alps and French Alps into the French country side. In Nancy I stayed at the Grand Hotel De La Reine, a magnificent hotel that with a little imagination one could think one was in an old French castle.

 After yet another long drive through rain and snow,I got to Amiens France and stayed in a hotel Mercure across from the Cathedral Notre Dame of Amiens (there are a lot of Notre Dame (our lady in French) churches and cathedrals in France.

 Rain rain rain from Amiens to Calais on the 22nd, but the driving was over and I returned to car in one piece to Hertz there.

 Calais ferry to Dover

 Then the fast train to London at King's Cross Station and then a cab ride to the Kensington Hotel in South Kensington London.

I will be going back to London and then Sofia in March, but with less driving and more flying or trains. LOL

Cheers and HAPPY 2013!

David