The World WAS "once upon a time" an interesting experience..... ********** Travelling Adventures in the stone age..! Travelling Adventures in Europe long before mass tourism.....! I remember a time (like many of you, without doubt) not so long ago, when a voyage  was  an adventure.  In the space of a couple of days, within Europe, we changed systems, languages,  currency, standards of living, among many other things. I recall when even a trip to  France was  fraught with problems, difficulties, amusing situations, dangerous situations Starting with the very vehicle we were using, which then were not really up to scratch  for such voyages.  Their reliability was limited, if you were coming from UK, the steering wheel was  (and still is) on the wrong side of everything (roads, petrol pumps, motorway payment  booths etc). Sometimes one wondered whether the petrol was the same and the  guaranteed breakdowns mean...