Safe on UK soil.

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I am starting this blog from scratch as the auto saved text doesn't seem accessible.The journey through Bulgaria was accomplished very easily and 7 hours after leaving home(10.30pm) I was parked up for the first rest stop just short of the Serbian border. 2 hours later I was crossing over into Serbia.I positioned myself at the end of the queue (of lorries) wondering how long it would take to cross over? However from the next lorry after me the driver got out and explained (in bulgarian) that only lorries needed to queue.I thanked him and drove to the gates.Green card in hand I got through with no bother and after another 2 hour nap resumed my journey down the mountains to Nis,with fine weather I had no problems with the pass and its 13 tunnels!At Nis you get on to the motorway all the way to Novi Sad.3 legs are tolled.Nis to Belgrade 7 Eu,Belgrade to N.Sad 2.50 Eu and N.Sad to border 3.50Eu so in total it costs 13 Eu to cross Serbia.
I was still incredibly ahead of my expected timing however this was soon to be eroded.Firstly at the Serbian side I chose the only line where there was a problem at the front of the line and watched other cars pass by.10 mins later I got to there and again had no problem leaving. Given that hungary was an EU country and I was travelling on an EU passport I chose the line for these passports instead of the 'other passports' line.Once again I ended up watching some 50+ vehicles pass by as they opened another gate and then a third!!We 2nd class citizens just had to wait for rigorous searches/viewing of contents for every vehicle.At last I reached the officious man who asked if I'd anything to declare.I said no just presents and personal effects.He didn't believe me and sent me to the search area.Another 15 minutes later they said very authoratively GO .(Easier said than done with a messed up pack and open suitcase on the table!).I guess that single females of older nature are not supposed to travel alone unless up to no good!That seems the only explanation for the third of 3 times I have had full searches when crossing INTO Hungary, none on the returns.
Hungary also produced the worst, road repair to country ratio, and so my 'ahead' level was reduced to a mere 2 hours.By 5.00 pm on the 7th I was bypassing Vienna and looking for the( preferred) Merche services. They do not appear to be available that direction and about 6.30 I was turning towards Wels (near the end of Austria.)Having intended overniting at Merche services and visiting Wels on morning of 8th my plans changed and though it was approaching dusk I decided to take a look at the town with its old buildings and go back to photgraph the best in the daylight. I struggled to find the way to the town center and as it was now getting dark I gave up but seeing an IKEA in the distance I went to see what offers they had.Once again things changed as I came across a huge store full of festive items.Having loaded on some pieces for additional gifts I went towards the inner area and stopped in amazement at the sea of orchids(chiefly phalenopsis) in front of me. like a kid in a sweetie shop I wandered between the benches admiring also the supporting plants and display materials. 89Eu later I exited and stowed the plants(carefully) and gifts in the pack. For the rest of the journey I had the heater on ,set at 24C for the orchids.It also meant i was warm for sleeps.

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Photos

Enjoying the walk
Pregnant mum Trinity. Hence why not on team Samantha photo