The last week of our epic road trip from Madrid to Armenia. Sarajevo, "the Jerusalem of Europe, where East meets West, a visit to Split and a night in Trieste. Our journey home through Italy and France. We made it back to Spain. Home sweet home.

Madrid - home!  Sunday, 11th June 2023. 

Final episode of our epic road trip from Madrid to Armenia and back (21st April - 10th June 2023).

At the Tunnel of Hope - the tunnel built during the Siege of Sarajevo in 1993. Today it is a museum. 

Well hello again on the last day of our road trip to Armenia and back. We left Madrid on 21st April and we got home yesterday, 10th June, after a very long drive from Gerona near the French border.  It's going to be a culture shock to return to our normal daily lives after such an epic trip - 51 days on the road, our longest "holiday" yet.  It really has been the journey of our lives. If you have followed us,  you will know we traveled to 14 countries and reached Yerevan, our destination. That's over 13.000 kilometres at the wheel. Google will tell you it's 5200 km to the Armenian capital but it doesn't take into account that the border with Turkey is closed. Of course we made it slightly longer by going off course to see many places on the way. But many more cities and countries were also important destinations we really wanted to visit on the way there and back. Which were my favourite? I can't give you a number one but can tell you the top five are Georgia, Armenia, Albania, Bosnia and Croatia for sure. As to cities, well the most beautiful were Venice and Dubrovnik. The worst in terms of things to do and see were, sadly, Belgrade, Pristina and Podgorica. We spent more time in Turkey and the Balkans than anywhere else and for me the Balkans win for the amazing history and culture I encountered. I must add too that one of the absolute highlights, emotionally speaking, was our time in Sofia where I was able to see my grandfather's church, where my mother's family lived, his grave and also my Aunt Olga's convent. That will remain in my heart forever. As to what took my breath away, it has to be suddenly seeing Mount Ararat from our modest balcony in Yerevan above old Soviet tenement blocks. That was when I realised what a feat we had accomplished. We had a few scares on our way - like the time Eladio left his phone in a taxi in Yerevan, the moment I realised I had lost my driving licence and the time I was detained on the Armenian Georgian border for bringing in "narcotics" - codeine tablets. Other scary moments were on some frightening roads with huge potholes, especially in Georgia and Armenia, something I never factored in when I planned the journey. What would have happened if we had punctured a tire on one of them in the middle of nowhere? I hate to think. I also like to think we had a guardian angel protecting us most of the way, although at times, briefly, he or she seemed to disappear but always came back. Some people will think we are crazy for leaving in our own car for such a distant destination and maybe they are right, maybe we just had luck.  I always say, though, "Who dares wins".  We also met some amazing people, were treated wonderfully in most parts even if we couldn't speak the same language. Maybe we are very naive but we never felt in danger.  I think most couples would have argued at times but we hardly did. If anything the trip of our lives has served to bring us even closer together. We both love the same things; history, meeting new people and cultures, visiting churches of all kinds, listening to church music and trying local food. This journey has enriched our lives and will remain in our hearts and mind always. One of the places that will remain in our hearts and mind is Sarajevo. Read on to find out why. 

Last Sunday found us in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Sarajevo, which, a bit like Dubrovnik, stole my heart, not necessarily for its beauty but for its history and mixture of cultures. Most of the countries we visited have suffered dreadfully in recent wars or because of their regimes but I think Bosnia really suffered the most and wherever you go there are signs reminding you of the war. When it happened in the early 90's we watched it on TV like we watch the war today in Ukraine on Internet. So names like Mostar and Sarajevo were already very familiar but did we really know what happened? Not really, it was all a blur as we only really knew the region as Yugoslavia and all got  fatigued with the news. 

That was why both Sarajevo was so interesting for us. Sarajevo has an enormous history apart from the Bosnian War in the early 90's. We already knew about the city because it was where the Crown Prince of the Austro Hungarian Empire was assassinated but not much more. 

On Sunday we learned more from a wonderful Spanish speaking guide, Lejla who picked up the language from watching Spanish speaking TV series! Good for her. She was a guide for Guru Walking Tours which we started using in Tirana and which I highly recommend. We were to meet just outside the magnificent City Hall at 10. 30 am. Later we heard from her that it was built by the Austro Hungarian rulers but with a mixture of styles, including Moorish. 

