Jag skriver för att uttrycka mitt missnöje med kommunens sätt att sköta lokala ishockeyplaner.

Igår ville jag som glad amatör uppsöka en utomhus-ishockeyplan för att avnjuta en stunds åkning i det underbara vår-vinter vädret. Klockan var ca 17.00. Torsplan är ett naturligt förstaval för mig eftersom jag bor inne i stan, men även för att jag vet att den brukar vara den bäst skötta planen. När jag kom dit märkte jag till min förfäran att grinden var låst och att det låg ett decimetertjockt snötäcke över hela banan!

Det var med tungt hjärta jag begav mig vidare i jakten på att få fantisera om hur jag fintar bort en back vid blå, glida in en bit i zon och avlossa en raket, rakt upp i krysset. Eller åka stora, sköna åttor runt hela planen och fundera på om Skellefteå AIK till slut kommer att gå till SM-final. Efter skräcken på Torsplan tog jag för givet att det var bara att räkna bort planer som Sörböle, Anderstorp, Sunnanåskolan osv. Den enda planen som kändes lite hoppfull var Sjungande Dalens IP. Jag satte hög fart dit för att hinna njuta av de sista solstrålarna och kände mig fantastiskt glad när jag såg att banan skulle gå att använda. Efter att, i rask fart, ha knutit mina nyslipade hockey-rör, hoppade jag ut på banan med fullt förtroende för Skellefteå Kommun. Jag har inte speciellt höga krav på is-kvalitèn, det ska Gudarna veta, men jag blev så besviken när jag ganska snabbt insåg att gummitrissan knappt gled på den o-omhändertagna is-banan. Rättelse: Jag hittade ett område i mittzon vid sargen på den västra sidan där pucken gled ganska bra, så jag försökte hålla mig där så mycket jag kunde…

Leif, Jag tror inte jag behöver ställa frågan, men jag gör det ändå: Hur tänker Skellefteå kommun här? Vill man inte främja friluftsliv? Vill man inte som småstad, som kanske inte har så mycket restaurang/nattliv eller andra typiska ”storstads-aktiviteter” att erbjuda, skapa ett samhälle där man utnyttjar de resurser man faktiskt har för att få innevånare att njuta, trivas, INTE FLYTTA och på så sätt skapa tillväxt och återväxt här i regionen? Det finns många andra exempel, som att eljuset på ELLJUS spåret på Sörböle/Sunnanå inte varit igång på hela vintern.

Den viktigaste punkten av alla, som jag ser det, är att det inte finns någonstans att träna/leka och spela för kidsen och tonåringarna. Vad blir konsekvensen av det? Jo, att man sitter och hänger på stan som värsta lodisarna och att det beteendet blir modè och sen har vi satt igång en nedåtgående spiral.

Jag säger inte att allt detta ansvar ligger på kommunen, inte alls, men jag tycker att vi bör alla dra vårt strå till stacken.

Jag och några kompisar skulle vilja åka skridskor idag igen. Har du något förslag på en bra plan vi kan åka till?

Hälsningar

Andreas Desai

I remember sitting in a Turkish restaurant overlooking the dramatically busy Bosphorus river, digesting that this was as far as I was going to get on this trip. My passport was full, I was empty. I’m done for now. See you soon. Much Love

The above, my friends, is what the continuation of this trip relies upon and today was the day when I was going to get a brand new one stamped in my passport. In the cab on the way to the consulate I casually flip through my passport and realize that there’s no space left. Not one page in my 34 page passport available to stick the visa!

I had a “surely there is something we can do about this” moment in the car but when I was leaning in over the counter at the consulate I got nothing but a head shake and a sad look. They can’t do it.

What the heck do I do now? I have to try and get in touch with the Swedish consulate to get a temporary passport or something? Otherwise this is the end of an otherwise pretty successful trip. Do I laugh or cry? Well none of them at the moment, no time for it. Looks like today’s going to be another weird day at the office…

I was expecting to get here, check in to a youth hostel, make some friends, have a few drinks, maybe go out? Instead I’m at Osaka Hotel. Istanbul is a city of 15 million people and my GPS doesn’t have a detailed map of the city so I have no clue where I am to be honest. After about 45 minutes of trying to converse with people and get directions I saw this place and jumped at it. It was then 10pm. I have been doing none of the above mentioned activities since…

The journey between Skopje and Istanbul is not really worth a mention but some of my times/distances are. Everybody from Skelleftea reading this will understand the following measurement. All others it won’t make any sense to: 130 km in 56 minutes. Ey? That’s pretty, pretty, pretty good. I did 600 km in 5 hrs. I basically went really fast all day.

