WHAT A JOURNEY

by tudorwin Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:50 pm

My wife Deb & I had a somewhat eventful journey back here to Spain, having spent a few months back in blighty visiting the children and grandchildren.
We drove back in our old van catching the Brittany ferry sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao.
The ship broke down, & drifted in the bay of Biscay for about an hour.
We heard a loud shudder and then the engines stopped, so remembering the advents of 100 years ago, we decided this might be a good time to leave the bar & go up on deck, to check for any rouge icebergs.
Fortunately there were none, but whilst we were there a school of Dolphins decided to entertain us.
That is something we can cross off our bucket list. We have always wanted to see wild Dolphins in their natural habitat.
At about 4am Deb and I were asleep in our cabin, when my mobile phone gave a ring tone informing me I had received a text message, so in my semi-conscious state,
I read Welcome to ICELAND, calls are charged at 35 pence a minute and texts at 20 pence per minute.
In my half asleep state of mind, I decided that 1 of 3 things must have happened.
NUMBER 1. Either we had got on the wrong ship at Portsmouth.
NUMBER 2. During the hour we were watching the dolphins. We had drifted a lot further than I thought.
Or more likely NUMBER 3 Vodafone had no bloody idea where we were.
About 7.30am Spanish time I was quite pleased the ship docked at Bilbao & so began our long journey home.
The van came back fully loaded as usual crammed with furniture, bits of wood and tins of baked beans etc. It drove great and never missed a beat all the way, except due to the amount of weight on it, it would only go about 30 miles an hour up some of the mountains, it took us 13 hours to drive the 530 odd miles.
All was going well until we got 30 miles from home.
Going through the middle of nowhere, when the Spanish decided to close the bridge with no warning or alternative route just a sign saying ROAD CLOSED. we noticed a narrow track going up the side of a mountain & decided to take a gamble, well for 3 miles straight up this bloody mountain path and just like Vodafone earlier the lovely Linda the voice of the Tom Tom, had absolutely no idea where we were, & kept telling us to turn around. There was no chance of that, with shear drops both side of us. Now looking back & thinking about that track I would have second thoughts about walking up it, let alone driving the van that may well have been a tad over weight.
Anyway we made it to a small road halfway up the mountain & the sat nav found us a new route home, but coming back down we went through a small village, that had obviously rearranged the one way system through the village, and had forgot to tell the lovely Linda TomTom . We found we were driving down a one way street the wrong way. The Spanish drivers were all flashing there lights, bibbing there horn and waving there fists, but by then I was passed caring.
Eventually we made it back safe at about 9 pm just before it got dark. Our neighbors Rob & Carmen had left us a bottle of wine & a bottle of beer, in the kitchen as a welcome home present.
I shall have to say thanks to them both, it was the best & most appreciated beer I have ever had.
But It’s great to be back.