Iniitial blog posts

content/blog/day2.md

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+---
+title: 'Day 2: Almere (NL) to Doncaster (UK)'
+date: 2013-06-09T14:32:52+02:00
+Tags: []
+Categories: []
+---
+
+## Four (or Six, depending on who you ask) Countries!
+
+We've pretty much closed out our first Real Day[tm] of travels. This beautiful Sunday morning we left Almere NL at 9:19am, a car packed full
+of goodies (food and otherwise), and we were destined for Doncaster UK. The first part of the trip was to Calais FR. Getting there was okay
+except for a weird 45min complete stand-still near Jabbeke BE.  There were construction works on the road there, and I think maybe a car had
+broken down on the one-lane passthrough, so folks had to manouvre around it, or push the car suitably far into the shoulder for the other
+traffic to pass. As soon as we passed it though, it was smooth sailing to Calais.
+
+We got there pretty early, as we had a 3:50pm train. When we rocked up to the gates, the LCD screen flashed 'Welcome Mr Van Pelt!" which we
+both thought was pretty awesome - they have cameras reading the license plates and retrieving the reservations that way. We were offered a
+choice to go on an earlier train if we wanted to, so we moved our departure time back to 2:50pm. We ate some chicken (3 "halbe hendl" each),
+and then made our way onto the train. It was very very (very!) tight, with less than 50mm on each side of the tires, and a metal ledge which
+I tried very hard not to hit, so as to not damage the rims even more :) It was OK.
+
+Then came the exciting part. England and driving on the Wrong Side[tm]. Actually it wasn't that bad. I trailed a guy from Berne for a few
+miles on the high way and then decided to overtake him and go for it. The drive itself was pleasant and no major traffic, despite having to
+go all the way around London. In total it would be some 240 miles from Folkestone UK to Doncaster UK. Easy peasy! Paul and I switched
+drivers after about 130 miles, and he took the second part. Just before we hit Doncaster, we hit 1024 miles on the trip odometer, which of
+course we had to take pictures of.
+
+{{< image src="/img/map-day2.png" width="600px" >}}
+
+When we arrived at our Campanile, the room was ready, already paid for, and checkin was easy. We bashed around a bit with the Savage [Paul
+and I both made a little movie of it], and then went for dinner. The place Google Maps suggested had been since closed, so we drove into
+town to find some grub. After walking up and down the main street, we settled for a Tex-Mex joint. You may ask: why would you eat
+texan/mexican food in Doncaster UK? I may say: good fucking question.
+
+It's now 10:10pm and I'm beat. I will take a shower and pass out in this overly squishy bed. Tomorrow, we go to Edinburgh.
+
+*   Pim has now been in: CH, DE, NL, BE, FR, UK.
+*   Paul has been in: NL, BE, FR, UK.
+
+By the way: in further posts, we are _so totally_ calling Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland out in an ever growing list of countries
+we're visiting on this roadtrip!!
+
+**Posted by Pim van Pelt at 2:10 PM**