Taborda on 2 Wheels

France, and loads of things happening...

2010-08-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

the bike i built in london is going on without major problems :D...all parts from skips

After visiting a bit of wales the biggest and most interesting stop was in bristol, we stayed in The Factory, a recently squatted social center, where the people living there are making amazing construction work to make it liveable and usable... I also visited other projects in the city, an anarchist library, a free shop, a bicycle festival, an infoshop...it's another of those cities where everything is happening :D

Kebele Social Center Welcome boarddouble bicycle car pushing a pedal-powered sound-system trailer

after bristol, the last days in england were nice, we visited a organic farm and then head to Portsmouth to cross by ferry to Le Havre, France.
I was more than 10 days in the Camp Action Climate and too many things happened to be able to describe them here, i will try to do a summary.

We arrived by bike to the site of the camp about 4 hours after being squatted, it was a huge field and in less than two days 4 kitchens, 3 sets of compost toilets, water, showers, 2 circus tents for big events, indymedia tent, legal team tent, medical team tent, a free shop, a welcome tent, an organic local beer bar, a kids hut and some more small-infrastructures.
After the first days of setting up the camp i already knew loads of people and was easy to adapt to the life in camp (teams for cooking, cleaning, organizing, etc...) and joined the medical team workshop (for me as a simultaneous french learning workshop as well :D)

Reclaim the street and blockading MacShit

During the week some action and loads of things happened, i meet amazing people and gained a lot of knowledge on direct action... Velorution (Critical mass) is an amazing way of distracting the police and making action colourful and coherent (oil boycott)... we did it several times, the mac donalds was blocked for some hours with an amazing organic vegan dinner being distribucted in front of it, while reclaiming a part of the main street of Le Havre for clowning, playing and relaxing, Clown Army was a big presence everywhere, there was a blockade of the total (that turned to a blockade - with the help of the police - of the whole Le Havre Port), a supermarket expropriation (self-reduction action) where more than 2000 euros of first-need products were then distribucted in the streets of a poor neighbourhood, and a blockade with lock-ons of a Agro-fuel refinery and a banner drop inside the factory...

blockade of Total refinery

now the biketour is getting bigger, we are 20 cyclists, but probably this will be the last post i write, as i will leave the biketour next monday or tuesday, to go to amsterdam or nantes...

resistance is fertile and everywhere

2010-07-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

Lately i'm not able to get time to internet and to post some news about the amazing places i've been visiting...

Towards carfree cities conference

The ecotopia biketour continues, and there are new twitters every day in the blog, after the conference in York we cycled to Stapleton to visit the Brotherhood Church community, an amazing space that started with pacifist dissidents from the first world war!! more than 90 years ago!

we passed 3 coal power plants in one day :-/

Brotherhood Church community

After we were hosted for 2 nights in a radical housing co-operative Cornerstone Housing Coop in Leeds, the cooperative is running already for 18 years and already has 2 houses, they repair and maintain, have a garden, workshop, bikeworkshop, co-op printing workshop (where i spend an afternoon printing flyers for the No To NATO No To War campaign) and more, this way of co-operative housing is quite popular between the radical movement and it was a completely new concept for me, quite interesting to explore...

printing workshop in CornerstonePeak District

Across the Peak District we cycled, up up up up, down, down, down, to Telford where we stayed in this amazing resistance place - Huntington Lane Camp - where a group of locals and activists squatted a part of the forest where UK Coal plan to dig 2 open air coal mines, in order to resist and give the most economical damage possible to this dirty company tree-houses, tunels, nets and other forms of active resistance are being built and people will stop the destruction of another forest with their own lifes and freedom...

Huntington Lane Camp fortField where UK Coal wants to open one HUGE hole to dig out bad-quality coal
Beautiful old tree with a tree bunker on top where we climbed rappelled down :Dresistance net to sit on top of Highest trees when the eviction team comes

3 days climbing trees and digging tunnels and we left to visit (very short, sadly) EarthWorm Housing Co-operative a radical Post-peak-oil-permaculture-vegan-anarchist-DIY-motor-free community, started 30 years ago by animal-rights activists, bicycles and experiments everywhere, ultra-organized and inspiring place - truly utopian...

EarthWorm entrance, they planted trees in the entrance road to avoid cars to ever enter :D

Yesterday we came to Canon Frome Court, another Co-op, more mainstream, where they have 40 acres of land, produce most of their food for 30 adults and 20 children :D in ecological way.

After this blog entry i'll head to an organic farm in Wales, this is the last day in england ;)

London and first days in Ecotopia Biketour

2010-06-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Mare st social centre

WE moved to RatStar Camberwell Social Centre, a recently squatted place... amazing what they have been doing in such short time...

Seb's tandem with Sound system trailer!!!action against BP financing Tate museum - Art not Oil Campaing

in 5 days we built 2 bikes out of pieces we found in DIY bike workshops... Recovered from the garbage...amazing how organized people in projects are...

RatStar

we visited loads of projects and actions, specially 56a, an infoshop and DIT (Do-it-Together) Workshop.. Met Valentina and seb several times...

56a's Bike working day and infoshop

so much to tell and i just have 20 minutes of laptop battery...critical mass in london was pretty incredible... the rocket stove melted yesterday :-/... skipping in london is crazy... squatting is pretty established...

Capitalism isn't working... another world is possible...
plans to build a rocketstove

now i'm in York, for the Toward Carfree Cities Conference, after visiting Clow Beck Eco Centre in Darlington and a community for mental disabled people in Botton.

Critical Mass in London
Biketour first rideEcocentre in Darlingtonfirst biketour dinner with our hosts

Porto -> London

2010-06-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, we are such an extreme lucky bastards...

After less than a day and a half and only 4 different cars we arrived in London... thanks for the drivers who picked us up ;)... Marcio took us from viseu to after paris... almost non-stop!!!

