Tuesday 22 May 2012

Home sweet home...

It is the strangest feeling to be sat back at home at my parents place after so many crazy experiences on the road... For the past 3 months the scenery has past by me every day, new people, new places and new experiences... And now everything is still...

The evening after I wrote last week on what I thought was my last day in Prague, we went out to an exhibition opening and on our way into town we saw a crazy group of cyclists riding up the hill towards us... They actually made it! I think I nearly cried when I saw them all again. So our plans of exhibitions were cancled and we lead the group back to the house where we were staying and spent the evening having out together in the garden. The next day Eva and i decided not to go to dresden but to make one last performance with the group and catch the train to the border in the morning and then cycle from there.

After a beuatiful day of rehersing and messing about in the garden we finally left for town made up and ready to perform at 6 pm. We found a great spot in the city centre and had huge crouds gathering as we set up for the show, but then moments before we were about to begin the sky turned grey, the rain began and our audience left... We then continued to play the worst show we ever played! It didnt matter though, we were together again making music and having fun, it was out of time, out of tune and completely disconected but after we had stopped cringing we laughed alot.

When the show was finnished Flo and I cycled off into the rain, away from our disaproving vegitarian freinds and found ourselves a great little resteraunt for steak, chips and good czech beer (which we promised our selves we would do if we ever made it to prague.) It was the perfect end to an amasing journey.

The next morning Eva and I woke the guys up at 7:30 by jumping into their tents like exited children on Christmas morning. We waved goodbye to the group for the sencond time as they sang 'We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when...'  (A song i now know very well.)

So the journey home had begun, there were mild panics as we tried to get our bikes onto the train and couldn't find the right door but after bashing around alot a man came out and helped us get on. We took the train all the way to Decin on the Czech/German boarder and then cycled the remaining 70k to Dresden along the River Elbe. It was quite strange to pass so many places we had slept all in one day. In Dresden Eva and I parted ways and then I cycled another 30k to Krogis back to the Stieger base.

I left my beloved tricycle there the next day and my friend Daniel drove me to the motorway junction where i was to start my long hitch home. Last time I did the Journey it took me three days, but this time was a different story... After confusing an english trucker by speaking to him in bad German i discoverd he was driving all the way home to England. He couldn't take me the whole way as has had to make some long stops but he drove me all the way to the Netherlands boarder. Just as we drove into the service station we spotted a small van with an English number plate, so I ran over and spoke to the lady driving and she was going all the way to London. It turned out too that she could take me on the ferry for free. So at 4am the next morning we arrived back in the UK and she dropped me at the service station on the M25. I then waited 10mins and I met a guy who was going to southampton (which was where i needed to get to as i wanted to visit my nan.) Even more ridiculously he was even going to the same district! So i arrived at my nan's doorstep at 7:30 on friday morning (only 14hours after I left.) And she was quite shocked to see me.

So now I am Home... And trying to get my head around everything that has happened in the last few months, I haven't got very far with that other than that God is amasing! the rest i'm still working on...
  

Sunday 13 May 2012

Final Destination... for the moment

I am sorry it has been so long since my last post. I am discovering it is quite difficlut to write an online blog when you are constantly on the road and camping in the wild...
So last time i wrote i was in dresden. Ok so alot happened since then, after heading to the factory chuch with Flo we cycled by night together to catch up with the group at a festival at an alternative community 30km East in a small town called Duttersbach - which i am sure i have spelt wrong. The festilval itself i still havent got my head around its called Walpurgisnacht and as far as i know its a whitches celebration for the coming of spring. I decided in the end not to take part in the performance of lighting the fire as i wasnt quite sure weather if it was a ritual or something, in the end it turned out to be more of an exscuse for a party not much different to our bombfire night. We ended up staying with the community for nearly a week which was a really great time. For the next leg of our journey we followed along the river Elbe through some of the most beautiful scenery i have ever seen. My faviroute night was spent sleeping in a hamok in the garden of an old cottage in the mountains overlooking the river. the guy who owned the place invited us to stay with him after saving my trike from falling over a log he was trying to move off the trail. The next morning a few of us headed out for a short hike into the maountains and climbed up to the Bastei - crazy bridges and rock formations, slighty spoilt by ¨the masses of tourists all parked at the car park at the top, but none the less, absolutley beautiful. and it is only a days ride from where i will be living in a few weeks. so come and visit! We played quite a few shows in small towns along the river over the following days and my skin is still a subtle tone of yellow from crazy body paint. We crossed the boarder into the Czech Republic a couple of days ago now and tarmac cycleways turned to dirt and stone as we headed east. I had told the group i would need to turn back by the 14th of May and as the days rolled by it became clear that the group wouldnt reach Prague before then so after a few days of battling in my mind me and one of the girls from the group decided we would say our good buys early and speed on to Prague. So yesterday morning after long farewells we cycled off on our own on what should have been a simple 60k ride. But after deciding to take the scenic route along the river we found our selves pushing our bikes along horribly bumpy and very thin tracks on the side of steep verges into the river. There were at least three occassions when me and my trike nearly fell in. after over an hour of crazy paths we finally made our way back onto decent roads and followed the rest of the way into Prague. We arrived at about 10pm at the house of some freinds of Evas who greated us with amasing food, fresh coffee, hot showers and warm beds. i cant tell you how good it feels! The sad part is that this is the end of the Journey for now. On tuesday morning we turn arround and make our way back to Germany and then i will head my way back to the UK. So i am coming home!... it feels strange to think that after such a long journey it should in theory take only a week to get home. So whos up for a a pint! ...Meet in the Talbot...