Europe Trip

[DITTRICH]

I am currently holed up in a hotel in Kaunas, Lithuania. Tomorrow the Russian Border and Moscow.

So far the C230K has performed well.
Fuel economy 34.1, 34.5 and 35.0 mpg over 1,244 miles total.
Only another 700 miles to go roughly.

The Polish single carriage roads have allowed me to check that kick down is working properly. Fun stuff!

Fuel in Germany on the autobahn is around £1.19 per litre
Fuel in Poland is around 0.95 per litre
Fuel in Russia will be around 0.50 per litre

Driving time elapsed 23.5 hours (per spreadsheet)
Total time elapsed 27.0 hours (12/08 1500 - 13/08 2000 -2 hours)
Adjustment were made for time differences in the above calculations.

Drove all night across western Europe and hit Poland on 13/08 0600.

Saw a nice w124 saloon in a service station filling up - Registration W 00124 on German plates. AMG Type 2 wheels with black centres and polished rims. Car was black too. Drove off before I could get a pic.

 

[trapperjohn]

Thanks for the update.
Totally envious of you sat here back in Blighty. Its raining of course.

 

[DITTRICH]

I stayed in a hotel in Rezekne, Latvia on day 2 because the road between Lithuania and Latvia is undergoing serious upgrading. Basically it was a 20km/hr construction site for around 100 kms. Bearing in mind my experience at the Russian border last year (15 hours) I decided to break my journey. The room didn't have an air conditioner but at GBP35 per night did not expect too much anyway. At 0600 the next day I headed to the border 60km away. The border was much easier this year: only 4 hours, 1 of which was waiting for the shift change. A much inproved experience. Unfortunately, the Latvian side of the border did not sell Russian insurance anymore which had me guessing what would happen. But the Russians were quite okay with the fact that I had no insurance?! So I drove 100m into Russia to the first petrol station where a little man at the cafe sold me an insurance policy - and yes it WAS a proper policy before anyone asks! Russian 95 RON petrol is GBP0.50 per litre. Then on to Moscow. Did not see any fires or smoke. Roads much improved. Sunday rush hour traffic returning to Moscow (from Dachas for work in the week) was a bit hairy. I did see one car with a "F*** Fuel Economy" sticker in the rear window. Aircon was on full all the time but still got 34.1 mpg from the car. I'm now in Moscow to register my visa at at an address then the holiday can really start.