Arriving in London we meet mark, laura and koala in mark's house and tomorrow we are going to look for bikes, meet friends and some autonomous spaces...

back on the adventure

2010-06-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

is kind of fun that i never really posted the last day of my trip... in a way i just didn't want to close it...so that official "return to Porto" post will now never be published...

but that's not really what i wanted to write now, with this post i'm now starting a new chapter of this way of "traveliving"... many things happened since I return to Porto, some little travels in the middle, loads of projects... still escaping work... trying to postpone voluntary slavery...

from saturday on we will be travelling again! our fuzzy plan is to hitchhike to London, find a bike there and join Ecotopia Biketour 2010...

this time i doubt i will be making a daily blog, but will try to write something from time to time... this biketour is going to be really intensive, loads of projects to visit, climate action camps, workshops and conferences... you can see the planed route in: http://www.ecotopiabiketour.net/route

resistance is fertile ;)

in PORTO

2009-12-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

OK.... i'm back "home", althought right now i feell my tent and my bike more a home than this one.... will try to update last days in some days and give more news...

(i forgot my scellphone in a coffee in Pocinho so don't try to contact me... but i want to meet my friends around here now!!!!!)

Lagoaça -> Pocinho -> Marco de Canaveses

2009-12-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

In order to still get my grandmother in Porto, visiting my mother, we decided to catch a train, so we could short the trip in one or two days.

We looked for the first train station in the beautiful Douro landscape, and in Pocinho we caught a train to marco de canaveses, where we arrived already late and found a beautiful house where to cook the last dinner, drink the last wine and sleep the last night of this long trip :)...

it was also the last day of the spoon that i used to cook during all my trip (and even some smaller trips before)... amazing how it stand till the last cooked meal!

Cibanal -> Lagoaça (Portugal)

2009-12-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

Another day of fog and cold...

last strawberry tree we stopped to pick fruits in spainlooking to portugal, after the river...

We entered portugal crossing the douro river near Bemposta, an amazing view and a huge climb up...

almonds for snack ;D

Then we cycled direction Mogadouro for a while in the top of the mountain, almost no traffic, a LOT of fog, and found a nice house in the middle of a forest where we could mount the tent, make a fire and get warm...

Fuentelapeña -> Cibanal

2009-12-10T05:12:00.000-08:00

the funny small house where we passed the night

The temperatures went down and the day was really foggy, sometimes we could not see each other although we were less than 50 meters away...
We tried to find a nice place to sleep, and, already near the border, we end up stopping, because it was getting too dark and cold, near a stone house... was really hard to lit up a fire and it was one of the coldest nights we meet...

Valladolid -> Fuentelapeña

2009-12-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

We left La Casa with pablo and diana, then they left us to visit a friend and we continued cycling, direction Portugal, with a nice sunny day...
Finally we found a nice small circle-house where we rest ;)

Valladolid

2009-12-08T03:27:00.000-08:00

Last day of common work, we realized that mixing straw in the clay mixture makes the structure better and easier to build up :D, it's so nice to learn (or remember) by your own mistakes, DIY or DIE :p We prepared to leave tomorrow and then went to valladolid for a drink and internet...

Valladolid

2009-12-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Some people appeared during the last days to help out and today it continued, trying to finish the toilet, the walls made got wet by the rain and this day we focused on the roof, as the walls were not getting really good :p...
When it got dark, we continued with a funny work, making candles out of old candle pieces, La Casa runs normally on solar panels, and a petrol-powered generator for concerts and heavy works, when the batteries go out (not enough sun light or too much energy use) we need candles to light :D

Valladolid

2009-12-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

picking up cauliflowers, fresh, in the early morningsmashing old clay bricks to make new clay, genius :D separating the vegetables for all the BAH! participants

Another working day started with picking up dozens of cauliflowers for the BAH! Project. Then continue the compost toilet: we started to prepare the walls, made of bottles and old bricks mashed mixed with a bit of chalk.

first wall with bottles experimentpaella and the automatic dish-washing car :D recovering the rain water, the system separates the first dirty water from the rest by the use of a ball that floats and closes the passage to the thick tube, allowing the clean water to be collected in a big pool

Valladolid

2009-12-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

beginning of the compost toilet

The working days started, and one of the tasks is to build a compost toilet outside the house, we were carrying and pilling materials together all day :)...just stopping for a nice lunch and finishing only when it was already dark.

Kill the state and build the anarchyif you fight you may lose, if you don't you are already lost

Valladolid

2009-12-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

pumping water manually to the kitchen :)Animal liberation, human liberation - for a cruelty-free food

We continued the quest of finding useful things (there were too much things and too little time) in the house in valladolid...

inside an abandoned bicycle shop

In the late afternoon we joined the valladolid critical mass and went out for a drink...

around 40 people appeared to the ride in the town
squat your own space

Valladolid

2009-12-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

permaculture vegetable spiral

pablo's turtles sanctuary :D

We helped diana and janire to make the chicken's jail (called “house”) bigger because lately the dogs ate 3 or 4 chickens and they can't go out anymore...

building up the chicken's cage you already heard about us more than 1000 times...

they got a contact about a house that is going to be demolished soon and one of the owners want to give things away and we passed all afternoon moving garbage and destroying walls to recycle the most possible (windows, doors, locks, old wood ovens, isolation material, furniture, bicycle parts, books....)

taking a bilbaina kitchen with hot water system from a wall

When we come back, in La Casa there was a movie and a debate about argentina riots and crisis.

Valladolid -> Palencia -> Valladolid

2009-12-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

against especulation - SQUAT / The fight is the path - Social Revolution

In the morning i participated in the house assemblea (meeting) to talk about the next working weekend and devide some tasks, nice to see such an organized (even too much?) assemblea, some of the starters of the project were involved in the CNT, the spanish anarchist union, and that is noticable in some organizing details The drugs destroy your life and your fight - reinvent your fun: Destroy the state

After i prepared some materials for the working days with muli and visited some bikeshops in valladolid to repair yo's bike.

for a world free of GMOs

In the night, by car :s, we went to palencia to participate in a talk about squatting, presented by a known lawyer in squatting court cases, interesting and motivating talk...
Before returning home we went out for a beer in palencia with peke and goyo...