We got there early and went to take photos in the sun. Everyone takes photos there because of the big letters for Sarajevo in front of it. Rain was forecast but never made its appearance although it has been our companion throughout this trip. 

Outside the City Hall in Sarajevo

Soon Lejla's group gathered, made up of 5 Spanish students from Valencia on an Erasmus in Prague and who were on a road trip around the Balkans like us,  a couple from Brazil and ourselves. Lejla started by giving us a run down of the country's history which I won't go into as it's so complicated. Basically Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into two federations which includes the Republic of Srpska - an entity within Bosnia that after the Dayton Agreement was set up to safeguard the interests of the Serbs living in Bosnia. What we came away with though is that even today the country is a melting pot of conflict between Bosniaks (Muslim Bosnians), Serbian Bosnians and Croats. Thus the country has "3 languages" but they are very similar. More than 100.000 people were killed and two million displaced in the war which left the country in tatters. Bosnia, it seems,  is not the peaceful community people would like it to be. Lejla told us what we had heard from other locals in other Balkan countries, that relations between the communities were much better under Josip Broz Tito, the instigator of what became to be known as Yugoslavia. After he died, conflict began again and it remains today. He may have been a communist dictator but in some ways he managed to maintain the peace. One example of conflict is inter-marriage. Eladio asked the awkward question of whether there is inter-marriage in Bosnia; do Serbs marry Bosnians, do Bosnians marry Croats or do Bosniaks inter marry? Her answer could have come from someone living in the last century. She told us if she married a non ethnic Bosniak (muslim) her father would go livid. She gave us an example. Her best friend had fallen in love with a Serb and her father ousted her to their faraway village and took away her phone.  I also learned that arranged marriages still exist in Bosnia, Europe, in 2023. Recently a 13 year old girl was "sold" to a 50 year old man. Thankfully, during the wedding procession, the police intervened and saved the child. Bosina has a long way to go in terms of social equality. 

According to our very informative guide, the three communities, lived peacefully under the rule of the Ottomans, or rather four, as the expelled Jews, the Sephardis,  from Spain sought refuge in Bosnia at the end of the 15th century.   They were followed by the Askanazi Jews. There were no ghettos in Sarajevo for them and they integrated well. There were over 20.000 Jews at one time but sadly because of the Holocaust, that figure dwindled dreadfully. Today there are only 300 or so living in Bosnia and only two of them still speak "ladino" - the language of the Sephardi Jews which is like medieval Spanish. But there is something from their history which  has lived on. One of the Sephardi Jews brought an illustrated Haggadah (book of the story of the flight of the Jews from Egypt) from Barcelona, of which there are only about 8 copies left in the world. The most famous one is in Sarajevo and it is the most valuable object in the city museum. So the Jewish legacy lives on in the Bosnian capital. 

Sarajevo flourished in the Ottoman period and became an important stopping point on the Silk Road, in part thanks to one man, Gazi Husrev (Beg) Yadigar who was the governor of Sarajevo in the 15th and 16th century. He was a commander too but his most important legacy was his contribution to the city which still remains today. He built mosques, theological schools, the covered bazaar and also helped the poorer people of the city.

But it's not just mosques you see in Sarajevo as only 50% of the population is Muslim. The capital is known as "The Jerusalem of Europe" because it is one of the few great cities in Europe that has a mosque, a Catholic Church, an Orthodox Cathedral and a synagogue, all in the same neighbourhood - that is the old town, known as "Stari Grad". We saw all four. 

The Gazi Husrev Yadigar Mosque in Sarajevo - the oldest

One of the synagogues in Sarajevo

The Catholic Cathedral - the Sacred Heart

The Serbian Orthodox cathedral in Sarajevo

We had seen the day before a mark on one of the streets with the words "Where East meets West" but I didn't get it. Lejla explained that the mark is to show where the two cultures meet- from the influence of the Ottoman Empire and the influence of the Austro Hungarian Empire. On the most famous street, Ferhadja, near Gazi Husrev's mosque, there is a distinct change in architecture. One side is all Moorish and the other side is all Austro Hungarian. So that is what the "Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures" marker on the pavement meant. 

