Such tough times we all are going through. We all have to hope for a less worrying future. We are learning about the ageing process, and we are finding we are no longer able to do lots of things that we used to enjoy, and we still have to avoid being near too many people. We will have to have the booster jab soon - not sure when yet.

Trudy recovered well, but we both have aches and pains that we never had before!


Robbery

We had a traumatic time on the way here. We were robbed, Trudy's handbag was stolen at a service station in the Catalan area whilst I had needed the toilet.

We were not aware of it, until our next stop, which was the next service station. I could not use the toilets, as they were out of order, and I would have had to cross over the motorway to use the toilets on the other side of the road. I preferred to drive on to the next one instead, but the robbery happened during that brief time I was away.

Trudy had decided to do some driving and had left her bag on the floor, in front of the passenger seat, and shut the door. One of us always stayed and guarded the car, as we know it is dangerous at these places.

The robbery must have happened when Trudy decided to put some food back in the cool bag, which was on the floor behind the driver's seat. So, while she was reaching in, to unzip the cool bag, the thief must have taken her bag and even shut the passenger door again, without Trudy hearing anything. I was quickly back, and Trudy drove us to the next service station. Only then did Trudy realise her bag was missing!

It happened so quickly, but unfortunately Trudy had her Swiss Passport and Identity card, her Spanish Residence card, keys to our Swiss and Spanish homes, the BMW car key, money and credit cards, jewellery, her glasses and so many other valuable things that cannot be replaced!

We were delayed for an hour waiting for the Police, (no fun when only halfway on a long drive). Once we arrived, we had so much more to do than just our usual unpacking and settling in. We had to organise changing the locks at both homes, organised new glasses, fill in forms for the Swiss authorities, and the Swiss police, to inform them about the stolen driving licence, Passport and Identity card and forms for our insurance claim. More form filling will be required once back in Switzerland, to get replacements that cannot be replaced till we are there.

Trudy can travel without them, as we have copies, as long as we have the police report with us, even if we had to fly back.

Also, we had to organise changing the BMW system as the thieves have Trudy's key and our addresses and the BMW registration number that were also in the bag. We had to wait a week for the parts to be sent from Germany, so every time we parked near our home, we wondered if our car would still be there when we returned.

We were exhausted and upset by it all, but soon were feeling happier, as the weather was wonderful, and the gardens full of colour, we had come back to Summer, escaping the Autumn drop in temperature.