Thank you

Dear all,

We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our adventures during this trip.

It was a lot of work, and sometimes a lot of frustration with Internet that was slow, slower, slowest, but in the end it was also a rewarding job. We heard that many people followed us during the trip, which is a nice feeling and for us it will be a nice memory.

But now Bart,Evert and Helma have to get ready to start their life in Holland while Ed, for the time being, will work in Malawi. We all feel a bit homesick: To have no obligations, to wonder around the earth beautiful places, to meet so many kind and helpfull people on the road and in all the countries. This trip is something we will never forget and carry with us the rest of our lives.

Ed, Evert, Bart and Helma

Bye Bye!!!!

Here we are

The Bovenstraat 21 in Rotterdam

View from our house in the Benedenstraat

We made it!!!

Home sweet home.....

The next day, 6 hours driving and we entered the Netherlands.

We were almost home. The sun was shining although it was ,compared to all the countries we visited, cold.

The first stop was to see Oma, Helma's Mum and then to the Bovenstraat. It was so strange to be back in Holland again.

Black Forrest

They love cuckoo clock in this part of Germany. We even saw the Biggest clock if the world.

In the centre of the Black Forrest, Titi see, we ate a nice sausage and enjoyed the views. Our last stop over was in a Gasthof where we enjoyed a very good meal, with apple sauce bought by Helma in the LIDL...

How many countries in one day?

Italy, Swiss, Austria, Lichtenstein and Germany!! We had forgotten how beautiful Europe is and we enjoyed to trip so much.

The Swiss were very thorough and they gave us a good check-up before they would let us enter the country. Woo. Those mountains and snow on top it was a great view. We ended that day at the Boden see were we managed to find a place at a farm.

Como

We spent some lovely days at the lake. Although the camping place was more cramped then we ever experienced during the trip the view was wonderful, the lake and the mountains. The water was rather cold but refreshing. The boys were very active learning to sail on the splash from Frits and even to do some windsurfing and swimming, while Helma and Ed relaxed and tried to catch up with the dutch news and the dutch newspapers.

In the end Bart and Evert could cross the lake with the splash which was a major achievement.

Road to Italy

The next day travelling went fast. The road were in a good condition. It was green, overwhelming green, something we haven't seen for a long time. We drove through Croatia and ended in Slovenia, the border post to the European Community. However, we noticed nothing. Without any checking, except the passports, we could enter the EU,

We spent the night in Slovenia where we were in holiday country and we even found the first LIDL. We did some shopping there but Helma had to be stopped, because the car was full.

The next morning not the mosque but the church bells woke us up.

Once in Italy, no borders, the traffic was hectic. Traffic jams, something we really have to get used to. So it took us some time to reach Lake Como. Como was beautiful. Although the roads were narrow and there were lots of tourists it maintained its caracter.

Once we reached Pianello Frits was the first relative we saw in a long, long time. But there were more relatives so it was a wonderful reunion.