June 22nd
I’ve never woken up in a pub’s backyard on Midsummer’s Day without being drunk or hungover. In fact, I don’t recall ever waking up in a pub’s backyard on Midsummer’s Day at all. But today I did. And I wasn’t alone. Next door, a red camper van and its crew were getting ready to head in the same direction as us. To the ferry and then to the Netherlands. Back to the embrace of Mother EU! Without much fuss, we got ourselves ready to ensure we were on time… and we were.
Over the course of this trip, we’ve become a fairly well-operating team. One navigates and the other drives.
At the port, we noticed that some folks had arrived even earlier than us. That didn’t bother us much. We all fit on the boat… and there was still room to spare!
Before boarding the boat, Eva gave us a bit of a scare. Her passport had fallen out of its pouch and was nowhere to be found. She could get on the boat with her official ID card, but entering the EU might have been a challenge. Eva turned every corner of the car and finally found her passport on the bed, where it had fallen from her bag. I had already started to concoct alternative travel plans in case my wife ended up in the same cells as other undocumented people! I almost started digging out the Euro Cup match schedule – you know, in case I decided to watch a game live! The discovery of the passport solved the issue, so I don’t have to go watch the games…. Maybe on TV or Yle Areena instead….
On the boat, we traveled peacefully, each doing our own thing. I was writing, and Eva seemed to be dealing with quite a lot of photos! Occasionally, we shopped at the ship’s store and dined at their restaurant. I had Swedish meatballs with rice there. They’re cheaper at IKEA! “Swedish meatballs”… What more is there to say? At least the water was good.
During the trip, while I was seated writing, Eva went to look at the scenery and captured some of it in pictures. When we arrived at Hook of Holland, we disembarked in a reasonable time. Our goal was a campsite a couple of hours’ drive away. Along the way, we decided to switch drivers. Eva hadn’t driven in a month. Sitting in the passenger seat for a month doesn’t exactly improve anyone’s driving performance. Eva had to adjust to driving on the right side of the road again and remember how to drive a large manual diesel vehicle. She did well, and we arrived safely.
Of course, over 12 hours of traveling can make anyone our age a bit quiet. It did for us too. Now we’ll have a cup of tea and then lie down. Tomorrow the journey likely continues into Germany… or maybe not. I’m a retiree, not a fortune-teller!