Tour de Europe - Days 6 - 7

One of the most fascinating parts of the day was when we descended past the snow line. Quite abruptly, the snow covering the ground gave way to green grass and foliage. Due to the snow we had set off quite late today, but we were determined to reach lake Garda before the day was over. The mountain scenery was as mind boggling as ever, and we headed to a glacier which was near our route.


Apparently the slope leading down to the glacier was home to Marmots, a type of cuddly looking alpine hamster beavers. Unfortunately, the weather was against us and we did not see a single one. Nevertheless, the glacier was quite the sight, the bright blue icy pond below it looking especially mysterious.

We continued our journey accompanied by sinister weather and eventually found ourselves on a road at the bottom of a valley. Riding through the fields squished between the mountains we approached the border to Italy. Little changed as we crossed the border, only a sign bidding us welcome and a "Ristorante Pizzeria" immediately on our right.

The final push to lake Garda was one of the most arduous portions of our trip, not helped by Italian traffic. It was quite pitiful to see small, idyllic Italian villages only to find their small roads clogged by trucks. Although wider roads were no better, as we found the motorways to be equally jammed. Luckily we weren't going by car, or we would still be there. Despite the prowess of our motorcyclists at negotiating the jam, they were no match for the mad Italian scooters darting through the gaps, occasionally flying off bridges as mischievous truck drivers opened their doors.

Upon arrival at our destination, we were confronted by the challenge of finding a bed for the night and a relatively safe place for the motorcycles. Indeed, the latter proved a challenge, and we were forced to leave our motorcycles at a public parking space, much to the unease of my father and Kari. After having finally settled down, our tired and hungry group walked to a pizzeria. What better way to end a day which had started in the midst of an alpine snow storm, and come to an end amidst Italian palms?





The next day we spent the better half of the morning exploring Riva de la Garda, the town where we were staying. The views were spectacular and the sun was shining. We stopped at a café for espressos and a lemon ice cream. Once we were finished admiring the old buildings, clear water, magnificent mountains, pasta stalls etc, we were ready for some new scenery.

Luckily our bikes had braved the night. We packed them, and returned to the hotel to change into riding gear. Then, thoroughly sweaty, we walked back to the bikes and were glad to be off again, especially with the steadily rising temperatures of our nerves. The activity of the day would be braving the Italian traffic and eventually making our way to Switzerland.

Lukio begins....

Well, it began on Tuesday, and after a week of deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that it is a major enough event to mention in the blog. Right, that concludes the section of this post regarding the brief mentioning of the the fact that lukio has begun.

In other news, today I find myself slightly idle. Can't be bothered with homework, don't have much and it can be done tomorrow. Did some painting but eventually got bored of watching ink dry. Perhaps I should set my braincells to turbo with some CIV4, or perhaps some multiplayer... but alas, Oliver is in Wales drooling over the prospect of his new Mac. This concludes today's post. Thanks for bothering.

Tour de Europe - Days 4 - 6

The following day we set off for the Alps. Never having been to the Alps before I was very excited. As a whole the day enjoyed pleasant scenery, but arriving at the foot of the Alps was quite an experience. As the mountains rose in the horizon, we were surrounded by idyllic countryside. It was cloudy, but from many gaps the sun shone on a hilltop church or cottage. As I gazed in awe at the sights, a sudden bloody stain splashed on my visor, the only remains of some unfortunate insect.

We stayed at a so called sport hotel, a hotel used as a base for hiking trips etc. It also advertised itself as a "biker hotel." Where in some places bikers might be discriminated against, we had now entered prime biker country. The owner of the hotel was a kind burly woman who provided us with a place in her garage for the motorcycles. After a quick wash and a change into more comfortable clothes, we met up at the downstairs restaurant for some schnitzels and a pint. I admired the great view from the window, ignorant of the even more spectacular sights which would await us next day.

We set off in good time towards Austria. The day was excellent. For the first half of the day we rode across sunny fields, overshadowed by mountains.


We stopped at a petite village for cappuccinos cake.

We then rode to the most spectacular scenery yet...


Higher, and higher...


We rose into the foreboding mountains, our destination, Edelweissspitze, 2570m above sea level. The sky was once again cloudy, except for the occasional beautiful ray of sunlight. Looking at the bleak mountainside as we slowly climbed higher along the winding rode. Truly, these were so far the most amazing sights I had seen in my life. And seeing them from the back off a motorcycle made it all the better, the wind blowing in your face, the occasional droplet of rain. Sights like these are not worthy of being stared at through car windows.

We arrived at the summit, and made to decision to stay at the lodge there, rather than continue to a slightly lower altitude to a perhaps more comfortable hotel. It was raining now, and after admiring the views we retreated to our rooms to relax slightly. Once again it was time for the proper relaxing, a big ol' schnitzel and a beer.

Next morning I was woken up by my dad "Have a look outside." He was accompanied by his brother, also unsuspecting of the sight that lay ahead. I looked at the window, it seemed to be completely white from fog. I opened it, all was still white, except for a rocky outcrop... covered with snow. As the wind blew in my face I closed the window, and fell back grinning in amazement.

