Good morning on day four of our road trip to Bulgaria. My intentions to write every day have somewhat gone by the wayside because since arriving at my mum’s in Germany there’s been so much catching up to do that the last two days have simply gone in a flash. Here’s a rundown of our trip since we left our hotel in Ashford.
On the morning of day two, it was time to set off for the Eurotunnel. With a little trepidation about what was awaiting us at the border, we set off on our short 12-mile trip to the terminal. The first thing we noticed was how few cars there were for a week day.
With an almost empty terminal building, things were nice and relaxed. I must say that the facilities at Eurotunnel are excellent. Particularly the dog exercising area is worth commending. I’ve rarely seen a nicer and better organised place for dogs. A huge enclosure where dogs can run safely off lead with tons of agility equipment, water and even food dispensers. A haven for our four-legged friends. Frunza enjoyed herself immensely and thanks to this facility she was nice and relaxed on the train later on.
Both border control and customs were friendly and easy-going and we went through with no trouble at all, contrary to all the scaremongering that has been going around on social media. Nobody even asked us for the reasons for our travels.
Once in France, this trend continued. We drove into Belgium on a road with no borders, the same from Belgium into Germany. Everything was exactly how it’s always been. Not a sign of a temporary barrier, customs car or any other form of movement monitoring.
It really gave us lots to think about. Both social media and the press are clearly spreading lies to scare the masses. Before we left, we were worried by all the doom reports, both in the UK and European media, about closed borders, stamps in passports, tracing schemes and all the other measures that have been unleashed on the people to control their movements and increase their fears and all in the name of Covid-19. The reality looks entirely different, at least in the central European countries. Everything is back to normal at the borders and there are no restrictions at all. Hollow, empty lies are being spread and that’s even more concerning than the virus itself. The reasons behind this mass-deception are something worthy of discussing in a separate blog, some other time.
The reunion with my mum was a wonderful moment. We’ve both been very worried about not being able to meet up this year, but as it turned out this fear was completely unfounded. With the weather a balmy 30 degrees, even at night, we sat in the garden and talked until the early hours of the morning and continued all throughout day three. It’s so good to finally catch up in person and to have a warm, real-life hug!
So we’re here in the sunny Rhineland until Saturday when we’ll be moving on to our second leg of the journey, first to Austria, then transiting through Hungary, into Romania and finally to our house in Bulgaria. As long as Hungary keeps the humanitarian transit corridors open, the journey will continue to be a relaxed one, touch wood. We’re planning on spending a couple of nights in Romania and having a bit of a look around there before heading into the true adventure in Bulgaria. Stay tuned!
