THE END

15 Countries. 119 Towns. 80 Skate Parks. 40 Lidls. 200 Bananas(approximately). 16000kms. 8 Mechanics. 8 Ferries.

What a ride it has been. A life changing experience. There have been so many unforgettable places, experiences and amazing people we have met along the way.  Every place was so unique and diverse from awe-inspiring monuments like the Berlin Wall, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and
of course the Eiffel Tower to the stunning beaches of Malta and Portugal and small towns in Belgium, Austria and France that really touched our hearts.  The most incredible experiences varied so much from Kings Day in Amsterdam to foraging for herbs with Matt Orlando in Copenhagen and who could forget riding Vespa’s through the Tuscan hills.

The food has been also been mind-blowing from the simple street vendors making fried bread with garlic to 3 Michelin Noma, there are so many dishes and treats that I’m sure will cameo on a menu of ours someday. I will forever be haunted with the delicious flavor of cannoli and will probably never find any to match my first experience in Lipari in the Aeolian Islands.

Of course there are a two important people in my life to thank for this trip.

Kermit. Oh Kermit. Thank you for everything. You had your moments, many many moments, but for a seventeen year old we shouldn’t have expected anything else. You kept us warm and cosy in the cold and suffocating in the hot European summer. Soon you will be leaving us for a new family but we will never forget you in all your green glory.

Secondly and of course most of all, I want to thank the man who stood by me and experienced it all with me. Six months inside a small confined space with me is a lot to ask of anyone, regardless of how much you love them, and I know we had our moments but I wouldn’t have made it without you. You held me together when things were falling apart but most of all you laughed and smiled with me through every triumph and incredible moment.  I have loved every minute of the last six months with you and would do it all over again in a heartbeat, or maybe next summer.

This may be the end of our road trip by it is by no means the end of our adventure. We are now beginning the process of settling into London for a mere three months, before embarking on our next journey to Le Grande Massif in the French Alps. We will be running a beautiful chalet in Morillon for the company Tasty Ski from December to April and I just can’t wait.

Thank you to everyone who has read the blog and followed Matt and I on our adventure, it has been great to be able to share it with you but now it is time to end. Everyone keep in touch, its only 16 983kms and 9 hours time difference.

Goodbye. Au Revior. Arrivederci. Auf Wiedersehen.  Adios. 

FRANCE

Bonjour France! We arrived in Biarritz without much knowledge of the town, like many towns in the trip. What we found was a stunning coastal gem, with bright clean streets and pristine beaches. There was a relaxed atmosphere in the town that reminded us of home as we wandered the streets for the day just soaking it up in the beautiful village before walking back to Kermit. We cooked and drank cheap sangria by the sea before sleeping in a car park by the water with many other campers, an unofficial campsite. The following morning we woke and walked into town again to Biarritz food market hall, brimming with people purchasing the finest French produce and delicatessen products. I would have to say French produce is the best in the world! After strolling through the surf shops we walked along the beach. The weather was flawless, blue skies and sunshine as far as the eye could see, and the surf conditions perfect, so we hired a eight foot board and surfed until the freezing water took hold and we decided to get some lunch. We drove to a nearby Quicksilver Skate park, number 70 of the trip, and made epic sandwiches before Matt skated. Late in the afternoon we drove to Bayonne and walked through the winding cobbled stones laneways, although the town was quiet and there were no campsites so we ventured back to our spot by the beach and stayed another night. 

The next morning we left Biarritz and headed along the coast to Hossegor where we ate lunch at a delicious Japanese restaurant before exploring the shops and beach. We caught up with an old friend of mine, Michelle Connellan, it was so great to see a family face and hear a familiar accent so far from home. We ate in town for dinner before heading back to the beach to drink while the sun set into the night. We drove to a campsite in the nearby town of Seignosse, and that is where things began to fall apart. 

