After recharging flat battery idling problem

having recharged my A6 from a pal's car I soon found that 1) the central display of facts , air temp, MPG etc was not illuminated, then 2)  I found that the engine would not tick over at low speeds. I had thought that, following the manual instructions, I had had the ignition key in Position 1 for the said 5 seconds +. The car drives but is a night mare at traffic lights as the batter was not sufficiently charged up to restart..I am in Holland right now.  and don't want to get ripped off by local Audi dealers. Any advice would be welcome:) cheers..Nige Clements