New Video: Bike Ride Hamburg - Schaalsee 2015 - Last part!

Nice clouds

It slowly becomes a habit, that the new video is announced on the blog, days after the upload. There's lots of stuff to do. We did it again: Another bike ride series is finished. And in retrospect I think that, except for a few weak moments, the result is acceptable. And despite the disappointing east side of the lake, I am planning already to return to the area around Zarrentin, Mölln and Ratzeburg. Why? Because some locals told me, after watching the series, that I missed some important places. That's what always happens, and therefore I must visit each and every place at least twice.

Me on the town square of BÄÄÄÄLAU!

The Plot
Firstonce I would like to  apologize to those who do not appreciate the long monologues by yours truly. In plain English: I really talk a lot in this final part of the epic saga of my bike ride in the year of our Lord 2015 to the shores of Schaalsees. I don't know what happened there, but somehow I was very talkative. This together with the fact that I always do not film much on the way home, ensures that a large part of the video consists of me talking into the camera. Nevertheless, this video will be entertaining for one or two people. Let's see. The first comments are quite nice. Furthermore, I am sorry that the video is somewhat short. I thought it would be longer, but after the editing, what we have now is what remained. And that's what?

We start where we left off last time: At the bridge over the dreaded Elbe-Lübeck canal in the outskirts of Mölln. From there we ride straight to the the world-famous village BÄÄÄLAU (!!!). I know that the use of the, not really funny, Bääälau idiocy is a bit exaggerated, but I could not help it. In Bälau I rest on the picturesque town square where I talk for a long time about Coke in plastic bottles, alternative feeding methods and much more. Then we continue on to Trittau, where I arrive just before closing time and thus loot a 4-pack of finest beer. Accordingly, the next talk-o-mania is not be long in coming. Shortly after Trittau I placed myself on a meadow, and talked again a lot of weird stuff. After only two video settings you see me then AGAIN, and this time in absolute fatigue Zombie mode. And what else? Well, that's it!

Nice evening mood in a forest near Grossensee.

The Soundtrack
 ... comes, once again, from the album "Continuity by alionsonny which, inter alia,  is available for purchase on iTunes (CLICK HERE!) and Google Play (CLICK HERE!), just in case you liked the music. For more links to sources, see the homepage of the album on the alionsonny homepage. The soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Going Bonkers
• 05:04 - Drunken Joe in Love
• 09:40 - Talking Cat
• 14:37 - Madeira

alionsonny - Continuity - Coverart

What's next? 

Next comes the third part of the 13th day of the Madeira Series from 2014, in which we are being chased by dogs, I find Jesus and we visit old friends. And after that starts the epic 7-day bike ride to the North Sea from August 2015. I really look forward to this series, because judging from the video content I examined so far, it looks like this will become the best AlionLive series so far. Would be bad, if not. But now, as always, have fun with the video!

"Reunion with Mölln" - New video of the Schaalsee bike ride!

Mölln in best weather

Here is the penultimate part of the Schaalsee bike ride series. Actually, the video was already finished a few days ago, but since it took a bit longer this time for the last video to reach the 50 Views threshold, I made it public just now. On this occasion I want to explain briefly why I wait with publishing a new video until the last one got at least 50 views: First gives me the time to work comfortably and thoroughly. Secondly, videos are easily overlooked when I upload them very quickly. The best example of this is my very old videos. These have, even though they are up to five years online, partly not yet reached 100 Views. This is because in the early days of AlionLive, I uploaded videos very quickly one after the other. Apparently people always watch only the latest videos on a channel. And if the valued audience has to scroll to click on a video, that appears to be too much work. The result is that the video gets very little views, is therefore classified by Youtube as "less relevant", and is less frequently delivered to users as a search result. This means then that the video gets even fewer views compared to the most recent ones. I hope I could somehow describe that in an understandable fashion. No, the 50 views border is not a "punishment for the lazy audience" ;).

View from the camp of the previous night.

The Plot
... is quite easy to describe this time: After a restful night, protected by various Horsts, I was woken by the sound of a nearby tractor. A view outside showed me that a farmer was preparing to irrigate the nearby, newly planted, fields. Since my tent stood in the entrance to such a field, I was worried it would be run over by the tractor. And so I left in quite a hurry. By now I had decided to cross the dreaded Elbe-Lübeck Canal near Mölln. Because I feared, that I would otherwise not reach home this day, I actually planned to bypass Mölln this time. However, the weather was great, the view of the city from the lake from was so picturesque, that I decided to pay Mölln another, detailed, visit. So I filmed even more parts of the historic old town. Much should be familiar to viewers of part 3 of the video series on the bike ride to Mölln and Ratzeburg in 2013. After that, I also visited the St. Nicolai Church. This is what I missed in 2013 for some unknown reason. Then I filmed myself through the old town to the, to me previously unknown, park where I rested a while. Then, early in the afternoon, I went on my way to the bridge across Elbe-Lübeck canal, where this part ends.

