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Around the World in 66 Days - Europe to China by Car
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Netherlands
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Netherlands
20080624 Netherlands, Rotterdam by Kambiz Taleghani This all started four years ago when
I promised my daughter I would take her to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games if she learned some Chinese before the
games. She did. So we headed to Beijing – by Car! We shipped our car from Los Angeles to Rotterdam. Flew to Europe. Then started driving East towards China.
We eventually made it to Beijing after 60 days! This is the story ... (the story gets more interesting after
Hungary) ...
 Arrived in Amsterdam. Luggage, and lots of it, did not make it. Rented a
station wagon. Later in the evening a flight with luggage arrived. Loaded.
Drove to Rotterdam where the Sportsmobile van has arrived by ship from the U.S. and is waiting for pickup.
Enroute from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, I managed to leave behind my voice recorder in the airplane
at Dublin, Ireland airport! So much for the record of the interview on the radio which Kambiz
gave this yesterday morning, and so many voice recording waiting to be posted on the website!  Took the car to be repaired at U.S. Car Centre Pieterson in Rotterdam. A one-day repair became
two, then three, then... Every time I called to go see the car, Monique (reception) said "Oh no. Don't
come yet. We will call you when ready". Eventually I went to the dealership. The car was
not there. Apparently in the process of repairing they had damaged the car in an accident, and were afraid to tell me
until they figured what to do! A friendly mechanic actually pulled me to a corner and gave the news.
By this time it was Friday and we had lost precious time. I told them to bring the car. It was functional.
We agreed that they would send a check for the damage to my U.S. address and I would take care of the repair in a U.S. body
repair shop upon our return. "One door closes another opens." Here
is the picture of our Bulgarian master mechanic, Vesso Sabotinov, in Rotterdam who, kindly, stayed late
at night to make sure the car is ready for its long trip. A true mechanic. Could actually
diagnose and repair instead of just replace parts hoping that one of them would fix the problem. A true and proud professional.
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Visited the Maritime Museum of Rotterdam. If you are interested
in ships, boats, and harbors, you must visit it. The floating portion of the Museum is very interesting.
 A wide collection of barges, steam boats, ships, etc. The port section of the museum had some old
samples of wagons and cranes that were very interesting. Early days of mechanization. We
were lucky we had good sunny weather. These were the longest days of the year. Did
you know that Rotterdam has the best ice cream in the world? I have that on the good authority
of my daughter! Chocolate flavor at the Australian Ice Cream must not be missed.
Really! It is near downtown.  The city shows many architecturally unique designs such as the Cubic Houses. The cube is “sitting” on its corner.
(see picture). Near the Cubic houses are nice restaurants facing the water. Walked around
the Cube houses and took some pictures. Well designed and seemed functional, if unusual looking.
Interesting.
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Netherlands, Rotterdam, KT Finally, after 3 days of waiting, the car was ready and we left Rotterdam at 7:00 p.m. Apparently in the process of sending the
car from one mechanic to another in order to fabricate the missing parts and fix the air conditioning, someone had a slight
accident!! From then on the story takes an interesting turn.
“They” were afraid to tell me about the accident and were desperately trying to get a body shop to repair
and repaint the damage. In the meantime, we were losing precious time. Finally
a friendly mechanic from the original dealership came and whispered the case in my ears! We told the dealership
to forget the repairs on the body and to just make sure the car is in good mechanical shape. So,
finally, they delivered the car to us by 6:30 p.m. By 7:00 p.m. we were out on our way to Budapest to meet
my wife who was flying in from Los Angeles. Drove through
the night and all day Saturday and finally made it to Budapest within 5 minutes of Adriana arriving from Los Angeles.
24 hours of driving (actually slept for about 2 hours).
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Europe to China by Car Adriana
Vernon Kambiz Taleghani Leila Taleghani
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