Meet the sixth member of our family
“Do you know how much we paid in that fancy restaurant in Amritsar?” calls Mr.Blab from the other room.
“I dont know…$30?” I am not really interested in the answer, more so in where he is trying to take this conversation. What is he trying to say?
“Almost. $27 – twenty seven dollars! Boy it was cheap there. Do you remember we used to pay like $3 or $4 for lunch or dinner usually?” he is day dreaming by now, not really starting a discussion with me.
And in a nutshell, he is right. Asia was exceptionally cheap to travel through – a big reason why we ended up spending almost a year there.
Europe is not. Europe is a different breed of cattle altogether. While in Asia trains, buses and boats are practically dirt cheap, in Europe they may be nicer, but plain unaffordable for us. Yeah, 20 Euro for a trip might be fine for one, but when you multiply it by five it becomes a whole lotta wowza (yeah, I know this is bad English).
After considering motor-homes – too expensive; walking – no way; skipping the continent – we never give up without a fight; we ended up with the plan of buying an old cheap car in Sofia and trying our luck with it.
And we did.
I sacrificed myself to the bureaucracy gods and lost almost 4 hours of my life in the process of changing the ownership registration for our car – the rainy gray day did not help at all.
But in the end we have a shiny blue car. We needed a name and while toying with the idea of calling it Pretty Betty Blue the Second, the Dod came up with the perfect name hands down.
Drum-roll…
I present to you THE COUCHÂ ta-da!
We have a feeling that this creature has been tortured, badly. It has more wounds and bumps than a cat’s favorite scratch pole. It is missing bits and pieces. There is a hole on the driver’s side window. Squeaks and rattles give a lovely white noise to the experience, but…
But the most important thing is that it MOVES.
It got us almost 400km away from Sofia and every time we touch it gently and greet it for good morning, we hope it will get us a lot further.
Please kindly (and gently) welcome Couch. Send good thoughts, vibes, prayers whatever is your way. Because if this car takes us through Europe, we are one hell of a lucky buggers.
Did I say gently? Make that very gently ;)
How are ya’ll fitting in it?? The backseat might be a little squished… but then again I guess your crew has dealt with worse conditions… Lots of prayers for a ya’ll and the car and seeing many really cool things along the way!
I’ve seen that car before :) We took a couple of trips up to a particular families house in it :)
Glad to see you guys have a way to get around Europe :)
Cheers,
Colin
Kris, it is surprisingly spacious inside. There are three seats in the back and the two childseats fit good too. So, the car is fine as long as it keeps on moving
Colin, you can not forget Couch once you have seen him ;)
Boy, is he/she ugly ;-) I like cars like Couch – you can decorate them whichever way you want and the result will always look better than the start! (Set your creative kids to work!)
A bit of good advice: Do make sure to get Couch checked up thoroughly before you enter Western Europe! And if you want to tackle Germany (which I very much hope), make sure you have that special window sticker you need to enter the “environment zones” in German cities.
I wish you happy hours cruising the Autobahns (and not sticking in traffic jams) :-)
Jenny, that was the idea. Especially that front bump – we have some plans for that one. Thanks for the tips. Where do we get that environment sticker?
LOL this was such a great tribute to ‘The Couch’. I laughed out loud! LOVED the unveiling, by the way. Quality publicity for this honorable hero. And for sure, we couldn’t have entrusted this time-proven, ever-valiant steed to more capable hands, I’m sure your gentle treatment and kind words are all he needs. But… now…with 2 kids, 1 dog AND 1 RABBIT in tow, we find ourselves scratching our heads and wondering if maaaybe he might have been the best (cheapest) way to get to Frankfurt (where our journey West begins)?
Too LATE, Stacey! You cant catch us now…unless you are capable of a long brisk walk.
ЧеÑтито Рено! Да ви вози леко и безаварийно!
Германците имат навика да правÑÑ‚ техничеÑки проверки по пътищата и да налагат Ñолени глоби, затова е добре предварително да проверите какви Ñа им изиÑкваниÑта – знам, че мерÑÑ‚ дебелина на грайфера на гумите и други подобни. Ð¡ÑŠÑ ÑигурноÑÑ‚ ще направÑÑ‚ проблем, ако колата е ÑÑŠÑ Ñчупено Ñтъкло.
Thanks a lot for not calling it Pretty Betty Blue the Second! :-)
Aaaaand good luck!
Wow, awesome vehicle!
“Move out of our way!”
“Don’t you dare touch our car”
I’m sure it will bring you far.
Awesome indeed. Already survived more than 500km ;)
I love it ‘the couch’ classic! I think that is a really good way to save money travelling through europe, it means you do what you want and you arnt stuck on any bus or train schedules. :)