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As we are set to leave Tallinn, returning to Holland for two weeks before flying off to Ecuador on November 11th, here is a little update of what we did this summer. <br />
The Balkans, Albania, our kitten from Ohrid and Auschwitz
Odv2006-04-13 19:40:49
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Summer in Europe
As we are set to leave Tallinn, returning to Holland for two weeks before flying off to Ecuador on November 11th, here is a little update of what we did this summer.
After arriving back in Europe on July 21st 2003, we first spent 4 days in Holland, going through all the paperwork that had piled up during the six months we spent in Central America.
Our car, which had been unregistered in order not to have to pay the exorbitantly high road tax and insurance for diesel motors in Holland, while we would not even be using it, had to be reregistered. It also had to be re-certified for road safety, since the previous certification had long since expired. Re-certification set us back 620 EUR due to required repairs.
All this done we spent 1 week in Normandy with my parents. After which we returned to Holland for a weekend to meet up with some friends. On August 5th, we left again.
Serbia
This time for Belgrade together with Hans, an ex-colleague from my time at the ABN-AMRO Bank. He and his wife had bought an apartment in Belgrade the previous year.
We made it to Belgrade in about 20 hours, taking turns driving. The total distance was about 1800 km, nearly all of which was highway, but unfortunately just after crossing into Serbia, some farmers (undoubtedly having learnt from the example set by their French colleagues) had decided to block the highway, forcing us to take small back-roads unfit for highway traffic.
We arrived in Belgrade and found a lively city, which still feels like the capital of a bigger country, as it once was. A few buildings destroyed by NATO precision bombs during the Kosovo war can still be seen, while neighboring buildings stand intact.
Since the war with NATO over Kosovo, Milosevic lost power to the Djindjic government. A government that promptly set out to restore relations with the rest of Europe and extradited Milosevic to The Hague.
...
See photographs from:
Serbia Montenegro Gallery
,
Poland Gallery
,
Macedonia Gallery
,
Greece Gallery
,
Bulgaria Gallery
,
Albania Gallery