Lunch t the park

The Soundtrack
... is again from the 2014 released album "Continuity" by alionsonny, which I personally find pretty much accomplished. If you also think so, you maybe consider to buy the album on Google Play (CLICK HERE!), iTunes (CLICK HERE!) and many other well-stocked online stores for music. It is not really expensive :). And now, as always, the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Bulletproof
• 05:08 - BrainForest - Chapter III
• 10:04 - Nero d' Avola
• 15:02 - Flight of the Butterfly

alionsonny - continuity cover

What's next?
Next is again a part of the "Spring in Madeira" series. Also here we are slowly approaching the end. And after that, we are indeed already at the last part of the Schaalsee series. This part will, for unknown reasons,  be very text heavy. This means: I talk a lot. And I could curse me, for what I have done to myself. I only say: writing subtitles *happy..... not *. Despite of all the talk, I still arrived at home late in the evening.

But now, as always: Have fun with the video!

Totally relaxed, along the lake! - A new video of the Schaalsee series!

The great view on the Schaalsee from the beer garden of the "Gasthof am See" in Seedorf.

We go on, and, as the title says: Totally relaxed. The west side of the lake was considerably shorter than the east side, as is already was apparent on the maps. And so I was able to ride along the whole west side on the fourth day of my ride.

Me during a traditional session of talking nonsense at the Priestersee.

The Plot
The day began near Dargow, when  I was rudely awakened by the sounds of three chainsaws. Someone thought it would be a good idea to cut down a nearby forest area. Because a look at the ceiling of the tent showed, that this was very wet with dew, I tried my best to ignore the sound... but  without success. The loudness of the chain saws and a certain concern that the gentlemen could even come up with the idea to cut down "my" part of the forest, drove me out of the tent. But anyway, I couldn't immediately take down the still wet tent. I had slept well and so I got on my way. I did not get far, because a few kilometers further, in Seedorf, my eye caught sight of an inn with a lovely beer garden with a spectacular view on the Schaalsee. How could I resist, because an inn offered but among other things the possibility to clean my face, which was awfully crusted with road dust, with some water and soap. Said and done. I strongly recommend this inn here. As I said: A beautiful view of the lake, very friendly service and reasonable prices (in a tourist region). If you want to visit it, then click here to visit the website of the "Gasthof am See" in Seedorf. Since I did not want to burden my small travel fund with a meal at the inn, I ate a kilo tin of white beans near the Priestersee. So I rode, now strengthened, down the entire lakeshore to Zarrentin. Once there, I made up for what I had missed shamefully during my first encounter with this nice small town: I visited it a little more in detail. Pretty soon I found a place near the Zarrentin monastery, with a beautiful lake view. I did not have to think very long to come to the conclusion that I would, after procurement of drinks and food, visit it again and have an extensive rest there. Then I went, very relaxed, on the first stage of my way home. So far I had not the slightest idea what route I would choose for this. And so I rode first towards Klein Zecher, talked quite a lot of nonsense there near a replica of the historic healing spring and a protohistoric ritual sacrificicial stone. And thereafter I rode further to the northwest into the land of Horsts. Between Horst, Alt-Horst and Neu-Horst I found a quiet place for the night and spent a restful night, guarded by all the Horsts standing guard around.

Food for champions: Banned Ceans!

The Soundtrack
... is this time from the 2014 released album "Continuity" by alionsonny. I find that the bastardized Reggae sound of this album perfectly fits with the images of a beautiful sunny day at the lake. The album is, as always, available for purchase in all well sorted online stores for music and I'd be very happy if as many of you would do this. Exemplary I would like to once again to name Google Play (CLICK HERE!) and iTunes CLICK HERE!) as recommended sources.

Here's again the soundtrack in detail (if, for example, you just want to purchase one or two of the tracks):

• 00:00 - A Sunny Day
• 04:53 - Pirates of Madeira
• 09:47 - The Storm
• 14:31 - Green Hills
• 19:13 - Ganja In The Jar

Of cause there's also beautiful flowers in this video. But just a few.

What's next?
Next, of course, is  a part of the 2014 "Spring in Madeira" series. This series has to get finished urgently! After that, we continue with the Schaalsee series. The next part is already about the last day of the trip. However, I have to split the video footage again into two parts, because the sheer amount of material would cause the dreaded excess length, which in turn would lead to a unnecessary delay of the upload of the next Schaalsee video. During the next part we ride to Mölln, yes Mölln again, and linger around there a bit. On the outskirts of Mölln we will then probably end the part. But I leave the decision about the nasty cut to the Future Sonny.

