We made more stop in Czechia: in Plzeň, which you indeed recognize the birthplace of the most common type of beer: pilsner. It's a cute town with a beautiful big square and lots of pretty buildings. We visited the beer museum and redeemed the beer-voucher afterwards which we got with the entrance ticket. We stayed the night on a dedicated camper parking lot, in a neat row with German RVs.

The next day we made our way to Stuttgart, where Federica had booked a train to take her to Genoa, to spend some more time with her family. I will then take the van back home to the Netherlands. Though close to Stuttgart we had realized our van isn't actually allowed to enter the city bounds, because of the "Umweltzone" (green zone, no old diesels allowed). Instead we just moved to the next stop of Federica's train journey tomorrow to intercept her train there, which worked easily enough.

And so after 25 weeks of spending every day and night together we suddenly each found us alone again, which felt more than a little strange. I drove a little further back North, to the Pfälzerwald. Here I directly went for a long mountainbike route, which was great. This forest area is a real MTB paradise, with countless trails that are each clearly marked and with plenty of elevation and technical challenge. I spent another night on the opposite end of the park to go biking again, but then it was time to drive the last stretch home. I cut up the 8 hour drive alone with lots of breaks, including one long one to go for a trail-run by the picturesque town of Trimbs. Late in the evening I arrived again in Ouderkerk, putting an end to this unforgettable 6 month journey of ours.

With love,
Robert & Federica

PS. The final stats:

• Total distance driven: 16'260 km
• Number of different countries visited: 17 countries
• 5 countries we stayed in the longest: 1. Greece (31), 2. Latvia (29), 3. Sweden (27), 4. Italy (22), 5. Poland (10)
• Number of car mechanics visited: 4