Olmedo -> Valladolid

2009-12-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

already pretty close to valladolid, we recycled some bananas and yogurts for our future hosts and arrived in La Casa just before lunch ;)

crossing the Douro river :D

La Casa is a squat where pablo, a friend, lives...we talked all afternoon...in the house they have a big garden where they can produce almost all the vegetables they consume and still have a working group outside the house that gets some of the vegetables also, the project is called BAH! (Bajo el Asfalto esta la Huerta – Under the asphalt lies the vegetable garden, inspired in the known may'68 sentence, under the paving stones lies the beach!)

In the night there was a programmed debate about ecotopia biketour that we were already planning to participate, few people appeared, but we still had a nice talk (for some hours) about biketour and direct action...
after dinner Dolor, a HC-punk band from barcelona, played in the basement...great to recover energies (lol)...

Valsain -> Olmedo

2009-11-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

After a warm and nice resting night we got up early and decided to try to cycle the most we could to recover the last day of almost no cycling...

We stopped in segovia (the planed place to sleep two days ago) for a warm chocolate and then cycled under cold wind, just stopping for a hot coffee and finding an empty building when it got dark...

prepared to fight the cold wind :D

Las Dehesas -> Valsain

2009-11-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

I woke up and saw everything WHITE from a window... it was snowing (and probably already for some time)... we prepared for the cold (making a hot tea with the last water we had – bad idea – and covering our feet with plastic bags – good idea) and left the “warm” hotel already late.

prepared for the snow :D

Cycling in the snow was pretty fun and crazy...but after 4 hours “cycling” (more walking and pushing the bikes) it started to get dark and we were only sure of following the right road because of a car track marked on the snow a long time before...we almost did not cross other people after 17:00...

resting in the snow :D

finally (4 hours, and only about 20km) we got to the other side of the mountain and saw some lights of a village, the problem was that our brakes (both) frozen and yolanda's bike had a really burned tired (not enough friction to cycle on the snow) so we had to walk down...arriving in the village we finally could drink something (other than eating snow :D) and decided (more or less) to stay a night in the local hostel (the second time in all my trip i pay a hostel for passing the night)

Madrid -> Las Dehesas

2009-11-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

We got out Alvaro's house pretty early...we followed a nice bike path (a kind of highway for bikes to go OUT of the city) and had loads of contact and talks with other cyclists in the way...
Everyone warned it would be a difficult day and that it may snow tomorrow...we continued anyway, following Alvaro's advice to cross Sierra de Guadarrama by the natural park and the old Republic Road (a road that was being made during the short republic of spain and stoped after the war of 1936)

After one whole day of cycling we finally started going UP in the afternoon and got pretty tired... we passed the night in a huge hotel that was not finished because it was an illegal construction...
the night got really cold and luckily we found loads of things to burn (included old cow shit :p..) inside the hotel...

Madrid

2009-11-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

we planed to leave, but, after last evening party after critical mass, we ended up staying almost all day at home resting and taking care of frida and bender ;)

Madrid

2009-11-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

I got in contact with carlos, an old friend from erasmus, that just returned to madrid, we had lunch together, talked a lot and he helped me to finally fix my back light (that for 2 or 3 months was not working :p...), while we fix it, yo draw a stencil and we made a funny flag to bring to the Bici Critica (madrid's critical mass).

sound systems ready...

Me and yo cycled to cibeles to join the mass and it worth it, was an amazing view to see the city completely occupied by bicyles, we managed to close all the traffic and made a party in the streets moving on our bicycles, i would say around 2000 people with bicycles were present, with sound systems and lots of smiles.
the moving party over bridges, road and avenues (of 5 lanes!!) lasted for more than 2 hours always cycling, it was nice to see how everything worked fine, how people auto-organized them selfs to protect the rest of the mass, corking crosses and with no help of police (that sometimes, when near, also helped but never follow the mass).

after the mass the party continued in Patio maravillas with dinner and music where i meet carlos again and Charlie gave us a bicycle brakes repair lesson :D mme, yo and carlos :D

Madrid

2009-11-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

Susanna asked us to babysit indy again and after we meet her to see a presentation of the theatrical documentary book Mujeres de Arena (Sand Women), about the strange female homicides in Ciudad Juárez, a strong and beautiful presentation.
Then i cycled to join the talk from the FSMB that i wanted more to participate, about bicycle lanes and the (strange) division between bicycle activist (i'm strongly opposing them), a nice debate with a really elucidative presentation from a member of Ciudad Ciclista, a bicycle organization that is openly against the construction of bicycle lanes (or at least the big majority of them) asking instead more education campains and traffic pacification. WE ARE TRAFFIC!

Madrid

2009-11-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

During the afternoon we walked around in the new neighborhood, where alvaro lives, and after cycled to Patio Maravillas for a talk about the last political actions in madrid concerning bicycles, and the new cyclist plan of madrid, this talk was included in the Bicycle's Madrid Social Forum.

Madrid

2009-11-23T05:27:00.000-08:00

We decided to stay longer in madrid for the Foro Social Madrileño de la Bicicleta and to join the Bici Critica (critical mass) on thursday, known to be a BIG one ;)
So we left suzana's house, quite small for so many people and dog :p, to meet Alvaro, one of the people coordinating the forum...
The forum started with a nice ParkingDay action, taking some parking spaces, usually occupied by cars, to build a free bicycle workshop and reclaim the street :). Charlie was there also and was nice to talk again.

then the forum continued in the Patio Maravilhas with some talks and more bicycle workshops till late, we also joined a photography session of bicycle user, for a future exhibition or project...

free shop

Madrid

2009-11-22T05:09:00.000-08:00

Espaço okupado El Solar de Olivar

We cycled around the city and visited the EPA Patio Maravilhas for a debate about the economical dimension of social centers, this squat is right now in with an eviction order that can happen at any time.

