Berlin Road Trip

Day 6 - Thursday 1 August

We were awake very early and before actually getting up I looked ahead to the journey and hoped fervently that I'd be tucked up in my own bed tonight! We'd agreed that Keith would drive the Autobahn sections as the speed of the traffic last Sunday really did frighten me!

We managed to get all packed up, showered and breakfasted by 7.30am and then Keith and I went to collect the car from the underground car park. After managing to squeeze all our luggage into the boot (we had less toiletries and food but more beer and wine!) we were ready for the off by 8am.

By now Berlin was in full swing and the traffic was quite heavy. We programmed Gladys although we had great difficulty finding the car ferry at Calais so we put in a random address! She gave us an arrival time of 4pm which was brilliant as our ferry was due to go at just before 7pm. We were still thinking of stopping overnight if the traffic was bad and there were hold-ups and I had the address of a Novotel in Eindhoven with me just in case. Sophie was longing for us to stop in Bruges overnight, but that was really too much of a temptation!

We set off and I did feel very nervous but within half an hour we were out of the city and filling up with diesel at a station just before we got onto the Autobahn. I said to Keith I would drive and see how I felt but to my surprise the motorways in Germany were the best part about today so I drove the whole way. Although the traffic was a lot heavier than when we drove in on Sunday, and there were loads of lorries about, it was a real pleasure to drive, with only a handful of speed merchants zooming by. I have to say I think there is a real argument for having certain sections with no limit as the traffic flowed a lot better than it does in the UK. There is none of this hanging about in the outside lane and not concentrating, as unless you are doing well over 100mph, the trick is to get out, overtake the slower vehicle quickly and then get back in. It certainly makes you concentrate more!

We had a great journey, with a lunch stop near Hannover and a fuel and ice-cream stop somewhere in the Netherlands. We had a bit of a hold-up in the very busy city of Antwerp and we went a bit wrong near Gent again (I took a wrong turning on the way out as well!) but we made it to Calais at just past 5pm. It had grown increasingly hot all day and when we pulled up in the ferry queue it was registering 37c!

Luckily we were able to board an earlier ferry which meant we were back in the UK by 6.30pm. I called Mum to say we were on our way back and texted Mikey who seemed to be having a great time which was a relief.

On the radio we heard that a part of the M25 we would travel on was closed so we decided to stop and have a meal in Kent. We used the AA Pub Guide on my phone and then put the address into Gladys and within twenty minutes we were drawing up outside the Pepper Box Inn near Maidstone. It was a beautiful little pub and was very popular with lots of people enjoying the warm weather and sitting outside in the garden. They were able to fit us in for a meal but we all felt a bit scruffy and dishevelled! Of course, nobody knew that we'd just driven all the way from Berlin!

We had a lovely meal (garlic bread and crab salad for starters, beef stroganoff, fish and chips and schnitzel (!) for mains) and then it was time to go and tackle the British roads. I actually felt quite ashamed as there were hold-ups in Dartford as they'd closed one tunnel and half the toll booths and then we had the mother of all jams through the roadworks when they closed two of the three lanes which caused chaos. It was still warm - 28c at 11pm - and the relief when we finally made it home at midnight was immense!

So, would I do it again? No doubt it's far, far easier to fly but there was a real sense of adventure about driving and we could take whatever we wanted. It's just sharpened my appetite for driving on the continent as the roads are fabulous and on the whole, the driving is far better than in the UK. If I had my way I would definitely do it again but perhaps stop en route half way!


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