The mark on the pavement on Ferhadja Street which represents the divide in the city between the Moorish style and the Austro Hungarian styles of the city of Sarajevo. 

The Moorish style

The Austro-Hungarian style

The tour wasn't all about history, we also got to see how Bosnians make their thick dark coffee - here is Lejla explaining the differences between how this type of coffee is made in Bosnia, compared to Turkey.  

Lejla extolling the virtues of the traditional way of making Bosnian coffee 

The tour ended at the exact point in the street next to the Latin Bridge where the Crown Prince of Austria, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated but I went into that last week. 

After so much history and culture, it was way past our coffee time which we had at after 13h. We were hungry too so took our guide's advice and tried the Bosnian national dish for lunch. Called ćevapi,  it is basically sausage shaped minced meat served in flat bread called "somnun". Did I like it? Yes but I found it a bit dry. Our portions were huge as you can see in the picture so we took at least half back "home" to have another time. There was actually so much, it lasted us 3 meals hahaha.

ćevapi - the Bosnian national dish

There was one more thing we both wanted to do in Sarajevo before calling it a day and that was to visit the Sarajevo tunnel built during the siege of the city in 1993. Today it is a museum and is called the Spasa tunnel which I think translates into the Tunnel of Salvation but is commonly called the Tunnel of Hope today. The only problem is that it's 26km outside the city so we took a taxi and agreed a price to take us there, wait for us and bring us back and all for a very reasonable amount - Sarajevo is generally very cheap for Western tourists. We got there easily and we found it very sobering indeed. There are two entrances, one on the Dobrinja side which was a garage of an apartment building and one under a house on the Butmir side. This is where the museum is today. The house belonged to the Kolar family who later did what they could to turn it into a museum so that the siege should never be forgotten. Kolar's mother still lives and is aged 94. What a story she has to tell. This is the house from the outside, very unassuming, but very strategically placed for its purpose.

The house where the tunnel was built and which is a museum today

During the siege over 300 bombs fell on the city daily which was full of snipers. The tunnel was built right by the airport and under the landing strip as the airport was the only part of the city not controlled by Serbian troops. It was built in the midst of the war by soldiers and miners initially for military purposes but later for humanitarian aid too as the city had no essential services and lacked food and medical supplies. It saved the city and Sarajevo never gave in. It was so well hidden the Serbs never knew of its existence even though it was built right under their noses, only 50 metres from the front line. 

The tunnel was 800m long and connected two parts of the city well out of the area of the siege. Today there is about 250m left of it with plenty of objects on display that were in use during this terrible time, mostly collected by the Kolar family while they were lying around after the war. This is the tunnel which we walked through. Today it is walled with wooden planks but the soldiers who used it didn't have that luxury and walked through mud as water was everywhere.

Part of the Sarajevo tunnel which is conserved today in a museum 

The museum had many visitors and I noticed they were mostly Muslims. It was a couple from Oman who took the photo of the two of us on the "Bench of Hope" which I have chosen as this week's feature photo. 

It was a sobering end to a fact filled day visiting Sarajevo and learning a little of Bosnia's difficult past and present.  I only wish this country well. I loved the people I met and when  I drank water from the famous fountain in Bascarsija Square, the heart of the town, I was told it meant I will be back. I hope I will. 

I would have loved to stay longer but we had to go if we were going to be home by today, a few day's before Oli and Miguel's wedding. But we had one more day to enjoy touring the Balkans and it would be in the delightful city of Split, the rival of Dubrovnik we were told. On Monday we would find out why. 

On Monday we left early as it is a long drive to Split all through the beautiful Dinaric Alps and along the Neretva River. We were leaving Bosnia for Croatia which meant returning to the EU. We left early and had a distance of only 234km to Split, the last real tourist destination of our trip back from Armenia. We didn't know what the road would be like but were in luck as it was alright and went through some beautiful terrain. I concluded once again that the countryside in Bosnia is stunning. 

Crossing the border was easy. We were basically the only car, although I was told that in the summer when tourist buses cross countries, it can take hours. The Croatian customs officer asked if we had cigarettes and I lied and said no - I had bought quite a few in Turkey as a packet costs one euro there vs five euros in Spain. Thank God she didn't inspect the car. That was the last border we would cross on our journey.