We turned off Kermit while waiting to check in and then he wouldn’t start again. We had a flat battery and we were stuck out the front on the street. We pushed Kermit to the side with the help of some other campers and slept on the street for the night.  Luckily (NOT) for us our phones were running very low on battery, reception and credit so we rode our bikes into Seignosse to recharge and call for help. A tow truck arrived after lunch and we bluffed our way through a conversation with a French mechanic who spoke no English, who told us the battery was just low and so he jump started the car and sent us on our merry way ensuring that after about thirty kilometers it would recharge itself. But wait there’s more! The saga continues!

We decided to drive toward Bordeaux, only we didn’t have enough fuel, so while stopped at the service station and of course the car wouldn’t start again. Luckily there was a service center next door who was able to jump start Kermit AGAIN before informing us (in quite good English) that our issue was actually the alternator that was preventing the battery from charging as well as our leisure battery that powers our refrigerator in the car.  He promised us we would make it to Bordeaux and gave us the address for a Volkswagen dealership and sent us on our not so merry way. So things starting looking up and Bordeaux was in sight, until Kermit decided to die bit by bit, the indicators, speedometer and brake lights didn’t have enough power to continue and eventually neither did Kermit, cutting out on the French motorway. Unfortunately, again, for us the French motorway is privately owned and our not so trusty assistance company was unable to help us, so after a quick call to the police, we had road workers directing traffic and a tow truck saving us again. This time we were towed to a small town named Mios, where we waited for our assistance to help us. Eventually, at some ridiculous hour in the evening, when we were past the point of starvation, we were put in a hotel in Cestas nearby and separated from Kermit. Little did we know we would be leaving Kermit for some time at that point.

The following morning we were sent a taxi and we headed into Bordeaux where we stayed and explored the streets and ate incredible food while we waited for news. We stayed in the Ibis in town courtesy of our assistance and prayed that Kermit’s issues weren’t too costly. At first, we thought it would just be a day or two, eight days later Kermit was finally ready to go again after thoroughly draining our wallets. We had spent a week in a hotel, eating and drinking our way through Bordeaux, exploring the public gardens and of course skate parks. It was great to actually spend some time in a city and wander every back street finding new hidden treasures every day. One night we stumbled upon a little English pub where we participated in a trivia night, although our little team of two was no match for the trivia buffs, we came in dead last but had a great time just drinking and meeting people.

At the end of the eight days we were raring to go again and we headed to Tours for the night. After a quick exploration of the city, we left Tours and headed through the picturesque Loire valley filled with majestic Chateaux’s and quaint towns. Through out the day we visited Amboise, Blois and Chambord stopping to admire the incredible castles and discover the streets. Late in the evening we arrived in Paris, where we pitched camp for the next few days.

Our first day in Paris was ‘tres magnifique!’  We disembarked the shuttle bus at Porte Malliot and walked straight up to the Arc du Triomphe before continuing down Avenue des Champs-Elysees (it’s a busy street!).  We stopped in at Laduree, a decadent patisserie shop that has been thriving since 1862, known to be the inventor of the famed macaron. We spent a fortune purchasing eight delectable macarons (well worth it) and a palmier that was to die for! After indulging in a sugar feast we continued on our journey winding through the chic streets of Paris stopping only momentarily for some lunch. We walked on and visited the Louvre and wandered the stunning gardens until we were thoroughly exhausted. After a week of cruising in Bordeaux and not sleeping in Kermit, our first day in Paris was extremely tiring, so we packed in early venturing back to the campsite for dinner.

Day two in Paris began early when we woke, cooked up a hot breakfast before running to the bus and heading into the city. We walked until we reached the spectacular Eiffel Tower. Still awe-inspiring the second time around (for me), we spent a bit of the morning admiring the masterpiece from every angle. We ambled on and visited the Museum d’Orsay before finding an amazing little patisserie nearby. It was like an arty gallery of precision cakes and tarts that looked too impeccable to eat. We bought a ‘saint horone’ a tart that felt more like a collection of eclairs and caramel covered profiteroles all filled with sweet vanilla crème patisserie atop a slice of crumbly puff. We found a small park nearby and devoured our tart before continuing on our journey to Notre Dame. We took photos of the exquisite church and admired the adjacent bridge brimming with locks of hopeful lovers. We wandered the streets of the Latin Quarter finding a little creperie to enjoy some lunch. The afternoon was spent at the Museum l’Orangerie where we perused at works by Picasso, Renoir and Monet, I found the round rooms of Monet’s Lilly pads to be truly astounding.  We eventually strolled back down the Champs Elysees and made our way back. After dinner at the campsite, we headed out to a skate park where Matt skated into the night.

