Could you please open the door and unload to let me have a look at all that stuff in your car? – said the security officer in Holyhead to me this morning.

When he saw the expression on my face he started to laugh and couldn’t stop… I probably couldn’t believe how good his own joke had been. And then he said, “Oh go on! I wouldn’t do this to anybody! Hahahahaha hahahaha hahaaaaa!” At the end, he had tears in his eyes and he could hardly breathe because he had been laughing so much. Border security guards have a tough and boring life, I thought. And I had made his day.

I cannot believe that this is all over. I had finished emptying and cleaning the apartment just 10 minutes before the ‘Genosse’ from the Genossenschaft arrived to check the place and fill in the Übergabeprotokoll. It was the same person who had filled in the Vorläufiges Abnahmeprotokoll some weeks ago. Everything was fine. The only thing he had to do was to print out the Übergabeprotokoll from his mobile printer, all eight pages of it, and we both had to sign it.

And off I went, direction Calais. Train under the Channel. Folkestone, direction Holyhead. It was eery driving on the M25 with almost no other cars being around. And then flashing lights were passing me by. First I ignored them. Then I didn’t believe what they were saying. M40 closed. M1 closed. Roadworks. Fortunately, the restaurants beside the motorway all have wifi, so I pulled in to update my ‘map’ and copy down new directions, just when I thought I was completely lost in a limbo circling around London on the M25.

Driving into the Eurotunnel train.

No cars on the 5 lane M25!

Arriving at Dublin port.

How did all of this fit?

Still can’t believe that this is all over.

Pfffhhh!!!