01.08.2015 Frankfurt, Germany

Posted on by
Reply

Frankfurt … Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Frankfurt. More precisely Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt, but few people know about that. It was the place of my confinement last week and a half. But first things first. Arriving at Travemünde, I had to go to Amsterdam, but I am so tired of the cold weather and eternal rains, that I was irresistibly drawn to the south. Thoughts were short – I rushed to Frankfurt.

Damn boats always come early in the morning and went up on the highway I felt that banal fall asleep because of boredom. I selected option “avoid highways and autobahns” in my GPS and did not regret any minute. Wonderful pastoral views that opened up to me was so delicious that I was not irritated nor the speed limit (30-50 in settlements and beyond them is 70-80) nor lengthen the route. All these forests, fields, meadows, hills, accompanied by perfectly paved asphalt, and the ride was prettiest. During the ride I have not once stopped to take photos and just to gaze at local beauty. Villages like a fairy tale, colorful meadows Germany … good, what to say. At one point I caught WiFi at a gas station and got new mail. US Consulate asking my passport to Moscow. I strongly hurried to Frankfurt (more precisely in Aschaffenburg). Where good old friend Constantine and his wife Katya waited for me.

Frankfurt … Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Frankfurt. More precisely Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt that, but about it, few people know. It was the place of my confinement last week and a half. But first things first. Arriving at Travemünde, I had to go to Amsterdam, but I am so tired of the cold weather and eternal, that I was irresistibly drawn to the south. Thoughts were short – I rushed to Frankfurt.

Damn boat ever come early in the morning and went up on the highway, I felt that banal fall asleep from boredom. Selected in Navigator option “avoid highways and highway” and did not regret. Wonderful pastoral views that opened up to me was so delicious that I was not irritated or the speed limit (30-50 in settlements beyond their 70-80) or lengthen the route. All these forests, fields, meadows, hills, accompanied by perfectly ulozheniju asphalt, and the ride was, as they say, “in a rush.” In the process I have not once stopped to take photos and just posozertsat local beauty. Villages like a fairy tale, colorful meadows Germany … good, what to say. At one point I caught vayfay at a gas station and saw a letter, put the blame on the mail. US Consulate Asking my passport to Moscow. Case headway! I still strongly hurried to Frankfurt, more precisely in Aschaffenburg. Where I waited for a good old friend Constantine and his wife Katya.

Arrived I settled a little… and here comes beer! You in fact in Bavaria, man (yes, Frankfurt is not Bayern, but Ashaffenyuurg – yet is already!)! The first two days were in the campaigns of the bars. Even in such a small town it here – there are bars for every tastes. But most of all I liked the one, very first we visited (I even joked about sidnrom of duckling, hehe) – on the summer terrace facing many long tables, and always a lot of people. Therefore, people simply sit down at the table to the others, resulting in a generally tied sorts of conversations – it’s great. So we met a lot of cool people this way. Old Irish man, the most that neither is a classic, as if from a movie – with him and his son, we had a night raid on the bars… Husband and wife, local riders stopped for lunch just after returning from travel (now on my jacket there is another icon :)… Couple from Hanover, which are two months a year spent in Aschaffenburg for working reasons – they have taught us German, and talked about the differences of hochdeutsch and Bavarian dialect … Many such meetings. This is perhaps the most vivid impressions – because the rest of my existence consisted of sitting in one place waiting for my passport back.

Passport. This whole saga. First, I learned that all the vaunted super-express ultra-fast delivery service … do not work on weekends. So much fun… I could not believe it. You pay a big pile of money for to deliver a letter the next day, and you answered – “Today is Friday, three o’clock, package sorting station stops it work, so the letter will go out on Monday, and will be delivered on Tuesday. Here’s a delivery, “the next day”. From Friday to Tuesday. Well, I could cope with that sending passport to Moscow. US Consulate processed my passport for two days and released it. And then the fun began – the weekend is close again, fuck you, wait for Monday. But Monday! I did not want to wait at all in any way. Even despite the fact that on Monday I was invited to visit one motorcycle adventurer at Frankfurt. Soul straining at the leash, so by wild combinations I was able to pick up passport on Saturday. But how it was! First, DHL announced that on Saturday they do not deliver. Through long negotiations with the technical support it became clear that they can deliver the package to Frankfurt Airport, the same Saturday. I spent Saturday morning at the airport, looking at the stunned eyes of employees of Deutsche Post (DHL use them as the front-end, which is very convenient to all but the customers), because in Germany there is no “on demand” packages for foreigners. Naturally, the airport did not worked. With Katya (spasibische!) managed to push the technical support DHL I could still with a large fortune and a ton of persuasion – to take away my beloved passport at one of the sorting items of DHL. So DHL – nevermore. To take great pile of euros not knowing what is going on (in Russia they told that the Saturday delivery is ok and took the money for it, in Germany they saying that there is no Saturday delivery), and make me run around Frankfurt … Horror.