A KTM 990 Adventure must be one of the absolute best all round bikes out there when it runs well. You can go through all sorts of terrain or you can even bomb down a highway at speeds as high as 170 kph without feeling uncomfortable. It’s great. The problem though, is that mine doesn’t run so well so often. Today I had the same problems as I did on the way up! I can’t believe it! This time it can’t have anything to do with the heat because it was barely over 25 degrees outside. It happened when the tank is ¾ empty, several times. It’s like it can’t reach the gas when you rev more than 5k. What does that mean?? I need someone from KTM to step up and have a trial run to understand my concerns. Then I need them to fix it. Otherwise (in any case probably) someone is going to get an earful as soon as I get back to Dubai. Piece of sh*t.

After showering, figuring out the subway system and checking out fountains and stairs of different kinds for a couple of hours I went back to the hotel for a good 8 hr sleep.

Rome to Bari is about as interesting as Milan to Rome. In addition to this it is quite the sorry sight to enter Bari. Not only do they have a good for nothing football team, they also have a good for nothing city architect. Oh, it’s ugly. Typical suburban concrete-jungle feel to it. With a touch of gloomy.

The vibe of the city didn’t really bother me though as I was heading straight to the port to complete my only mission in Bari: To get on the 10pm ferry to Greece and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

The route I had planned through Greece went from Igoumenitza to Thessaloniki and then on towards Istanbul, Turkey. There was no other plan. I had done the Balkans on the way up and I was done with that part. Fate however, had other plans for me. The very in-compassionate lady at the ferry check-in counter said with a stone face, as I smilingly asked for a ticket to Greece, that the Ferry was full and that the next ferry was leaving in 24(!) hrs.

This is where I put on my charm offensive/puppy eyes and really tried to squeeze a “feel bad” ticket out of her. Nothing. I might as well have been talking to a bouncer with an attitude. I got the old stone wall. Nothing.

After re-grouping and telling myself for the millionth time on this trip that everything happens for a reason, I go outside and mount the bike to try and find a crappy hotel room where I can bunk up for the night. The biggest issue I had with this failure is that I hate sitting around. I have no patience. And I had left Rome one day early so I could get a head start and now all that time was going to be eaten up by way of sitting on my ass in Italy’s most distasteful city?

As thoughts of similar nature whirl around in my head I pass the other ferry terminal with ferries for Croatia. I suddenly snap out of my doomsday thinking when an exciting idea enters my head: What if I go to Dubrovnik in Croatia instead of Igoumenitza in Greece. Won’t it be approximately the same distance to Istanbul?

After doing a brief (and probably very poor) estimation comparison on my GPS I decide to head inside and see what I can do. That’s where I met this lovely couple:

World travellers

Erling and Karin from Denmark. They have been married for almost 50 years. They have 3 sons and 8 grand kids. They have lived in Kenya for a total of 8 years and love the country like it’s their own. More importantly, if I would have gotten on the ferry to Greece I never would have had the pleasure of meeting them, sharing a bottle of wine with them and indulging in the most interesting conversation with them.

So that was it. My next destination was not Igoumenitza, it was Dubrovnik. I found this episode very inspiring in a way. How nothing is permanent and there’s always something one can do about one’s situation. It’s all down to attitude and split vision. If you keep your head up even when times are tough, you might spot the solution. If you look at your feet in grief and sulk away, you are sure not to find any answers…

This is how happy I was when I arrived in Croatia…

…and this is why I was so happy…

…and this

…and this…

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. The Adriatic coast line is absolutely stunning. I have seen many fantastic places on this trip so I’m not going to say it’s the most beautiful spot in the world, but it’s definitely up there…

Dubrovnik is on the south tip of Croatia so it wasn’t long until I entered Montenegro. I was so happy to be back in this part of the world. It’s something sunny, happy and easy going about these countries and I highly recommend that you travel around the Balkans. Note that I left Dubrovnik just after 7am.

There’s a little place on the coast of Montenegro called Herzig-Novi. In Herzig-Novi there’s a little hotel called Spinnaker apartments. Spinnaker apartments was the only place on my 22 day trip up north where I stayed for 2 nights. Not only do they have very clean and neat rooms in the centre of town + close to the beach but also an eccentric loving hostess who loves reading called Buba. There’s also a long sleeping, super social bartender (Vlado is his name) who is willing to take you out at night for various adventures. Needless to say I stopped by to say hello.