We made it to Split by about 13h and once again we entered a city in torrential rain. We thought it would spoil our day  but were lucky as at about 3h the rain had gone. We checked into our pleasant apartment  about 800m from the famous Riba promenade and Diocletian Palace. The palace of the 4th century Emperor, like the fortress in Dubrovnik, has  a whole ancient city inside where some people still live.

But first things first and we went in search of lunch which we had on the Riba and it was expensive as all things are in both Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia's most famous cities. They are rivals in beauty and history and I wondered which I would prefer. I came away preferring Dubrovnik and my husband came away preferring Split; Croatia's second largest city.

Again I had booked a "free" Guru walking tour. We met at the Split sign by the harbour at 5.30 pm and had to have a corny photo. This one was taken by a a lovely German woman after I had taken a photo of her and her group - it works like that hahaha. I love the photo. 

By the Split sign on Monday

We were a group of about 18 and our guide, Zarko, (pronounced "Zharko") was amazing. His Spanish was perfect and he had a great voice and gave us just the amount of information we needed. We started off with an explanation of the palace before going in.

The drawing of the Emperor's palace

The palace was built by Diocletian in the 4th century for his "retirement". I think he is the only Roman emperor ever to retire. But he was from the area and that was his decision. He is famous for being one of 4 Emperors at the same time - the rule of four called Tetrarchy - which he installed so as not to have too many rivals - lots of emperors only lasted a year. He lasted longer. He is well known for persecuting the Christians. Inside I was surprised to see an Egyptian sphynx - known as the oldest lady in Split!

The only Egyptian sphynx in Split with its head still on. 

Diocletia had brought it and the others back from his battles in Egypt. I wondered if the Egyptian government wanted this one back. So I asked the guide, who, knowing I was English, made a slightly sarcastic remark about all the stolen Egyptian art at the British Museum in London. Touché I thought. 

Split seems as popular as Dubrovnik and the place was teeming with tourists and tourists in guide groups like ours but it's the best way to see a city in 2 or 3 hours. Zarko did a great job. 

Split - full of tourists again

Our tour came to an end after which we wandered around some of the ancient streets marveling at the beauty of the place. If only we had had more time to explore the city and some of its fabulous islands but no, we did not. Maybe we will go back one day.

My evening was rather spoiled by my unpleasant apartment host when the lady who lives in the flats above came to collect the money - most Booking accommodation is paid for in cash in this area. I hadn't seen the hidden taxes, just the global amount so paid the amount that figured on the Booking app. That's when the host came down on me like a ton of bricks and got Booking to ring me from Singapore! Frankly the woman was very unpleasant and intimidating. PD this was the most expensive accommodation of our tour. On the plus side the place was beautiful, mainly because of the private garden.

Anyway, I didn't want that to spoil my stay and tried my best to get a good night's sleep as on Tuesday we had a long drive to Trieste, where we would stop to rest and sleep. No doubt Trieste has lots to offer but I think we had had enough culture for a while and couldn't take much more, hahahaha. 

We left early and our journey would be 486km, one of the longest. But it was mostly motorway apart from the last 50km which is pretty inexplicable. We went past Rijeka in Croatia where we had planned to stay originally. I'm not sure it's a tourist town but it holds a place in my heart as it was where my father's family lost their lives in an air crash from Gatwick on 23rd May 1971. I have mentioned this tragedy several times in my blog as it is a tragedy that has never gone away. Here is one post where I tell the terrible story, if you want to read it. To think I was driving past near where they met their death 52 years ago. I wondered, sadly, if there was a memorial at the airport - probably not. They were on their way to the beautiful island of Krk which is where my Aunt and Uncle Derek met and fell in love. They were taking their children, my cousins, Jacqueline (12), Michael (9) and Antony (7) to "Mummy and Daddy's island". I drove past with a heavy heart but kept my thoughts mostly to myself. If only I  had time to visit their island I kept thinking; but I didn't. Later, out of interest, and once more in my life, I googled the accident and an article came up in Croatian from a local paper, the NL. These days we have Google Translate and later that night I translated the whole thing. Oh my God what I found. There were two eye witness reports of the accident from a photojournalist who was there that night; Milos Oluic, and a young trainee air traffic controller, Cedomir Salevic. Both were became friends who met for coffee often. They never forgot that night. How could they? In that article which I translated I found out something I never knew, how they died. I won't go into it. It is far too tragic and awful but now I know. I also know their lives could have been saved. The plane crashed when it landed but didn't explode into flames for at least 5 minutes, enough to try and evacuate the passengers. The sad explanation is that those trying to save them only had their bare hands and axes. Today resources would have saved them. God! I can't tell you what I felt when I read the story. There was closure of a tragedy that I live with but it will never go away. I late wrote to the journalist through the newsroom general email. I hope I get a reply as I would really like to talk to the two eye witnesses. 

