Day 1, 30/03/08: Poznań - Prague (what could be done with another car)

Leaving Poznań around 10 am, it is possible to reach (180km) Wrocław around 1pm with no hurries. In this city, the obvious option would be the main square for the lunch. From Wrocław to Prague is a bit less than 300km (only with 90km in highway), and if without much traffic can be done in 4 1/2 hours. Therefore, around 8 pm it would be possible to find the Hotel in Prague.

In Prague, the options vary accordingly with the company. If with the woman, then must find a decent but kind of pricey restaurant with so-so food, then see some churches by night, the main square (in the photo), Charles bridge, overlook the castle/palace on the other side of the river, yada yada yada and all that crap. If alone, or just with guys, then time to spend some money on the numerous small casinos that are spread all over the city and after explore the nightlife of Prague which may or not include visiting the (probably too turistic) strip clubs in one of the most central avenues of Prague.

This was not my option quite simply because Prague was not in straight line on the way to Wien. I did not needed more extra km/costs on gas.

Day 1, 30/03/08: Poznań - Międzilesie, Part III - sleeping

For several reasons (safety and money, mainly the first one), i decided it would be better not to abandon the vehicle during the night. And because i never did camping in my life, the sollution was to sleep inside the car. Due to some space limitations, the seat was in the very same position when i was driving and when i was sleeping. The normal question then pops out: "How tha fuck did you manage to sleep like that?"Not simple, but nothing too complicated also, and i will describe briefly the steps:

1- take off the shoes;

2- take off the socks (optional);

3- take off the jeans (also optional), or at least open the buttons of it;

4- put on some wool slippers (laugh all you want, but warm feet are very important anywhere);

5- put yourself inside a good and long sleeping-bag;

6- remove your shirt (again optional, but me latin, therefore very warm person);

7- grab a normal bed pillow, put it against your left side between the window and your head;

8- open a bit the window to let fresh air in;

9- cover yourself completely with the sleeping-bag, so that the light will not disturb you. As option you can use some blindfold, but thats a bit gay;

10- not be too pissed of if you woke up more than 10 times during the night;

Seriously, my main problem, was really the lack of space for my legs. That was why i woke up so many times. The neck, also suffers a bit, i must admit.

Day 1, 30/03/08: Poznań - Międzilesie, Part II

Already before starting the trip, i had already reached the conclusion of what would be the speed i should drive. The expected fuel consuption was clear (between 5 to 6l/100km). As for the best driving position, and also because my seat could not go more to the back, i was a bit more uncertain.

Since this car obviously does not have rpm indicator, and quite frankly i have no idea what is the maximum rpm this engine can hold on. So, just learning by experience and by hearing the engine, 80kph (marked, not real), is the maximum advisable cruise speed. Above that, the engine starts to suffer a bit more. The maximum speed that i marked with the car was 110kph, but just once and with some effort, although the car could have marked 120kph. Anyway, another important thing that i tried to do, was to once in a while if there was not traffic (more or less each 10min) was to reduce the speed a little bit, so that the engine wasn't for hours always at the same rotation.

With a fuel consumption around 5l, this means an autonomy of around 250km. Taking in consideration the very poor average that i do on national roads (more or less 60km/h), i could drive the Fiat during four hours without stopping. Never did that, and the maximum i did before the trip was 2 1/2h. During the trip, at least two hours i wanted to stop (even if with the engine on) just to play it safe. So, now i believe it becomes more clear why i did only 350km in 6h.

Last, but not the least, the driving position. Since the speed was not outstanding, i could drive only with one hand. But, i didnt went for the classic taxi-driver position (left hand on the steering wheel and right on the gear). Mine was left hand in a 6.30 position and right hand in my equator area. Since i was not going to change gears that often, i could be playing an individual version of the popular "nob or bollocks" game.

Day 1, 30/03/08: Poznań - Międzilesie

Following the good old portuguese tradition and stereotype, the departure hour suffered a significant delay. Instead of leaving on this sunny sunday around 12.30h as i wanted, i ended up leaving Poznań only at 16.05h. Nothing serious, because there were no hotel reservations made, so absolutelly no concern of being late.

For several reasons, sunday was for me the best day to start this trip. Specially because i wanted to avoid the traffic of trucks in the Polish roads, and also the city traffic when crossing the cities. For instance, on a week day, it takes at least 1hour to cross Wrocław coming from Poznań. After Wrocław, i kept going down in direction to the border. If i wanted to go to Prague, i would have directed to Kudowa-Zdrój. But, as much as Kudowa would be interesting to see, i choosed to go to some place called Międzilesie. So, after 350km in national roads of reasonable quality (for polish standards), one mistake reading the map that costed me 30km extra and around 22.15h i was 10 km away from the border.

In a sudden glimpse of rationality (and also some experience), i thought it would be better to stay this night in Poland, just in case i had some problem to solve in the car on the next morning. So, since this was a small but nice mountain village, it was not difficult to find a place to park the car. On a parking, between the main road and a church seemed a good option.

