From there to there...

"The begining is the most important part of the work." Plato

Air:
Airports are strange places. They are not usually destinations in and of themselves, moreso they are doorways that many must past through. Buildings built to organize items and people while in transit, house them temporarily, and send them on their way. Aaron very nicely offered to drive us to Denver International Airport. On the way, I learned that, as a student pilot, Aaron saw the airport itself as a place worthy of visiting. Wandering around the concourse, waiting for a flight to Rejiavak, Iceland, I could see the appeal of such a building. Planes galore, a building serving an important social function, and for the most part, highly efficient ways of moving people all over the world.  Plus we got to see Bluecifer, the giant blue "demon" horse that protects DIA, which I like.

We flew Iceland Air to Zurich, Switzerland, with a scheduled layover of 45 minutes. We chose Iceland Air due to price alone. It was the cheapest by about $100.00. With the cheap ticket comes some small difficulties. You only get one checked bag, so we had to purchase another for $95.00, and you are not served any food for the flight. We brought dinner and breakfast with us. The plane was very comfy and modern, and made the 7 hour flight into Reikiavik just in time for our connecting flight. We passed over the southern tip of Greenland and watched as the sun barely set, and then rose again soon after in the same location. As Iceland is part of the EU, we went through European immigration upon landing, had just enough time to see the well thought out toilets (sinks in each stall), and board the next flight to Zurich. I passed the three hours sleeping, and woke up to a partly sunny Switzerland.

Greenland sunrise

Our only view of Iceland

Land:
We messaged Jess and Manu, who arrived just as we collected our bags. We saw our black Fiat Panda pull up. We said hellos and loaded up. A Fiat Panda is similar to a VW Rabbit. Two doors, a surprisingly big back seat, and a hatchback. I realize that describes about half the cars on the road right now. The Panda has something of a cult following, similar to the Beatle, or the VW Bus. They are very light, easy to work on, and fun to drive. Ours, as well as Chris and Jess's, is a 4x4 model, which we think will come in handy somewhere along the way.

We spent a few days being guests of our friends, and being tourists in Zurich. We prepared the cars and picked up our final few supplies. After two nights, we woke up at 3:30am, and left for Genoa, Italy. It was dark still, and the roads were quiet. We could see lakes and mountains in the dim light. We stopped briefly at the "heart" of Switzerland, where William Tell escaped his captors and swam across a lake. Once the sun rose, we refuled, grabbed a coffee, and passed through the 17km long Goddard tunnel. Swiss tunnels are impressive, and simply having a road through the alps is impressive, much less burrowing under them. The Italian border was simply an archway on the road that we passed under. We joined a large toll road, and were passed repeatedly by just about everything on the road. The Italian drivers were more aggressive than the Swiss, and used their horn much more liberally. After decending a windy mountain road to the Mediterrainian coast, we arrived in Genoa. The yellow and red buildings of the city climb the steep mountains, and church towers poke up through the remaining spaces. I was leading, and missed the only exit to the port where we were to catch our ferry to Morocco. After a scenic drive through the city, we managed to get back to the port and have an espresso before getting in line for the boat.

Preparing the car

Saying goodbye to family

Downtown Zurich

Still lots of room

Water:
Grandi Navi Veloci was our chosen ferry company. Jess had booked the tickets online months before. We booked an internal (without window) 4 person cabin, and paid for 2 cars. Other options included pullman style sleeping chairs, or larger cabins on the edge of the boat with windows. We were directed to a large line of cars lining up to board the ship. Large boats were to our left, 7 to 10 stories high. Passengers were lined up according to destination: Barcelona, or Tangiers. Barcelona boarded first, and Tangiers slowly after. There were a surprising amount of cars with camper trailers pulled behind, and large groups of motorcycles. Many cars were completely packed with all types of goods, and roofs were piled high with things. We thought many had made the trip to buy items that could not be obtained in Morocco, or supplies for shops and homes. Just as the last cars were being driven on, we were told we needed to go through passport control. We passed into a large building, traded our printed ferry reservations for proper tickets, were stamped out of Italy, and made our way aboard for the 48 hour journey.

Waiting to board the ferry to Morocco

Genoa port

Ferry line

The ferry was quite large, 3 garages full of cars, and 9 decks. We counted 4 separate cafe's/restaurants, a chapel, mosque, large ballroom, movie theater, casino, gift shop, duty free store, and multiple outdoor decks. There was an empty swimming pool with a retractable roof, but it looked as if it had not been used for some time. Our cabin had two bunkbeds, a night table, large closet, and a private bath/shower. We explored the ship for some time, and met up with some of the other teams who were participating in the Odessy to Dakar, a private rally set up by vetrans of the Mongol Rally. We would join them for the next two weeks till Senegal, where they would return to Europe, and we would continue south.

Aft deck

Sunset over France

Our cabin

The M/N Fantastic

The day was spent watching the sea slide by, exploring the ship, and preparing food. Often we could see the coast, and large ships in the distance. Italian coast became French, and after watching the sunset at sea, we woke up to announcements for Barcelona passengers to vacate their cabins. TJ and I went out to see the port. Huge ships lined up to enter the port, and were guided in by a small piolet vessel. Barcelona covered as far as we could see, climbing up the hills in the background. Cars and motorcycles were slowly driven out, and a few new passengers boarded. After a few hours, we were back to sea, and soon were out of sight of all land. The sea was mostly calm, the sky clear. Many of the people on the boat wore the traditional dress of Morocco, a long loose fitting robe called a Jalaba. Groups of men sat playing cards, smoking, and drinking small, strong coffees. We watched a bit of a French film about a man and his cow in the cinema, had a drink, and went to bed. We were told we were to arrive in Tangiers by 1:30pm. Our last morning onboard, we woke to find large families of dolphins jumping in the ship's wake. The fog was too thick to see the shore as we passed through the straight of Gilbralter, but we could tell we were close due to the incerased closness of the large cargo ships as the sea narrowed. Announcements were made to leave our cabins and wait on certain decks depending on which garage your car was in. None of us could remember if we were in B or D. We had a picture we took of the cars, with the top of the garage number showing from behind tall cargo. It could have been a B or D. We went with D and hoped for the best as we lined up to exit onto the African continent.