It was their death that was in my thoughts as we drove past Rijeka on our way to Trieste. If only I had had time to visit their island, the island where my Aunt and Uncle fell in love but met their death. 

We got to Trieste rather late and we were starving. After checking into our lovely Airbnb about 1.2km from the famous Piazza de la Unita which we never visited, off we went in search of lunch. By then it was 3 pm and of course most places were "chuisi" but we were directed to a lovely gourmet centre called "Eataly" where we gorged on fresh pizza and took home what we couldn't eat for lunch as it would do for dinner. Oh, how well Italians make pizza and pasta. Whey can't we make it as good elsewhere?

Frankly all we wanted to do was chill out, rest and sleep which is what we did when we got back.  I also washed all my "smalls" and they dried in the lovely sun in the garden - what luxury to have a small garden to ourselves. 

Chilling out at our Airbnb in Trieste

We went to bed really early, at around 9.30 pm and I was up at 5 am on Wednesday morning. 

Michaela, our Airbnb host, was there to help us with our luggage although we hadn't asked for help. We hadn't asked for fresh croissants either but she came bearing a bag of them for our journey. We really liked her place and I gave her full marks; i.e. 5 stars. 

We were driving to a small place called Canneto Pavese, further along from Piacenza and en route to Genova, another long drive. I don't like driving on Italian motorways as everyone drives so fast and it feels like you are in a rally with hundreds of huge lorries from all over Europe.  What I looked forward to and which I hardly found anywhere else was a good cappuccino on a motorway  cafe which would be the highlight of our morning. 

As I said, we hadn't seen anything in Trieste. Luckily we were driving right by the cruise harbour (hate the huge cruise liners) and opposite is the heart of the city - the Piazza de la Unita - so I took a quick photo and had a very quick glimpse. It is immense. We were too tired the day before for more sightseeing. 

Piazza de la Unitá in Trieste

But we weren't too tired to stop and see the fabulous  Castello di Miramare which was on our route as we left the ctiy. We had to stop. It would have been a crime not to. It was 8 in the morning so we arrived before all the hordes of tourists. I adore Italy but sadly so many tourists can put you off even the most beautiful of places. I am one of them, I know. We had it to ourselves which was marvelous. Just look at the location; it's to die for. It's thanks to my ex Nokia colleague, Veronica, who told me about the castle before we left on our road trip. 

The Castello di Miramare perched on a rock overlooking the Gulf of Trieste. What a location. 

The castle is absolutely stunning as are its gardens and private beach but it was too early in the morning to visit. So we enjoyed it from the outside. I read it was built in 1860 for Archduke Ferdinand, later Maximilian I and I wondered if he ever stayed there. If it was mine I would never move out. 

Outside the magnificent Castello di Miramare 3km outside Trieste and overlooking the Gulf.

As we left and got onto the Autostrada we commented that our short visit had been worthwhile and that  Italy is full of beautiful places. It is the top country for monuments and art. No country can beat it. 

We had our lovely cappuccino somewhere on the Autostrada and then when it was getting to around 1 pm we realised that we would arrive too late again for lunch at our next Airbnb. Thus I quickly browsed online to look for somewhere and the only option was to find a small town off the motorway and hope a restaurant. We found it in the small town of Pontevico in the province of Brescia in Lombardy. It's so  tiny, there is nothing about it on the web, yet, like in most places in Italy it has jewels to show off like this church (I think it is a church) where we parked our Mini. I told you Italy has so many beautiful places. 