Patio Maravillas

Madrid

2009-11-21T03:44:00.000-08:00

half a bread and the masa madre waiting for the next bread to come...signs of the agriculture demo in the morningsuzana, yo, indy and mepicking medroños in the park green wall

After lunch we cycled around with suzana and indy to visit a nice park, then me and yo joined the antifascist demo in the center, a demonstration against fascism, the same that is still applied by the state and police forces against social movements, in the day after franco death.

Madrid

2009-11-20T03:39:00.000-08:00

We babysit indy for another day walking out in the neighborhood and in the night we went out with suzana and miguel and some friends to drink a beer.
we still baked a new bread with the masa madre d'el potro, this time we forgot the salt and used the almonds we found in the way... another tasty, amazing, bread

Madrid

2009-11-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

Indiana, the carrot eater dog :p

We babysitted Indiana, suzana's dog, and mainly stayed at home, "la vat cueva", while she went to work...

addiction to pedaling...

La Aldehuela -> Madrid

2009-11-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

boiling water for tea

After waking up we passed the morning exploring the abandoned villa and thinking about good projects that could evolve here... then we cycled to madrid, the first big city we could enter without big problems and wait in a coffee for Suzana.
She's a friend of yo and we stay in her house for some days, we went with her and miguel to an arabic restaurant for dinner and then back home to talk and sleep :D

Pedro Muñoz -> La Aldehuela

2009-11-17T03:15:00.000-08:00

We cycle following a bit of the Don Quixote path, we had to join the national busy road for some kms where we found a crazy abandoned gas station where we had some times imagining and talking about future, peak oil and waste...

coffee on the Don Quixote pathexploring the abandoned gas stationfinding, next to the road, a gas bottle (full) and a coffee machine :D

in the night we got into the wrong road (just noticed in the morning) and found an amazing abandoned Villa where we camped (around the fire, sit in pillows :)

crazy protection of a solar-power plantstop for almonds :D

Barrax -> Pedro Muñoz

2009-11-16T03:01:00.000-08:00

planning the way to madrid

We cycle all day, stopped in a village for internet, and cycled again bit during night, as there was no traffic and the afternoon winds last days are really strong but nights are calm and even warm...

We saw loads of wild rabbits jumping around all day and everywhere and at night camped in a field full of rabbit holes next to the road

Higueruela -> Barrax

2009-11-15T02:38:00.000-08:00

our first bread made with El Potro's sourdough we are carrying

Yo woke up REALLY early to bake an amazing bread, then, full of energy we cycled down a lot...really nice landscape, no cars...also no pictures :(

Again, in the afternoon, after albacete, the crazy strong winds started and we had to pedal really slow and hard till it was already night and we camped in a field next to the road...

Villena -> Higueruela

2009-11-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

our abandoned neighborhood

We had a nice morning cycle and in the afternoon strong winds (as always, in the opposite direction you want them) appeared and made us pedal much slower...

Arriving Higueruela to stop for a hot drink we notice an advertisement of Camino de Santiago pilgrim's albergue and got the keys for it in the local cafe... we had a nice night preparing to bake bread and resting...

Alcoy -> Villena

2009-11-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

beautiful yo's drawing of Maset del Potro

Nessa and Matilde left before us, and after packing, and tiding up the mess we left el Potro, Jordi and Ana.

the bread Jordi offered us...

Carrying the bicycles up was not easy again, but when we meet the asphalt we ere almost all day in a no-cars road and in the end of the day found an abandoned block where we squatted a house for a night :D and went out to visit the village.

Alcoy

2009-11-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

We spend all morning carrying stuff with the Zip-line from the road, next to Bunyoler down to Maset d'El Potro...i lost the pictures of all the buckets we carried down in this nice piece of technology ;)
In the night yolanda and me were interviewed by Jordi, about our trip and what we learn during it, for the Radio Aktiva, a pirate radio of Alcoy, transmitting for 3 years now...

Alcoy

2009-11-11T04:17:00.000-08:00

Packing up the bread and carrying it with the help of Candela and Triniti up, through the narrow path till the car, so that jordi and aline could distribute it...After lunch we cleaned the house and spend the rest of the day talking and walking around in nature...

Alcoy

2009-11-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Mixing the ingredients and kneading the bread dough

Bread Day! In the morning we used the sourdough Jordi prepared before going to bed to make the first 42 breads, in the afternoon we repeated the process baking more than 85 breads in the whole day...

heating the room, the temperature should be between 20 and 25 degrees to make the bread levitate better :D (and have hot water to take a shower after :p)

prepare to cross knead the bread dough to allow better fermentation

The bread making process in El Potro is really special, we just use organic whole wheat flour and bake the bread with dried pine branches from the surrounding forest, as a effort of also cleaning up the woods against fire hazards...

spreading seeds on top of the breads, after letting it ferment for one hour and separate the dough in breads of 800 gr :D...heating the oven till the walls became white from the heatpreparing the oven to receive the bread (it's not a nuclear hazard :p)

In the afternoon, Matilde arrived to El Potro also to help and stay for some days...

the beautiful breads :D

Me and Yo decided to keep some sourdough with us to bake bread during our trip, this amazing yeast is a acteria culture with already 11 years old, 7 years in a cristian comunity and now 4 years, being restructured every week in El Potro...

València -> Alcoy

2009-11-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

We got up early with a mission: getting to alcoy today in order to help out making bread in El Potro tomorrow...

eating two kilos of kakis to gain energy :p

we cycled all day, more than 120 km mostly in really nice and calm road, mostly no traffic and arrived before dinner.

Arriving to El Potro, after walking the narrow path with stair pushing our bikes, we meet Nessa, Ana, Germano and Bolinxes and talked for long...

Jordi arrived with aline a bit late and was really nice to see him again and heard how the project evolved last months :D

València

2009-11-08T04:41:00.000-08:00

We walked with ona around cabañal and waited for mireia, guillem and miwi to return... then we had a goodbye dinner and prepared to leave valencia early...

