Driving my broken car from northern Europe to the gate of North Africa.

I have lived, studied and worked in Europe for many years, and I like long-distance travel in my spare time. One year before the outbreak, that is, 20 19, two of us drove a Volvo station wagon from the cold northern Europe (Copenhagen) to the warm Gibraltar Strait and completed a long-span trip. Although it has been three years, it is still an interesting experience in retrospect (unfortunately, many photos taken along the way were not saved because of the problem of mobile hard disk).

Our national station wagon has many fans, and everyone likes to call it a crock wagon. German name is Wagen, and English name is Wagon. The original meaning is a carriage that can carry both people and goods. Later, it gradually became the general name of the station wagon originated from 1950 s-suitable for traveling and loading things. Although the name of the crock car is transliteration, I don't know if it is called too much. I think it complements the characteristics of this model.

In the past, this kind of hard-core crock truck was not out of date aesthetically.

I just don't know why. Nowadays, going to road trip is a high-frequency mode of travel, but there are not many people who really go out in crock carts in China. Is it because it is expensive?

According to the information I found, the latest global statistics were made by JATO, an international automobile information website, in 20 17. The data shows that 72% of the world's crock trucks are sold in Europe, while only 9% are sold in China and the United States.

Another survey conducted by JATO on 20 19 shows that the top five global sales of crock trucks are still five European countries: 1, Sweden; 2. Czech Republic; 3. Germany; 4. Poland; 5. Netherlands

As listed in the above statistics, Sweden, which ranks first, is both a big consumer and a big producer of crock cars. Volvo V series is a very popular car series. It can also be said that crock trucks are the great love of European families and self-driving travelers of all ages. Volvo's V60 is also a favorite model in European countries.

By the way, my Volvo V60 is our car for this trip.

To save money, our car is an old Volvo V60. Personally, I think the characteristics of Volvo V60 crock car are: 1, leather; 2. build; 3, can be installed. Of course, for the point of "can be loaded", its spatial performance may not be the best, but it is indeed enough.

In fact, in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and other western European countries, it is not too expensive to buy a V60 in good condition, and the procedure is basically around 16000 euros. The second-hand car market in western European countries is very mature, and there are indeed many cheap cars.

Here are two screenshots of Volvo V60 on the Dutch used car website:

Our whole trip started from Copenhagen, Denmark, all the way south, passed through northern Germany, then crossed the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France from north to south, and finally reached the Strait of Gibraltar, the southernmost tip of Spain and the gateway to North Africa. The whole journey is about 2600 kilometers.

Due to the long driving distance, the length of this article is limited. I will share the card points of some countries along the way according to the time axis and geographical coordinates, and then share some more detailed stories and feelings on the road later.

On the first day from Copenhagen, we quickly went south and entered northern Germany. On the way, we passed Hamburg, the largest city in northern Germany, but we went straight to Holland.

Germany is famous for its unlimited speed and extremely low accident rate. However, few people know that the golden age of German expressways was more than 10 years ago.

A famous city in northern Germany: Hamburg.

I remember driving a highway in Germany in 2008. I started driving at a slow speed of 180 km/h in the slow lane, and there was no competition. Suddenly a car buzzed past the overtaking lane on my left, and it took only a few seconds from its appearance to its disappearance from my sight. I didn't even see what a supercar it was.

In recent years, due to too many cross-border vehicles from Southeast Europe and other countries, the quality of drivers is uneven, resulting in some accidents (for example, 20 19, Polish truck drivers backed up after drinking, resulting in a major accident. Of course, the total accident rate in Germany is still far lower than that in most countries in the world), so the German government has set a speed limit of 120 km/h in many places. Old drivers in Germany now can't run at will.

When we entered the Netherlands, we chose Rotterdam as a city to stop and rest. In order to control the distance and time, we don't stay in other parts of the Netherlands. Many people should know that Rotterdam port is not only the gateway to Europe for a long time in the last century, but also the largest port in Europe and even the world. At the same time, it is also the most important and busiest port in the world.

It is worth mentioning here that when you enter the Netherlands from Germany, you will find the dramatic effect of the speed change on the expressway.

There is no speed limit on German expressways, so it is normal for most drivers to drive at the speed of 150-220km/h ... The speed limit in the Netherlands 120- 130 km/h, and there is no border inspection between the Netherlands and Germany. There are no high-speed toll stations in both countries, only one border sign, which is much more unimpeded than driving from Beijing to Tianjin.