Time for some frolicking in the snow!

Plenty free parking space today...


Can you spot where the snow ends and the mountains begin?


Snowmobiles are waaay out of fashion.


Later that day we were luckily able to continue. With the ground warm, it was possible to clear the snow to reveal the road. However, extreme skill was required to ride down the treacherously wet and steep cobbled road.

We made it down to a safer road and continued riding, eventually past the snow line. A tough day of riding was ahead, a day which would see us through snow covered mountains, past glaciers, and eventually to lake Garda in Italy... Look forward for the next update!

Minesweeper, The Movie

One of the most hilarious YouTube videos I've seen in a long time...

More blogs!

I've just added a list of other sites which I blog on to the right. The Reilu Kerho features me and several other writers, my good friends, and has articles on our interests, including gaming, miniatures and what we've been up to.

The IGC is a site which is used to coordinate casual multiplayer games, such as Age of Empires II. While the essential posts are also displayed in The Reilu Kerho, the IGC is also intended for friends abroad, specifically my old friends in England, who also join games quite actively. Following some Summer inactivity, we are about to start a big Age of Empires II campaign, and the site should see quite a bit of activity with the various factions introducing themselves and their background.

And last but not least, Brighter than a Thousand Suns, written by our resident metal head and Civilisation IV addict. Check out his blog for consistently intelligent posts, and Civilisation IV.

Tour de Europe - Days 1 - 3

At last, it is a time for the full account of our epic motorcycle journey through Europe. On Thursday afternoon with all our stuff packed we headed off to the docks in Helsinki. We would travel straight to Travemunde, with a half cargo, half tourist ship. I was expecting the journey to be exceedingly boring, since it would take almost thirty hours. Most peculiarly however, the three activities the ship had to offer, eating, sleeping and going to the sauna were enough to fill the hours.

It was Friday evening when we arrived at Travemunde with our new friend whom we had met on the ship. Matti was also a Harley enthusiast and would join us for the first leg of our journey, seeing as we would be going the same way. Our destination from the dock was the Finnish Seamen's Church of Hamburg, where we would be spending our first night, the only night we had planned ahead. Although the journey there was, looking back, in no way scenic, I thoroughly enjoyed absorbing the sights and the atmosphere of a new country.

Upon arriving at the church, we were greeted by a friendly member of the staff, parked our motorcycles in the garage, and went to change into some more comfortable clothing. In celebration of Germany's beer drinking age of sixteen, we also immediately glugged down a beer. Then we set of to explore Hamburg, but we didn't get very far and found ourselves in a bar. After enjoying the beer and the good company, it was already quite late, and we headed to bed.

Our next destination was Wiesbaden, right next to Frankfurt. Here we would meet up with my fathers brother, Kari. The ride through Germany was arduous, but there was plenty of interesting scenery. Wherever you go in Germany, there will always a be a few castles and towers on far hilltops. For lunch we stopped at random at a nice looking restaurant. As we settled down at one of the tables, I was slightly worried the place was unnecessary posh, and we would pay the price, quite literally. Despite the immaculately decorated venue and professional service, the huge platter of beautiful sandwiches we ordered cost a measly €3.20. We also rode through the Harts forest, where we stopped at a small village for two generous swathes of cake. Later on we parted with our comrade in motorcycling, and proceeded for the final push to Wiesbaden.

With evening closing in, and many kilometres to go, we opted to ride the autoban. I find it quite odd that most people who I have told of our story are incredibly excited by the autoban, and seemed to think it would be our primary route. Rather, whenever possible, we would set our navigator to stay clear of motorways, so that we would end up (hopefully) in winding little roads going through small villages and countryside. We arrived at Wiesbaden quite late in the evening, and bottoms thoroughly aching, we dumped our stuff in Kari's apartment and headed for a local Chinese restaurant. No, schnitzels quite yet.

Next day I woke up at twelve, just in time for lunch on the balcony. We made our preparations, and rode down south, now with Kari and his wife on their Harley. This leg of our journey saw the best scenery yet, as we rode through the foreboding black forest. In the evening we arrived at the beautiful city of Freudenstadt. After circling the city centre a few times, we chose to stay at Hotel Adler. The manager was very friendly and even moved her car out of the garage to accommodate our bikes. Then it was time for a large schnitzel and beer. Well fed, we set out for a walk to admire the city. After some delicious ice cream constructions at a local ice cream bar, we were entertained by my dad, who after playing over some fountains set into the ground, completely soaked his jeans.

The Top Ten Weird and Bizarre Japanese Soft Drinks

Japan has a drinking problem... but if you've got a thirst for adventure, it's where you want to be.

In honor (or in horror) of these bizarre beverages seemingly not fit to rinse your septic tank, raise a cracked glass to the Top Ten Bizarre Japanese Soft Drinks, our first ten inductees into the Soft Drink Hell of Fame... Jeers!

Our rundown of the Top Ten Bizarre Japanese Soft Drinks gives a pretty good indication why most of the 1000 or so new soft drinks and beverages launched in Japan every year fail miserably.

Look on the bright side, though: they may not be good to drink, but you can't say they're not good for a laugh.

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