Return. Part three, last.

It was such a relief to be back in Europe. The closer the ferry was getting, the brighter the feeling got. Life is all about this kind of contrast. I’ve spent a month in Morocco. Everything is great on the outside but emotionally it was exhausting. But at last, after a month, I’m home! My continent, my Europe! My home. Later in Spain I could clearly tell that Morocco exhausted me on an emotional level. Why? I won’t be able to tell. But realizing this requires the contrast that I’ve mentioned above. Perhaps it is the foreign mentality, maybe the religion. 

Unloading in Spain also made me feel different, local smells! It’s really important. Maybe it’s the result of a dry climate, but Spain is the first time I could feel smells in a long time. 

All I wanted was cheese, meats, shrimp, spinach and wine. Having entered the shop, we were running around like wild African people and we were grabbing everything that we saw. That was it! Happiness!

After that we have stopped in Malaga, staying over in a wooden wagon that was rented to us by a welcoming Spanish lady. We were so happy to hear Spanish TV, to drink Spanish wine and eat Fuet. The next two weeks we would spend in the same fashion, trying every kind of Fuet that we could find. 

The road from Malaga to Valencia was perhaps one of the best moments in my life. I felt enlightened. I just seemed to understand everything. It even felt like I understood Spanish, which of course wasn’t the case. I could also see palm trees out of our car’s windows, people in clothes that I’m used to seeing and familiar shops. And no goats or camels on the road, although I feel in love with them too. 

We have stopped in Poblados Martimos. It is an adorable district in Valencia next to Borriana. We rented a three room flat not far from the sea. That was the best we could have hoped for. The flat was equipped with everything one could wish for to simply stay inside of it and not going anywhere. There were even groceries for guests. This is exactly what we needed after the past few months of travels, everything we wanted at that point was a bit of stability. We have spent two weeks in this wonderful flat.  

Worked from distance, had some drinks, ate, walked around the city and on the shoreline. The oranges that grew around us made us very happy too. Until one of us got the idea to actually try them, as it turns out they are completely inedible. At the same time I’ve become familiar with works of the filmmaker Gaspar Noé, who really brought diversity into our sunny days. For some reason, our landlord only took half of the rent from us. And brought us a big bag of oranges as well. What a pleasant occasion it was.

After Valencia we drove to Barcelona.

I immediately fell in love with the city! It is ideal in everything! Its spacious and vast. It houses many people but there are also many places where you can find peace and solitude and go for a quiet lone walk. It is sunny, warm and infinitely varying. Even the bicycle lanes are not next to the sidewalks but actually are laid in the middle of the road. Everything has been thought through with model precision. I’ve never seen anything like Barcelona before and was very pleasantly surprised with its conveniences. The only unfortunate part was that Park Güell was almost entirely under reconstruction but the feeling of a fairy tale was there.

We drove out for 450 Kilometers. That was tiring. IT was already dark when we have arrived to the village and there were only 5 houses; we found ours. There were cars in front but without signs of life. IT was only 19:30 but it was already very dark outside. We took a long time to figure out which room was ours. We’ve practically explored every window to try to find it. I immediately started getting a feeling that I’m in one of these horror movies. As if somebody was watching us, but we couldn’t see them. And the more we were looking, the more the feeling increased. But nothing will happen in reality. We will just be wandering around in darkness without even seeing each other. Just calling each other out occasionally…but not even hearing…brrr.

In the end we decided to call the phone number provided to us by Airbnb, which told us to just enter, its open. As it turns out, we didn’t reserve a room but an entire 2 story building. However, it was without internet. But at least it was warm and there were many rooms. Next day we were met with a beautiful French morning in the province with tractors and little lizards that were running around in dry leaves.

At 11:30 we left for Germany. 

