It's been three weeks of driving through Europe so far.
We are hiring a petrol Toyota Townace NOAH (and therefore nicknamed him NOAH!) from Wicked Campers in a bright graffiti/mural along the theme of PiL - Public Image Limited. We get a lot of stares! We approached a police road block yesterday and they all just stared at us and forgot to pull us over!
We are driving on the right in a right-hand-drive (UK) car which makes it extra challenging. Pulling out onto a highway or a roundabout requires extra neck skills. One of the scariest challenges is watching out for pedestrians who just walk out onto a cross walk without looking as they always have the right of way. You wouldn't dare do that in Australia. You actually have to brake hard for them here. It all just needs a higher level of alertness.
The aircon has handled the 39c days well. The economy is quite good at 11.5km/litre. The fuel is AUD $2.10 a litre though!
There are heaps of trucks on the highway more than I have ever seen but it is a orderly system where they will stick to the right which is the slow lane. Even slow cars stick to the right so that the fast traffic can do the speed limit which is 130 km/h (!) - there is absolutely no undertaking like in Perth - it just shows how silly some Perth drivers are! 😉
Interchanges seem complex and the merging can be quite stressful sometimes especially because I am driving on the right-hand side of the car.
I think it would be quite stressful following a map I am quite thankful for the GPS. The van is going good and keeps up with the traffic well. There are constant roundabouts - it seems to be the way to intersect minor and major roads. Sometimes the scenery is so idyllic that we want to stop to take a photo every 10 seconds.
We are now avoiding toll roads so the distance equates to a longer time and careful planning needs to be taken. It is peak season and school holiday time and France is the most visited country in the world, so everything is extra busy.
I'm enjoying the freshly made baguettes that Shamara makes with cured meats and interesting cheeses. With the high temperatures on most days, we are getting through about 6 liters of water per day. 'Careful planning kills magic' so we are keeping our options open as we travel.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Braving it in Barcelona
what a roller coaster ride we had when we arrived in Barcelona!
Land at 12:30pm and weren't allowed to get off the plane for about 15 mins (felt like an hour!). We kept entertained watching our bags come off the plane. Eventually we ourselves were unloaded onto a bus which seemed to drive around aimlessly and then deposited us at doors which soon after we entered we saw backed up 100s of people - as far as the eye could see! Possibly almost 2009 people banked up at any given time! A strike we later heard.
Now we were on a small flight so we knew this wasn't jus tour fellow passengers. Instructions were being yelled out in Spanish only but our lessons hadn't wuite covered the rapid fire delivery of these!!
People were being sent back from the queue they'd tried to join (EU only) and were needing to get to the back of the line as there didn't seem to be any differentiation. All in the same boat!, there was shameless queue jumping, people were crying as they were missing transfers etc (one lady was getting married on a cruise ship sailing in 4 hours and the rest of her family was already on it!)
It took us 2 hours in that queue to be processed.
Then came the drama of finding out bags. By this stage so many flights had landed that none of the screens at the conveyor belts had our flight number on them. So here we were 100s of confused people wandering around looking for our luggage - lost, upset, tearful. It was like being back at the emergency evacuation centre. We walked and walked round and round peering hopefully at the various piles of bags. There was no one manning the information desk and the few staff that were around were not responding to queries.
Eventually we found our bags and I can't even begin to describe my joy!
So now we could start a hassle free trip to our van hire place right? Wrong! Because then began the drama of train travel with a man who doesn't get detailed info and never asks for directions or help! After hopping on and off ra done trains and backtracking until I eas nearly in tears (no food for 6 hours can do that to me!). And then I had a "I am in Spain" moment when a trio of musicians (double base, piano accordion and trumpet) hopped on to our train and started playing ragtime and pop. So cool! My first smile for the day! 😊
We eventually found our way to the Wicked depot and the relief when I saw that it didn't have anything overly offensive (the guy an Aussie called Mick) actually offered to tape over one bit as he knew my views on Wicked signage :).
A quick trip to Carrefour (so huge I was afraid of getting lost!) to buy supplies and sheets and $60 we were off and away.
Lucky to be invitees to stay with a delightful Spanish couple Antonio and Guillerma (friends of a friend in WA). Not a word of enough ("thank you very much" and "how are you wa the extent of Fuillerma's!) and so the little Spanish we have learnt came into good use!
The van is right hand drive and driving on the right side of the road is doing Ben's head in and making me feel very vulnerable!!
Ben will write more about the driving experience when we have more Internet connection. In Madrid at the moment and loving it!!
Land at 12:30pm and weren't allowed to get off the plane for about 15 mins (felt like an hour!). We kept entertained watching our bags come off the plane. Eventually we ourselves were unloaded onto a bus which seemed to drive around aimlessly and then deposited us at doors which soon after we entered we saw backed up 100s of people - as far as the eye could see! Possibly almost 2009 people banked up at any given time! A strike we later heard.
Now we were on a small flight so we knew this wasn't jus tour fellow passengers. Instructions were being yelled out in Spanish only but our lessons hadn't wuite covered the rapid fire delivery of these!!
People were being sent back from the queue they'd tried to join (EU only) and were needing to get to the back of the line as there didn't seem to be any differentiation. All in the same boat!, there was shameless queue jumping, people were crying as they were missing transfers etc (one lady was getting married on a cruise ship sailing in 4 hours and the rest of her family was already on it!)
It took us 2 hours in that queue to be processed.
Then came the drama of finding out bags. By this stage so many flights had landed that none of the screens at the conveyor belts had our flight number on them. So here we were 100s of confused people wandering around looking for our luggage - lost, upset, tearful. It was like being back at the emergency evacuation centre. We walked and walked round and round peering hopefully at the various piles of bags. There was no one manning the information desk and the few staff that were around were not responding to queries.
Eventually we found our bags and I can't even begin to describe my joy!
So now we could start a hassle free trip to our van hire place right? Wrong! Because then began the drama of train travel with a man who doesn't get detailed info and never asks for directions or help! After hopping on and off ra done trains and backtracking until I eas nearly in tears (no food for 6 hours can do that to me!). And then I had a "I am in Spain" moment when a trio of musicians (double base, piano accordion and trumpet) hopped on to our train and started playing ragtime and pop. So cool! My first smile for the day! 😊
We eventually found our way to the Wicked depot and the relief when I saw that it didn't have anything overly offensive (the guy an Aussie called Mick) actually offered to tape over one bit as he knew my views on Wicked signage :).
A quick trip to Carrefour (so huge I was afraid of getting lost!) to buy supplies and sheets and $60 we were off and away.
Lucky to be invitees to stay with a delightful Spanish couple Antonio and Guillerma (friends of a friend in WA). Not a word of enough ("thank you very much" and "how are you wa the extent of Fuillerma's!) and so the little Spanish we have learnt came into good use!
The van is right hand drive and driving on the right side of the road is doing Ben's head in and making me feel very vulnerable!!
Ben will write more about the driving experience when we have more Internet connection. In Madrid at the moment and loving it!!
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