Our final day in Paris was perfect. We started the day late and caught the Metro to Montmartre where we wandered aimlessly through the famous artist quarters enjoying the atmosphere. We eventually decided on a place for a late lunch, eating at Frenchie’s a cool restaurant in the center of Paris. We ventured through the streets collecting cheeses, meats and bread from various fromageries and boulangeries to create our picnic bag for the night. We walked along the river Seine and found a cultural event with pop up bars, urban gardens and games where we hung out for a while. Eventually we made our way back to the magnificent Eiffel Tower where we picnicked as the sun went down and watched in awe as it lit up like a colossal Christmas tree. Our proud moment of the night came when we haggled with an Indian scam salesman who was selling “Champagne” for 25euros and we got it down to 5euros. I’m sure my Dad would be proud of our hard bargaining technique.  We drank our very cheap Champagne and watched our final night in Paris float away like a magical dream. Eventually we packed up and headed back to the campsite truly feeling grateful for the last few days in a marvelous city.

 The following day we left Paris after a final visit to the Skate Park and headed to Epernay in the Champagne region. We drove through the winding hills of vineyards until we finally arrived at Avenue du Champagne, the Hollywood Boulevard of the Champagne world. With all of the big names and historic champagne maisons to choose from, we decided upon the “crème de la crème” of the tours at Moet and Chandon. A one-hour tour through the remarkable 28km of underground champagne caves left me truly speechless and of course thirsty, luckily a glass of Imperial Moet is included at the end. Eventually it was time to leave Moet and Chandon, so we headed into town for dinner before camping for the night by the

river.

We spent the next day exploring the nearby town of Reims, the capital of the Champagne Region before driving to Gines, just out of Calais to sleep the night. Our final day on the road was spent in sunny Calais wandering down the beach and marvelling at the stunning architecture before enjoying our final night of the holiday cooking and drinking champagne by the water. What a truly spectacular way of ending our six-month adventure. Tomorrow we drive back to London via the Channel Tunnel and we begin another new adventure. There is so much more to come!

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

Another country, another language, as we crossed the border it dawned on me that I only knew one Spanish phrase (thanks to Tegan) and I didn’t know how helpful “Thank you for the dinner but I don’t like cheese” would end up being. So the phrase book came out and the Spanish class began and I settled with three important phrases Hello, Thank you and of course, do you speak English?

Armed with a minuscule knowledge of Spanish we continued to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona and settled into our campsite in El Masnou just outside of the Catalan capital. We headed in to the city on the metro the following morning to explore the centre. We headed to La Boqueria Market, the most colourful and impressive produce and spice market I have ever seen. Fruits, vegetables and seafood that I had never seen or sometimes even heard of, I was like a kid in a candy shop with endless variety. The vibrant displays combined with mouthwatering smells enticed us so we meandered, slowly eating our way through the food stalls. Once we were full to the brim we headed from the market towards MACBA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, although we weren’t there to peruse the masterpieces, it is also home to one (out of hundreds) of the famous Barcelona street skating spots. Matt had watched skate movies since he was a kid, and dreamed of skating the famous street spots of Barcelona, and lucky for me they were scattered on every corner of the city. We then continued to Sagrada de Familia, the cathedral built by Antonio Gaudi (Barcelona’s most famous modernist artist). The impressive and unique church is still under construction after 100 years, however it doesn’t prevent tourists from flocking to marvel at its brilliance. After walking continuously around the streets all day, we were exhausted so we ventured back to our campsite for sangria and an early night.  Waking late the next morning, we travelled back into the city this time heading north walking to Park Guell, another incredible Gaudi masterpiece, where we wandered through the Park admiring the distinctive architecture. Then Matt and I decided to go our separate ways for the day. There were many far away skate spots for Matt to see, and shops for me to explore. I roamed back through the center winding in and out of Spanish stores, just enjoying getting lost in the alluring streets. Matt and I met late in the afternoon to go for dinner at a tapas bar which we enjoyed with of course, some more sangria. 

