Day 6: The Start of the True Adventure, Rookie at Rush-hour, Snake Road, & the Castle on the Cliff

Tuesday 4 January 2022

I woke up in the Flor Parks hotel in Barcelona. 

What did I do? Tell me that it isn’t true! I sat up straight in bed. I decided on my travel plans last night and booked a hotel at Tossa de Mar for tonight and rented a car for a week. The plan derived from an itinerary from the Lonely Planet: Barcelona & Around in one week. I would go up with a car along the coast and then hit inland to visit the Pyrenees. A car! For a week! A car! A car!

My heart was beating fast. I didn’t dream it. In two hours I had to pick up the car. Do I even remember how to drive? Why was this a good idea yesterday? I still had to sleep on it. Now I’ve slept on it. Bad idea, bad idea! “Just do it,” I remembered my sister saying, although it was about something totally different, it also applied in this situation. Less thinking, more doing. That’s how you live a happy life. My sister (the psychologist/ deadly bicycle giver) would be proud.

The angel on my shoulder was a little bit less proud of me. Standing with her arms crossed, looking down at my shoulder, shaking her head. “Just think of the risks involved! You never rented a car before. If you survive the crash, you’ll have extreme debts and you already have a huge student loan to pay off. If you survive, that is,” My angel said. She had a high pinching whining voice that reminded me of Peach from Mario. Actually, my angel looks like Peach, but then with wings. A tiny princess with blond hair in a pink dress. 

My devil was stoked. Dancing with his tail, spinning around on my left shoulder, and making funny faces to the angel. “Just stop talking! I’m winning today. All hope is lost,” he said. He looks more like the Darth Maul from Star Wars. My brother had a toy of this character, that always scared me as a kid.

I dropped down on my bed again. Just kill me now. Before I shower, I’m going to look at Youtube videos about how to drive. That’s more important. Luckily I had time to do both. Rested, fresh and slightly more prepared I was back on the street again with my backpack. I walked down the La Rambla, a big busy street in Barcelona. It would take me right to Europcar, the car rental.  I walked by a tiny supermercado. Wait! I have to get groceries now, otherwise, I have to find a parking place first. I barged in with my big backpack and brown leather bag around my neck. The Spanish person behind the counter awoke from his daydream.

Water, I thought. I just need water. Of course, the moment I arrived at the counter I had my arms filled with stuff. Nuts, yoghurt, meat, wine, beer and... o, water. I almost wanted to buy a tortilla frittata. What do you think that is? Huevo! Egg. A nice omelette made with potato. Not what we call tortilla’s in the Netherlands, somewhere we messed up. I ended up not buying it because I had no more hands-free. The Spanish guy had to laugh behind the counter when he saw me. “O no!” he said and pointed at the shopping baskets. Too late now.

I still had 5 minutes. I found a bench in front of the car rental. I needed to eat something, behind the car it will be difficult. I only had yoghurt and oatmeal. I couldn’t find my spoon. The bag of oatmeal opened and the white powdery flakes filled the pockets of my backpack, the bench and the pavement. Great, exactly where I wanted it. Everywhere except in my stomach. No spoon and oatmeal then. I’ll just have the yoghurt. I held the small plastic cup to my lips and tried to suck the yoghurt out. An elderly couple walked past me and looked at the crazy woman covered in white powder eating her yoghurt as if it’s an oyster. Just act normal, I thought. They were still looking. I take it back, it is not always a great strategy. Move along people, nothing to see here. I should have bought the tortilla. I’m still lightheaded, and now I’m supposed to drive a car? O shit! The car. Ten minutes too late.

I entered the shop, my palms were sweaty. I had to show my passport, driver’s license and credit card. My hands were shaking.

“We will charge 500 euro now. You will get it back when you return the car,” said the woman that sat behind the desk. She had long black hair in a tail and her fingers jumped on her keyboard. Her English was good, not Spanglish.

“Okay, I understand,” I said, nodding my head.

“Are you sure you don’t want insurance, you might be charged 1500 euro if you get involved in an accident,” the woman asked.

“Ehm,” I said.

It might sound crazy, because I love to be prepared for anything, but I hate insurance. I am very careful with my stuff, so insurance just costs me a lot of money without any benefits. To rent the car, it only cost 125 euro for 8 days. That means 15,60 euro a day, that is cheap! With insurance, it will be more expensive. “I’m sure I don’t want insurance,” I said.

