Another sunny day greets us. We slept very well since our Hotel was far from any road or any other source of noise and the night’s temperatures allowed us to sleep with an open window and enjoy a cool breeze. We’re really looking forward to our drive to Porto today – we’re just 30km from the border and the road I chose for today, coupled with the topography should be interesting. Northern Portugal is an endless mix of hills and valleys – there is virtually no flat road except around and in towns and cities. Our TWIKE awaits us with […]
TDP2021: Day5 – Miranda de Ebro – Puebla de Sanabria – Spain’s northern plateau
We get up bright an early, unlike our kids, who will sleep another 2 hours. They will drive to Porto directly whilst we have chosen to stay at a very small village a few kilometres from the Portuguese border tonight. As always, I timed the overnight charge to complete around the time we’re leaving and thus giving us the maximum of energy available. Miranda de Ebro is located around 500m ASL – I assumed that from here we would go back down to the boiling temperatures of lower Spain as I saw yesterday. The distance we are planning to […]
TDP2021: Day4 – San Sebastian – Miranda de Ebro – TWIKE bliss
Yet another night of full sleep and no distractions sees me wake up like a freshly born baby. Ahh! My day starts around 0830 – heading out to the square just a few steps away from my hotel I sit at a small bar and order the usual set everybody else around me is also having. Besides the very buttery croissant that is distinctly different to the ones in France, having a freshly pressed orange juice and a cafe con leche does make the day start very smoothly. Especially if consumed slowly and whilst watching life go by on […]
TDP2021: Day3 – Callen – San Sebastian – Summer & Sea, finally!
Today, I wake up to the faint sound of one of the peacocks somewhere further away … and, unlike the last few days, I feel great! No pain in my joints, no weird feeling – nothing. Back to 100% and ready to take over (and until that happens, to explore) the world. My hosts have made fresh brioche and offer me other home-made treats. The place I’m staying is truly stunning and the ease with which my hosts make me feel at home is impressive. With dogs, chicken, cats and peacocks walking in and out of the house and ‘saying […]
TDP2021: Day2 – Thiers – Callen – things are getting better
My day starts less then ideal: After yesterday’s cold and rainy marathon drive, I only felt marginally better after a long and hot bath and fell asleep quickly – only to wake up 2 hours later to violent shivering fits and intermittent cold sweating until early morning. I always try to see the upsides of less than ideal moments: My joint pains from yesterday are much better today … also, according to a few health professionals I asked, a strong response to the vaccine seems to indicate a strong immune system. Both doses have been pretty harsh on me and […]
TDP2021: Day1 – Geneva – Thiers – Cold & Rain
Hurray! Today is the day! TDP2021 finally can start. I was unable to finish off everything still on my plate the evening before work-wise. I also had my second vaccination late yesterday and had already felt some effects during the night. Getting up at 5 was hard – I felt very weird and had some pain in my joints. That’s what living at the edge feels like – first day on vacation is my 2nd-vac-day +1. At least I’ll be sitting in the TWIKE for a very, very long time today. I’m planning to drive to clermond-ferrand, mid-way through France. […]
2021 TWIKE Adventure
One of the readers of this blog noted that there wasn’t too much going on at emissionless.ch at the moment…which is true. My current job and other things going on right now strongly limit my ability to head-off with my TWIKE on one-day trips / multiple day trips in Switzerland or think about embarking on some repairs or other projects on or in my TWIKE. With this said, I’m very happy to announce this year’s long-distance TWIKE adventure! TDP2021 – Tour du Portugal (July/August 2021) See the trip-page for more details. I’m really looking forward to this trip as it […]