Sunday
Jul112010
She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
July 11, 2010 * * * * * Posted by: Ginnie 
But will she be wearing pink pajamas when she comes? That's the question!
Planes, trains or automobiles...(might as well add cruise ships). When you travel, what is your preference, especially during the summer vacation? Astrid and I have just returned from a week's drive to SW France (1960 miles) to visit some Dutch friends who moved there...and then to do some sight-seeing along the western and northern coasts the long way home. [Dare I mention we totally bypassed Paris on the way going, close enough to taste her!]
Back when I was moving myself lock, stock and barrel from America to The Netherlands, I went back-n-forth I don't know how many times on whether or not to ship my 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid (all paid for) or to sell her and use the money to buy a car here. It would have cost $1000 to ship her to Rotterdam (and who knows what else to release her from the dock!). Much cheaper than buying a new car. However, there were too many if's and but's...about Dutch specs, regulations, etc., etc.
So, long story short, I sold the car in Atlanta and used the money to buy a brand new 2010 Daihatsu Cuore, lime green, which we now affectionally call Granny Towanda. Granny as in Granny Smith apple green and Towanda as in Fried Green Tomatoes. That little lady sure knows what she's doing, I tell you. And with The Netherlands being a small country (compared to America), it's nothing to hop in the car and discover nooks and crannies even Astrid has never seen after her 50-something years here.
The two other times I went to France were by airplane (I'm not counting all the transfers from Amsterdam to Paris to Atlanta). Then we took the taxi or the train into the 'Cig Bity.' To have the luxury of our own car now, taking our own time to see as much as possible in one week, was like heaven on earth. To stop when we wanted to, to choose Bed & Breakfasts, to change course midstream...all possible when traveling by car.
The above train, BTW, is an HO scale model train from the Steam Festival we attended in nearby Dordrecht in May. Trains totally fascinate me. European trains in particular are total no-brainers in many situations. "Leave the driving to someone else" makes a lot of sense sometimes. You get to relax and see something outside the window other than clouds. Definitely a fun way to see the countryside.
But then, of course, sometimes all you want to do it just get there. NOW. I do NOT want to drive the car back to America or take the train, if I could. A cruise ship wouldn't be so bad, even without port-o-calls. That would be one heckuva 'at sea' journey, but with a couple of good books, I wouldn't mind it a bit. It might cost more than I wanted...so I'd check out the price of a freighter. I rode a freighter once from New Orleans to Lima, Peru, through the Panama Canal...only 16 passengers. Now that was fun. Ten days of endless ocean...followed by wobbly sea-legs a few days after. I was young and crazy but I'd do it again.
A bit of a ramble never hurt anyone, as far as I'm concerned. Don't forget walking, of course. Or biking. Astrid and I rode our bikes 20 minutes the other night to a café for supper. A bit slower than 6 white horses but it burned more calories. However, who's counting...and who's wearing pink pajamas, right?
Ey, ey, yippee, yippee, ey!
Reader Comments (19)
I didn't know freighters took passengers. That would definitely be a different way to travel. :) Traveling by plane sucks, because they are so crowded - first class would be fine if one could afford it. Most of my travels are by car. It might take a little longer to get there, but as you said, you can go at your own pace, change direction if you want, choose your own path. Oh, and I'm known to yell "Towanda" every now and then. ;)
I do like flying...as it's usually the fastest place to get from one distant place to another. But there's something about the freedom of simply packing up the car and going at one's own pace. We ambled our way up the east coast..stopping at all sorts of small towns and villages on our drive from here to Maine...sites and scenes we would have otherwise missed had we taken flight!!!
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip..and I'm lovin' that fun car!!!
I discovered trains at 14, when I took one across Canada from Calgary to Montreal, but it wasn't until I was introduced to European trains that my enthusiasm perked up. It's a phenomenal way of getting around, but for freedom, there's nothing like a car.
A friend of mine is going to take a freighter from New York to Australia in November and I would love to be on it with her - not this time, though.
What shines through all your posts, Ginnie, is not just your zest for life, but the quality of your life with Astrid. I have no idea what it was like before, although I'm sure you had a fine time, but I have the impression that now you are REALLY living. Taking advantage of everything you can, looking at the world with wide-open eyes, delighting in everything. It's a joy to read about your adventures!
This retired music teacher has sung "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" more times than she would like to count....and has never heard of the refrain "Ey, ey, yippee, yippee, ey!" I guess we learn something new every day!!!
Love your HO model train image. My husband would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to visit that exhibit!!! He's a train "nut."
I'm going to chime in (and agree) with Deborah -- "What shines through all your posts, Ginnie, is not just your zest for life, but the quality of your life with Astrid. It’s a joy to read about your adventures!"
you and astrid sound like us. we love a road trip, big or small. any drive demands a bit of exploring, taking the back way as andy calls it. great post.
I took a little road trip my self this past weekend, four hours by myself in the car and it was just wonderful!
I love a train, the idea of it is just as appealing as the sitting back with nothing to concern yourself about. I could never travel by boat though, could never sleep on one, the water scares me too much. Rambling is good, always. The road less traveled or the well-worn path. All good.
