Very long and too short road trip is done! I left home at midnight, took the airport bus, and my flight was at 7. Couldn’t sleep on the bus as usual, and slept maybe 30 mins on a plane so I was a little bit tired when I arrived to Malaga… I rested a while, then we went riding on his motorcycle to Torremolinos and Fuengirola. And I saw the sea again!!! I just love the feeling when on a motorcycle… there you can really FEEL you are going somewhere, so again I was smiling like an idiot 😎. Unfortunately the weather was not the best and it was also raining a bit… No surprise there! In the evening I got smoked trout! Friday morning it was raining like hell, naturally. So we waited a few hours and it cleared up, and finally I got to see El Chorro. From there we rode to Fuengirola and then back to Churriana. And we smoked salmon and I had a sauna… oh yes! It was nice to see some people again but it was weird feeling going back there. But I definitely miss so much being near water!
Here’s some photos from El Chorro.
Early Saturday morning we started driving… first destination was Pamplona (no Peniscola this time), about 870 km I think so we arrived there quite late. We drove a lot on smaller toll free roads, which were absolutely beautiful with idyllic villages on the way. But it was also quite slow with the trailer and small mountain roads! Breaks were really smelling bad after that… In Pamplona we stayed at hotel Bed4u, perfect for just a sleep and a big parking lot that we needed. Sunday was our longest drive, about 930 km to Rouen. In the first two days we drove 1800 km’s, and I could really feel it. Some of you know that I have permanent damage in my left ear, which causes dizziness sometimes, and especially after a flight or a long drive. Since I forgot my ear plugs for the flight, and had two long days in a car, I was feeling a bit dizzy. Luckily it was not as bad as it could have been, and surprisingly my ears were not blocked after the flight! So far my record has been 3 weeks of not hearing well and having to hold on to something when I walk. In Rouen our hotel was Ibis, again perfect for just a sleep and a good parking lot.
Third day we drove to Bremen. First two days was gorgeous scenery, but the norther we got, the flatter and also more boring it got, since then we were driving on highways instead of small roads. We had 7 cd's and we were sick of hearing them after two days. Don't get me wrong, I love Metallica, but enough is enough. In Bremen we stayed in hotel Wolters, small hotel but also very nice! Luckily I am so good at finding the best hotels for any situation ☺. Day four, to Ängelholm, and that was absolutely the best hotel! Hotel Klitterhus was at the sea, seriously like 10 m to the sea! We also had a view to the sea from our room. After eating four days at the gas stations it was great to eat real food in a real restaurant. It was a bit rainy for the last days, and very cold in Sweden! So we were just looking at the sea… The last day we drove to Stockholm, only about 570 km so we arrived early. I booked a studio from Airbnb, and that was really great, and our host was totally lovely!
Here's some photos from the road, mostly from Spain and France
This is to my Dutch friends ☺
We stopped at the border shop before taking the ferry from Germany to Denmark. I didn't buy this but just had to take a photo... You know why!
This is the view from our hotel room window at hotel Klitterhus!
This is a bad photo but it says HÖLÖ and MÖRKÖ. If you know Finnish and Swedish you know why it is so hilarious! The rest of you have to use Google translate.
When I was at Arlanda, waiting for boarding, I received a message from my sister that mum was taken to hospital that morning by ambulance. I already thought I have to quickly somehow change my flight… she is still at the hospital and will stay there for a while but is better now, she has heart failure. I feel sorry for my sister for having to be the only one taking care of things over there, since I am in Brasov and my brother is in Dallas. I can only offer moral support from distance!
Then something that I have been thinking how to put. A few of you know who I travelled with, and you know what a total a**hole he is. To the most of you, let’s just say that me and him have an ugly history. When he asked me to this road trip, I knew it was a bad idea to say yes. One of my worst ideas ever. And that it really was, just in a different way than I thought. I was prepared that nothing has changed, but I was not prepared that everything has changed. He kept telling me before the trip that it will be fine and we will work it out if something goes wrong. What a load of bs. Also the good parts between us had changed, and that I couldn’t handle but shut myself totally to cope with it. It caused him to be even more cold and indifferent to me. After day two we hardly spoke at all. I was really upset in couple of nights but he just didn't give a shit about that (he never does). He still hasn’t commented anything and I know that he never will because he has zero respect for me (or for any woman). I am still waiting for him to pay for the hotels!
So there, I will not give all the ugly details, but it made me thinking of travel partners. I love travelling alone, because usually I like being alone. Sometimes it would be nice to have someone with you to share ideas, to look for your bags, someone to have dinner with, someone to say it will be ok when I am tired… but could I travel with someone? I am not the easiest person either to be with! I need a lot of time for myself, I need to recover alone from social interaction, I get exhausted and cranky if someone speaks all the time, I can’t handle noice in the morning, I get cranky when I am hungry (I know someone who is just laughing her ass off right now!) or tired and so on… Any volunteer travel partners? No? Ok.
Now I am having the post travel depression… coming home is always hard. In fifteen minutes it already felt like I was never anywhere and have this empty feeling. I am still hoping my friends would visit me here so we could make short trips to nearby cities. Everyone is welcomed to stay at my place for a few days. As long as you don't speak in the mornings. Or eat garlic. And bring red wine. 🍷
