Day 15: Frankfurt (Germany) –> Hoek van Holland (Netherlands)
We awake to another bright day and to our car still sitting out on the balcony.
We return to the roof bar for breakfast. Where we watch the planes along the flight path to the runway of the nearby airport.
Planes landing during our breakfast
We load up the car and pop back down to ground level in the car elevator.
We can see the lift infrastructure better in the daylight once we exit at ground level.
We drop back our keys at reception and take a quick look at the little rental cars they hire out at the hotel.
We have a bit of time today before our ferry back to the United Kingdom, so we decide we’ll head into Frankfurt city centre for a little bit of retail window shopping.
It proves trickier than we anticipated to make it to our planned parking garage in the city centre as many of the key roads inside in the city are closed off by police.
We eventually find a reachable underground car park that has available spaces and is in a good location.
On popping up to street level it becomes immediately obvious why so many streets are closed off – there is and enormous protest marching through the city centre.
The protest today is part of a much broader and increasingly organised youth movement against Germany’s military build-up and the possible return of conscription.
The immediate trigger was the start of mandatory medical examinations for young men, including some who had indicated on the questionnaire that they had no interest in military service.
Germany’s new military-service law came into force in January 2026. It is officially presented as a voluntary military service system, but it creates the infrastructure for compulsory service if the government decides that voluntary recruitment isn’t producing enough soldiers.
The protest was truly massive, taking many hours for it to pass. We couldn’t imagine how many were parking but it must have been close to 100,000. While the protest was loud and making their feelings felt, it was well organised, disciplined and with a slight carnival atmosphere about it.
Many of the various groups had floats with music playing in between speeches and chants.
The protest route itself passed many Porsche car’s parked on the city streets, often outside luxury retail shops.
Various Porsche cars parked on the city streets
We passed by a Porsche Design retail unit, so of course we popped in ourselves to have a look.
Artwork inside the store
This store is larger than the one in Düsseldorf and has a nearly full Porsche watch collection.
Porsche watches on sale in the store
As well as some Targa-inspired luggage and collectible models.
Targa inspired products in the store
With a relatively long day to the port ahead of us, it was time to leave the city and hit the autobahn.
We passed a Tesla pulling a striking trailer bearing a political statement, perhaps linked to today’s protests.
“We are more! We are the people!”
It appears to be the float first used in 2024 as shown here:
Shortly after, we pass the 50,000 km milestone in our 911 Targa. Throughout this period, the vehicle has performed flawlessly.
We need to stop off for our last fuel refill on continental Europe for this trip and as we’re on the autobahn, it is going to hurt.
The prices here are very high, though when we check a tiny bit less than we paid on the autobahn on our way down Germany at the start of the trip.
The facilities are good here so we give our windscreens a quick clean and top up on our washer fluids.
Our last fill-up on continental Europe
Shortly afterwards we cross into The Netherlands and the much slower speeds of between 100 km/h and 130 km/h.
As darkness approaches and we near the port at Hook of Holland, the contrails of passing aeroplanes glow in the evening sky.
We reach the port in plenty of time and pop into the terminal building to use the facilities there and take a quick look at all the detailed ship models on display.
Model boats at the Stena Line terminal at the port
It is time to get into the queue to board our overnight ferry to Harwich in the United Kingdom.
It is remarkably calm and warm here tonight and looks like it is going to be a smooth crossing.
We wouldn’t have specced them had we been the original owners, but sometimes when the light is right, the “Porsche logo” projectors under the doors are a bit of fun.
It isn’t long until we’re on board this familiar ferry, where we climb up the steep stairs right up to deck 11 where our cabin is located.
Freight is still being loaded on, while we head to the Stena Plus lounge for some food and a drink.
Stats
| Location | Litres | €/litre | Total € | Fuel Type | Octane |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huenxe, Germany | 53.49 | €3.099 | €165.77 | Shell V-Power Racing | 100 |
Today we did 497 km over 7:00 hours, with an average speed of 71 km/h, consuming 11.6 litres/100 km.
