Early awakenings

Monday 9th of July, 4am.

When the alarm goes off I actually think I can get away with sleeping a little longer. Almost immediately I realise why it is that we are up so early and drag my ass out of bed: we are moving. Leaving the south of Spain, Andalucia stays behind, and taking ourselves and our belongings to Belgium. We will not travel there directly, for we stop in the South of France, in Euzet-Les-Bains: our little holiday (10 days).

I run around – half asleep – making sure we haven’t left anything at my mother’s flat. We say goodbye and pack everything in the boot of our 1998 Ford Ka. As we drive off, I cry thinking about how much I am going to miss my sister.

Nero, our teckel mix is seated comfortably. It is mostly Rob who sits behind the steering wheel as I am still a bit of inexperienced driver. We begin our drive from Cordoba at about 4.45am. We drive up to Manzanares (near Madrid), and from there take the route towards Valencia-Alicante-Barcelona. We stop at the first petrol station at around 8am.

One thing to keep in mind if you are to do a similar drive, petrol prices soar as you go up north. My advice is to fill up the tank completely, then refilling it as you go along (check prices as they will surely vary and you can save a lot of money) and ensure you fill you tank up completely before crossing the French border. You will find that petrol in the south of France is at least 20 cents (euro) more expensive than in the Spanish territory.

Ah, petrol stations: weird people buying FC Barcelona shirts, children petting our dog, drunken careless chicks banging my car as they emerge from their mistreated vehicles…