Germany > The First Kilometers

After my last meeting on Friday afternoon, I close my laptop. Time for vacation. My luggage is already packed in the car. I quickly get in myself as well. Around four o’clock, I drive towards Delft. The roads are busy, partly due to the Friday afternoon rush hour and partly because of road closures around The Hague. In Delft, we consolidate the luggage into one car and set off. Nicolette and I are going to Italy for two and a half weeks. To avoid driving the entire distance to Italy in one day, tonight we cover the first three hundred kilometers. We drive along the A12 towards Germany. Traffic occasionally slows down, but we don’t encounter much congestion. Even in Germany around the Ruhr area, traffic moves along with only minor delays. Our overnight stay is south of Bonn in the town of Königswinter. Around half past eight, we park the car in front of the hotel. We had already received an email with our room number. There is no reception at the hotel. The hotel’s front door is open, and our room is also unlocked. The key is hanging on the inside of the door lock, as mentioned in the email. We quickly put the luggage in the room. On foot, we go to a restaurant in the village. There aren’t many options. We choose Haus Bramkamp in the center of Oberpleis, a district of Königswinter. On the terrace, we order something to drink and schnitzel for dinner. A nice start to the vacation.

Germany - Approaching the Alps