TWIKE 560 Adventures

I have become very much a morning person with age. Even if I wanted to sleep in, and despite a perfect bed, complete silence and just the right temperature … I am up at 5:15. So what to do before the hotel’s breakfast opens at 7:30? A nice, relaxed run along the Danube seems like a good option, and I get to enjoy the sunrise over Bratislava at the same time. Back at the hotel, and after a nice shower, I settle in for a long, slow breakfast and work my way through the buffet and the freshly baked goods. […]

Even without air conditioning, I sleep well, with wonderfully fresh air flowing into the room throughout the night, presumably thanks to the short rain shower yesterday. The day, however, does not start particularly well from a charging point of view: while I was already asleep, the TWIKE sent me a message: Charge interrupted, no electricity. When I get to the TWIKE, I am greeted by the blue screen of the charging station telling me that the StopReason was a timer. The exact 9 kWh charge makes me suspect that the charging was both free and, somehow, limited. Assumptions, assumptions. Later […]

I slept very, very well. The room was extremely quiet and the temperatures perfect. Whilst checking out the front desk employee told me that there was a problem with the charge that previously was to be included in the room price – it now wasn’t as ‘the boss’ had seen the cable and now wanted payment for the electricity consumed. Fair enough, I thought. So… what would the price be? I had paid 3000₴ for the room, parking and breakfast – around 50 CHF… the hotel wanted to bill the charge at 1500₴! Time to whip out my phone and […]

I wake up very early – pre-sunrise, to be precise… Refreshed and ready to start the day. The weather forecast for today is 39°C for western Ukraine and i’m glad to get on the road this early to get to the border as early as possible. I’ve researched how long the process can take and found anything between an hour and 6 hours on various sites. Let’s see how things pan out for me today. From Suceava, the road takes me broadly northward towards Siret where the main Ukranian border crossing is. Whilst planning my trip, I found many smaller […]

My night was short – due to the fact that Brasov is at 600 m altitude the cool air in my room really helped with regeneration and good sleep. (the small porta-split unit in my room was very good at making a lot of noise but not so much at cooling. OK to keep the temperature at semi-acceptable levels during the day.) I get on the road around 6.15 am and head out of Brasov. My goal for today is to drive all the way to get as close as possible to the Ukrainian border post in Siret. That said, […]

It was an anxious night with little sleep to be very honest. Will today be the day TW560 is put into storage for a new rim to arrive (an me to travel back to Romania later this year to retrieve it) or will we be back on the road and on our way again? First things first – the owner of the Hotel greets me at 7 am and offers me to have some early breakfast before going to the garage … and as Daniel calls that he’s ready to pick me up, he invites Daniel for some breakfast, too! […]

What a nice and calm night this was – it was definitely the right idea to stay! The day greets me with a deep blue and super-clear sky and very cool air – the Transalpina pass awaits in the distance and I’m more than ready to enjoy today! I check-out from the hotel and load my stuff into the TWIKE – and off we go! From Randa the road first stays pretty flat for a few km before a very steep incline – at one of the hairpin bends off this first incline all the where all the pictures of […]

Another night with aircon – another night well slept. I get up bright and early (one of the perks of getting older) and get my TWIKE ready for today’s drive. The sun filters though the trees at Bela Crkva’s main square in a very nice and warm shade of yellow that promises a very, very hot day. Temperatures at 6.15 am were already 21°C. As I mentioned in the last post, Bela Crkva is the last Serbian settlement before the border crossing just 5 km down the road. The views were already stunning and Romania’s hills were already beckoning in […]

Good morning to all! Today will be a day where TW560 will unlock some serious new-country XP, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia – potentially even Romania.. let’s see how today goes. We start today with TW560 fully charged, cool temperatures and a beautiful day just starting at 6am. The road I’ve chosen for today stays on Croatian territory for around 30km before crossing the Sava river into Bosnia and Herzegovina. I’ve chosen to cross there and not closer to Slavonski Brod as it is a larger crossing and I’m hoping to not have to wait too long in line […]

I must have been very tired yesterday – I barely remember my head touching the pillow … to wake to my alarm going off at 7.15 am. Another sunny and potentially very hot day beckons. At 7.30 precisely, i hear a knock on my door. In comes the conductor and sets up the table with a few very precise motions and hands me my breakfast. The bread rolls are super-fresh and the tea water is piping hot. This makes for a very nice breakfast which I eat whilst looking out of the window. We’re already one hour late. This isn’t […]