“Okay, sign this, and this, and this,” the woman pointed at the blank spaces at the bottom of the contracts. I signed them. My soul was sold to the devil. “Here are the keys, that’s your car,” the woman said and she pointed with her long nail to the beast that was standing in the driveway of the garage.

My jaw dropped. “This one? The grey Peugeot 208?”

She nodded.

O.

My.

God.

I heard drums in my head when I walked to the car. “Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste,” I hummed softly.  I used the button on my key to unlock it. The lights flashed and I heard in unlock. It felt like a tiny orgasm. What a magnificent beast. I entered its belly and threw the backpack on the backseat. It smelled like, like, well, a new car. Something I only smelled in taxi’s, never in a car that I would drive. Maybe there was a reason for that. 

“I've been around for long, long years. Stole million man's soul an faith,” I sang softly. I buckled up. Checked if the position of my mirrors was right and put the key in the keyhole. I switched it half way. The beast woke up, suddenly aware of its new owner, but still sleepy. I put my left foot on the clutch and switched the key all the way. Now the beast was fully awake and growling. His eyes were wide open. I tried to see if someone was coming, but it was hard to see from within the garage. I put the poke in the first gear and slowly let the clutch come up. Red signs appeared on the dashboard and alarms rang in my ears. The whole car was shaking, but barely moving forward. Am I already in a car accident? What the hell is going on?!

The beast went back to sleep, abruptly. The woman could see me in the car, struggling. She probably thought that I made the wrong decision by not taking the insurance. Me too. O, of course! The handbrake was pulled down, but not all the way. Rooky mistake. I tried it again and now the beast started moving. How exciting!

Immediately it got difficult, with pedestrians and tight corners and narrow streets. The worst was when I drove on a busy road through the centre of Barcelona and cars, scooters, taxi’s and busses came from all directions. I was still barely understanding how my car worked. The internet on my phone didn’t work, so I had no directions. I looked at the map once this morning, I had to get out of the city and follow the coastline. I didn’t think the traffic would be so chaotic and stressful, otherwise, I would have prepared a bit better.

Thank god for signs, we are going to do it the old way. I was focussing so much on reading the signs, that I didn’t notice that I was suddenly driving on the part of the road that was only meant for busses and taxi’s. A taxi was honking behind me. I couldn’t move back to the part of the road where I belonged, it was too busy and nobody let me in between. “Come on guys, you can’t be angry at me AND not allow me to go back to the right place, that’s just unfair,” I said. I put my foot on the gas and drove hard on the taxi lane. I’ll just be a taxi for a couple of minutes, fuck it!

The moment I saw a gap in between the cars to the left of me, I jumped in. Orders of Peach. I felt relieved, but I wasn’t outside of the city yet. I wasn’t even sure if I was going in the right direction. Huge roundabouts appeared with five or six roads wrapped up around them. Roads going up in the air, down into tunnels, twisting, turning, rising, falling. It was like an amusement ride in six flags, but I wasn't amused. Where the hell do I need to go? My hands were holding the wheel so tightly that my knuckles were white.

I finally made it to the highway that went outside of the city and it became less and less busy. Weight fell off my shoulders. I relaxed my hands a bit, the colour returned. Why did I think that it would be quiet on the street around 1 PM? Spanish people have their break and return home around that time. It was madness. I saw the sea appear to the right of me. I’m even driving in the right direction. I rolled the windows down and tried to relax in my seat. “I’m pleased to meet you, I hope you guess my name,” I sang loudly, “but what's puzzling you is the nature of my game.”

Now, I enjoyed it. Before, not so much. It was still scary to drive, but it was easier on the partly empty highway. I was on the C-32 and followed the signs that said Girona. I figured out how the radio worked and put some Spanish music on. The longer I drove, the easier it got to see the landscape and its beauty. I didn’t know that the most dangerous part was still to come.

“Look! Look at those forests and those hills and how the ocean water sparkles!” I screamed in ecstasy. Nobody was there to listen. I looked at the empty chair to my right. Rhianne. Where’s my friend? She should have been here, she would have loved this. I felt sadness. I got so used to her being there, that I was baffled by her absence. Nobody to share my experiences with. Nobody to talk to. I just wished she was there.

