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.

Finally Europe!!

After our last night in Turkey near the sea where we saw dolphins and cruis ships, it was time to move on. Italy was waiting! The trip was OK and even the formality at the Turkish border was quick. In Bulgaria it was different. We went to 6 different stations. At the first one they gave us a flash card with our details and we had to give that to every station. It was confusing and at a certain point we thought we could keep this flash card. At the last station we had to give it back, but we were in Bulgaria. What a difference to Turkey. Small roads and it started to rain. Our last rain was in Khartoum. It was getting cold as well. So we felt we had to rush on. What is the point staying in Bulgaria. We managed to get to the Serbian border in time, although we had to wait 45 minutes. It was their supper time. But again formalities went smooth. Serbia was in a better condition than Bulgaria. The roads much better and the houses gave us the idea of being in Austria. We managed to find a nice hotel and slept for a long time, because the day after we realised that it was 1 hour earlier.

Photo's from Gallipoli Peninsula

Troy- Gallipoli Peninsula

After Pamukkale we drove to the sea again, the Aegean Coast. We made the decision not to go to Istanbul but to Troy instead. By that time we received an e-mail from Frits, Helma's brother who planned to camp at the Como lake in Italy with the question if we could drop by. The boys were very excited, because from Istanbul to Frits was "only"2000 km.

So we choose to skip Istanbul and went to Troy. Troy famous for Homer's Iliad is a nice historic place. Not too big because 6 cities were built on top of it. You can understand that it must have been a tremendous job to identify which city were the found ruins from. Of course is the horse of Troy the most important thing. You also had a nice view on the Dardanelles. The water was very blue and in the distance we also saw the ships heading for the black sea.

After Troy we took the ferry to the Gallipoli Peninsula. This is a very famous historical place. It was visited by many people. During WWI the allied troops fought against the Turkish army led by Ataturk. At that time the Russian were "our" allies and to ensure an entry to the black sea the allied troops wanted to control the entrance to the black sea. In 1915 many soldiers were sent to this place, from India, Australia, New Zealand, UK and so on. The allied forces lost. The casualties were horrendous so they were withdrawn. In the end more than 20,000 soldiers were unidentified. In 1918 after the war the allied forces came back to bury their soldiers. Most of them are now burried in huge graveyards, but there is a impressive memorial for all these young boys.

Of course many Turkish soldiers died as well. So now it is now a place to visit all the cemeteries, swim in the sea, visit the battlefields. We thought it was an overwhelming experience.

Pamukkale

Pamukkale is renowned for the gleaming white ledges with pools with shining blue waters in pools that flow over the plateau. On top of the mountain is the Roman city of Hierapolis, long ago also known for the spa's. Even in that time the mountain was white due to the calcium in the waters. It was a spectacular view but it is not as beautiful as it was a couple of years ago. Apparently less water comes from the spa's and the calcium dries up and disappears with the wind. That is actually very sad.

The Turkish government tries to slow down the process. So there is police with whistles and they whistle every time if people go to far on the ledges or if they walk with their shoes on.

Some places were still intact, but they have built some swimming pools especially for the tourists. In the past you could swim and soak in the pools but those days are gone. It was wonderful that we could see it because the future for Pamukkale is uncertain.

HOME

Dear all,
It has been a long time since we updated the blog. Believe it or not, we are HOME.
As soon as we have our internet working we will update the blog with our last adventures in Turkey, Bulgaria, Servia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Swiss, Austria and Germany.
Ed, Helma, Bart and Evert.
e-mail adress: e.e.zijlstra@gmail.com