Travel Report

Rain on the plain

"Brutto" - one of the first words I learn while travelling through the vast agricultural plain of Northern Italy. The weather is "brutto", for example. Grey clouds cover the sky since I've descended from the Alps. The temperature drops and makes condensation water drop from the tent ceiling in the morning. Raindrops and wind decrease the temperature felt and make the small agricultural trails so "brutto" that my bicycle (and me) sometimes are covered with mud only after two minutes.

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Good for me. Since I have "Durden", the new bike, I am doing my best to "uglify" it by removing trademarks, grate chromed parts, covering the black frame with adhesive labels from the supermarkets' automatic scales. I hate when bicycles look shiny and fancy - so the mud becomes my best friend. Furthermore, the rainy days allow me to test my raingear for the winter months in Montenegro, Albania and Greece. And the week it rains the most I spend at a dry place in the buildings of the Ticino Park (see the articles).

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After two weeks of rain, the Italian sky decides that I have suffered enough and turns blue for the rest of my stay in the country, bestowing me wonderful days at the Lake Garda, Verona and the mother of all tourists sites: Beautiful Venice, where I meet Philippe Pypaert and Giorgio Andrian in the Regional UNESCO Office. The discussions with them and the late October sun above the Canal Grande give me enough motivation to take off again for the winter in Southeast Europe.

(Don't miss the pictures in the gallery - click on "More Pictures" on the right hand side)

30.10.2005 13:41h

19.06.2006 Green mountains (Laos)

18.06.2006 Two Perspectives (Vietnam)

03.05.2006 Then and Now (Cambodia)

23.04.2006 A new world (Thailand)

30.09.2005 Maximum potential energy (France)

30.09.2005 A day with the circus (France)

Travel Report

Rain on the plain

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