Porto -> London

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...

Somewhere in France -> Bologna

I wake up at 7 to meet him, but he was still asleep, i wait till 9 and he was still asleep... then i asked to another truck driver, Cristian, who rode me to italy, to Piacenza... he was really nice, we talked a lot, he was learning (alone) how to program and was really in to computers, linux, c++ and reading... not an usual truck driver and we had lots to talk...

In Piacenza i lost 1 hour, and then meet Joan, a guy from argentina that lives in italy for a long time... we also had lots to talk (from religion, to environment and vegetarianism) and he brought me really inside bologna..

Hitchhiking is really a special kind of adventure as you meet the most unusual, and nice, people :D

Paris -> Somewhere in France

Wake up early to follow Remi's instructions to get out of paris hitchhiking (as he already did it several times).... it's not easy, as paris is really big, and in the place we recommended me there were already two other hitchhikers waiting :D...

After 5 hours, i could finally arrange someone to put me near the highway, and there , after finding another hitchiker, i lost only 20 minutes to get Nico, the guy who took me to a gas station 100 km away, near Nemours.
From there, after not so many time, i found a spanish (crazy) truck driver who ride me some hours to another gas station (in the way he did a joint and before going to sleep he still gave me 2 beers...lol...)

I sleept in this gas station waiting for the morning to get in his truck again, as he had to sleep 8 hours before start again driving...

Briançon -> Paris

I woke up round 5 and, after having breakfast, the first car who passed ported me to Grenoble... the guy just spoke french, so it was not easy to communicate, he was going to his work and in the way we made an amazingly beautiful road passing some glaciers that are all year covered in snow... i had really beautiful pictures of this small part of this trip, but not any more...

Arriving in Grenoble he insisted in paying me a coffee and then i started hitch-hiking to Lyon... the place (as i was again inside a city) was not the easiest one to be picked up, but luckily a nice guy from mexico, Salomon, picked me and ported me just few kilometres to a place he thought was a better one... and it was, as in less than 5 minutes i got a lift to Lyon...

The guy who picked me left me in the metro and told me that it would be better to cross the city by metro and start in the other side to go to paris... and another time, following my driver tips i found a lift in 5 minutes (i think i was really lucky as Lyon is known as Hitchers Hell of France)...

The nice young couple who picked me left me near Mâcon in the highway entrance...there i wait for an hour and a guy picked just to port me few kilometres again to the next highway exit... there i was really lucky, and after 15 minutes waiting, an really nice old guy (he would be probably over 85!!), Mr Signorino, picked me in a expensive car and ported me to paris...

Already in paris, around 17:00, i walked around, realizing my mobile phone was not working (somehow when entering france they blocked my phone - is still not allowing me to make calls) and contacting helena, from HospitalityClub was not easy... finally i was able to contacted her and he had a funny encounter in a metro station... it was already really late (around midnight) and we had lots to talk in really short time as she had to meet a friend...

Bologna -> Briançon

Started hichhking early...as usual, getting out of the city is hard, and i lost more than one hour in a place that was not the right one to start... when i realize it, i walked to the entry of the highway, and there, after 2 hour (not so many cars passed there...maybe one each 5 minutes), one guy picked me and left me in a gas station before parma...

In that gas station (with police coming every half hour - they didn't say anything, but i avoided hitchhiking when they were around, as it's not allowed to hitchhike on highways) i lost around 5 hors as most of the people were going in different direction than the one i wanted and finally found a relly nice truck driver (from albania) who brought me to torino and even left me in another gas station after the city (so it's easier to find people as most of the people are not going to the near city)...

It was already night, but after one or two hours, a german guy who leave in the mountain in france near the border picked me and left me in a city called Briançon, it was rainning a LOT and as it was already out of the highway not so many cars at that time were passing, so i decided to sleep for some hours in a nice bus station (this place is really high, so bus stations are almost small houses, because with snow in the winter should be really cold)

Valle Degli Elfi -> Sieci

The last day and night were pretty cold and we felt a little sick and decided to return to Casa Del Vento also yo needs to go to Milan tomorrow early and from the Valley is hard to get there.