National symbol when entering the Netherlands

The evil Dutch police set up many speed detectors on the border between the Netherlands and Germany to catch drivers who don't slow down. What's even more immoral is that the speed limit of the Dutch side in some border sections is100 km/h.

This time I entered the Netherlands, the speed was almost 200 km/h, just in time for the speed limit100 km/h. There was no other way but to slam on the brakes. When your speed drops from more than 200 to less than 100, you will feel that your car is crawling on the road at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour, which is very magical. It's really hard to change from luxury to thrift.

After 20 19, it is allowed to drive more than 200 cars across Germany and Holland, but because I drive an old model, the top speed can't reach this level-Volvo limited the top speed to around 180 km/h in order to ensure driving safety.

Volvo V60 gives a list of the top speed of each version by year.

The scenery of Dutch highway can be highly summarized by the prairie of cattle and sheep.

In this country below sea level, most of the land is plain and there are large grasslands. Moreover, the Netherlands is the country that produces the best quality dairy products in the world, so there will be flocks of cattle and sheep on various grasslands along the road.

Of course, in addition to the big cattle, sheep and grassland, you can also see tall and white modern windmills and those ancient traditional windmills.

Although the Netherlands is a small country, there are many sections of expressways that are very wide and have four or five lanes in one direction. This is because there are many ports and dense vehicles in the Netherlands, and many goods from all over the world have to land in the Netherlands, and then they are continuously transported to all parts of Europe through the Netherlands. Rotterdam alone ensures the daily necessities of at least 50 million people in continental Europe.

So this is also the consideration that we choose to do some replenishment and rest in Rotterdam.

The designer of Rotterdam magic vegetable market is the designer of Tianjin Binhai Library.

This paper focuses on the Dutch seawall Afsluitdijk, which not only separates the North Sea from the Inner Sea to prevent floods, but also connects the north and south of the Netherlands. The dam is 32 kilometers long and 92 meters wide. It was built 88 years ago and is one of the wonders of human architecture.

A corner of the seawall also separates the inland sea from the open sea.

Occasionally, we can stop and look at the sea. It is through this dam that we can drive from northern Holland to Rotterdam.

In Europe, the popularity of go on road trip is very important. Freeways in European countries are basically based on the principle of ensuring traffic rate and social efficiency, encouraging speed, so as long as your speed does not exceed 10% of the speed limit, you will basically not issue a ticket.

What is even more unusual in the Netherlands is that driving on the vast Yuan Ye in the north of the Netherlands, even if you don't open the window, there will always be some fresh smell of cow dung floating from the outside.

My secret book is: To go to road trip, Holland, the most worthwhile places are actually the exquisite and beautiful towns. Turn off the high-speed option in the navigation and take the national highway. You will have many surprises.

A small town in the Netherlands

So in Rotterdam, we have no time to go shopping. We just had a short rest, packed some materials and continued our trip to the south.

The road from Holland to Belgium passes through many canals, and the bridge on the river is often raised by passing ships, so the vehicles on the road have to wait patiently.

Rotterdam is located in the south of the Netherlands, and it is very fast from Rotterdam to its southern neighbor Belgium. The road conditions in Belgium are slightly worse than those in the Netherlands, but generally speaking, they are more comfortable.

Many people think that the best beer in the world is in Germany and the best chocolate is in Switzerland. Actually, both of them are in Belgium. Belgium is a small country smaller than the Netherlands, but it is an exquisite place.

The speed limit in Belgium is 120km/h, but few people follow it. Compared with Brussels, where there are peeing boys and the headquarters of the European Union, I recommend some small but definitely worthwhile cities-Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Leuven and so on.

At the first stop in Belgium, we chose Antwerp.

At night in Antwerp, we stayed here.

There are many interesting things in the city of Antwerp, such as underground transportation, underground tunnels across the river, riverside castles, maritime museums, antique bars, centuries-old chocolate shops, and the most beautiful railway station in Europe (voting)-Antwerp Central Railway Station.

Antwerp Castle

Antwerp railway station

Inside Antwerp Railway Station

Because of the high population density in Belgium, I don't recommend driving in the center of any city, especially the capital Brussels.

Another reason for not driving in the city center is that the quality of beer in Belgium ranks first in the world. When you arrive in Belgium, you don't find a bar for a few drinks, which is a disregard for the country's special cuisine.

