DAY 8
Day 8 – Prague and beyond..
Well here we are again, on what has been the hottest and longest day so far of the trip!
The following picture was taken in Germany at 8.30pm this evening….
…and we saw temperatures of 37-38 deg C earlier in the day, whilst motoring along at the legal speed limits – taken from our newly acquired “No expense spared” Inside/Outside Temperature gauge!
Today saw us leave Prague at soon after 10am, where it was so hot, even the buildings were melting…
Some of the older buildings were still intact however, such as this one…
Czech really is a beautiful Country, and as well as opening our eyes to what other places there are worth visiting, its also made me seriously consider my next car… I’m thinking that the Evo VIII may well be out the window; my only problem is deciding which of the following quality motors I like the most… Mike thinks the top one, but I’m swaying towards the bottom one…
Any suggestions gratefully received…
We left the Czech Republic soon after 12…
…having first passed incredibly long queues of heavy vehicles – we presume they all get stopped thoroughly at the border…
Shortly after, we crossed into Germany......(again)
Having crossed the border, we stopped at the nearest Shell garage for our regular fix of V-Power 100 Oktan, and soon discovered that the next best thing to see in Germany after a Shell station was an “End of 130Kph Area” sign. In a country where the National speed limit is 130kph, this translates to Derestricted Highway…. At last, we’d found one of the few unlimited Autobahns left – in fact we found two! We’d like to post some pics of the Speedo, but it was all happening a bit fast; suffice to say we both saw the needle pass 160mph!
Unfortunately, before another opportunity arose to speed legally, we hit some heavy rain…
Our plotted route took us via the Nurbergring F1 circuit, but unfortunately they were a little tied up to let us on the track, not to mention that the girl we spoke to didn’t speak a word of English!
After leaving the Nurburgring, we continued motoring for many more miles…
…. and found ourselves entering the Netherlands at 10pm. Mike did his usual excellent job of navigating, and located us a Hotel Mecure just inside Holland, phoned up, booked us in and directed me right to the door!
Today has seen us cover 560 miles of hot hard driving and 3 different countries, but the reward for today’s hard work is that we only have to drive 200 miles tomorrow to reach Calais.
It’s still incredibly hot here even now, and its 23.14 – but Mike has managed to fix our rooms air-conditioning unit at great personal risk to himself…
All that remains to do is upload this report to the Website – which may take a little longer than usual, as there is no fast Internet connection here, and we can’t get the modem to connect over the Netherlandish phone system, so its good old fashioned GSM 9.6k Data tonight! (hence the smaller pictures!!)
A point worthy of note at this point in the proceedings; this event is for charity first and foremost, and plans are already a-foot for the 2004 Tour de la Liberation. We have a car with 4 doors, a bonnet, boot, roof, wings, bumpers, even an underneath – so now’s the time to book your panel if you’d like to sponsor us for next years trip in return for advertising space!! Book now to avoid disappointment!
If you are interested, you can drop either of us an email on the following addresses: garry.taylor@jerseymail.co.uk or mike.nolan@jerseymail.co.uk – alternatively, just have a chat with Geoff Vibert at CTS Computers, (01534 288882) who will be more than happy to tell you anything you wish to know! (right Geoff?!)
That’s the hard sale over (for now!), so its time to upload and go to bed.
Be sure to tune in for the next exciting update soon!
Mike and Garry