Our next day was spent walking along the promenade finding more skate spots where I read or filmed, while Matt skated. I even tried my hand at skating, less than successfully; it usually involved Matt pulling me along flat stretches. After a few huge days of walking and skating we called it day truly exhausted and unable to walk anymore. The following day we said “Adios!” to Barcelona and headed for Valencia stopping for a day to ride around the city and admire the truly remarkable architecture of the Arts and Science Complex before continuing to Spain’s capital, Madrid.

We found ourselves arriving late again into another unfamiliar city, so we found ourselves a campsite and called it a night. We woke late and headed into Madrid on the bus. By this point starvation had set in so we decided on dessert before lunch. So the hunt began for the ultimate of devilish treats, churros. Deep fried, crispy dough with smooth, rich chocolate- what more could you want? There was one name, one name that had stood the test of time in Madrid. An institution famous amongst locals, celebrities and tourists alike who visit the venue at any time, day or night. San Gines Chocolateria has been making churros with chocolate the exact same way since 1894 and no wonder, because it is absolutely delicious just the way it is. Crunchy, sweet, savory and perfect. After our snack, we explored the streets surrounding Puerto de Sol more just admiring the inviting vibe that surrounds the Capital. We found a great restaurant late in the afternoon that were doing delectable modern takes on some Spanish tapas favourites that sounded too delicious to pass up, so we enjoyed a few with some Sangria. We strolled down the main drag of Gran Via, window shopping and taking in the sights before calling it a day in the early evening.

 We left Madrid the next morning, after a skate in the city, and headed towards Portugal driving through the Spanish countryside. We arrived in Costa de Caparica outside of Lisbon late in the evening and enjoyed dinner in the campsite.  We ventured in Lisbon the following day catching a boat across the water to Belem where we admired the stunning monastery while indulging in traditional Portuguese custard tarts from a bakery in Belem that was been making them since 1837. We walked from Belem, around the water stopping for sangria by the pier before stumbling upon the Time Out market that housed all different food stalls and cuisines. HEAVEN! We left after lunch and walked to Praca de Comercio, the main square, where we tried traditional Portuguese port for the first time. It was absolutely delicious, possibly a new favourite of mine. We continued through the town until we could walk no more of Lisbon’s hilly landscape so we began our journey home only getting lost a few times. 

The next morning we left Lisbon and headed to a skatepark just outside of Cascais, a stunning coastal town with winding mosaic laneways. We ate lunch by the park in the sunshine while Matt enjoyed the atmosphere of yet another incredible European masterpiece. We continued on to Sintra in the afternoon, a beautiful town perched in the Portuguese hills amongst manors and castles. We tasted Ginja (cherry liquer) and compared different ports before meandering through the streets admiring the beauty. We made our way to Ericeira early in the evening to a Quicksilver skate park right next to a campsite. PERFECT! Until Matt broke yet another board (number 6 for the trip) in the park effectively ending his night of skating so we grabbed a bottle of wine and walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. We found wild watercress in the rocks and water running to the ocean and played by the sea into the night.  And by played I mean, we got drunk and Matt mooned people.

The following day we left Ericeira around midday and began our journey north stopping in the fishing town of Peniche where we visited a beautiful beach and found (of course) yet another skate park. We ventured on late in the afternoon to Figeuira da Foz where we stayed at a lovely campsite with private access to the beach. Another day pass by, we kept driving north to Coimbra- a town boasting a stunning 16^th century university but that’s about it, so we continued driving to Porto where we spent the evening. We rode along the boardwalk by the beach and found a DJ concert on the sand so we danced and drank into twilight. Rain welcomed us the next morning, so went spent our lazy Sunday cleaning up before heading into Porto center for a peruse around the town and an extremely late lunch. 

