[VIENNA, Austria]
Oh, I should be in Budapest! Gernot and I left his grandparents last night to go to a party in Vienna, but we forget our hotel reservation so we immediately turned around to pick it up. Gernot in his super quick style of rat race driving, made a left hand turn to enter his grandparents street even though it was an illegal left hand turn.

Half way acrossing the street, over the tram tracks, the car is launched in the air and our heads bang on the roof as a large thump is felt in the bottom of the car, like we just left the gearbox behind.....

Turns out we hit a 15 cm concrete barrier dividing the road from the tram tracks.... and the left hand front tyre didnt like the impact, it was dead flat. Waiting in the freezing cold (- 6 degrees) we tried to figure out what to do. Firstly convertibles dont have a spare wheel, only a pressuried can as emergency. Even the spanner to loosen the nuts didnt fit as the car has non standard wheels fitted. Waiting for ages for the tow truck and calling lots of people, (his grandfather knew a car enthousiast who gave all sorts of info that wasnt necessary helpful..) we finnally got a tow truck to a petrol station. We tried the pressurized can but that just blew straight back out the holes with out sealing. We missed the party and hoped we could get up early at get the car reparied.

On the second Christmas morning Gernot was up early and calling every garage in Vienna. If they werent closed, they didnt have the wheel and that would take a few days to order in. We hope tommorrow we can leave the car with a Peugeot dealer and they can repair the car whilst we catch the train to Budapest for a couple of days. Also the breaks are leaking oil and the ABS warning lamps keep flashing....so maybe they can fix it whilst its there!

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[VIENNA, Austria]
Merry Christmas every one!!

I am celebrating Xmas with my great friend Gernot in Vienna, Austria. Its very cold outside, about -4 degrees over day, with a light dusting of snow. Yesterday we visited a Xmas market in the city centre and then had a great traditional Xmas dinner with his mum.

Tommorrow we plan to drive to Budapest and spend a night there, no doubt taking plenty of the local beverages in order to keep warm. ;-)

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It was my last day at work yesterday....I am officially on holidays until the 31st December, and then I am unemployed, a bum.

Oh its a great feeling!

Thanks to you all for the messages and wishes :-)

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Moved my things into storage last weekend, into the attic of Aunty Riet in Eindhoven. Felt a little emotional at one stage when I was packing.....another confirmation that I am leaving and closing another chapter in my life.

On Sunday I had a farewell drinks with my family, again by Aunty Riet in Eindhoven. It was good to see my family again together in one room, a little sad of course to say goodbye.

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Welcome to Jean-Paul's travel adventure Diary.

I will be starting my travels from the 5th January 2003, where I will be flying to Capetown, South Africa from Amsterdam.

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