Our trip to Berlin
This is part of my previous Challenge to make 26 things before 2017 ends, which I’m trying to finish now in 2018.
After living and working abroad (in Berlin, Germany) for almost a year, having my family (finally) joining from Barcelona was both exciting and challenging. Packing and shipping all belongings and memories of 7 happy years over 1.800 kilometers is not an easy task. Needless to say, finding a flat in Berlin and dealing with the German bureaucracy on top of moving arrangements was particularly hard.
One of the highlights of this process was, without a doubt, our road trip: from Barcelona to Berlin in three days. Nerea (my wife) did all the driving - I sat on the copilot’s seat and did most of the navigation, trip planning and kept the good vibes.
To plan the trip I used Furkot (screen-shot shown above). Amongst others, the application allowed to specify how many kilometers per day to drive, suggested places to eat and to rest, including several filters to find an hotel to spend the night. This was handy as we were driving with our dog and cat, and fortunately both Germany and France are pet-friendlier than Spain.
Some photos and highlights
The last highway exit before leaving Spain!.
One road stop (image below) on our way to Feyzin, France (our first stop). We stayed the night at the Campanile Lyon Sud hotel, both the bedroom and food were great (nice price/quality ratio), although not many places to walk around.
The wonderful hotel Kreuzberghof in Oestringer-Tiefenbach, Germany (our second stop). The place was just besides a lake with plenty of woods and roads to walk and relax before hitting the road again. We made a quick hike alongside the lake into the nature.
And of course, the German weather welcoming us through several kilometers in our road.
A few take-aways from the trip
- France has the best road stops: plenty of space to walk and stretch your legs, green areas to let the dog to run without a leash, and even fully equipped (and free) bathrooms
- Avoid re-fueling in France at all costs
- The German autobahn (highway) is amazing: no speed limit and roads as long as the hours
- Always bring plenty of cash and coins: in France I didn’t need it as you can pay everywhere with card, but Germany…