As I was having coffee with a just awoken Vlado and discussing my continued route through Albania he mentioned to me to be very careful while passing through. As a matter of fact, his exact words were: “Don’t stop in Albania – not even for gas if you don’t have to. They are natural born thieves”. Hmmm…what he said combined with all the stories about the Albanian mafia actually made me nervous for the first time on the whole trip. I don’t know what it was but as I left Buba, Vlado and Herzig Novi behind me I was not more than mildly uncomfortable.

The above picture sums up the first part of Albania pretty well. Very narrow, very bad roads through a fairly barren landscape with abandoned, rusted gas stations all over the place.

My rear tire needs changing. That added to the excitement in Albania. I think I’d rather have a flat in Iran than in Albania. However, my plan is to make it to Istanbul before I change it. I know there is a KTM dealer there so I can get the right tire and some peace of mind.

In any case, because the roads were so bad in Albania, I, for every bump I hit, sent a small prayer to the tire God to keep me safe. It worked. I made it through some unbelievable mountain landscapes on crazy roads. I as a matter of fact feel a bit proud to have done this part of the trip. It was very extreme.

Can you spot the road?

It’s very difficult to see but all the faint lines in the mountain are tiny serpentine roads that I rode. Lots of fun for 1-2 hours but after 5, with more or less nothing to eat…

I negotiated my way more than 200 km through the mountains in to Kosovo. It took me more than 5 hours. Since I didn’t want to stop, or as little as possible, the only thing I had to eat was a small bag of chips and a red bull. That red bull kept me flying but by the end of it I was finished. It takes complete focus to ride these kinds of roads. One mistake and the only thing to remember you by would be one of the grave stones that they put on pretty much every corner (I wonder if they do it to scare people or if that many people really died on these roads?).

Oh, a shout out to the guys at KTM in Trosta and Hammarstroms motor. The bike is running like clockwork and today I was more than proud to ride a KTM. I pushed the bike really hard and it felt like it was screaming I LOOOOOVE THIS! GIMME MOOOORE!

Leaving Albania was a good feeling. Entering Kosovo wasn’t that great. Especially as the time was nearing 5 in the afternoon and I was tired but had another 150 k to make it to Skopje, Macedonia which was my goal of the day. The roads were better here but as they all go right through little towns the traffic is bad and the speeds are low.

Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Finally Macedonia. 4 border crossings in one day. Eid Mubarak to everyone by the way…people were on their way back from the eid holidays so the borders were packed with people. I made it to Skopje by 8 and it took me about an hour to find the hotel that I liked so much (Hotel Aleksander).

Tonight won’t be to interesting. I’m going to update my facebook status once more and then….Good night. Will I make it to Istanbul tomorrow???

Peace and Love!

A

Verenna in lake Como on a sunny day. Pretty, pretty good.

Lake Como on a clowdy day.

Florence sunset.

A cool parking garage. I’m going to play around with this picture until it’s perfect. When it is I will sell it and never work a day more in my life.

Florence, classic beauty and a city full of art and history. Very interesting if you are walking around with a good guide.

Bad picture of Gila but he scored a seriously good goal against Cagliari in the 1-0 win that we watched in Florence.

Michelangelo was only 26 years old when he sculpted this chiseled man… When you see him from close range you realized how amazing this statue is. The detail, the proportions and you can even see the veins in his arms. It almost feels like he’s going to break out of that shell any minute and just walk off to find a rather large pair of pants (He’s 5 meters tall).

The Duomo in Milan is one of the craziest things you’ll ever see and it’s a great place to go people watching.

The latter 300 or so were amazing for sure. I have been babbling about it all over facebook and twitter all day today but it needs to be said again: If you have the chance to ride a bike only once in your life, choose to do it in the Swiss Alps… Unreal riding and fantastic scenery. Pure enjoyment.

Note to self: Get a helmet cam so you don’t have to stop every time you want to take a picture and get a Dictaphone and a mic that fits in the helmet to record notes to self.

If I actually ended up getting these two simple tools, my blogs would be so much more interesting. Amazing pictures and all those amazing thoughts on paper at the end of the night. Now…you guys miss out on half of it!

Reached Milan, checked in to a very nice hotel (Grand Hotel Et De Milan) to spend some time with Natasha. We walked around the confusing streets of Milano and found a very nice little hole in the wall which I am sure we will go back to before we leave. We had dinner and another one of our mind boggling conversations. More food for thought and more food for perplexing posts on this blog! Hope you’re looking forward to it!

The Alps baby, that’s where you wanna ride your bike!!! What an amazing day of riding through all those beautiful mountains.

Please note that this picture is staged!

I thought this was a cool looking gas station and an ugly looking Harley. I’m getting real good at taking pictures of myself!