In anticipation of the document and fact I stayed too long in one place I was literally drawn to go at least somewhere. But without passport everything make it difficult – even camping sites requires it, and it is restricted to pitch a tent anywhere outside camping. I decided to try couchsurfing and look for someone in Munich. I submitted about 15 queries, as it should be – not copy-paste sent, and individual approach to every request … all to no purpose. Until now, I can not understand why. However, I saw that the planned event in Munich, “a weekly gathering of members Couchsurfing Munich» and decided to go from the other side – to come to the meeting, and further acting on the situation. Bike is saddled and I flew to Munich. But there a failure waited for me. A huge number of young people, but … Contrary to the standard cliché “open-minded”, “easy-going” and all that crap – people are completely not interested in travel, journey tales and so on. They were interested in the opposite sex. Add meeting place was totally not suitable for communication (a bar with very loud disco) – that’s the whole picture. I feel there myself like some foreign body in someone else’s body, so I trampled a couple of glasses of non-alcoholic beer and retreated. The question about overnight arouse. I have some time to stray in the dark along country lanes, but could not find a good place, inaccessible to other people’s eyes (though there I also could be found by foresters). Then I went to nearest highway, drove to a nearby parking lot for truckers and insolently put a tent there, on a little piece of grass. My argument in case the attention of the authorities were like “driving, driving tired, want to sleep as much as hell, try to avoid road sleepy accidents, but because I have no car to sleep in, I had to put a tent”. Although it would have looked funny – some homeless dude in a tent, without passport, hehe. Fortunately for me – I’m was not interesting to anyone and slept well, even dreams was colored look. Early morning I returned to Aschaffenburg, and there got email news of the release of the passport, and started trying to smuggle him back, as mentioned above.

On Saturday once received passport I immediately moved on. Since half of the day was spent on rescuing the document – I was failed to drive far avay. Found camping site near the city of Ulm where I wrote these lines, sitting with a laptop near the campfire.

In the end I would like to say a huge thanks to Constantine, Kate, Fedor and Peter for helping me with all that weird passport story.

19.07.2015 Sweden

Posted on by
Reply

Ferry again, this time from Malmoe to Travemunde.

Malmo Ferry

Nasty weather again.

Malmo Bad Weather

But this is for now, and I warmed with Jagermester, which is travelling with me all the way from Finn borders. And as for previous days… I have no words to describe… But I will try.

… I arrived in Stockholm harbour, where for the first time passed a test for alcohol – on the outskirts of the port there was a police car, and every driver from the ferry checked for sobriety. Remembering the previous evening and feeling slightly headache, I was plagued by doubts. But nowhere to go – friendly people gave me to blow into a tube, checked my documents, apologized for the delay and wished a happy journey. Before my eyes lays the road to Stockholm.

Some time before that, I left a message on the forums Advrider and HorizonsUnlimited asking if anyone wants to meet on the first part of my journey. In HU some guy nicknamed Bubbla (Volkswagen Beetle name by Swedish :) invited to visit the town of Varberg, near the west coast of Sweden. I had my doubts about Varberg – it is the hook for about 500 kilometers. But I go for a walk in Stockholm and realized that my journey alone becomes impossibly dull – so I moved towards Varberg.

Passing halfway to Varberg, I realized that I fall asleep because of boredom, and selected in the Navi option “avoid highways”. Oh, I did not regret a single second! It was incredibly beautiful, I did not think that Sweden this emerald-green in summer! At every turn of perfectly laid asphalt, I wanted to make a stop and just enjoy the view. No pictures can not show what I saw, I think. Unfortunately, somewhere in that moment died a memory card in the camera, and I lost all the pictures that came before it, including Finland :(

In the middle of the day after 500 kilometers I arrived at the appointed place. And I met a man, whom I will never forget. Uwe (that guy Bubbla) turned out to be just a delightful person. He ran the technical matters in Vincent’s Bike Shop, and lived in a small house on wheels near. I think I can talk for hours about this man. In love with the Russia, German guy who lives in Sweden and is forever linked with motorbikes and travel. Man with a capital letter.

