A dream come true! Barriers passed and fears overcome... Glory to our loving Father, who gives us the courage to dream. And gives us, according to our faith!
Here comes the moment of my story about the "secret mission", for which I left Turkey 7 months ago!
I want to share with you my experience of the first trip in my life in my own car, 2800 km long, lasting 16 days of my life. A trip from Europe to Asia...
7 months ago I decided to take this step. Despite the fact that we had a Turkish residence permit until December 10, 2024, we left Turkey in order to return back in our own car. My friends who are following our #TheLongestTrip probably remember: I started my driving in Kemer. I got my first experience in rented cars here, on wonderful Turkish roads. In the mountains and on serpentines, I drove at a speed of 10 km per hour, and fear took my breath away. And now two years have passed and I have decided: I am ready to get behind the wheel of my own car and go on a long journey.
I had to be absent from Turkey for 185 days to get the right to enter here with my own car. I still haven't received an answer: why is there such a rule!?
But there came a moment when all the circumstances and signs came together at the same time. And we arrived in Katowice... It was at the end of April....
And on November 3, I arrived in Krakow, from where I started my journey to Turkey.
Walking through the charming streets of autumn Krakow, I enjoyed the unique charm of this royal city. The majestic Wawel Castle on the mountain, crimson leaves in the parks, majestic temples... All this awakened a slight nostalgia before leaving. After all, every place we love remains forever in a corner of our soul... We spent three days in Krakow and set off for Hungary. Our route was through the mountains, historical castles were visible in the distance and beautiful wide landscapes filled me with a sense of triumph of a fulfilled dream of traveling behind the wheel without restrictions.
The first long distance from Krakow to Szeged, Hungary, was about 570 km. I was driving at a speed limit of 130 km/h, but of course frequent stops at gas stations and cafes, road repairs, and other unforeseen circumstances made our journey longer than expected. So we arrived late at night. And also on the way, an unpleasant situation happened to us. I hit an obstacle with my right mirror. We felt a blow, the mirror closed. We drove on without stopping, but later we saw that the mirror cover had disappeared, and now our wires are exposed and it looks like this!
It was 1 am. We were very tired and dreamed of finally taking a shower and getting some sleep. But an unforeseen situation happened. We couldn't open the door to our Airbnb. It was too late to call the owner, so we asked Airbnb support for help. Fortunately, we managed to solve the problem. But we came to the conclusion. It's better to move in for at least two days, because buying an apartment for only 10 hours is a bad idea. We don't have time to recover. And paying $50-70 for half a day is unreasonable.
The next day we checked out of the apartment at 11 am. It was a wonderful warm autumn weather. We walked around the city center and found a nice cozy cafe to finally eat a normal hot meal. Because we don't really like the food at gas stations :)
We found out that there was a Mazda service center in Szeged and rushed there to buy a detail for our car's mirror, but it was disappointing to find out that the spare part was out of stock and we had to wait 2 weeks. So, we had to tape the wiring and move on!
We decided to order this in Antalya, upon arrival in Turkey.
Enjoying the beautiful Hungarian architecture outside our car window, we headed to the next city, where we bought an Airbnb apartment for our sleepping. We had to drive 345 km from Szeged to Alba Iulia, Romania. We had to cross the Hungary - Romania border. And we didn't know how long it would take! But luckily we crossed the border quickly and rested at a gas station, drinking tea with fruit and cake :)
Luckily for us, this apartment, which cost only $40, was warm and cozy. There was underfloor heating, and even an electric fireplace made for a really pleasant stay. We would have liked to extend our stay in this apartment for another day, but unfortunately it was already booked. And we went to the city for which we stayed an extra day in Romania. This is a pearl of medieval architecture - the city of Sighisoara.
We drove only 117 km from Alba Iulia and found ourselves in a beautiful, cozy two-story Romanian city. To park our car, we needed cash. Here we held the Romanian currency - the leu - in our hands for the first time.
I had never been to Romania before. Knowing about this country only that there is a mysterious mystical castle of Dracula. I read about the city of Sighisoara on the Internet. It was an enthusiastic story of a girl who had been there and described the city as a bright and unforgettable medieval city, famous for the fact that it was here that the famous Vlad Tepes, aka the legendary Dracula, was born.
I won't describe all the historical moments and architectural masterpieces of this city today. But I will tell you this: over the past two and a half years we have visited many beautiful cities in more than 10 countries, but I was struck by the beauty of this colorful ancient city. We enjoyed walking through stone arches, among two-story multi-colored houses, each of which was enchanting with its uniqueness. Of course, I will write a separate post about this city later. And we are moving on...