A splendid little square to park the Mini in Pontevico where we had lunch on the way from Trieste to Canneto Pavese. 

Google came up with a restaurant called Osteria Il Gambero and what a place. It was just perfect. 

Osteria Il Gambero

We loved the food, risotto for Eladio and pasta for me and we loved the decor and the waitress who was so sweet. It's a place we shall remember. 

From there it was about 100km to our next Airbnb which was 10km off the motorway (exit Stradella). We went up into the mountains and past tiny villages and wondered where on earth we were going. I later read the area is called "Oltrepò Pavese because it is the only part of the Lombardy region to be below the River Po. Our Airbnb in Canneto Pavese was located on one of the first hills facing the Po valley and that the area is famous for wine. But we didn't try it as we never left the place once we had checked in until the next morning. 

With just 500 metres to go, we faced trouble. Tar was being laid on the road and there was no other road to reach the house. So, in a very Italian and friendly way, the workers moved all their machinery and let us through. I felt sorry for the Mini's tires getting covered in tarmac! We laughed and said "Viva Italia". It's such a civilised country. 

Going the last 500 metres to our Airbnb in Canneto Pavese while tarmac was being laid - only in Italy hahaha

We soon found our new home in Italy and we were delighted with it. This is it. Run by  Francesca and her husband Lorenzo, they have turned part of the ground floor of their massive house into a whole apartment overlooking the vineyards. It was old fashioned, not my style but everything was clean and the location was perfect. Here are some pics to show. 

Our very rural Airbnb in Canneto Pavese which we loved. 

We soon settled in and we were both happy it was a sunny day. For the record it was the first day I actually wore a summer dress. I then did some washing for Eladio and asked for a dryer to which Francesca pointed to the sun. She was right, our clothes dried really quickly.

We couldn't have found a better place to rest and recharge our batteries before continuing our journey the next day. The next day, Thursday would find us driving to Brignoles near Aix-en- Provence - didn't find anywhere there so Brignoles looked nice. I wondered if the Airbnb there would be as good. You never know. 

We had another long drive - 420km.  It was about 150km to Genova and and we stopped for a coffee at one of the great service stations in Italy. That was where we bought all our presents to take home; toys for the children, boxes of local wine and loads of pasta, cheese and pesto for our daughters.

Ah, our daughters. I hadn't been much in touch during the trip and of course Oli is getting married this Friday and I hadn't done anything. Neither did I know what she had planned for her small and low key wedding which will be here at home.  But I had to do something. So during the whole of Thursday's drive (and Friday's),  I was in touch with dear Gloria from QuintaEsencia, the events agency I used for years when I worked for Nokia and Yoigo. I knew she could help to "dress up" the wedding a bit. Between us and after talking to Oli to make sure I wasn't duplicating anything she was arranging, we came up with some lovely ideas which in just one week can be arranged. There is still lots to do but at least the ideas have been agreed - more about that in next week's post when by this time next Sunday, the wedding will be over and Miguel and Olivia will finally have tied the knot after being together for more than 10 years and already having kids hahahaha. 

We stopped for lunch at a small town off the motorway in Italy before the border. It had to be in Liguria, on the Italian Riviera. We found a lovely restaurant in the seaside town of Diano Marina called Tirabuscion. We loved it. Here is Eladio, feeling good after a meal of fish soup (him) and gnocchi with seafood (me). 

Our last meal in lovely Italy on Thursday where the quality of the food is nearly always a guarantee

Before continuing our drive we went to Pam - a supermarket - to stock up on food for dinner and breakfast. It had great quality produce. With so many stops we only arrived in Brignoles at about 6 pm. Our Airbnb there was another good choice - another self contained apartment on someone's property. It's been interesting to see how other Airbnb hosts do their job; some well, some not so well. This was the apartment we booked. We were warmly welcomed by Celine and Fred and I had to speak French which I didn't mind at all. So much easier after not being able to communicate in Turkey hahahaha. Apart from the Airbnb, they also run a creche in their garden which was full of toddlers playing. Good for them I thought. It's a good way to earn an income if you can't find a job or prefer to work for yourself. We soon moved in and I spent the rest of the evening sitting on our lovely terrace. I had lots to do - arranging my contribution for Oli's wedding - and my own Airbnb guest related issues to deal with too. 