Like every time we come here, we wander around the city center and find a bar to taste some beer of our own brand at night. I got up early the next morning and went straight to Spain via France.

The overall quality of Belgian beer is recognized as the first in the world.

This time we are going to visit Spain carefully, so France is just go on road trip.

It should be pointed out that the speed measurement of French police is mostly the mobile speed measurement of plainclothes police cars, which is very concealed. Congestion is common near Paris, but other sections are fine. There are no high-speed toll stations in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, while there are many in France, so cash or cards should be prepared in advance.

We spent the whole day driving out of France. There is no border inspection between Schengen countries in the European Union, but spot checks will be conducted. Spain cleverly set up a high-speed toll station on the border with France to facilitate the police to check cars. This time, we were also unfortunately "spot-checked". After the police confirm that there is no problem, we can enter Spain.

The first stop is the famous Barcelona. However, the most interesting part of this trip is actually the 72-kilometer coastal road before reaching Barcelona.

On the left of this road is the vast Mediterranean Sea and golden beaches crowded with tourists, and on the right are restaurants, bars and entertainment places. You can stop to play, take pictures, eat and drink at any time.

This is the Barcelona coastal highway that you may have seen in some film and television works.

This road perfectly explains the sentence: "Going to road trip is not a destination, but a road".

Schematic diagram of coastal highway

Barcelona seaside

Overlooking Barcelona

The trip to Spain is very easy. We stop and go and let nature take its course.

Most of the distance from Barcelona to Madrid is in the mountains. The mountains in northern Spain are bare and khaki, but they are spectacular. Driving in Spain is like coming to Mexico. No wonder Spain likes colonizing Mexico so much.

The mountains of Spain

After Madrid, we went to some cities in central China, all the way down to Malaga via Có rdoba, then to Gibraltar via Vilia, and the ferry ride to North Africa was only 1 hour.

Night in Malaga, the pearl of southern Spain.

When I was near the Gibraltar ferry, I saw many crock wagons with lots of luggage tied to their roofs. The locals said that the owners of these cars are Moroccans who come to Spain to work, and they want to drive their cars across the ocean to their hometown in North Africa.

I am also quite touched by this. It is true that there are hard-working workers in every corner of the world.

The south coast of Spain faces North Africa across the sea.

In Spain, I intentionally turned off the high-speed option in navigation and took many mountain roads and dirt roads that were not shown in GPS.

Just stop and go, drive for more than half a month, passing through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and other countries, but in fact, the pure journey from north to south is actually less than two days (of course, you have to step on the accelerator to finish). This trip, the round-trip driving distance is 6325 kilometers, and there are forests, plains, mountains, sand dunes and beaches along the way. The overall feeling is: tired but not annoying, complicated but fun!

Finally, I'll talk about two advantages of traveling by crock truck after practice: 1, there is a lot of space, and you don't have to worry about your luggage and things you bought along the way; 2, comfort and passability, can adapt to complex road conditions. All the way down, take some steep mountain dirt roads and gravel roads. The car is more stable and undamaged. Of course, you can't use it to deal with pure cross-country routes, so this is not a trip, but a gap.

It is worth mentioning that I went to dinner with a local friend in southern Spain. He drove a Porsche 9 1 1, and I praised his car.

I never thought he would say this. In fact, in the eyes of Europeans, Volvo is the real old luxury brand, while Porsche is playing with noisy cars.

With the progress of all mankind in fighting the epidemic, the day when we can travel freely in Europe again will not be too far away. Then let's talk about the precautions for self-driving in Europe in advance.

It must be emphasized that we must strictly abide by the rules on the road-never occupy the overtaking lane, don't merge at will, avoid the vehicles on the island when entering the roundabout, make way for the main road by the branch road, be polite to pedestrians, and don't whistle at will.

Remember not to drive the local train. For example, if the speed limit is 120km, you'd better drive at 120km, and if it exceeds 5%, there is basically no problem.

The quality of European drivers is the highest in the world, so don't worry. I only honked the horn three times during the round trip of more than 6,000 kilometers.

It is best to drive from China to Europe with an international driver's license recognized by IDP (an international driver's license renewed by a member country can't be bought for several hundred yuan on Taobao).

Someone once told me that the websites of some European embassies in China clearly stated that China driver's license can be used for short-term travel! Yes, but once something happens, even if someone hits you, it will be very troublesome to solve it.