I was given a bed in the middle of bikeshop, at a comfortable leather sofa:

Vincents Bikeshop

The next morning I started uploading a video on the Internets, and then went to the workshop, where I spent half a day. And it was just great! Uwe said that near, in town of Falkenberg, there is largest in Sweden meeting of fans of vintage cars, and after all the things is done we headed there. Beautiful cars, from the full original Eldorado to a barely crawling Belleview! Walking on Falkenberg’s streets, the smell of malt from the brewery in the air, talking about everything – great, just great. Here are some pictures from there, with a new memory card (I know that I’m bad photographer but I’m working on it! :))

Falkenberg old cars

Da Rat one:

Sometime I feel myself like in old american movie:

Old american movie

Falkenberg is beautyful:

Falkenberg

Nice maskot:

Every evening ended in the bikeshop kitchen, where we talked, talked, talked … and could talk forever, I think. Like meeting an old friend whom you have not seen for many years.

Uwe totally refused to take the money, and did not allow me to pay anywhere. It goes even to the defense around the cash register. In all my objections, he replied: “In Russia, with me they do the same.” Fortunately for me we did not go for shopping except in the supermarket for food and other things. In the last day I was able to somehow thank him, having been messed with the carburetors on V-Max, a motorcycle, which is waited for new wings. I think he was pleased with it :)

That is the flying sledgehammer:

Two days after work we went around Varberg, a places where I was breathtaking after each turn. The lakes, the hills, the sky – all adds up to a picture that is simply impossible to describe in words. Somewhere in these moments I think I fell in love with Sweden :)

It’s time to go further, the GOOZ is loaded on, sandwiches for me, waving goodbye, last fotos…

200 kilometers of rain – and here I am. On a finnlines bowl, which is carries me to Travemunde.

And here is the track with beatyful places and way to Malmoe:

That’s all folks! Stay tuned!

15.07.2015 Finland

Posted on by
Reply

I sit in a bar remembering of times of old american movies. Round tables, round armchairs, randomly arranged in a circle around the stage. With that comes the music that I heard more than once in Chaplin’s silent films. Almost no one – night has not come yet and I enjoy a very good Finnish Lapin Kulta virtually alone. The floor felt tremors from the mighty power of the machine that pushes the ferry to the coast of Sweden.

I got two days of Finland behind my back.

Nasty weather at start, waterproof gear complex… I was gladly remembering Dilbert, which presented my waterproof glowes. Passing the border fast enough, confused and surprised face of Finnish border control “so, you can’t tell how many days will you stay in Finland?”, And excellent, but unusually slow-track given to me by navi with the option “to bypass the main roads”.

Helsinki, Rastila camping up on Karavaanikatu. Very good, if it were not disgusting WiFi. But the subway nearby – that’s the plus. Wandering in the the center of the city I accidentally found a very tiny place, which proved to be the smallest bar in Finland. Location that changed my mood upside-down.

Very interesting, awesome people. Classic phlegmatic bartender of small bar. Regulars of bar like the stereotypes of the film – two pretty girls, silent blond and sociable brunet; Heikki, drinking from 9-30 am (“the last time I drink on Wednesday and I was bad, I decided to try it on Tuesday”); Jukka, a beard (“Let Jah and beer will help you on the way); Max, who was born in the USSR, but moved with his family as a child in Finland, still sober for 5 years, pouring accumulated fellings in music and poetry. And a few casual visitors, all of whom were in their own finnish type. And I, voluntarily-involuntarily violated the habitual way of those friends. All this under the heavy metal and jazz pouring out of the speakers. A lot of talking, a lot of good words were said. Delightful people! Sorry, I could not find the time for a photo. I was in a hurry on the last subway train, bursting with positive from inside.

In the morning, a long time to pack my camp (the usual way of things have not yet developed), but still arrived an hour before the ferry start at the port – I was surprised – Jukka is working in the port! All were aware of my arrival (here, I do not even know who to thank – Polinochka or Jukka), I arranged an escort to the ferry, heard Good Luck at each post and in the end Jukka itself comes to say goodbye and to wish good luck again. Once I saw a cozy cabin with a porthole – I could only sigh. Thanks guys at the bar! Thanks Jukka! Thanks Polinochka! Thanks to the company’s St. Peter Line :)

… Music on the stage turned into jazz, and the tables began to fill with people. Evening comes into its own. I went on deck for smoking, staring at the horizon.