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Holland |
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Tuesday, 18 October 2005 |
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Hitching through Germany yesterday was a breeze. Excellent highways, good fast cars. The most interesting was a ride with an Armenian driver with whom I spoke Russian. Otherwise everything predictable, smooth and easy, I never even waited for more than a couple minutes.
Only in Holland it did get a little more exciting.
I get dropped off on the outskirts of Groningen and try to hitch a ride to the center. An older man comes up to me with his bike. He doesn't speak a word of English (quite unusual in Holland) but asks me where I'm headed. I show him the address. He shows me the rack of his bike... So this is how I make it to the front door of the building where my good Polish friend Asia lives. Right... I know Holland isn't exactly on the way to Africa but Asia is worth a bigger detour than that. Tomorrow I'm heading on, and Asia says she might come and see me in Marrakesh... 
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to the south of France |
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Saturday, 22 October 2005 |
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The day before yesterday in the morning I left Mastricht, and after a long day of many rides through the highways of four different countries (Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France), about midnight I arrived at Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. Finally I have a feeling I'm escaping approaching winter - while in Holland I was wearing a fleece and a jacket, here it's warm enough for a Tshirt.
And as often happens when on the road, I'm already starting experiencing spontanneous hospitality. The last ride of that night was with a father and a son coming back from a concert in Marseille. They invited me to their house in the charming countryside and today the father spent half of the day showing me the area and finally bringing me to Nice. I know, it's not exactly on my way again, but I couldn't refuse the invitation I just got from Monika, a Polish girl who lives here and invited me to visit.
But now - I'm on my way to Spain, towards Africa...
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little detours |
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Thursday, 27 October 2005 |
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Well, my way towards Africa looks like a way of smaller or larger detours...
Passing so close to Andorra I just couldn't miss this little but fascinating mountanneous country. The small road climbing up kept revealing better and better landscapes. In Andorra itself I saw just two towns built on the mountain sides and then... a thick white mist enveloped the entire country and the next ride took me out of there sooner than I managed to notice. Then the road took me back to France for a little while and toward the Atlantic coast, and further just following the coast in northern Spain, then finally to Portugal yesterday. 
So how's everything? Well, hitchhiking couldn't be better. Sometimes only I have to wait for a while but many times I have the car stopping as soon as I stick out my thumb! People seem to be a little surprised every time, especially when they find out I came 'all the way from Poland.' That in itself seems to some like the end of the world. And hitching around hitching around Africa - that's beyond their comprehension. Maybe even beyond mine at the moment, but the difference is - I can't see the reason why it can't be done.
 And so far - the road provides everything I need. I never ask for anything but already a couple of times in the evening I was invited to local homes. Last time - in Spain by a woman who's a Chi Qung and Tai Chi master and we instantly felt a connection.
Here in Portugal, near the beautiful town of Guimarais, I'm staying with a Hospitality Club member Emma and her family. In the gallery you can see my today's photos from Porto where I spent the day. And tomorrow - heading towards Lisboa.
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from Portugal to Spain |
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Sunday, 30 October 2005 |
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Porto was beautiful. Also the little town of Guimarais. Well, just entire Portugal, actually! And Lisboa, even though big cities are normally not my favourite, turned out to be really charming as well. Especially its yellow trams climbing up and down steep narrow streets. 
From the Atlantic coast in Portugal, I headed down to the south of the country, and then back to Spain, all the way to the Mediterranean coast where... 
...where I had my first encounter with the elephants! That's in Marbella where I arrived last night and am staying with Carmen and Stacy whom I met last summer while cruising around Europe with Brad. Hitchhiking is still great. They didn't believe I could make it in one day from Lisboa, but I looked at the map and thought - why not. In the evening Carmen got a phonecall from my truck driver telling her where in Marbella he was going to drop me off.
It's nice and pleasent here, when we were walking back from a stroll on the beach last night around 1am, it was 22 degrees. Oh, and the elephant, it's really just a beach shower! And Marbella, even though touristy, it's still nice, especially its old town with white houses and narrow streets. 
I guess this is my last day in Europe before I enter Africa. Tomorrow Carmen and Stacy are taking me to Gibraltar where I want to see if there are any private yachts sailing towards Morocco. If not - there are still the regular frequent ferries. So I guess, the next update will be already from the new continent. Comments (0 ) |
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