The First 550
The Year of Travel Disasters, Part 4
Even once we were on the road, our plans were changing. In the rush to make bookings on the Sunday, I had missed one obvious option for the car-swap at the border. As we travelled, I texted our friends so that they could judge for themselves how feasible the plan was, in case they had to do the same a few days later.
DATE: 20.4.2010
TIME: 12:11:00
TYPE: stored/sent
STATUS: stored SMS
SENT TO: E.
In Teruel. 300km in 3.5 hours. Might aim for as much again this afternoon.
DATE: 20.4.2010
TIME: 18:57:00
TYPE: stored/sent
STATUS: stored SMS
SENT TO: E.
Hotel in Tudela, bet. Zaragosa and Pamplona. Uni town, old cathedral. Did another 250km from 3pm to 6.
Subject: Update
From: Rory Ewins
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:04:25 +0100
Hi folks,
Quick update from a park in Tudela near Zaragosa and Pamplona, where we’ve found some open wi-fi. We drove 550 km yesterday, two-thirds of the way to San Sebastián, so our plan is going okay so far. William is getting a little noisy in the car at times but generally coping okay. He’s missing his home, though. I think he notices the difference in travel when we’re not seeing friends and relatives.
At lunchtime on the drive up we stopped at Teruel, which rang a bell—I realised that we must have stopped there on our trip from Madrid to Barcelona all those years ago [1986]. I remembered a striking old bridge with big arches across the road when you’re coming into town. Nice cathedral on top of a hill in the middle of an old town with poky streets. Didn’t get to look around much, though, as most of our stopping time has been in parks for William to play.
Some good news, at least: Jane has heard from the insurers that they have convinced their underwriters to treat this as a weather event and provide at least some cover. Not sure how much yet, but even if they can cover half the costs it will be a big help.
Off to San Sebastián now; should be there by lunchtime. Might be staying there or in Biarritz, depending on the logistics of car hire/border crossing—I need to tweak our drop-off time to a full 24 hours (times three) so that it overlaps with the next one, and we can drive to get it (and stay in San Sebastián tonight), otherwise we’ll have to catch a bus or train from San Sebastián to Biarritz later today.
23 February 2012