The following day was spent solely in the car (a full nine hours!) driving back into Spain to San Sebastian. San Sebastian is a chef’s dream! The area boasts the most Michelin stars per capita than anywhere in the world, not to mention scrumptious local eats like pintxos (basque country tapas). So as you would expect, Matt and I were in heaven and planned to stay a few days, if not forever. However, if constant stream of delicious food wasn’t enough, San Sebastian was also beautiful with rolling green hills and stunning beaches. We spent our first day in the town exploring the streets, eating street food, marveling at incredible churches and visiting a few skate parks. When the evening rolled around, we headed for Pintxos. Such an incredible concept where you grab a spot standing at the bar and order a glass of wine before digging into small Spanish canapés on toothpicks, you simply pay for the amount of toothpicks at the end. Simples!

After stuffing ourselves with pintxos we ambled through the streets and watched the fireworks over the beach before calling it a night. Unfortunately overnight incredible storms set in and our plans for the day were washed out, so we bundled up in our rarely used winter gear and hung out in the car for the day, reading and cooking. The next day was Matt’s Birthday! To celebrate his quarter of a century, we headed to Mugaritz, currently number six in the world, the two Michelin star restaurant was high on Matt’s list. Deep into the beautiful hills of San Sebastian we dined for four hours on twenty-four incredible courses. We left, as you can imagine, completely stuffed, so we headed into town and rode along the water into the night. The following day we left Spain headed for France. The final leg is upon us. France and then back to England!

FRANCE- PART 1

Picturesque scenes greeted us in France. The stunning coastline of clean streets and modern villages were a welcome change from Italy. We drove to Monaco, where we walked the streets admiring the wealth of yachts, cars and incredible buildings. We stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant with views of the port before continuing our journey in the afternoon to Eze. 

The village of Eze was one destination from my childhood that has been imprinted in my mind with the memory of escargot at Chez Dor, an amazing restaurant with views of the coastline. Upon returning, the charm of the cobble stone streets was still prominent, although we didn’t dine at the Michelin Rated restaurant from my memories. We left Eze after a stroll through the village and headed for Nice, staying at a campsite just out of town. 

The following day we rode our bikes down the Promenade visiting the produce and flowers markets in Old Nice to pick up some delicious bread, cheeses and figs and picnicked on the beach. Afterwards we headed up to Castle Hill, a preserved Battle Fort and Gardens with a waterfall and a beautiful view over Nice.

After a great night in Cannes we headed down the coastal road of the French Rivieria for the day, another truly remarkable coastline, stopping at St Tropez for quiche and elcairs for lunch and many French skate parks along the way. We stayed that night in a campsite just outside of Marseille with all the trimmings, pool with slides, tennis court, mini golf and Ping-Pong. 

The next day we visited Marseille, known for being a gritty city, meant that it was a skater’s paradise. We first headed to a famous skate park bowl by the beach and enjoyed lunch by the water before heading to another skate park in the afternoon. Brightly coloured graffiti and a cool location made this a stand out park in my eyes, and in Matts as well.

 Late in the afternoon we headed to the town of Avignon where we stayed at a campsite in a prime location by the river overlooking the famous Pont Des Avignon (bridge). A month long festival was underway so we joined the festivities listening to a DJ by the water as the sun set and explored the beautiful ancient town that looked magnificent lit up at night while street performers entertained the masses. 

The following day we headed to Nimes, another town not far from Avignon where we visited yet another skate park before visiting the famous Roman amphitheater that was nothing in comparison to the Colosseum. We headed in the afternoon to Montpellier where we stayed at a campsite waiting to get the car serviced in the morning. The next day we explored the streets of Montpellier while Kermit was being serviced. Once Kermit was fresh and ready to go, we headed towards the board to Spain. Quite a short but sweet time in France, I am definitely looking forward to returning after Portugal, but for now, the adventure must continue. Hola Barcelona!