València

2009-11-07T02:45:00.000-08:00

proyecto mayhem new graffiti mural

Mireia and Miwi left the house after lunch and we stayed alone in the squat baby sitting Ona and taking several walks around cabañal with her...

València

2009-11-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

the new "boat" in proyecto mayhem :D, fully redecorated

We stayed most of the day at home, cooking and talking with our friends.
Guillem left on the afternoon and in the night we went to CSO El Nido with miwi and meet the people from the old la closka :D

Burriana -> Valencia

2009-11-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

We cycled again in small road next to the sea, till arriving in valencia in the afternoon, we meet Miwi, mireia and guillem in their new squat, really nice house next to the beach and had dinner and saw a movie all together...nice to meet all this friends again :D

ona and tralla :D

Torreblanca -> Burriana

2009-11-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

In the mmorning we had a great dive, shower and lunch next to the sea, then we cycled in a nice bicycle lane next to the sea made from an old train way and slept on an orange tree field :D

Amposta -> Torreblanca

2009-11-03T10:12:00.000-08:00

we cycle all day, stopping to recycle in a big supermarket next to the road and then next to the sea to have lunch and siesta...

diving in the bin :ptoo much found to carry on the bicycles...lunch by the sea

In the afternoon we meet juan, a guy from murcia comming from lyon in a bicycle with a small gas motor, not so fast and not so sustainable as a bike...but still funny...

juan in his way to murcia... :D

Cambrils -> Amposta

2009-11-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

We cycled almost all day, trying to stay on top of the bikes with the crazy wind that started...
we camped in the outskirts of a town, in a almonds tree field, and visited the local supermarket where we recycled loads of mangoes, melon, apple, salad, soups, tortillas and fruit salads :-/...

Cala Morisca -> Cambrils

2009-11-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

We left the three together next to the coast early in the morning... then i noticed a broken spoke and me and yo stoped to fix it, jurgen continued... after that i still had 3 flat tires in the same day!! so we missed him and continued alone again ;), passing trought tarragona, where i remembered gallo and susana that i meet here last time...

fixing my wheel...

Barcelona -> Cala Morisca

2009-10-31T06:17:00.002-07:00

We had a last lunch with lolo and matias and left after it, direction valencia, in the way we meet Jurgen, a cyclist that started in germany 5 months ago, he travels with a big trailer with a tube boat inside that he can fill and carry all his stuff (including bike) inside to boat in rivers and next the coast... pretty crazy, hã?

Lolo and lolo next to lolo's last art installation in the streets :p

Jurgen's bike and trailer, he goes pretty slow going up...

we continued together and camped near an old place i camped before next to the beach, we invited him to dinner and he surprised us with a bottle of Vermouth, we talked till late about our trips around the fire :D

Barcelona

2009-10-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

giving the our first kombucha daughter to lolo and matias

I was in internet all morning and helped yolanda making a carob cake, with the carob we picked near cansmadeu and recycled bananas and cooconut :D

cleaning recycled vegetables

we ended up making a pirate cake to offer lily in her goodbye party, after being travelling for almost 2 years with all kind of crazy projects (train hopping, cycling, hitchhiking) she will go now in a new adventure by sailing boat 3 months to cross the atlantic and travel the USA again...

captain lily :D and her sail and pirate flag behind

during the night, while we waited to recycle in veritas we talked a lot with an old lady that also recycles food there about capitalism and the nonsense of trowing so many perfect food away everyday...

Barcelona

2009-10-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

After a morning in the house we went out to visit sam, an old friend of yo and had lunch with him...
After we had a hair cut afternoon and in the night went out to recycle again in veritas ;)

Barcelona

2009-10-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

We passed most of the day at home talking with lolo and matias and planning a bit our future route, the plan is to leave to valencia, then alcoy, madrid, valladolid, salamanca and enter portugal...probably it will change :)...

in the night watch the a nice documentary about climate change and the tipping point: The Age of Stupid

Barcelona

2009-10-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

our freegan breakfast: fresh fruit juice, croissants, salad and bread with hummus (just the chickpeas were bought in the near shop...)

After breakfast we tried to go to another yoga class but was really full, so we returned home and invited lily for lunch.
We had another stenciling workshop also with lolo and matias and saw a movie in the night: The Age of Stupid, about climate change urgency.

Barcelona

2009-10-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

After lunch we meet with two samba band paris players, Flo and a friend, and went together to a solidarity demonstration in front of the Dutch consolade against the new anti-squatting in netherlands.

You can't evict ideas! Squatting will continue!

squatting is the solutionempty building are the problem

After we visited lily and charlie and spend the afternoon talking a lot about lily's cross by sailing boat to the USA (she's travelling for some years around the world and is going to cross the Atlantic ocean in some days) and other adventures and we did a t-shirt stenciling workshop :D.
Before dinner we went to the organic shop near to dumpster some croissants and veggies and drink wine with her sister, anna.

Barcelona

2009-10-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

We cycled to can masdeu to visit it again and see how it evolved since my last visit, we went in a house tour with some other visitors, and missed the body conscience workshop that was going on at the same time :(

the straw room of martin didn't advance much ;)

but the yurt of arnau was already used all summer and is ready for winter :D

The lunch was served in the RurBar and after, while lolo and matias returned to the workshop, there was a talk about climate change and COP15 that we also didn't follow till the end...

Instead, we cycled to marishiweu, the squat where i stayed last time in barcelona... was really cool to meet them again, talked a lot with carlos, pau, pablo and fra, after dinner, visited equipo B for a while...

in the way out of can masdeu we stopped next to a carob tree to pick some fruits :D

Barcelona

2009-10-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

Today is the 350 global day of action decentralized action around the world to raise awareness for global warming tipping point and try to make governments agree on the 350ppm limit of CO2 emissions on the next Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference... sincerely i don't belive in any change coming from governments, and anyway, the 350ppm limit in 2012 (It's FOUR years from now!!!) is the most positive scientist agreements, the less optimistic ones says it must be 280ppm...currently we are around 385ppm and going up every day... this is a nice clip to understand what tipping point means: Wake up, Freak out!
In the morning we cycled to the beach for a solar breakfast, hot chocolate and cakes made of organic flour, cooked on sun ovens...

