Saturday 26th November 2022
Never say never. We had plans to hike the French Pyrenees today and tomorrow, but whilst David was keeping abreast with the news, we saw that Australia had won the semi finals of the Davis Cup and the final is on tomorrow in Málaga in France. After a little investigation about distances, tickets and accommodation, we decided to give it a go.

So we booked our tickets, a little expensive (150 euro each) but we decided you only live once and we might win our first Davis Cup in 19 years. So off we go as quick as we can (about 10am) as it was a very long way to drive. 1336km and about 13 hours was the google estimate. Initially we thought we would drive for about 9 hours today and then do 4 hours on Sunday before the tennis starts at 1pm. After a few of hours driving we decided maybe we should just go the whole way and have a sleep in, in the morning rather than 2 days of driving and the stress of getting there on time. So I booked some accommodation about 15mins south of the tennis and we were set. We drove from Toulouse to the border near San Sebastián in Spain (about 300km) and we paid about 25 euro in tolls. The scenery of the French Pyrenees was spectacular. Snow-capped mountain range at its best. It was the most spectacular drive. We then drove from the north of Spain border with France all the way to Torremolinos near Málaga which was almost 1000km and the Spanish tolls were only 15 euro. The roads were fantastic and I managed to drive for almost 4 hours. I did an hour before San Sebastián and then another few hours between San Sebastián and Madrid. Bailing at 4.445 when we were about 30km out of Madrid. This gave David the very hectic peak time through a major city. Lucky he is a legend.

We enjoyed some beautiful scenery although Spain was a lot browner than the lush green fields of Switzerland.

We managed to find a truckers type cafe at about 7.30pm, have an almost quick hamburger and chips (only 4.50 euro each) Spain is so cheap for food compared to Switzerland. My first communication in Spanish, which was a bit tricky. We learnt the basics again (Hola, Adios, Gracias, Por-favor, Lo siento, Si and No) our few mandatory words, which usually give whoever we are talking to a chuckle.

David continued driving and we arrived at our hotel in Torremolinos at 11pm. A great effort for such a long way. A few quick pitstops and driver changes, lunch on the way. It is the first time we have driven this far in one day in a very long time. It was awesome to have made it. We will try for a good nights sleep and a sleep in for the tennis tomorrow.