The European City Adventure Thread

[XXXpedition]

How did your tires hold up on the trip.. on and off road?

well, those are still the stock tires...
on the road they are fine - they're holding up great (now 50.000 km (30.000miles)) and are still in very good condition.
off-road i was a bit worried, especially in morocco when we went 70km/h (45mph) on surface like the pic below:

but they held up fine with only one minor sneeking leak from a nail (not sure if from the road or off the road )
so i can't complain other than they are too small...

You guys did see most of Southern Europe..

we try to get out as much as possible...
while living in the states we probably saw more of the US than 90% of americans

 

[XXXpedition]

and since we are already in the south we continue to show our explorations there.

i have to say, you might have seen one or the other pic, but it goes well with this thread and i don't want to go through every single pic i've ever posted

so here we go:

while we had visitors we drove around to show them some of the surroundings of our hometown while in alicante, spain. We headed inland towards Albacete to visit the spectacular town of Alcalá del Jucár in an amazing gorge and ventured up the coast with its romantic villages and picturesque bays...

We even saw a yacht cruising the streets of Jávea.

 

[bobDog]

Sven... while maybe I missed it while reading your site, I now wonder why you folks left Spain and moved to Germany....I certainly think Spain looks like a great place. If not for the weather alone.

 

[XXXpedition]

Sven... while maybe I missed it while reading your site, I now wonder why you folks left Spain and moved to Germany....I certainly think Spain looks like a great place. If not for the weather alone.

you sure cannot beat the weather - very similar to LA weather which i love!
a bit more humid, that's the negative part. but we lived close to the harbor and beach - that was great.
but spanish people, we discovered, are pretty inconsiderate. finding a job proved impossible - for 2 reasons:
first you're a foreigner and that's VERY bad. btw. you are considered to be a foreigner if you are out of the region (not only outside spain)
and the few spanish friends we have don't have good jobs, because of the economy (even before the crisis) and various reasons too long to discuss here.
most of our friends are latin americans, because they are actually friendly not true for a lot of spanish...

so we decided to leave for central europe although the weather is a real pain..........

 

[bobDog]

Sven,
Have you considered returning to the US or maybe South America. Actually do you miss the US or is there things there you never want to deal w/ again?:coffeedrink:

 

[GlobalMonkey]

interesting

Sven,
Have you considered returning to the US or maybe South America. Actually do you miss the US or is there things there you never want to deal w/ again?:coffeedrink:

This is getting really interesting, I would like to hear Sven's answer to this question. It is very often a topic of our conversation at home, since we are mix of four nationalities and two continents...where to live.
Tomas

 

[XXXpedition]

well, well, that's not that easy to answer...
first off, yes i miss the states a LOT! i miss the weather, the people, the land.
if i leave munich it's about two minutes until i hit another little town or village. i absolutely miss the space, the desert and its quietness, etc.
i had the perfect job, made good money, lived comfortably...
the stress level of live (not only work) is much higher in the US, though.
you gotta drive everywhere, etc.

that's better in europe. family is closer. italy is closer . in munich i can go ww kayaking after work in the river that passes through town
there is more differentiation between different cultures in a smaller area - this is cool and this is what this thread is about. but you also cannot get out of it unless you drive for a long time.
but making a living is harder. i make half the money and life costs twice as much...

if i were single i would go back to the states....

when we left we had to make a decision, because our visas were running out. next step would have been the green card. cost back then: about 3 grand. 3 year wait for an approval (hopefully) and we would have needed another permit to be able to work in the meantime...

so we went back to europe.
spain was more because of the weather and country but it didn't pan out.
munich seemed like the next best thing.
we've been here for 2 years - we'll see.

but one thing is for sure: winters are extremely hard on me...
i hate the cold, i hate short days - in combination it is depressing...

hope that clears up things

 

[TheSportsHQ]

I liked the city very much... stayed at the Park Inn at Alexandria Platz.

 

[XXXpedition]

lets stay in spain for a bit...

there are tons of castles and fortresses. you can visit a lot of them and we did a little tour:

 

[XXXpedition]

and still spain.
this time closer to the shores:

 

[jeepmedic46]

I enjoy reading this post. Beautiful pictures, Looks like you are having a great time.

 

[XXXpedition]

oh, yeah, we are enjoying ourselves

 

[XXXpedition]

M A D R I D :

 

[jeepmedic46]

Beautiful pictures, Thank you for sharing.:ylsmoke:

 

[XXXpedition]

and even a bit more of spain:

We left Alicante in the late afternoon. We headed north into the mountains of the Sierra de Salinas and enjoyed an amazing sunset at over 3000 feet (1000 m). A series of thunderstorms moved in late at night which is quite unusual for summers here; once the rain had cleared, we were rewarded with incredible vistas in the morning.

After a hike to the top of the mountain with a 360 degree view and a cave...

...we pushed on west along lonely country roads through sweeping hills and drove through the Parque Natural Sierra de Cazorla y Segura with breathtaking canyons and gorges.

From here we ventured along the country road that connects a series of attractive little towns. We visited Úbeda, Baeza and Jaén with their amazing old towns full of historic buildings and medieval walls.

One of the highlights was Córdoba, once the Moorish capital of the region. The city offers a dazzling array of historic sights and different building styles. The blend of Moorish and Christian architecture shows all through the old town but is most apparent in the amazing column hall of the Mezquita where a catholic church was built right into the center of what was once one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world.

We also marveled at the medieval quarter, the Judería, and the Christian fortress, Alcázar.
The people of Córdoba are very fond of their many courtyards which are not only for the looks but are also used frequently.

We wrapped up our stay with a visit to the Medina Azahara, a city built in the 10th century by a caliph to create a new administrative and residential center. Unfortunately, only ruins are left of this impressive and extremely luxurious palace.

Then our journey took us south-east towards the Sierra Nevada. Our plan was to find a remote and scenic track through the mountains and see the white villages of Las Alpujarras, an area that is not yet spoiled by heavy tourism.

We began our trek at the first village of Lanjarón where we climbed up the steep dirt road past active farms and several ruins of abandoned farmhouses to almost 10.000 feet (2500m). The views from up here were awe-inspiring. The track skirts the border of the Parque Nacional de Sierra de Nevada and sees very little traffic. At night, we spotted a wild pig, quite a popular animal in this region famous for its mountain-cured ham (jamón serrano). Even the paved road wasn't very easy on our vehicle as it winds up and down the mountain in impressive hairpin turns and is certainly not for the faint-of-heart. Some of the quaint villages still preserve their originality although others are already ramping up for tourism.

It took us several more hours to leave the Sierra Nevada as the main drag is under construction for expansion, which not only made our progress slow and painful but will certainly take away some of the romantic flair of the region. When we reached the highway, we made straight for Alicante.

the map: