2011 – Balkans and Caucasus

The concept had been defined and the individual tour points roughly determined. Messe Nürnberg had been informed, they thought it a very good idea and announced that they would give us support on the marketing front. Now we were ready to embark on the first planning phase of the tour as

I established contact with those machine manufacturers we felt might be considered as supporters. The thoroughly positive feedback once they heard about the tour confirmed me in my determination and motivated me for the coming weeks. In spite of an exchange of contacts and information which was sluggish in terms of

There is still so much to do. Our sponsors, Messe Nürnberg and other supporting PET firms opened the door for our initial contact with their customers at whose premises the actual meeting for the interview would subsequently take place. The approach when it comes to agreeing dates for meetings is as

Time flies, as the saying goes. And more especially in these final moments of getting everything ready, – it has cost me the weekend but flexibility is the name of the game. Half six in the morning, I’m tired and in an hour I’m supposed to be on the road. Motivated,

I am woken up early by the cows of our hospitable farmer. After two cups of coffee and an Austrian-style breakfast, it’s time to head off towards Slovenia. I decide to give the motorway a miss and instead take the tourist route over the Katschberg Pass. The Millstädter lake provides a

My day begins in Podmolnik. Here I found a beautiful spot to park the Editourmobil and spent a peaceful night. After breakfast I managed to arrange, at short notice, an interview with Dana dd in Mirna. Mr Mitja Majzelj greeted me warmly and took time to tell me about the company’s

The next morning starts early and noisily, because a friendly forklift driver is moving the logs first to the left then to the right and in between cutting the grass. I’m off to my next interview, to Pivovarna Union. Mr Varsek, the technical director, greeted me kindly, and to my surprise,

All good things must come to an end and in this case, that means the weather. When I get up, it’s pouring with rain and overnight the temperature has dropped by about 15 degrees. It’s perishing cold, at least until the Editourmobil heating system starts to crank into action. Big plans

The alarm goes off. It seems horrendously early to me. Outside it is still dark, or at least it looks like it, and then I notice that, for the first time on the trip, the sky is completely overcast. Later, as I am making the coffee, I suddenly realise that I

We are now heading for Sofia. The road stretches before me and it’s not long before the highway gives way to a kind of country road where progress is slow. At least this gives me plenty of time to think about my experiences so far. The landscape is changing. The gentle