We left The Netherlands behind and drove on the autobahn most of the day through Northern Germany to Lübeck. The autobahn is both scary and thrilling. For most of it there is no speed limit (it slows down to 120 kph near the cities and sometimes slower in construction zones, of which there are many). Anders set the cruise control and was clipping along at 130 kph most of the time, and there were still cars constantly whipping past us in the left lane. They must have been going well over 200. CRAZY. At one point, as we were nearing Lübeck, we saw blue flashers up ahead and sure enough, there was a Porsche that had apparently spun out of control and ended up facing backwards after slamming into the guardrails on the side of the road. 3 police and 2 emergency services vehicles were pulled up alongside. As we passed, Anders remarked that he remembered that Porsche going past us a bit earlier. You simply can’t react fast enough if something happens at those speeds.
We arrived just before dinnertime at our “pension” which is basically an unmanned guest house. It was quite close to the city center, and after we had found street parking in the pretty neighborhood full of fine stately homes and buildings, and unloaded our stuff to our room, we were ready for dinner. There was an Italian place about 2 blocks away, so we headed there. Anders had pizza and I had a baked tortellini which was delicious, but nearly too much food. It was a lovely evening so we walked another couple of blocks to the city gates (Lübeck is a walled city) and discovered that the population was out in full force for a street festival. We raised the median age by at least 40 years as we walked through the crowd. There was a stage with a DJ by the gate where we entered and it was really loud, and really crowded. I was tired after the long day of driving, so we ended up just walking a couple of blocks in and then turning around and heading back out.
Judgy Lübeck Lion
It’s too bad because I would have liked to have seen more of the city center, but we didn’t feel like fighting the crowds. We were also just kind of in the mood to be home already. One last night, and the next morning we drove to Puttgarden and boarded the ferry for Denmark. We had breakfast at a fantastic bakery near the first charging station, and then headed north through Denmark after we docked again. Halfway through Denmark, we stopped to charge the car in the town of Køge, and I took the opportunity to look for a bathroom, since we were stopped anyway for about 30 minutes. It was a huge charging station area, with Tesla superchargers in one part, some other chargers across from them, truck charging stations on the side, a Burger King and a gas station. Fairly close by there was a little building that I could see a “WC” sign on, which was closer than the Burger King, so I walked over there.
On the door was a sign in English that said “For access, send a text message to this number (Danish number provided) with the word TOILET.” So I sent the text and waited, but nothing happened. I checked the SMS and then realized that I had mistyped the number with one wrong digit. SO SOME POOR RANDOM DANE GOT A TEXT MESSAGE FROM A STRANGER THAT JUST SAID “TOILET”!… hahahahaha!!! I must have laughed for 15 minutes straight. While I was giggling madly, I resent the text, this time to the correct number and a second later, the door unlocked.
We stopped and got lunch at a rest stop (Danish frikadel for the win!) and finally, finally got home around 4 pm. Unpacking, laundry, watering the garden, catching up, etc., and finally collapsing, completely exhausted, into bed, but ready for work the next day.
Epic trip, and while I would definitely like to explore the coast of France some more, it was great for a week’s journey there and back again, and I was able to check off 2 places that I had really wanted to visit. It was a good way to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary! We made it to and through seven countries!
Cue about 4 days after we got home, when I received a text message from a Danish number that said only “OKAY…TOILET” whereupon I giggled madly again for another 15 minutes, and then sent an apology. HAHAHAHA!
Mood: relaxed
Music: Waykap, Emmi—Summer of our Lives