Halfway down the Danube

Car owners, the second

So we are car owners again. After our coup with the VW transporter which we bought for 4,000 Euros, packed full of stuff, drove it down to Belgrade and sold it for 5,400 Euros afterwards, we now own a 1,800 Euro Mitsubishi station wagon. And no, we don't intend to pull another deal like the first one. This car we plan to drive until we move out of Europe one day. It has become very expensive to rent a car every time we're in Germany and it's almost impossible to stay in Ostheim without a car. Since we're also going to be in Romania for 18 months, we decided to go for it and look for an old, beat-up car which would serve our needs.

Once again, we were very lucky. Our "new" car is sort of a hand-me-down which has made it from the parents of Michael's best friend to his brother and now to us.

It's a very sensible car for a growing family: it has seven seats; five regular ones and two emergency seats in the back which fold out if needed. It has cupholders galore (which made Doug very happy), a good stereo (for baby music) with a detachable front - good for Balkan states -, a sun roof, enough space to accommodate two babies and their gear plus their parents and it is a nice shade of darkish red. Ah, I hear the grumble. It also has 120 PS and goes 160 km/h if need be, takes super gas (not so nice but not too much of a problem since gas is cheaper in Romania) and is used to driving a lot. Never had much problems with repairs and seems like one of those old reliable horses. We hope to own it for a while!