And again the stop was Adelsheim, Germany. We arrived very late, around midnight, so all of socialization had to wait until the next day. On the 29th of February in Germany, flowers were blooming and it was 17 degrees, and in the evening of the next day we got to savor some of the French and Spanish wine that we have brought with us. We’ve also talked about our adventures and impressions. About the desert, the night cold, about the incredible Moroccan border control that knew Russian geography and history, about the berbers, medinas, about the large quantities of French tourists in the trailers scattered all over Morocco. About the ocean and the goats that lives among tree branches. Our German hosts were expecting portraits of two boys from me as one of my commissions, after the portrait of Karina that I drew, and I’ve gladly turned my drawings in. The next day, we departed for Frankfurt to our friend Vlad.

After 5 in the evening, even before sunset, we were already at his doorstep. 

Vlad was anxious to show us the city, and we immediately headed for the river of Main, explored the center of the city and the bay area on foot and lastly climbed the bridge where we were told to expect something truly amazing. Me and Steffan had very high expectations. But unfortunately after 5 months we became coarse to the notion of beauty, became pickier. The sunset with skyscrapers didn’t excite us much anymore. 

-Vlad, we have seen the highest waves in the world, we have seen all sorts of mountains and climbed so high, the car was barely functioning our heads were hurting from the lack of oxygen. We have crossed Gibraltar to reach Sahara itself!

After so many countries and cities, Frankfurt was just another city on our way at this point. We hope that it doesn’t hate us for not appreciating its beauty :) But that same evening went as expected, with Jägermeister.

On the 29th of February something went wrong, and instead of a logical conclusion to our trip, through Poland or Belarus we were headed to my father in the Netherlands. He had recently moved from Utrecht to Assen, which is located at the very north of the country. Ultimately, we have also managed to cover the majority of Europe with this trip, save for the Scandinavian countries. At my dad’s, we have stayed with him in his apartment. His house had many stories and dedicated to “senior” residents, only people 55 and above lived there. His apartment is on the first floor, and the building itself is located right next to a pond. One time, a we saw a man out of the window that was casually fishing in it on the other side. We didn’t deem it necessary to go for groceries this time around. The Netherlands always manage to make an impression on Steffan. As we were walking through the city, he was commenting in awe of how the traffic lights are numbered, the drainage systems on the roads were numerous and how entire families were out in the city riding bikes. Not a single window with blinds or covers either! The only downside was that nobody was accepting our cards. Only Maestro cards were accepted. If I hadn’t found EUR 100 that we’ve lost before, we would have to join that fisherman at the pond. :)

A week later, on the 6th of March, having congratulated my dad with his birthday, we have departed towards our home. We have slept in a hotel on the shore of the Baltic Sea in Poland. The hotel had a swimming pool and a sauna and frankly, that was the best thing one could ask for after a trip like ours. We dove into the pool from springboards like kids, swam in inflatable pool floats and were generally happy that everyone went to our rooms so the place could be to us alone. We have spent the next night in a similar hotel in Poland. Similarly cozy, just without a swimming pool. A day later, Belarus, Minsk, rain.

On the 10th of March, we have arrived to Russia. We have arrived pretty much as was planned. Steffan had 5 days left on his visa to travel around Europe. At the border, the officers were very interested in our trip. Either they counted us being out for 160 days instead of 90, or they got scared of our trips to Africa and the Netherlands in duet. They have sent the car through a scanner, twice. Even searched their car with their own hands. But nothing caught their eye in particular. Apparently there is no ban on importing that much alcohol.

In conclusion:

5 Months

17,000 KM

EUR 8,000

13 Countries

37 houses/apartments/rooms

0 Volga breakdowns

No items lost, not even the smallest one

Best impressions came from the waves in Portugal, Nazaré and Sahara.

Worst from Marrakech and Lisbon

Most amazing people we have met – berbers

People that changed in our eyes the most – Polish

(very responsive and smiling people, how didn’t I notice this earlier?)

Most expensive country: Netherlands

Cheapest: Czech Republic and Poland

It is cold in Africa during the winter! But pretty much no insects or scorpions

Tastiest: still Georgia ;)

Thanks for watching