When i stopped the car, and stepped out, thanks to the public illumination i noticed that the back of my car was somewhat covered with.....engine oil. Sweet! Opened the engine compartiment, and noticed that the cover of the engine oil entrance was no longer there. So, for the last 2km, 20km, or 40km (i have no idea when i lost this since my last stop), i was driving the car without this, causing the oil to jump out and colour the back of my (now even more) dirty Fiat. It was 22.30h, i was tired, was not going away any more for the night, so this would be a problem to think of in the next morning.

Luggage - what to take and where to put it

In this type of car, there is not much space for luggage. In the back stays the engine, and in the front the space available is only valid for the spare tyre, fire extinguisher and mechanic tools and liquid recipients (maximum 5l) for example. So, all your luggage will be visible for others.

Minimum required: small luggage with changing clothes, hygiene items, bottles of water, fruit, cakes and very important a small jerrycan for petrol in case the one in the 13l deposit runs out before you reach some station.

On my turn, it was necessary to put more stuff inside the car. For starters, a huge luggage (weight around 50kg) with practically all my clothes occupying all the back seat surface. On top of that a normal luggage filled with books and shoes. Behind the right seat, a small television. Still on the back, one small backpack, one laptop bag, one volumous winter jacket, and a small handbag. I could have putted more stuff in the back, but decided was better to have some vision to the rear behind my seat. Besides, in case of strong braking or an accident, is never good idea to have loose objects that can use my head as a target for the laws of physics. In the photo, we can see that in the back seat there was still some space left.

Also, on the right seat it was possible to squeeze a microwave, a backpack with my laptop, sleeping bag, a pilow and three bottles of alcohol. Not the best of the ideas, i must say, but nothing was broken!

Driving position

I decided to delay the part dedicated to the (fulcral) mechanic preparations for later. Now, just small notes about the driving position that should be adopted for a long trip.

Ideal: the seat should a little bit more distant from steering wheel than on normal day to day driving to allow for a more relaxed and more confortable position. If possible, the seat should be a little bit more reclined since many km on highway are expected.

Mine: Due to the amount of luggage in the back seat, i was limited in terms of space. So, it was a very normal, close and straight position. More complicated, was also the room for my left leg, because the car is so narrow that the wheels positively "invade" the inside of the car. The best solution i come out with, was to drive with my left foot below the clutch pedal (you can gain some awesome 5-7cm for your leg with this trick). On this particular situation, i was happy that i belong to the european country with the lowest average height. By the way, with this position, my head was always above the head support. Not being a safety expert, i suppose that in case of accident, this situation is never positive for the driver. But its a matter of choice in this Fiat: either you have your head supported but then you drive pratically laying down, or if you are properly seated the head support is at supporting your...shoulders.

Ps: For the most curious, yes, there was indeed a microwave inside the car. But, that's a subject for the next post - the luggage challenge.

Itinerary

Normal person: According with the Michelin website, the best option to drive from Poland to Portugal is to go through Germany and its excelent "autobahn" in direction to Belgium, and then come all the way down through France, and enter into Spain near the Atlantic side. The only drawback of this, might be the expensive french tolls.

My choice: After being advised not to go through Germany because police men there are not particular fans of this kind of polish car, and also because in case of problems i would have problems with the car i do not rely that much on normal German person goodwill to help me. If in the last time i was in Berlin, i had troubles asking for informations for schedules of trains/buses to Poland, i didnt wanted to find out how i would solve mechanical problems with a Polski Fiat in Germany without speaking Germany. That settled, the option was to go through Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Monaco, France, Spain (which included aside from the Pyrenees, another big mountain - the Alps). More km (aditional 500), more border passages, worst roads, more traffic, more time spent in mountain roads. The good point, was that since i was not going to spend that much time on highways, i could see some landscape and some cities. And another good thought was: "hey, if i reach Italy, there i will have a lot of spare parts for some problem my Fiat might have".

Ps: As for my help, no GPS or Michelin Guide notes. No, i intended to do it solely with a single map of Europe just with the main roads marked. Nothing of these fancy businesses that people use these days when driving. Good, old fashion PAPER map!

Il Gran Turismo

My perspective: This is a very funny small car, especially because of its engine. A very simple, 2 cilinder, air-cooled engine. It basically sounds like a tractor. Of course that with 652cc, 24hp (when new), 4 gears, high-performance cannot be expected. Mine, i bought it with 86000 km (let me assume that these were the real ones), and although it does not look like it, the car is practically new (1996)! More info, just go to wikipedia :) .

Normal perspective: Shity, small, slow italian-polish piece of rubish from communistic times that should be banned from the road.

Introduction

This blog, as the name indicates is fully dedicated to my yellow Fiat 126P EL (aka “Maluch” ), that I bought while in Poland and that after some months I decided to drive to Portugal. And it will be exactly with a report of this trip that I will start in the following posts, because now memories are still fresh. The reason why I decided to write in English instead of my mother tongue – Portuguese – is as a sign of appreciation to all the persons that helped me in this trip, and that without them I couldn’t have done it. Once again, many thanks for your help, specially the mechanic “team”: Ania, Kajtek and Marek :) .
To make it more appealing to the reader I decided to make this report in two ways: what I have done and what a normal person would have done. Maybe at this moment, this is not perfectly clear, but you will understand what I mean a little bit ahead. Otherwise, this would only be interesting for nuts like me that really are crazy for cars.