Germany - 19 August, 2004

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Travel Distance

Total (BMW 330CiC)

17,690 km

Total (other):

5,510 km

Total:

23,200 km

This is the last day of our trip and we have a number of logistical tasks to complete.  The most important is that we have to drop off our BMW at the local E.H. Harms office for them to ship to the US for us.  Otherwise we need to repack all our stuff (it is amazing how spread out it can get when one has been traveling around in the same car for almost four months.

So, after getting up from our much needed night's rest, we completely emptied out the car and carried everything up to our room for the major re-packing job.  It is amazing what we found in all the nooks and crannies in the car.  We have a lot more stuff than we expected.  Anyway, it took us a couple of hours to organise it all and get it all packed into the three bags we will check on the plane.

So, after a quick brunch in our room and a wash, we are ready to go and drop off our car.  We check out of the hotel room and leave all our bags with reception and then go for the short drive to the drop-off location.  We had picked a great hotel to stay in last night.  We could not have been much closer than this.  It was pretty much one long road around the airport to the small town of Walldorf.

Once we were at the office, the process was very smooth and efficient.  We filled out and signed a few papers, they checked the car for any damage (only one small scratch on a wheel) and then we took one of the license plates off the car to keep as a souvenir.  They even cleaned it for us!!!  And then they called a taxi and we were on our way back to the hotel.  Once back at the hotel we picked up our bags and caught the next available shuttle to the airport.

Now, we just had to wait for our flight and the check-in counter to open.  It is now shortly after 3 PM ad our flight leaves at around 10:30 PM, so we have plenty of time to kill.  We head down to the local supermarket, where we get some fresh food (bread, cheese, extrawurst and salad) and have our lunch.  After that we just wander around, do some window shopping and have a coffee while waiting for the check-in counters to open for our flight.

After checking-in, we make our past security and a very loud scene where a lady is kicking and screaming at the security guards as she is pulled to the side.  She is Chinese and making one heck of a racket yelling and screeching.  Her husband is trying to calm her down, but she has totally fallen apart.  We have no clue what is going on.

We spend the rest of our time in the airline lounge waiting until it is time to board our flight.  We are taking Singapore Airlines via Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.  Our long road trip through northern Europe has come to an end.  What a great time we had.  But while we are sad it is over, we are glad that we are going home.