Lolo and Lolo :D

From there we continued in a small critical mass to las ramblas where other actions were taking place, we meet amparom, who we meet in the yoga class, that asked for help in a street performance, we went home for lunch and then we meet for a meeting to train the performance in La Carbonería.
From there we went again to las ramblas for a samba performance against climate change and to present our little performance, fun :)
After that we went for a real climate change action, dumpster diving from an organic shop near the center.

saving a pineapple from ending in a dump somewhere, after traveling half world just to be neglected in barcelona streets...

Talking about skiping food, it's not the first (i can't even count how many time i've done it already) in this trip that i recycle food, but it's amazing that here we can live 100% freegan, but why?, people can ask, lack of money? definitely NO! there are loads of reason to dumpster, for sure most of them involves lack of money, but there are thousands of people doing it for ethical and idealistic reasons, it's a forced open-eye experience the first times you do it, this fucked up society, based on savage capitalism and consumerism, wast so much of our resources, i think the best and most original food i've eaten so far came from garbage bins, and i've eaten it recently.

When you skip you look for clean products, most of them are still wrapped on tons of plastic, others have skin that can be easily washed and pealed, i would never eat something already rotten, and only a dumb can not easily see and smell when that occurs, all my friends that dumpster food told they were never sick from that, probably even the contrary, as you are "obligated" to eat so many fruits :D...

some of the food we saved last days, after select and clean them

just as an example these days i'm spending in barcelona i've already dumpster: pineapples, papayas, chirimoyas, bananas, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, oranges, grapes, kiwis, carrots, tomatos, potatoes, onions, lettuce, beans, some vegetables that i don't even know the name of, cookies, bread, juices, organic (!!!) croissants, yogurts, rice, olive oil, eggs, fresh pasta, tortellini, and other crap also as mayonese, bechamel and even beer!

most of the things were still inside the validity date or the date was finishing that day (and as you should know, those that in packages have always to be less than the truth), they were just thrown in the garbage, after beeing plantes, produced, packed, transported and shown in a shop because they were not sellable, because one in 10 tomatoes was rotten, or a can had a bump...

it's only logical to do it, and here in barcelona loads of people do it, it's a crazy social event, people talk a lot while waiting for the shop to close and exchange things they found ;) i've meet all kind of people doing it, young, old, students, punks, poor people...etc... all helping each other and talking about the waste produced every fucking day!

You can see the trashwiki.org for more info and a movie from lily: Skipping waste

Barcelona

2009-10-23T05:29:00.000-07:00

Lolo's new freegan patch ;)

We spend the morning with Lolo and Matias having lunch in the roof top with an amazing weather.

At noon we went to meet Laia, a girl i meet in bologna before, for a beer and talk, nice to see her smile again :D
In the night we went out to see a jam session on a bar called Big bang with Alessia and Mano, yo's friends from the rhythms of resistance samba band :D

Barcelona

2009-10-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

lolo ready for the rain :D

It's was raining most of the day, in the morning, we cycled with matias to La Otra Carbonería, recent squatted social center, for a free yoga lesson, we had two amazing hours of yoga :D
In the night, after shops closed we went with lolo and matias dumpster diving in a near vegetable shop for food ;)

Somewhere in the Mediterranean sea -> Barcelona

2009-10-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

We wander around in the boat all day, eating, reparing some clothes and reading... not much else to do anyway...
Already evening, we arrived in barcelona and looked for internet, we checked out where was Lolo & matias house and meet them, they prepared an amazing freegan dinner for us and later we saw a movie: Brazil, based on 1984 book.

Manziana -> Civitavecchia -> Somewhere in the Mediterranean sea

2009-10-20T05:16:00.000-07:00

We woke up surrounded by cows :)...we continued to civitavecchia cycling up to Tolfa, where we visited the old town...

Tolfa in the top of the hill an apecar that made us start singing

then in civitavecchia federico caught a train back to rome and we entered the ferry, with full food provisions for 22 hours on water :p

Roma -> Manziana

2009-10-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

valentino and zofia

in the morning we packed our things and left rome after lunch with valentino, in order to meet federico in the way...
we then cycle (with the traffic completely blocked from the center till 30 km out of rome!!!) next to bracciano lake, an old vulcano trying to find an abandoned village that federico knew about, it got dark too early and we decided to camp in a park in manziana, had a nice dinner and sleep ;)

Roma

2009-10-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

After lunch we visited forte prenestino, a small castle squatted 30 years ago, and where the intersquat festival was taking part all this weekend, it is an amazing building. During the day we participated in the festival we saw 2 teather and dance plays, a concert, a free bicycle shop, an organic and local market, art and photography exhibitions...

the free bicycle shop with crazy bicycles prototypes

Federico also came and we had dinner together, drinking a bottle of local, homemade, wine. We also decided to leave together tomorrow to civitavecchia where we would take the ferry.

first the pasta, then the revolution :D

Roma

2009-10-17T04:23:00.000-07:00

We prepared a packed lunch and went to walk in the city and joined some people that were going to the nacional anti-racism protest... we spend 4 hours in the protest march, with 200000 people!! amazing! music, dance, action, information and a great walk in the city with no cars :p...
By great lucky, yolanda meet a friend in the middle of the protest, dunja, and we went to drink a tea in her house.

We then return home to dinner and go out, but were so tired that just stayed around at home resting

waiting for the 5-minutes vegan cake

Terme di Saturnia -> Albinia -> Roma

2009-10-16T02:46:00.000-07:00

We visit the official saturnia free therms, a bit crowded and not so hot... then we decided to catch the train to rome, in order to be able to pass the weekend there, we cycled to Albinia, where we caught the train and in noon we were in rome..

eating kakis by the way to rome ;)

Frederico meet us and went with us to the house of Zofia and Valentino where we could stay for some nights

cycling through the crazy traffic in rome

Bagni di Petriolo -> Terme di Saturnia

2009-10-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

In our quest for hot springs, we had breakfast inside water and left, all the grass was freeze and a nice couple, kate and tim, from england, invited us for tea and toasts in their caravan...