The next stage of our journey was moving from Romania to Bulgaria. We walked around the city of Sighisoara for a long time, enjoyed a meal in a cafe and left at 6 pm. This was a mistake, because ahead of us was a road of 631 km to the city of Burgas, where we rented an apartment to recover our strength. But this time we decided to stay for three nights, because this was the minimum period offered by these hosts. $ 120 for three nights of stay. Other apartments on our way cost $ 70 for one night. So we chose this option. But we miscalculated the time a little and got delayed on the road. At 5 am I was still driving, and there were 100 km left to Burgas. I felt like I was falling asleep... so we had to stop at a gas station to sleep for 3 hours ðī
Finally we arrived, and we saw that our parking place looked like this :) On the wooden fence it was written "Garage" in Russian. But it turned out that our car was too long and did not fit completely in this garage. This amused us and we laughed for a long time ))) We took a photo of this unique garage ð
The next day me and my youngest daughter 
Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and this prevented us from fully enjoying our walk. My eldest daughter 
334 km from Burgas to Istanbul was the next part of our journey. And then came the moment when we arrived at the border of Bulgaria - Turkey. We were a little nervous. Because our mirror was wrapped with tape and we were not sure that it would not become an obstacle at the border. We had been absent for half a year and hoped that the Turks would let us through with our car. After all, this country has rules and restrictions for tourists who arrive in their own vehicles that are incomprehensible to me...
But, thank God, we successfully crossed the border, and here we are again, on the wonderful Turkish roads. I will tell you honestly, these are some of the best roads I have driven in Europe. My car must have been happy to drive here )))
I fondly remember this moment when we stopped in an unknown Turkish city, in a roadside cafe, to eat our favorite lentil soup. Three servings for only $7, and bread + tea for free. I love this Turkish tradition!
We spent four wonderful days in Istanbul. I won't tell you about the first day, where we had a negative experience with our house of airbnb, but the next three days we enjoyed our accommodation and walks around this magnificent historical famous city. Another of my dreams came true, and another barrier was overcome! The thing is that many of my friends scared me that it is very difficult to drive a car in Istanbul, and I was very afraid and tried to avoid it. But my brave categorical Victoria said: you are afraid - so let's go and you will get rid of this fear!
We found a wonderful apartment for three nights with underground parking, just a twenty-minute walk from the famous Galata Tower, and first we had a good night's sleep, and then went for a walk and to explore the famous Sultanahmet district.
Two days of walking in Istanbul - it was a wonderful weekend in this famous city of Turkish culture and history, which I had heard and read so much about, and also watched in the TV series "The Magnificent Century"...
We wandered among the crowd of delighted tourists, taking countless photos of the Galata Tower from different angles. The red Istanbul tram slowly moved among the people, periodically giving a warning signal: be careful... The Blue Mosque was impressive with its grandeur! We walked along the Bosphorus embankment, mentally moving to those historical times when the famous Hurrem lived here and the harsh history of the great Ottoman Empire was being created...
Near the beautiful majestic Hagia Sophia Cathedral, we went into an exotic luxurious Turkish restaurant, and for a moment I felt like the wife of a sultan ðĪŠ
And here it is, the exciting moment: we are driving across the famous Bosphorus Bridge, which is a kind of visiting card of Istanbul! I have seen this beautiful bridge many times in photos, and now I enjoyed this incredible feeling when I drive my car in a stream of cars, crossing this conditional border between Asia and Europe, which is considered the Bosphorus Strait! This is truly unforgettable ðĨ
We made another small deviation from our direct route to our destination, deciding to visit the capital of Turkey - Ankara.
Here, walking through the streets of the old city, near the castle, I felt the spirit of real Turkey.
I am glad that I visited the capital of the country that I love. But life in a big city stresses me out. And I also cannot understand why the cost of housing per day is so high here! Even higher than in the legendary Istanbul ðĪ
We set off on the final leg of our long journey from Krakow to Kemer. The road was difficult and long. At first we drove on motorways with a speed limit of 70 km/h. Later we drove on the winding roads in the mountains around Isparta. So of course we drove slower than experienced drivers. But it was very interesting to get out of the car sometimes to enjoy the starry sky and the clean mountain air! 520 km - was the approximate distance we traveled from Ankara to Kemer.
Finally, we arrived again in our cozy warm palm paradise, in our second home Kemer! Surrounded by the mountains of the beloved Kesme Boazi canyon, we gave free rein to our feelings and memories. Here we settled in an apart hotel, where our friends made us a residence permit. Then we rested for a few days, walking by the Mediterranean Sea, in which I swam on the first day. And when the rains started, we enjoyed hot Turkish tea...
Now that we have arrived in Kemer, I have to extend my residence permit in Turkey. It takes a lot of time because I have to register on the website, collect documents, get insurance, and study the issue of registering a car at customs...
I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures on our #TheLongestTrip
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