today, everything we planned for tdb2015 is coming together – literally!
since jc and i spent the first part of the day separately, it might make sense to see what we were up to one by one.
let’s start with JC’s story
we left the action with jc on a ferry to helsinki with TW560 generating quite some interest and keeping jc busy explaining what a twike is all about.
the ferry arrives on time and finland welcomes TW560 for the first time.

we discovered just a few hours before that the ferry ports for finnlines and the one we booked for helsinki > tallin is 14 kms apart. lucky us we had factored in ample time for disembarking and checking in whilst booking the ferries!

with time to spare, jc arrives at the next port, just in time to see the second ferry arriving.

not only ferries are present at this port as the masses of tourists present prove 🙂

after this leg, jc arrives on time in tallin. with me already in the air he messages me instead of calling. i send him pics of the coast from above and confirm that i will be landing on-time.
my day
i start out in umbria and am driven to the airport by friends i know since i was a child. en route i even see a leaf – wohoo, even italy is getting it… somehow – check the pic i took the day before 🙂

at fco i head directly to the gate and off i go!


my gps tracker even works when flying across europe 🙂

after an utterly uneventful flight i arrive at riga airport where i have a 90 min layover – i head to the lounge to relax a little.

getting up to get some food and my favourite drink from the bar, i spot what is one of the first things risk managers should hammer into employees’ heads: don’t leave your laptop unlocked at airport lounges!!! (or anywhere, for that matter)

the bar offers one of my favourite foods: köttbullar’s!

streaming some stuff off my server in my cellar in switzerland via a vpn, drinking some g&t’s and having *all* available meatballs means my 90 minutes go by very, very fast. i board my flight to tallin and off we go.

i send jc following two images after he confirms that he will be at the airport in time.


after landing in tallin, i’m surrounded with innovative communication concepts:

and: (…there will be a few lavatory-themed pictures coming up)
i visit the men’s toilet on my way to the exit.

cool.
and we get another valuable reminder…

again: cool. just in case you forgot.
then i thought: wait a moment. if we men are treated to such helpful info…what do women get told?
i can help 🙂


and with this i was ready for a language lesson! (probably the most important sentence)

then: jc and i meet and our tdb2015-prologue is over!

after a quick check-in into our villa tosca we head out to rix from rixbikes.com a guy building serious to loco electric bikes. he also invites the guy that supplies him with the batteries for his bikes. check out his site to see the utter creativeness of this guy!

an item found at his workshop 🙂



we offer rix a ride with TW560 and teach him how to drive himself – a fun experience for all involved!

tallin old city is awaiting us! en route there, our eyes spy an abb 50kW combo AC/DC charging station with a leaf parking before it.

the driver tells us that there now are a few electric taxis in tallin and that he personally drives around 70-80k kms a year with this car just for his job and would not trade it for any other car!
tallin’s old town is stunning. we drive and walk around and marvel at its beauty. if you haven’t been to tallin yet: plan to go NOW. 🙂
another thing we like alot is the fact that the day is so long here: the sunset is at 2230 – so much more time to do things!

since we’ve got so many toilet related pictures in this entry, one last thing 🙂
we somehow ended up eating at a medieval-themed restaurant where not only all artificial lighting was banned in the main restaurant area and every interior design element genuinely looked like it was from many centuries ago, lots of attention went into these rooms, too!


with one hour time difference, we didn’t really feel too tired at midnight. 🙂
tomorrow we’ve got our first official day ahead of us and are really looking forward to starting our 9th TWIKE adventure!