I was only writing yesterday about surviving Mondays, but yesterday I needed to survive a bad Saturday.
One moment I was taking some great shots of the Alps as we were winding our way home and the next I'm stood on the side of the motorway waiting for a breakdown truck.
All was good until we broke down on the motorway in the evening near Augsburg still 300km from home. It was the first time I have broken down on the motorway and with your family and 9 hours of driving behind you, it's the last thing you want.
The technical help services had spotted us in the opposite direction and luckily quickly came to our rescue. It was very dangerous here especially with children.
They helped us get a breakdown truck organised and we were then towed to Augsburg.
My positivity took a hit as we were outside working hours and everything usually shuts down for the weekend. Getting a rental car was not possible as they were either closed or sold out.
With the urgency of the situation I managed to find a hotel to stay at and we found a taxi stand with available taxis to take us there.
The city centre is quiet on Sunday mornings
We saw only some revellers making their way home and some early commuters.
Augsburg was not on my buck list of places to visit.
With the only option to get home being the train, we headed to the train station to continue our journey. First we purchased some pretzels from the bakery as a to-go breakfast.
We arrived quickly to Ulm and the kids were excited to take a double-decker train further towards Stuttgart.
In a few hours we should be home and the first chapter of the Augsburg adventure will be over. I will still need to travel back there and collect my hopefully repaired car next week.
A big thanks to all those who helped us in our hour of need and cheered us up with a friendly smile. We are very grateful.
Thanks for reading.
All photos are my own.