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Lockdown can be fun. Especially when you can go outside (on your own yard) and hit your mum with a snowball. Who would think we would have fresh snow at the end of March?
We have fresh snow and very happy kids. It’s so cold outside that for me staying inside next to fireplace feels like a blessing not forced quarantine. Kids on the other hand playing with snow.
Hi all! Sorry for being quiet, I just felt like cutting off from social media with all the Covid-19 hullabaloo going on. We got home, my mum filled our little 4x4 car with enough food for us all to isolate together for two weeks. Our house is located in the mountains with such difficult access that we cannot get there with a regular car not to mention the camper. Now we are at home in statutory quarantine. The girls are happy like bunnies. I’m for the time relieved from most of my worries and enjoying the slow life and our own garden.
Long way home new update After the mechanic’s diagnosis we spent a lovely day walking in the woods, and riding bikes because he had to order a new driveshaft. A day of fresh air and away from people was exactly what we needed - we chilled out as a break from our crazy motoring. Next day at 8 am they fixed the car in less than an hour. We zoomed off and joined the motorway towards the border only to find a 30 km queue of cars waiting to enter Poland. It was crazy. At the next junction the German police directed us and all personal vehicles off the highway (leaving a queue of solid HGVs). So Google maps led us trough rural lanes and pretty villages until we joined another queue of lorries and personal cars. Now we were only 5 km from the border but this queue was much slower. After 12 long hours we crossed into Poland just after midnight. This experience really tested my patience. Especially since there was no mobile internet signal for much of the time. Nick was fine with it, saying he felt at home here - as a Brit he has queuing in his blood. Of course there was a bright side - while standing in the traffic jam - I cooked lunch, had a shower. We did school, we drew, we had a ballgame outside. We had dinner and watched a movie and at the end the girls went to bed. So in the end it was a day like any other but in a traffic jam. We felt so blessed having the camper and not being stuck in a small car. But really what I want to say is that during a difficult 8 days, all my friends where awesome asking how they can help us, my husband was a saint while I was losing my sh...t. The girls were wonderful with finding positive fun in everything. The mechanic had ordered 3 different shafts to make sure he would have the right one for the vehicle and he gave the girls a Lego gift so they had something to play while on the road. At the border German and Polish Volunteers were walking around the queues giving food and water away to people who had been stranded in their cars on the motorway for the day. Next time hopefully will write from home - only 400 km to go! Stay safe and calm. . .
The Long way home - sh... happens We are in Germany - yay, we managed to cross before they closed the borders. But our car “got sick” I really don’t know what happened but for some time whenever we sped up it felt like everything was thumping inside until last night it was only thumping... We managed to park last night safely and this morning at 8 am we were waiting outside for the car mechanic to open his doors. Using my schoolgirl German we learnt he can fix it but the part will arrive tomorrow morning. I was a nervous wreck while Nick used this situation to teach girls about drive shafts, front wheel drive transmission, steering, suspension and so on. Good news no fever :) and the weather is nice. We stopped in a lovely place and went for a long walk - and we will see what tomorrow will bring. Wish us well it’s a long way home :)
Another real time update - the long way home After one night in Slovenia our host told us to not tell anyone that we came from Italy as people in Slovenia started being afraid of coronavirus. We said OK. Later same day more news came about closing Polish borders on Sunday to foreigners (Nick is British). So the only reasonable thing to do was to reach home or at least Polish border before then. We did left our small paradise and traveled without any issues to Austria but when we wanted to get to Slovakia - (the shortest way home) we got stopped at the border. Slovakia closed their borders. We tried smaller border crossing as well but all were barricaded or full of soldiers. Same happened at the Czech border - nope you cannot go through go back to Austria. So it looks like we stuck in Austria. . OK it’s not so bad as we can still get (most probably) to Poland through the Germany. It’s just an extra 1400 km . In meantime I manage to confirmed that Poland will let Nick in as we are married and that we have to do strict quarantine - no leaving home for two weeks. I don’t mind that as we actually didn’t leave the van for last 6 days - beside when we stopped in far away from people in the nature. . On the happy note we are all healthy, no fever; no cough just lots of driving, family time and reading time.
Hey, we have managed to cross over into Slovenia - 1,600 km from our location in Sicily. We went through a health check on the Slovenian border and all is good. We have decided to park for a while on a farm here and self - quarantine. It's easy as we are high on the mountain, with great views. We will stay here for a few days and then decide later about timing and route back to Poland. ⁠ .⁠ .
Real time update of our situation.... . . Often for “security reasons” I post photos a few days after the event : so when you saw us entering Sicily we had already been there touring the island for a few days. So by the time the Italian government announced yesterday’s news about a nationwide lock-down and travel restrictions, we were already watching flamingos in a nature park at the southernmost point of Sicily. We decided to go back home or at least to leave Italy immediately. To present we have done 650 km and the ferry crossing. Another 960 km to go to the French border. Borders with Slovenia and Austria are already restricted, and also those roads lead through the most infected areas. We wanted to get ferry to Albania but all are cancelled. We don’t mind self quarantining but I don’t want to stay in Italy any longer as the situation is getting a bit crazy with queues outside supermarkets where people are let in one by one and standing outside one metre apart from each other. Of course it’s no surprise why they overbuy once inside - (to avoid standing in a queue again next time). The roads are empty - only big lorries, our camper and few other cars. Keep your fingers crossed for us - just another 940 km to go.
DO you know this car? It is a fiat 126p. Girls think it's cute for me its a blast from the past. My mum had 3 cars like that and I did my driving license in such car. In Poland we call it "Maluch" which means "little one" and there are lots of jokes about it - like how to double a value of your fiat - fill it up with gasoline ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #familytravelling #littleexplorers #vanlifers #placesilove #familytravels #travelwithme #alwaysexploring #dreamspots #momentslikethese #parentswhowander #raiseawildchild #travelinggram #travellingourplanet #travelerlife #adventureawaits #worldschoolers #havekidswilltravel #placestovisit #traveljunkies #happyfamilytime #travelcommunity #classiccar