We are three weeks on the road and I can officially state that driving is nice (technically I mean: sitting next to Martijn, who is driving, is nice). Martijn just laughed when he heard me saying this. Because I usually, if not always, complain about how bloody boring it is. (Here comes a discrete ‘ugh’, I mean..’ugh’ again, it is boring in HOLLAND!) If you drive in NL you need a ton of caffeine to not fall asleep. You go on automatic pilot mode, the landscape on the right is exactly the same as the landscape on the left, and this goes on for kilometers long. Ah wait, I see a cow. Ah, another one. And a wind turbine. Gezellig!)
So I mean: ‘driving in beautiful routes with changing landscapes, is nice’. On one condition: that the kids are asleep. Sigh.
You don’t want to know what happens when they are not. One of the following:
– Gioia sings. Not like normal cute childish singing. She is screaming so loud, in either Dutch or Greek, she is saying stories, agreeing and disagreeing with herself and giving us headaches. We need to increase the volume of the music often, because this can go on for very long
– When she gets bored singing on her own, she tries to engage Alex. Well, he is 6 months old, so his capabilities are limited, but he can chip in and add to the craziness. So, Alex produces all types of ‘a-i-o-b-p’ sounds and can also laugh a hysterically when Gioia plays with him and sings TO him. The result is two kids laughing and screaming beyond acceptable decibel levels. Paranoia. And this is not even the worst scenario
– Approximately half an hour before we arrive to any destination, the crying starts. Not sure how they know there are 30 min left, but they are very precise doing this. Next level paranoia. Sometimes Alex gets deeply red from crying and we cannot immediately stop. Not fun at all.
– (Just happened): Gioia wakes up, because of a sudden break stop. Well, better this than ending up killed – see post ‘bella Italia’, on the bottom for driving conditions.
When the kids are asleep Martijn and I can talk. Yeaaaah! So unique to be able to talk to each other! Or we can be silent listening to music! Yeaaaah! So rare to be able to not talk! Earlier we listened to a song (Sandman, from America) that we listened to a lot last time we were in Italy with Martijn’s VW bus of the 70s). Nice!
Live broadcast from the camper:
Gioia: ‘Mooooooom?’
Me: ‘Yes sweety’
Gioia: ‘You said when we were at the waterfall, that you would buy me Chupa Chups’
Sh*t, I said that, when she saw the lollipops she eats in Greece. Crap, I totally forgot.
Me: ‘I forgot it moppie. But we will be soon in Greece.’ Smile from Gioia and we continue driving in peace. *THANK GOD*