We spent the morning in our room. I probably couldn’t stomach breakfast and wanted a toilet nearby to be on the safe side.
We used the time to get an idea of what to do once the ferry arrived in Genoa. We have been looking for a suitable vehicle for us on the Internet for some time. We have saved all the possible candidates. So today we made a closer selection and sorted them out. We each have our own ideas. We all agree that the vehicle must be equipped with a fixed bed, kitchen, fixed seating and toilet and shower (possibly just an outdoor shower). Ideally a separate bathroom to close. However, this is not essential. We would also cut back on the shower if the vehicle is otherwise suitable for us. From a converted Defender to a pickup with a cabin to a 7.5 t, everything is possible. We like it a bit extravagant. Sprinter, Crafter or similar are also available. But more as an emergency solution when we’ve had enough of searching and finally want to move on.
Later, we took a look at the bikes to see if everything was still in order. Alex’s front tire is low on air. Unfortunately, Alex also has to top up his oil more often. He also took the opportunity to check why his dipped headlights hadn’t been working for a while. Problem identified and solved. Both bulbs had simply burnt out.
While we were still eating breakfast, we saw a group of men and two women gathering at the front of the room. The women sat down at a large table, next to which separate food had been delivered from outside. When the men started putting on their caps, we immediately realized that they were Jewish. They continued to put on their prayer shrouds while the women began to eat.
We continued to wait and watch this spectacle, curious to see what these people were up to.
The men tied leather straps around one arm and put what looked like a headlamp on their heads. In reality, it was a prayer capsule.
When they had finished dressing. They took their Torahs in their hands and began to pray. Each one murmured his own prayer.
We had seen enough and disappeared into our room.
Check out in this hotel is until 12 noon.
We checked out as late as possible. It was only a few kilometers to the ferry. Although the ferry doesn’t leave until midnight, check-in was possible from 3pm. There was really nothing to do in the area. Like sightseeing or sitting in a cozy café, for example. For us today, that meant that we went straight from the hotel to the ferry.
We were at the check-in counter around half past eleven and collected our tickets.
At the counter there was a technical problem with the computer. The nice man said it might take a while, but less than 3 minutes later he gave us our tickets.
We then waited 3 hours before crossing the border and going through customs.
It wasn’t very busy yet. Stamping out went quickly. It took a little longer at customs as every car was checked. We were only sniffed by the sniffer dog again. Everything was ok, we went on to the next official who was responsible for checking out the vehicles.
It took a few minutes. When he walked away for a moment, we wondered what was going on, because everything was actually fine with the vehicles. When he came to me, he apologized and just said there were technical problems with the computer.
Half an hour later we were through and were allowed to drive to the ferry entrance parking lot.
The great thing was that motorcycles were allowed to ride right to the front. Two couples and Livio, a 73-year-old Italian, were already there. Hasan joined them later. We had a lot of fun with Livio and Hasan later on.
Our ferry arrived 20 minutes late (15:20).
It took a whole 3 hours for all the cars to get off the ferry.
It was very nice that water bottles were constantly being handed out.
Livio, Hasan and we were the only ones who seemed to be having a lot of fun. We talked and laughed a lot.
We were finally allowed to drive in at around 8:20 pm.
After moving into our suite and freshening up, we made it just in time for sunset.
We met Hasan again on the way to the restaurant. As the restaurant doesn’t open until later, we went to the bar first.
When the restaurant finally opened, we were able to grab a bite to eat.
It starts pretty much on time at 0:00.