Wild Strawberry Tree

After talking for a while we left by an amazing, but long and hilly, road to saturnia where we mounted the tent next to the channel and tried to take a long bath, but the water was not so hot, but only slightly warm... nice anyway :)

Yo, after finding a new warm (and silly :p) hat

Siena -> Bagni di Petriolo

2009-10-14T01:50:00.000-07:00

In the morning nicoletta gave us a guided tour in siena... a really beautiful city, almost carfree, then we had lunch together and left in the afternoon to the hot springs of petriolo, where we arrived in the night, using a not so friendly road for a while (a motorway :-/)...In the night we had a great hot bath with the stars as roof and drinking local wine :)

Sieci -> Siena

2009-10-13T04:18:00.000-07:00

georgio, yolanda, giovanna, francesco

we left before lunch direction siena...cycling a lot, trough a nice road ;)
In siena we meet nicoletta, an old friend of yolanda...
we stayed in her house and she organized a big party with some friends in her small house :D (my second birthday party :p...)

Sieci

2009-10-12T02:46:00.000-07:00

Lorenzo, morena, giovani, massimo

We prepared to leave, then we had a lunch with all casa del vento people and some friends...
a big, strong, rain started and we could not leave in the end... so in the night we celebrated my birthday with two nice vegan cakes (banana and carrot) :D

Sieci

2009-10-11T04:57:00.000-07:00

Most day on internet... talking with friends, and preparing the route to rome ;)

a small mouse interrupted my internet day...eheh...

Sieci

2009-10-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Stayed all day at home, mostly on internet, while raining outside.
In the night yo and i cooked wild spinach for massimo, morena and francesco.

Firenze -> Sieci

2009-10-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

We spent the day in the public library trying to reach people form casa del vento, where i stayed laast time here, and cycling around firenze.

Brigitte cheese :D

After not reaching them we cycled to sieci anyway and they were really happy to see us, we had dinner together and then saw a movie :D... nice to see this friends again.

morena and giovanna :D

Valle Degli Elfi -> Firenze

2009-10-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

In the morning i finish the last pages of the book before leaving the valle, i say goodbye t everyone and jonathan offered me a great old cheese made with brigitte milk :D

la scuola

We still visited joana and frederic and angelo before leaving and then we cycled down to firenze, where we arrived pretty late and slept near the river in the outskirts.

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

I woke up really early to go with diego and tau "hunt" porcini mushrooms, each one of us got about 20 in 3 or 4 hours looking for them.

my first porcini a toxic amanita

We had a great lunch in casa sarti, potatoes and porcini in the oven :D.

I helped romano fixing the pole for the solar panel and continue reading my book, while resting my feet

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Me and yo opened a hole for the new solar panel next to the main house and then me, jonathan, francesco, frederico, ricardo and romano wento to cut some wood for the fire.

yolanda preparing gomasio, crunching some sesame after being toasted

Then me and frederico made a t-shirt with my stencil and bleach.

In the night diego arrived with a basket full of porcini mushrooms.

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Pastoraia

Before lunch, after yo and inka left to grna burrone, me and diego and some more elfi walked to piccolo burrone and had lunch there.

Then i walked to aldaia with frederico, a new wwoofer that arrived during the full moon party,arrinving there, there was also a new visit, ricardo.

Me and frederico weent to get some mazza di tamburo and cooked them for dinner, after we played a bit of carambola.

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

In the morning i picked wild salad and more mazza di tamburo and cooked a dish with francesco.
Then, after bottling some more juice, me, yo, diego, duende, inka and her baby walked direction Pastoraia, for the full moon party.
Me and yo went down to the village to meet andrea and his friend and then we had a great night with music and pizza under the full moon light :D

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

yolanda drawing

After cutting some wood with diego i helped sabina carrying some stuff down, as she is moving out of aldaia for the winter, in the way back me and yo picked some hazelnuts and beechnuts.

swimming next to the sauna :D
chestnut butterfly

After lunch, while most of the kids played football :p, me and yo went with emanuela to Cerchiaia for a kundalini yoga lesson :D, in the way back we picked some more mazza di tamburo muchrooms.
In the night i bottled some more juice for the winter and continue reading the book i started laast time i was here, Prodigal summer.

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-02T04:31:00.000-07:00

In the morning, after picking some walnuts and chestnuts me and yo helped romano cleaning the future onions field that should be ready before winter to plant.
Them we cut more pears for juice and make pears and nuts jam :D

Befor dinner i picked up some mazza di tamburo and cooked them and before going to bed played carambola with coio ;)

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-10-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

brigitte sun bathing ;)

In the morning i picked some pears from the floor to make more jam and juice, and crack some walnuts, then me, diego and romano went to cervi, where we had been before with davide and pamela, to help alerto put some big roof beams up to build the roof of the cow building they are finishing.
After a great lunch there and all the work they played some songs (the apecar music i already learned last them) and then we returned to aldaia to bottle some more juice.

Valle Degli Elfi

2009-09-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

finally, during summer, the caterpillar arrived to build the planned lake ;)

While sabina planted stevia, a sweetleaf plant alternative to sugar, and other plants i helped her picking howthorn fruits to make jam and tea.
I helped cooking the lunch and bottle some pear juice.

steam juice pan (suchatrice :p)

In the afternoon me and yo were picking walnuts from the floor and cutting apples to dry for winter time. Then i also made some sterilized pears with cinamoon to save for winter time. There is now full of fruits and nuts everywhere that need to be saved for eat during the cold times :).

mazza di tamburo mushroom, our daily food :p, growing everywhere

I helped jonathan again milking brigitte and after dinner played carambola with coio, yo and diego till late.

