Overview day 225 - 244
15 June - 4 July 2023
Rhineroute part 1 - Two weeks at home
And so, after being on the road for 7.5 months, we’re back home in just 36 hours. A bit strange, but after a second it seems like we’ve never left. “Home” what is that exactly? We feel at home everywhere.
But first, let’s update you on our last days in Italy and how our return journey went.
Flixbus
Before we started cycling, we talked a lot about “what if…” scenarios. We also discussed the reasons why we would or would not go back home. This was a scenario where we wanted to go back. So on Friday 16 June we started the journey to the Netherlands. At 7 AM we got up to pack the tent and at a little before 9 we were ready to cycle to the station for a train ride to Florence.
From Florence we transfer to the Flixbus to Paris and then to Utrecht. The bus arrives on time and we can put our bikes on the bike carrier on the back of the bus. Unfortunately it appears to be broken so the driver refuses to take us. He calls the Flixbus office and they send us a message with a phone number that we can call. Meanwhile, the bus leaves. Without us.
After 45 minutes on the phone with the Flixbus customer-excuses-service (because we can always find a reason to not help you), we got offered a solution. We can go with another bus. This one arrives without a bicycle carrier! We ask the bus driver about this. “Mama Mia” is the answer of the driver who is still smoking a cigarette on the platform. It is clear that he is in a “very good mood” and he is not helpful at all. But we certainly don’t intend to let another bus pass by and make it clear that we will go with all our stuff on his bus, no matter what. If we can remove the wheels from the bicycle, they can go in the hold. Fine for us, we are happy that we are finally on the way.
We will eventually return to the Netherlands, but the Flixbus can count on a Flix negative review.
Back home
How was the journey? Great!. And how are things here? Good, nothing really changed.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to give one answer to the question of how things have been the past 7.5 months. And yet that is the question we are asked time and time again. “Great!” Is also the answer nine times out of ten. Only when we talk for a while longer, the stories come out. Not just from our side. And then often it seems that quite a lot has changed here “at home”.
Rhineroute
And what is the plan in the Netherlands and after that?
The plan is to get back on the bike as soon as possible. To get on new bikes that is. Bought brand new second hand from Marktplaats (a Dutch second hand website). And because we are spending anyways, we immediately buy a new tent as well. We won’t bore you with the details of how and why.
While we wait for our new tent, and when our old tent has been sold already, we sleep at camping Lage-baan in our even older tent. Camping dog Nicah was also very happy that we were there. So happy that she broke through the flysheet in the middle of the night and almost stood in the inner tent wagging and licking us awake.
When all our stuff is finally in, we’ve sold a few things, seen our families again, visited our friends again, had two funerals and a wedding, been to the dentist and everything else on our to-do list is crossed off, we can finally relax a bit. In the coming weeks we will follow the Rhine all the way to Bregenz, Austria. We have been invited to a birthday party and it would be very nice if we could be there.
On Wednesday, July 5, part 2 of our journey started. Hopefully the next blog will follow soon.
Hey Rob & Isabelle,
We wish you a great new start, and that you will have a stunning, safe and joyful ride waiting for you.
Big hug!
Thomas & Rosa, Chaioso
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