We went to bed far too early, at about 9.30. So it's no surprise I was up at 4.30 am on Friday morning, the day of our journey back to Spain. We were heading for a small town called Vilafreser - near Girona - just past the border with France. It turned out it was not a town at all but was right on the motorway, so perfect for a pit stop but not the best accommodation of our trip. We stopped for a café au lait at a good service station but it was nowhere near as good as the coffees I had had in Italy. What was good and I couldn't resist was the croissant. Only the French know how to make them properly, like only the Italians know how to make pasta and pizza properly. Our drive was 433km and on the French motorways you go fast but oh how expensive the damned "peages" are, as they are in Italy. I concluded that actually the best and cheapest roads are in Turkey would you believe? The petrol is cheapest there too so if you are thinking of doing a road trip, include Turkey hahahahha.

Soon we were seeing signs for Barcelona - home, well not really as you well know the rivalry here  in Spain between Madrid and Barcelona, but for the moment, it it is still Spain unless they ever get their independence. The nearer we got to Spain the warmer it got - 30ºc and we concluded the best weather in Europe is in our own country. I also concluded after visiting 14 countries in over 50 days that actually Spain is a great country to live in. It may have its faults - no country is without them - but it has nearly everything going for it, apart from a minor issue with the job market and the economy. So when  we passed the border which is just a sign these days, I felt at home. I also realised it was an important moment, the moment we made it back to Spain after our epic road trip. Wow, what an achievement. In Spanish there is a saying,  "poner un pico en Flandes" - Spaniards will understand - there is no translation - and that is what we did by reaching Armenia and coming back safe and sound - a bit like making it to the top of Everest and placing your country's flag there. 

The moment we made it back to Spain - it was a very special feeling 

We were back in Spain but far from Madrid - over 700km - so had booked a place near Gerona for our final night before driving home - home sweet home. 

So we were in Spain. Well yes and no as we had decided to come off the motorway and go and have lunch at a peculiar town on the border. In French it is called Le Perthus. In Spanish it is called El Pertus and it is odd as half the town is Spanish and the other half is French. Imagine!

Le Perthus / El Pertus - a town on the border which is half in France and half in Spain

The part that belongs to Spain is administered by the nearby town of La Junquera and the part that is run by France has its town hall (Marie) on the main street. The main street is the division. In French it is Avenue de France and in Spanish it is Avenida de Cataluña. We took a photo of the Marie and I noticed the absence of a Spanish flag but there was the Catalan one in its place. That riled us.

The French town hall in Le Perthus

We parked in France and walked across the road to find ourselves in Spain! I had first heard about this town during the Covid pandemic which caused awful confusion in Le Perthus. It is also famous in Spain in the history of the Civil War where thousands of Spanish republicans headed, leaving Franco's Spain. They were put into refugee camps and were not treated very well unfortunately. Their story is a painful one in Spanish history. 

But we were not thinking about history, rather our stomachs and went in search of a restaurant called El Tabasco we had found on Google as it had 4.5 stars - all the rest were mainly fast food establishments, fast food as in Spanish tapas which the French were gorging on for low prices. El Tabasco proved a great choice. We actually chose "paella" even though it doesn't come from the area - paella is from Valencia but it looked good. It was unlike a normal paella - being a bit spicy but it was delicious and rather like a welcome back to Spain meal. We enjoyed it and even took a doggy bag home. 

Lunch at El Tabasco in Le Perthus

We were only 50km from our accommodation - a hotel this time - and were keen to get there to unload our car for the last time on our trip and to rest. We walked back along the main street and I noticed all the tobacco, clothes and food shops the French flock to. They come for tobacco, alcohol and petrol all of which are cheaper in Spain. There was nothing to Le Perthus really apart from lines of shops and cheap restaurants. But it was interesting to see it as it's such a quirk of a place. 

The main street in Le Perthus - the right side is in Spain and is full of tobacco shops and supermarkets which the French flock to. 

