Prague to Budapest
On Sunday, we took a bus from Prague to Budapest, inching ever closer to the actual cruise part of this River Cruise vacation. We learned some interesting things along the drive.
This being Sunday, there were no trucks on the highway, because trucks are not allowed on the highway on Sundays. Every once in awhile, we would pass a big lot and there would be hundreds of trucks, all parked on the lot, unable to continue their journeys for the day. At midnight, they will all start up again and get going.
All commercial trucks and buses (including ours) are monitored by the government by satellite. The speed limit is controlled - they are not able to exceed 60 mph. The time the buses can be driven without a break is determined, and the length of the break is also mandatory. A bus cannot be driven longer than 2 hours without taking a 1/2 hour break. If the bus driver tries to start the bus before the mandatory 1/2 hour break is over, the bus will not start.
Our tour guide on the bus explained a little bit about what it's like to live in this part of the world. She said that having Germany on one side, and Russia on the other side, and all the turmoil, with borders of countries being re-drawn, communists ruling over certain parts in the past, all the anxiety of the changes or potential changes - she said it was like living in a pot of boiling water.
We passed a very large Volkswagen plant just north of Bratislava. It employs over 14,000 workers. Wow, that's a small city!
We also saw lots of windmills in the countryside. Apparently there are very strong winds between the Alps and the Carpathians, so the use of windmills to generate electricity is very efficient. Right next to the windmills is where the Iron Curtain used to be, separating the Communist-ruled Slovakia from Austria in the free world. The Iron Curtain was 130 miles long in this area, and was electric: according to the tour guide, if you touched the Iron Curtain, you would die on the spot.
We had left Prague at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Budapest (after 2 stops, including one for lunch) at 3:30 p.m. Without trucks on the road, we made really good time.
This being Sunday, there were no trucks on the highway, because trucks are not allowed on the highway on Sundays. Every once in awhile, we would pass a big lot and there would be hundreds of trucks, all parked on the lot, unable to continue their journeys for the day. At midnight, they will all start up again and get going.
All commercial trucks and buses (including ours) are monitored by the government by satellite. The speed limit is controlled - they are not able to exceed 60 mph. The time the buses can be driven without a break is determined, and the length of the break is also mandatory. A bus cannot be driven longer than 2 hours without taking a 1/2 hour break. If the bus driver tries to start the bus before the mandatory 1/2 hour break is over, the bus will not start.
Our tour guide on the bus explained a little bit about what it's like to live in this part of the world. She said that having Germany on one side, and Russia on the other side, and all the turmoil, with borders of countries being re-drawn, communists ruling over certain parts in the past, all the anxiety of the changes or potential changes - she said it was like living in a pot of boiling water.
We passed a very large Volkswagen plant just north of Bratislava. It employs over 14,000 workers. Wow, that's a small city!
We also saw lots of windmills in the countryside. Apparently there are very strong winds between the Alps and the Carpathians, so the use of windmills to generate electricity is very efficient. Right next to the windmills is where the Iron Curtain used to be, separating the Communist-ruled Slovakia from Austria in the free world. The Iron Curtain was 130 miles long in this area, and was electric: according to the tour guide, if you touched the Iron Curtain, you would die on the spot.
We had left Prague at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Budapest (after 2 stops, including one for lunch) at 3:30 p.m. Without trucks on the road, we made really good time.
I could definitely get on board with expanding this "no trucks allowed on the highway on Sundays" rule to the US!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was great!
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