I think the thing I miss the most his hopping into the car and just going to enjoy the day outside of the city. To see the countryside and another village all within a small radius, that is so fascinating.. But really, you did forget to mention the bus, which is my main mode of transport these days. It does get you from point A to point B, even from Victoria to Vancouver via the BC Ferry! And lets not also for get how buses take us tourists everywhere in a foreign country if we are on a cruise ship!
Another Great post!
I am ok with all kinds of transport, as long as I am in good company. Although ... I do get seasick, I only like a boat in the harbour ;-)
To own a car like the Granny Towanda is just fabulous, we both love driving and even after 3200KM 1960miles we did not kill each other.
(erm...we yelled though but that was because we had the windows open and there was much noise...grin.....)
This trip was far more better than I ever could imagine.
Traveling has always been my favourite thing, seeing places, discover new places.
When I lived in the USA I saw many Grey Hound miles....once from East to West all by my self and a backpack, loved it, but now I am happy with Granny Towanda, I am not twenty anymore.
I hope that we will have many trips together, you and me, mijn lieve vrouw.
A wonderful post again.
Now if I just got my cycle out of storage, that would mean a few more calories burned to accommodate that extra special meal ;-)
Your car sounds fun :-)
I think trains call to me more than anything. We did take a train across part of Turkey, to Ankara from Istanbul, I think, a sleeper. I'll take that over Turkish buses any day. We took the Flying Scotsman from London to Edinburgh when I was pregnant with Lesley, another sleeper. But there is nothing like a road trip in a car. I still dream of one on Route 66, with a couple of cameras in hand, including a film one.
I look forward to more about your trip, one of my dream ones.
My favorite way to travel depends on where I'm going! Long boring trips by plane, short interesting ones by car, long interesting ones by train. I've never taken a cruise, but plan to soon...
Call me dumb but I don't even know which side of the road you drive on there; I know that often presents a problem with moving cars between the US and Europe or vice-versa. Several years ago a friend of mine had problems with a Mercedes he brought over from Europe because it had wipers on the headlights - ok there but not here. Funny how those little things are!
So lovely to read about your road trip to France. We used to do that all the time, when still living in Holland. Just pack up fresh underwear and a toot brush on Friday evening, get in the car, and drive of to,..... well .... wherever we felt like. With so many countries at your doorstep there is always a place to got to. I miss that a lot here on the island. Nowhere to go here. No other cultures to discover.
Hey Musketeer, sounds like you and Astrid had a wonderful trip.. Are you SURE you did not yell at one another lol.
So pleased you did not kill one another.
We are road trippers like Margie and Andy. Barry calls the side trips "beckonings". I married an adventurer, someone who will take a road simply because it is there to see where it leads to. As we celebrate our seventh anniversary today, I am so happy that one road led to me.
xo to you and Astrid
I am pleased that Astrid and you enjoyed the trip to France. I also admire your intrepidity at driving along French drivers. I used to be one of them but that was so long ago that I would be afraid now. Trains in France are so fast too. I like that you can buy a train ticket and also get 2 days car rental included; we did this when we went to Nice. Years ago when I would go to Italy in August for holidays I would take the train at night in Paris, Gare de Lyon, and spend the night going through Switzerland then arrive in Milan in the mornings I liked to go to the restaurant car – the trains were like the Orient Express then and you would meet interesting (or scary) people.
I looked into freighters but now they are more expensive than cruises, they have not many passengers. Our last cruise in the Mediterranean last November, for a week, starting in Marseille and stopping in Barcelona, Tunis, Malta, Sicily, Rome and Genoa costs each of us about $900 all included, transport, food, entertainment. There is no way we could have done it so cheap on our own. This was the latest Italian cruise ship too.
We took a cruise from Rotterdam to New York City on the Princes Margriet of the Holland-America Line in 1966. They were nine glorious days at sea on a luxury ship of only 100 passengers.
A freighter from NOLA to Lima sounds like a grand adventure. When my husband and I were engaged, we were computer specialists on an Italian cruise ship that traveled from the Carribean through the first set of locks of the Panama Canal and back. It was quite an adventure because the ship managed to run aground inside the Panama Canal. It was comical watching the crew try to rectify their error, all while my husband was narrating their every move. It was like the Keystone Cops in living color.
My husband is a total nut about trains so we rarely spend a vacation without trains. In 2005 we went to the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu. We took the Hiram Bingham Orient Express from Cusco to Machu Picchu and then the PeruRail train back to Cusco. It was gorgeous winding through the Andes along the Urubamba River.
This summer we will be taking a mail boat up the coast of Norway, making tons of stops along the way. They created a few cabins for passengers but it won't be a traditional cruise ship. I am truly looking forward to that!
What a wonderful post that sent me reminiscing!
we haven't done a road trip for a while. the last one took us south-east from arusha, down past the pare mountains and into the usumbara mountains (it's like switzerland up there believe it or not!). hope you had a fab trip - and very envious of you going to norway, that will be amazing i'm sure.
I usually prefer to go by car. But I don't travel as much these days, it takes to much energy from me. So glad that you and Astrid had a nice vacation.