I took the wheel and we mostly drove through the countryside of what is the province of Gerona or Girona (in Catalán). It was actually very beautiful but all we wanted was a place to rest before our final journey. We soon found the Hotel Sausa which is right on the motorway. I didn't like it much at the beginning but it later grew on me. I had hoped for somewhere more special for our last night but actually it was fine. We rested and I only went out to take a look at the empty swimming pool. This was it; rather nice really. 

The pool at our hotel near Gerona 

I decided d it wasn't hot enough for me  to go in, although it was in the high 20's. We took our bathing stuff but not once did we use it on our trip. We will use it at home at our own pool for sure, soon,

What the hotel had to offer though was a great kitchen. We probably had  the best dinner of our whole trip there and for just 13 euros each - Armenian prices I thought hahahaha. It was home cooking and Eladio was as pleased as punch to find chickpeas on the menu as I was to find "fideua" (like paella but made with vermicelli). At such an uninspiring hotel on the motorway we were surprised to have such a great dinner. We slept well too as the beds were very comfortable and the noise from the motorway didn't interrupt our sleep. 

I woke up slightly later yesterday in Gerona, at 6.45.  We packed all our stuff for one final time and I thought to myself how wonderful not to have to live out of a suitcase anymore. We left at around 8,30 with 733km to go. That was when the urge to go home finally hit us both I think. Suzy sent me videos and photos of little Pippa - oh what a reunion that would be and I arranged for Oli and family to come to dinner. I couldn't wait to see our family and be home after 51 days away. It was  warm and sunny without a drop of rain and I wore a summer dress again. Oh how lovely to be back in sunny Spain, our home. Armenia is great but home is better. Home is everyone's castle isn't it?

We didn't want to have lunch out and opted for a sandwich. Eladio had his at 12.15, super early for him, under the shade of an olive tree somewhere on the road between Barcelona and Madrid.

Eladio having his sandwich under the shade of an olive tree yesterday, on our way home

I had mine later while he was driving. We were in such a hurry we didn't want to waste time eating out. We just wanted to get home

We we are home by about 5 and while Eladio drove up the path, I rushed out of the car. There waiting for us were Suzy and Pippa. The reunion with Pippa was emotional, spiritual, full of love. Suzy had looked after her like a princess and the two were inseparable in our absence but she knows who her owner is and it's me - she is ours, but she is "my dog" and I love her to the core. As always, she slept with us last night and got up with me this morning. As I write at my desk, she is lying on her blanket on the sofa in the study next to me, bless her. 

It was great to fold Suzy into my arms too - she is so skinny and I have got so fat with all the baklava and ice cream I ate nearly every day on the trip:-( It took hours to settle in but I did it slowly. Oh how divine to be in our huge bedroom with its terrace and enormous bathroom - what luxury after all the modest places we had stayed at, most of them very small. Soon I was downstairs in the kitchen with Suzy with all our gifts on display which were much appreciated. And soon Oli was with us and the kids. Elliot melted into my arms. Juliet went from Eladio's arms to mine and I gave her her new doll which she wasn't very interested in, hahahaha. Elliot loved his Spider Man toy. Oli had come back from her very modest Hen Party and we were joined by Copi- the girls' friend since they were 3 and 4. Copi will be an important guest at the wedding on Friday.

We had a great dinner of lots of doggy bag contents we had brought with a veritable pasta feast - tortellini and gnocchi with all sorts of different pesto sauces - accompanied, by, yes, rose Prosecco which I was able to chill just in time. Dessert was some of the baklava I had bought in Bursa in Turkey and which had survived the journey intact 

We had such a great family reunion dinner, I totally forgot to take photos but come 10.30 or so and Eladio and I were bushed and had to go to bed. I can't describe how wonderful it was to be in our own huge bed with its memory foam mattress and crisp white Egyptian  cotton sheets. What luxury. I slept well but woke up today at 5.45 and here I am writing to you all now. I want to thank you for following our journey. It was great to have your company on what has been the trip of our lives. We shall never forget it and will talk about it until our dying days. Ah, but it won't be the last one as we are already thinking where our road trip will be to next year. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for reading this and for following us. I can't thank you enough.

This is now the end of the last episode of our road trip from Madrid to Armenia and back. I still can't believe we made it there and came back safe and sound and very enriched by the experience.

All the best till next week when you will hear all about Oli and Miguel's wedding,

Cheers Masha (and Eladio).