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Published: April 9th 2020
Gabby the virtual motorhome is on her virtual tour having now reached the lovely Lubeck . Lubeck was one of those places we first saw and read about in blogs. Other peoples blogs. Stories of parking up and wandering through its quaint walls into its equally quaint interior . We always put this northern German city on our must do and must see tour in Gabby. Going to Denmark meant Lübeck with its brick Gothic architecture could be seen on the way to Denmark or on the way back . A city that was once the medieval capital of the Hanseatic League, a powerful trading confederation. Its symbol is the Holstentor, a red-brick city gate that defended the river-bounded Altstadt (old town). It was probably this gateway that defined our ideas about visiting the city . We always wanted to walk beneath its arch and in my virtual tour here we are. We are probably heading for the nearest cafe for pastries and coffees. That is what we always do . Sitting with the city map on the table working out where to walk and what to see . Gabby the real motorhome is sitting outside on the drive . We
have moved her forward an inch or so to stop her tyres spotting. We go inside her and she smells of motorhome . It is a distinct smell . I cannot describe it at all . She just smells of Gabby. We check her batteries . The solar panels are topping up her leisure and her engine batteries nicely . We have not been plugged in to the electricity on a float charge since before we fitted those hellishly expensive but very effective and at the moment redundant lithium batteries . I cannot describe the feeling of despair of not being to get her on the road . As we move into Day 20 we wonder when we will be able to get on that road and travel . Our thirst of travel needs to be quenched . As I sit waiting for a phone call from the GP to see if I can return to work I just want to be doing something , seeing something and learning something new .
Yesterday we received our renewal of our travel insurance . It shocked us to see how much it had gone up this year . Was it
the drivers age ? Or the navigators age? We were a year older after all. Our health was pretty much the same as last year . We have issues but who does not when you reach a certain age. We are both relatively fit and we have not claimed for years on the travel insurance . Not since we lost an expensive camera in the aqua bomba on Lake Garda . So why has it gone up? A quick call to the company to be told that insurance had gone up by x amount . OK I can understand that . The call centre guy suggested we dropped cover from the premium policy to the lower one. How many days can we be out of the country on the lower policy? Only 31 he replied . That is no good as we are always out of the country more than that . What about dropping baggage cover? That will save you £7 . Hardly worth it . I rang off and contacted the company who covers our van insurance . Are you travelling anywhere anytime soon? No . Are you currently suffering from Covid 19? Not as far as I know . She went on to tell me that the insurance company were not taking on any high risks for the foreseeable future so may not even be able to accept us even if the quotation was acceptable to us. I gave her our names and told her what we were looking for . 45 days travel - we don't do it . Then she told me that any policy would be at least £200 more than what we were paying . End of conversation. Looks like our policy is a good deal after all. Shame we don't need it at the moment . We will continue to pay it though as the lockdown will end . Moral of the story - what you think is expensive might just not be that bad.
My morning walk early before the world and his dog awoke took me down a woodland path I never knew existed . I must have walked past it times many the last four weeks . Narrow and hemmed in between mature oaks and chestnuts . It smelt of early morning dampness . Of wood and trees . There might be bluebells growing there and opening their pretty blue flowers in a few weeks . Now it smelt musty and took me back to walks as a child through ancient woodlands . Carpets of bluebells. I would sit for hours by the river or near a stream. Sometimes I would sit alone watching the steam trains . Although I walked through this tiny patch of woodland it still felt real . I could imagine for five minutes I was truly alone.
Back home for coffee , home made banana cake and music -. Erasure the music of the day. A randomly picked CD off the shelf . A relaxing morning listening to track after track. Singing along loudly. My calendar came up the goods. It usually does " Music fills the infinite between the two souls" Rabindranath Tagore.
If you are enjoying the ride join me tomorrow - we are heading out of Germany into Denmark .
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Jackie Harrison
non-member comment
Travel Insurance
Get a quote from Saga....I think we are insured for 93 days in a year bit they do offer more as well. I found them quite competitive and you can actually talk to a person!!!