Driving Home for Christmas

The last time I posted we were in Split, Croatia, now, a week later, we are home. The wind is screaming around our house in Crooke and bending the trees in the garden as Storm Barra, a ‘weather bomb’ lashes out across the country.

In Split, a man coughed all night in an adjoining apartment, racking, hacking coughs that sounded like he was in the room with us. We had been surprised that all windows along the stairway and landings were wedged open because the evening was cold and wet but now we knew why. The news on our phones was ominous- full of Omicron and borders closing. So it was time to split from our split-level apartment (bedroom downstairs, kitchen cum living area upstairs)….ok no more splitting references😋 – and cross some borders to get home. So we departed Split in the rain, not really sure how far we would get. The roads were uncrowded and the infrastructure was good in Croatia – the Sveti Roc tunnel was over 5 kms long – but it got colder and foggier as we headed north into the mountains with the red roofs of the houses dusted in white

We would have liked a few more days in Croatia maybe in Rijeka (which has some Klimt paintings) but instead we spent the last of our Croatian kuna in a border service station (a bottle of wine and a toblerone) and headed into Slovenia with an uneventful crossing – a quick look at passports and no questions. The roads were poorer in Slovenia with lorries transporting logs but there were flowers in pots outside many houses and pretty countryside. Maybe we will go back some time and spend more than an hour there.

We crossed into Italy near Trieste and the tempo changed- manic drivers, bumper-to-bumper fast-moving traffic and nerve-jangling lane changes. We skirted Padua and Vicenza and stopped in Verona where we stayed in Magnolia Guest House (€50 off-peak), a beautiful townhouse near the Porta Nuova (booked online about an hour before we arrived.) The landlady recommended a little trattoria down the street which was just what we needed to unwind after about 8 hours in the Guzzler. The food was simple – pizza and salad, good bread and wine but such a nice ambiance with the staff chatting and enjoying themselves(we have eaten in so many places where the staff are dour and miserable). It was a local haunt and the bill (very cheap) came with a complimentary limoncella or grappa shot. Love Italy!! Verona was crisp and cold (about 2 degrees) – perfect for an evening stroll around town to stretch the legs

Google took us in circles around Verona the following morning but eventually we were on the motorway. The traffic was backed up with the electronic motorway billboards telling us that there was an accident -not surprising with the volume of traffic and the way they drive. We were thinking about Turin for a stopover but the Alps were beckoning -their snow-capped peaks stretched in the distance against an almost cloudless sky – so we kept going. Soon we were driving through tunnel after tunnel, most of them three kilometres long or more with a short break in between until we hit the big one, the Tunnel of Mt Blanc, 12 kilometres and hot – we watched the car temperature climb to 25 degrees. We came through on the other side to a world that had turned from colour to black and white – snow-laden pine trees and grey skies and plummeting temperatures. And we were in France.

After the tunnel, we sat in a Bonjour cafe, trying to find somewhere close-by to stay. Caoimhin had a cold for a few days and was on the mend but it was now my turn to feel unwell. The nearest affordable place was the Ibis Budget (€62), a really soulless hotel which seemed like a prison cell with everything nailed down, paper cups and very minimalist. The best thing- apart from the price – was the view of the mountains with shifting light and shade – really beautiful.

Driving from the mountains towards Paris, we passed windmills and chateaus, green fields and woods and place names that were familiar … Chablis, Chardonnay, Saint Etienne. At a different time of year, we would have loved to camp and saunter through. But the weather was dirty and drizzly, the temperature never rose above 5 degrees and we were on motorways that were eye-wateringly expensive (€168 on tolls driving through Italy and France. almost €50 for Mt Blanc tunnel). We overnighted in Villabe, Paris Sud in Ace Hotel with a fantastic bakery next door….we were so tired that we had a picnic of wine, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, crusty baguette in our room and watched a movie about William the Conqueror who built his fortress in Caen, a town where we had earlier booked accommodation for the following night – a complete coincidence.

Caen was a surprise, a really lively town with the fortress, churches, Christmas lights and markets. We got our antigen Covid tests here in a pharmacy – €25 for a documented test with results in about 15 minutes We were given a piece of paper very like the EU Covid vaccine cert. What a relief to get a negative result! Although we were pretty sure that our cold symptoms weren’t Covid, you never know…..But when we set about booking our ferry crossing from Cherbourg to Rosslare, all cabins were sold out.

The towns and villages of Normandy echoed with the past, particularly WWII, places like Falaise and Chambois, the flat countryside and the beaches. So much history in ordinary places. We drove on untolled roads from Paris- a far more interesting way to travel. In Cherbourg, a wine merchant told us how his business has been badly impacted by both Brexit and Covid. He also told us that cabins on the ferries to Rosslare were in short supply and reserved for the lorry drivers – a big increase as so many were avoiding the direct route to Britain.

After having our paperwork – our tickets, passports, vaccine certs, antigen tests – all scrutinized by Stena officials, we got on the ferry as early as we could to maximize our chances of getting a cabin. Right from the start, the Stena Line staff onboard treated Caoimhin differently. He was welcomed profusely and assured that of course they would get a cabin for him, we got free drinks and even staff that were walking past would double back to tell Caoimhin that they were so glad to see him again and hoped he was enjoying the journey. He has never been on Stena Line before….or at least that’s what he’s telling me. But we got the cabin.

So after four months, four ferries and nine countries, our European road-trip from Ireland to Greece and back is at an end. To all of you who came along for the ride with us – or even jumped on and off – , we have enjoyed your company, hopefully you enjoyed it too. A huge thank you for all the likes, comments, shares and messages along the way. So until next time… who knows…… the Philippines, Mexico, Portugal or a return to other Balkan countries…or somewhere else

Wishing you all a gorgeous, happy and relaxed Christmas xx

P.S I can recommend retirement!!