Terme di Saturnia -> Albinia -> Roma

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

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...

Elche -> Alicante

Me and Mabel went to Alicante by train to meet some friends in Carnival Parade...

Alan and his micro-skate

We dressed up silly and join the parade...
Later there was a funny concert and after I end up sleeping in Alan and Patricia's house with Matias and his brother

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.

Enkhuizen -> Amsterdam

It rained a lot all day, but we still tried to cycle back..after 2 hours, already in Hoorn, we caught a train back to amsterdam...really wet day, no photos...

Amsterdam

forbidden to swim... :p..

One of the coldest nights in amsterdam for many years...even some of the water channels were frozen and people were ice skating everywhere, so I went with Yolanda to skate (but I couldn't find skates that fit me :p...)

drinking warm wine

At noon we caught a train to visit some Carlijn and Tom in Harleem, there we went to a nice concert in a small bar...

bike park in central station

Then we return to sleep in the attic :p...

Elche -> Barcelona

In the morning i caught a train to Barcelona, after leaving my bike in Alicante, I will now meet my mother in Barcelona for christmas ;)

I met her at the afternoon and we visited the (rainy) city a while, she rented a room in the center and we cooked together and talk all night ;)

Villaricos -> Lorca -> Murcia

The beach where i camped last night had a small sand street where some (few) cars and by the morning i cycled along it for a bit, some parts were less than a meter from the sea water!
Further, I started cycling for the interior and stopped in a lot of coffee in the way to drink "café bonbon", coffee with condensed milk, and ask for directions. When I was finally sure I was in the correct direction, I cycled to Lorca and caught the train to makesure i arrived Murcia still in day light, so i could find Kisko, a friend of Coco (Sevilla)...

I phoned him but another person answered and I stayed cycling along Murcia waiting for a return call for hours...

I stopped in a garden next to some people who were juggling and using a mono-cycle :), and, around 23:30, I phoned Kisko again, who had forgotten to return the call! He told me he wasn't in Murcia any more as the police had evicted the social center La Fabrika de Hielo the week before but phoned a friend to host me anyway :). That was when a surreal moment happend when i phoned Inês, Kisko's friend, and noticed she was one of the persons next to me juggling for almost 2 hours!! I joined them and we stayed there talking, drinking and playing till the police appeared in the park and everyone (unless us) started running away like crazy!! (another surreal moment we laugh a lot about)...

We then went home, Inês lives in a wonderful squatted house some km away from the center called Casa Azul.

Granada -> Almeria -> Cabo de Gata

View from the train window ;)

I left the house early to catch the train. In the mountain around Granada was a lot snow and the train got a bit late, because of that they return me the ticket value!

first view of the mediterranean sea in this trip :D

After arriving in Almeria, already in the spanish coast with the Mediterranean, I cycled next to the coast looking for a national street, N-341, that would conduct me to Murcia. When I finally found that road, and after cycling about 20 km without an exit, there was a huge sign warning the street is now a highway, where bicycle are forbidden!!

path i followed next to N-341

I didn't want to return back (and, as I don't have a Spain map yet, I didn't know any other way), so I saw a small terrain street (I couldn't see where was it going) and followed it :D... that street ended almost in a cliff that i had to go down with the material and the bike on my back :p...

the end of the "street" i follow (looks like a cliff, but it was possible to get down, slowly and carrying the bike by hand)

Luckily, I found a nice street along the sea and follow it in the right direction, without certain where was I going I camped in a high hill near the coast called Cabo de Gata where I could see a beautiful sun set over the sea :D

Cabo de Gata

Sun set from the top of Cabo de Gata

Cordova -> Aguilar de la Frontera -> Ruta del Aceite (Estación de Luque)

I follow the advice of José (from Sevilla) and catch the train for 60 km to do part of a new bicycle track called Ruta del Aceite. From Aguilar de la Frontera I cycled till Morilles and cycled in a nice old train line now "adapted" to bicycles... it start raining and there was a lot of mud!!!
My bicycle got stuck a lot and completely DIRTY (sometimes I couldn't even cycle because the mud just stopped the wheels from moving)... The weather got pretty bad and i found a old house to camp... I tried to lit a fire but it just last a while till it started raining a bit stronger and i had the coldest night till now :(...

Zoom to see the mud blocking my wheels :p

Sintra -> Lisboa

Lisbon, from Marie's house

I catch the train, with Marie, to Lisbon, she still went to classes and I meet Dexter again, a nice brasilian guy who live with Marie, at night we went to a Fado music spectacle in Bacalhoeiro, an association i knew only by name. I got pissed off with one of the musicians who sing about bullfighting and the proud bullfighter...

Bullfight is Bullshit... I' believe in a world without animal (human and non-human) cruelty.

"The most terrible crimes are committed in the name of traditions"
(George Bernard Shaw)