Pioppe di Salvaro -> Valle Degli Elfi

2009-09-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

We left the house before lunch and cycled to the valle degli elfi, to Aldaia.
In the way we stooped in Porreta Terme to have lunch and in angelo's house, that is now pretty advanced, comparing to my last visit.

After meeting my friends in aldaia i helped romano cutting pears for making juice and jonathan milking brigite, the super mucca, that now is only milked once a day...

back to aldaia
ferrary in the middle of the flowers we planted last time hereloads of pears to cut for juice :D

Pioppe di Salvaro

2009-09-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

In the morning andrea left to work and left the house for us ;)
I fixed another broken spoke and we spent the rest of the day seeing friends and playing games :p...relaxing day :p

Bologna -> Pioppe di Salvaro

2009-09-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

this kitchen is a experience of: society, self-management, skipping, biological food, vegetarianism, separation of garbage. Loose time in here...

chan and evan single-speed bicycles graffiti in XM24 walls

We left XM24 after having breakfast with chan and evan, cycling up the mountain to visit Andreaa in his house.
Arriving there we visited his neighbor donkeys, yolanda and other name :p, and in the night we had dinner in his house :D

Bologna

2009-09-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

so much skiped food it could not fit the cart...

Before lunch we helped duxo going to the fresh market next to the social center to skip some vegetables. The vendors are pretty familiarized with the squatters and are quite friendly, interested in the social and cultural work they are doing in XM24 and giving us loads of food that would not be good on monday market opening...
After lunch i stayed around updating the blog and meeting the my bicycle workshop friends, ampioraggio workshop day.

Will we pay even the air... before understanding the real cost of petrol?

In the night i went with lucca and others friends to a party in Ivan Ilish school, with a band that sings revolutionary popular songs that i already knew from the anti-fascist festival.

Battaglia Terme -> Bologna

2009-09-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

We left the abandoned house where we slept last night early in the morning and cycled to ferrara,the italian bicycle city.

wild spinach, nara tought us to identify, easily found everywhere bicycles in ferrara

We then cycled a lot, around 125 km all day, to arrive in bologna. We visited ex-mercato 24 a social center i've been before, where the free bicycle workshop, AmpioRaggio, works and we could stay there to sleep for some days.

Not much time after we arrived, Evan and Chan (USA), also with bicycle (but really lightweight backpackers) arrived and we talked a lot while cooking together in the amazing kitchen of the social center that was a old fresh food market.
Late in the night, with aiko and oliver (Germany) we went for a long walk, looking for a party (that was already finished).

Mestre -> Battaglia Terme

2009-09-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

wheel growing on a tree, nicola's art :p

We left Cristina and Nicola's house in the morning and started cycling to padova, i had promised my mother i would visit the cathedral...

Save the world - Go vegetarian our bikes and yo look really small next to this huge church

On the way out of Padova, yo had a small accident and a car parked on top of her front wheel...we tried to repair but in the end we just bought a new wheel and continue riding south, direction ferrara...

Mestre

2009-09-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

selling Jujube, a fruit we had seen a lot in our way (tastes a bit like apple and looks like an olive)

We caught the bus to venice and passed the all day walking around visiting the city and some art exhibitions...

Wake Up Italy!Laboratorio Occupato Morion crazy exhibition from hong kong "A house belongs to who inhabit it!"

Kill all artists barbaric advertisement over the bridge of sighs

After another, intensive, tourist day, nicola and cristina invited us to go to a yoga lesson... funny to do some yoga ;)

Mira -> Mestre

2009-09-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

We passed over the CSO to leave our stuff and visit venezia, but no one was there... we decided to leave without visiting venezia and passed the day on internet planing...

When we were preparing to leave i received an sms from nicola and cristina, that i contacted via HospitalityClub some days ago...

We visited their house and, after washing our clothes, we had dinner together with them, cooked by Nicola's mama :D... great pasta and wine, great company and hospitality :D

Being world car free day is a bit pitty we couldn't visit the biggest car free city in the world today: Venezia

Caposite -> Mira

2009-09-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Got up next to the path, and then we cycled to Venezia-Mestre, there we checked the internet and we discovered we didn't got any answer from HC or WS...

We found a social center, CSO Rivolta Marghera, and visited them, they were cleaning and constructing for a big party on saturday and could not host us...

"We want a world where all the worlds can fit""We should not ask permission to be free"

Then we cycled out the big city for some kilometers and camped in a field next to Forte Tron

Fossalato -> Caposite

2009-09-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

waking up with the sky as a roof :D

We woke up with the sound of hunters and dogs walking near... packed everything and left, meeting the vineyard owner in the way, a funny guy...

pre-cleaning breakfast after find a melon and some pomegranates

We visited the beach for a first time since albania and after a great shower we continued following the sea till the road finishes in a payed bridge... we continued in the "unpaid" side in a small path that leads to venezia.

in the beach having a drink :D

Muscoli -> Fossalato

2009-09-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

We visited Palmanova in the morning and right after getting out of the town i broke a spoke...a great way to get to use the amazing tool (Next Best Thing 2) erick gave me as a present :D

TGV? no, thanks!
Palmanova

After cleaning the bike and fixed a new spoke we continued cycling direction venezia and slept in a vineyard in the way.

NBT2 and cassette removed :D

Isola della Cona -> Muscoli

2009-09-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

We followed a nice bicycle route (FVG2) by small roads and catching great pine-nuts by the way...we visited some villages by the way (again turist day :D)

next to a soya (???) field
pine tree where we stooped to break some nuts
grado Romolus and remus statue

we endead up sleeping next to a corn field near palmanova

Prosecco -> Isola della Cona

2009-09-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

the squatted house we sleept

We engaged in a turist day ;)... we walked to visited the rilke path and cycled along the cliff to visit the springs of timovo, a river that goes underground for 40 km and gets out of the mountains again next to the sea...

Rilke path timovo river

then we continued next to the sea and camped next to the natural park of isola della cona where we cooked amazing chapatis in open fire :D