It was good that she wasn’t, because the moment I got off the highway, I needed all my attention on the road. The road turned into a snake that sliced through the mountains next to the coast. The road was going up and down, from left to right. I was back in the rollercoaster, but in this one, I had a steering wheel and my buggy wasn't fixed to the track. One wrong move and I would fly off! Or hit a wall, whatever your imagination prefers. I couldn’t see the traffic coming towards me until it was next to me, in the corner, on the edge of a cliff. If any of us would drive on the other side of the road, even a little, we would both end in the ocean.

   

I knew I needed to take a break, but no place seemed appropriate. The view was absolutely amazing, but I had no time to look at it. I wanted to take pictures, but I couldn’t risk it. I wanted to drink water, but I couldn’t open the bottle with one hand. I was hungry and all I had was that damn yoghurt. Ever eaten an oyster while driving? Didn’t think so.

I was lucky that it was quiet. I only had a big white Nissan behind me and I think he understood that I was a rookie, because he kept his distance. The safest decision, for everyone. Normally, everyone would know immediately that I’m a foreigner with the ugly orange plate on the back of my car. I wasn’t only a foreigner to this country, but also to this type of terrain. Try to find hairpin bends in the Netherlands, or cliffs, or even a mountain. Good luck! Now, I had a white Spanish plate. Nothing out of the ordinary. I looked like a normal Spanish driver. Right until you saw me through the mirror, with my green eyes, blond hair, and huge smile, “Ola!”

I was allowed to drive maybe 70 or something, but I took the corners with 50 if not less. Except for one, I didn’t realize that I was driving down the hill and that my speed was way too high for the tight corner that came up. Remember, I didn't have Google Maps to see the sharpness of the corner, I went into each bend blindly. I took the corner with too much speed and needed the other side of the road to drive around the corner. Of course, my foot was pushing the brake, but I was still going too fast! Way too fast! I felt the forces of nature pulling at me. I heard the backpack sliding on the back seat. Here I go, I thought. The end of the journey. One way ticket to hell. Peach started crying, while Maul couldn’t stop laughing.

Everything went in slow motion. I saw the edge coming closer and closer but I managed to stay on the road. When I turned around the cliff, there was no traffic to meet me. Otherwise… you wouldn’t be reading this. That was a mistake I would only make once in my life. ONCE. From now on I rather drive a snail than a beast. I’m too young to die. I still need to multiply. Snake Road ended and I was out of the danger zone. I was driving on a flat area in a straight line and Peach was singing. Or was it me?

I took the wrong turn, for the first time, because now Tossa de Mar wasn’t on the signs anymore, I was already there. I needed to look on the map to see where my hotel was. For the first time, I stopped driving. Water! Air! Sunlight! I stretched my legs and tried to rest a bit. Say Hello to my Peugeot!

 

My hotel was easy to find from the highway. When it appeared, I almost hit the brake out of surprise. Oops, I can't put the car in the middle of the street! Let's find a parking place.  I was in luck, there was one empty space left on the hill next to the hotel. Very slowly I manoeuvred the car into the tight spot. When the car stopped moving and the beast went back to sleep, I couldn’t hide my joy. Shaking I stepped out of the car. I looked down from my toes up to my chest. Still in one piece. I'm alive! I'm alive! I ran inside the hotel and I almost forgot to lock the car. I was so relieved.

Right when I entered my hotel room, I made a little video for Rhianne. Saying how much I missed her and how exciting the drive was. I texted my family that I arrived in Tossa de Mar okay and I took a moment to relax on the bed. I opened the bottle of wine and drank a glass. “Damn, what a crazy adventure,” I said out loud, “I never needed a glass of wine more in my life!” I immediately felt the alcohol. O, that’s right. I should eat first. I was almost too tired to go out, but without food it’s not really a choice. I walked through the village to the beach. The sun was setting.

Wow! I stopped walking. I couldn’t believe how amazing the view was. A stunning castle appeared on the cliffs next to the beach. That’s why Tossa de Mar is in the Lonely Planet, I had no idea. What a sweet surprise.

I followed my nose to a tiny restaurant and ordered a seafood pizza and a beer. Again I missed Rhianne and I looked at the empty chair in front of me.

Where one door closes, another one opens. Yes, I was alone, but did you notice how the story changed? Instead of looking for a table in the sun and eating and drinking all day, I was doing what I love most. Going on adventures, exploring, looking for a thrill and pushing my limits. This was the start of the true journey. Frodo wished he had this car.