After packing everything we walked back to the main road and, as it was a sunny day, saw all the "elfis" working in the communitarian field, sadly we could not help... will try to return again and help them better :D.. in the way back we stopped to have a shower in the fresh water from the mountain...
We hitchhiked back to Pistoia with a guy who knew Portugal and we talked a lot (in italianol) during the (short) trip... After we caught the train to Sieci and had rest...

Sieci -> Valle degli Elfi

We packed everything and caught a train to Firenze, to buy some food for lunch...then, by train, we went to Pistoia and walked around to see the city, a nice and calm one :D...

S. Pelegrino

After having lunch we hitchhiked with a really sweet lady who brought us to her house and offer us a coffee (in an irrefutable manner :p)... from there we caught a bus to S. Pelegrino and started walking to valle degli elfe, was already getting late... Luckly, a jeep passed by and ask us if we needed a ride... they got us to the Escuola (School) and gave us food and bed :D... really nice people...

After dinner we went with Emanuel to a 50 birthday party in Casa Sartí, listen to great music, dancing, sangria and cake :D...

Lyon -> Elche

We arrived Alicante around 11:00 in the moorning and he left me in the university, i then hitchike to the center and met Javi at his parents house, I finally got my bike again :D..
I packed the bike and cycled to Elche to meet Mabel, nice to see this wonderful sun again :D... it's like being in the tropics, comparing to amsterdam...
Then we went to the park till late where Mabel and her friends were juggling ;)

Amsterdam -> Lyon

We woke up early and hitchhiked to Rotterdam, we walk a little there and caught the train to Roosendaal, where I would meet my lift...
At 17:00, Harry arrived and we start the trip directly to Alicante, 15 hours total, we stoped few times in the way and talked a lot, he is a funny guy who already traveled a lot by bike with his wife :)... maybe I'll visit him again here in Spain.

Paris -> Amsterdam

Waked up after 5 hours of sleep at 2:00 am... Peter started driving and, after passing Belgium without stopping, we stop in the deposit where Peter had to deliver...

After he drove me to Harleem and there i caught a bus to Amsterdam...

first picture of Amsterdam... the city of bikes ;)

Central Station

Arriving there I looked for Yolanda's house in the center, a recent squatted building... She met me there and we cycled to her other house...

really nice to meet Yolanda again, she was other of my inspirations to make this trip... as she had travel all last year around Europe also by bike (from Portugal to Turkey) in a similar way as I'm planning (Bicycle + other transports except plane)...

Somewhere in France -> Paris

After 8 hours of sleep we wake up and start the trip, all day talking, Peter is a really nice (and crazy) dutch guy who leaves now in Spain.
Then we had to stop again to had dinner and sleep, around 18, in the suburbs of Paris... Really weird time to go to bed :s! Being a truck driver should get you crazy fast :p

Barcelona -> Somewhere in France

I woke up at 6 because my mother was also going away and my plan was to try to hitchhike to Amsterdam.

Luckily, I found a public bicycle bad parked and (I know it was illegal, but at least i returned it to a right parking spot :D) cycled to a cross that led to the highway direction France.

After 1 or 2 hour a car parked and i could ask them to leave me in a gas station in the way... There, I was asking the people who stopped for an hitchhike direction La Jonquera, the last small village before the border with France, a place Tomaz told me was great to hitchhike everywhere in europe, as thousands of trucks park there to fill the tank every day...

It was a really small gas station and most of the people who stopped was going in the opposite direction, finally I met 2 guys who were going in that direction and even to France for holidays but they had to stop in their house to have lunch and pick two horses (they were horse ferradores)...

Martí showed me his house and I had lunch with him, his brother and wife and their children... The house was really beautiful and in the end I helped with the horses and we start the trip, after some hours we were in Jonquera.

As it was around holidays (Christmas and new year) there were not so many trucks as usual as the truck drivers explain me, so I had to wait (asking all the trucks that i could) for a truck direction Holland, after 5 hours, the first truck I asked going in that direction let me in :)

Peter drove for some hours and had to stop, somewhere in France, to sleep (by law truck drivers must stop several hours per day and work in crazy schedules)...