Until we meet again

October 19th: Thursday

And 3 weeks of vacation are over so quickly ☹

Decelerated – that best describes the last days of our trip. Even in times of a pandemic, lock down and lockdown times, I haven't managed to get as low as I did at our last campsite.

More than once we sat in front of the camper at 1 p.m. with coffee in hand and thought about what else we could do with the day.

The San Teodore La Cinta campsite had direct access to the beach, good sanis and, above all, outstanding pizza.

Since our beach shelter had died a few days ago, we had to switch to a parasol and quickly realized that it wasn't an adequate replacement. Michel didn't seem to feel particularly comfortable on the beach, kept rubbing his eyes and was restless. It didn't seem very windy to us, but on the other side you could always see kite surfers.

So we soon decided to take turns going for a splash and not taking Michel to the beach anymore. It was actually only a two-minute walk to the water and so I often took a nap with Michel in the camper while Sven went to cool off and Sven treated himself to a cappuccino or two while I was able to swim a few meters.

The beach was clean, quite spacious and still very busy. In midsummer you'll probably be lying towel to towel here.

To summarize our last days on the island: breakfast – cappuccino in the CP bar – exercise – coffee and cantuccini – swimming – walk on the beach – cooking – putting the child to bed – eating – sleeping. And in between, of course, having fun with Michel non-stop. Every now and then I would find my husband and son sitting on the swings in the playground watching other children. Michel is so fascinated by toddlers and babies, we noticed that before in the toddler group.

In fact, on the penultimate day of our trip it was supposed to rain a little in the evening, but the following day was dry and the sun was also shining. We had fantastic weather the entire holiday, 28 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, so we didn't want to complain about 1.5 days of mixed weather. Maybe it made it a little easier for us to say goodbye that the next few days weren't reported to have such fantastic weather.

On the morning of our departure, Michel of course didn't want to watch the dismantling, but wanted to be there right there, so Sven carried Michel back and forth in front of the camper and I dismantled and tidied up. Once that was done, we relaxed and made the short journey to the ferry, which was supposed to leave at 10:30.

It started on time and the 9-hour crossing didn't go by in a flash, but it was over fairly quickly. Michel slept twice and we were able to get some rest for the second part of the journey home: the 900km from Livorno to Heidelberg.

Luckily, when we arrived in Livorno at 8 p.m., Michel was still in a good mood and didn't seem overtired. Nevertheless, we drove out to the first parking lot and I went to bed with him (the advantage of a camper!) to save him from having to fall asleep unpleasantly in the Maxi Cosi. He sleeps well in the car, but he doesn't sleep well IN.

After just a few minutes our treasure was in the land of dreams and we drove off, Sven first at the wheel. Despite a closed Gotthard Tunnel, the drive over the pass in wind and fog and a stop at the rest area to get Michel back to dreamland at 4:50, we arrived home at 8:30, completely exhausted but happy. And we were proud to have brought ourselves and our child home so safely.

Looking back, I am very happy with how we organized this vacation. We learned from the “mistakes” of the Norway trip and didn’t take on too much. We recovered as well as you can recover on vacation with a baby and I feel (emotionally) strengthened for the next few months. Because now the seriousness of life begins again. But the next reward is already waiting for us: Sven's parental leave from March and the next trip. Where we end up then will remain a little secret.