And now I wish you, as always, splendid fun with the latest video!

"Im Osten ist's am bosten" - A new part of the Schaalsee bike ride series!

Morning speech in front of the tent near Zarrentin.

First of all: Don't try to make any sense out of the title of the video. It is just a bit of nonsense. Roughly translated it would be "In the east it is best", just with a bit of a nonsensical twist. So don't hurt your brain ;). Ok, I had announced recently, that the Madeira series from 2014 now has priority. But the statistics of my Youtube channel and statements of viewers tell me that, at least currently, the bike ride videos from Germany enjoy much more attention. And because I act audience-oriented, we continue with the third part of the bike ride to the Schaalsee.

The Schaalsee near Zarrentin.

The Plot
After a quite relaxing night I spent near Zarrentin, I hit the road towards the lake. I had to ride a bit away from the lake in the evening to find a camp, because it is not really recommendable to camp in a nature reserve or even a UNESCO biosphere reserve. After a beer on a jetty at the lake I get on my way along the eastern side of the lake. Actually I expected to spend a lot of time at the east side of the lake. I wanted to visit each and every corner of the lake in detail. But this was not possible, due to the aforementioned UNESCO biosphere reserve, to which the whole east side of the lake belongs. So everything there is quite boarded up and at most places you can't even get a bit close to the lake. And so I rode the whole route rather in a straight line and quite far away from the lakes shore. Additionally a quite unpleasant situation regarding to supplies developed. On the whole route I found not a single possibility to get something to drink and/or to eat. Not even a cafe or restaurant could be found. Not to talk about supermarkets. So, after a long ride through admittedly beautiful nature, I reached the west side of the lake quite early in the evening. There I also got a well deserved cold beer at the Schaalseehof. There I had a long and very interesting conversation with the owner. Later I rode a bit away from the Schaalsee, because of aforementioned reasons, to find a nice night camp.

Unusual serious talk near the northern tip of the lake.

 The Soundtrack
As the last part already, this video is also accompanied by songs from the album  "Heroes of the Popp-Culture" by the Willma Poppen project. The soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Heroes of the Popp-Culture
• 05:03 - Joyriding in Popp-Town
• 09:40 - Mrs. Von Poppen's Funny Mushroom Omelette
• 14:50 - Poppin' all over the world
• 19:44 - Poppin' on Heavens Door
• 24:40 - Strandspaziergang

The album is available on all well known music distribution platforms. For example I link here to iTunes (CLICK HERE!) and Google Play (CLICK HERE!).

The east: The final frontier... ;)

What's next?
I will upload the next part of this series after the next one of the 2014 Madeira series. This should happen quite soon, because the Madeira video is quite edited already and doesn't need much work, because few subtitles have to be written. But I have to emphasize here once again, that new videos will generally be uploaded once the most recent video got at least 50 views. I do this also because videos tend to "drown" if new videos are too quickly uploaded. This is connected to the way Youtube recommends videos to subscribers and regular viewers. I don't want to bore you with the details about this ;). In the next part of this series, I'll ride down the remaining west side of the lake to Zarrentin and then, after an extensive stop during which I make up for the omitted detailed visit of the picturesque little town of Zarrentin, I already get on the route back to Hamburg. Somewhere right in the middle of nowhere I setup my camp for the night.

KML: Güster -> Zarrentin (Bike Ride Hamburg - Schaalsee 2015)

Length:	23 Km
Alt. Lowest:	16 m
Alt. Highest:	41 m
Max. Ascent:	5,3%
Avg. Ascent:	0,5%

This is the short route of the second day of my bike ride in 2015 from Hamburg to the Schaalsee. The KML data was recorded and then manually corrected in Google Earth.

The route goes from Güster to right after Zarrentin, mostly alongside country roads. About 50% of the route has good bike trails.
Video:
 

Links:

• Download the KML ->

ATTENTION: BEFORE USING THE KMLs, PLEASE READ THE TERMS OF USE FOR ALIONLIVE KML'S!

Here is the start of a new video series! Bike ride to the Schaalsee.

As mentioned in the last blog post, I went on a little bike ride in June again. And almost one month after the bike ride, we now finally get going!

The plot and stuff
Due to technical complications ... Awww!... I just dawdled, I got on the road late in the afternoon. However, I made it to just before Güster, almost 50 kilometers from Hamburg. I have no idea why I did do this to me on the first day and, as you will see in the next part, it would have been better if I didn't do it. Then this part also would have been maybe not so short. But after all it fills, including nearly 50% of talk, almost the targeted 20 minutes. Still, I would have liked to have filmed more, but this was prevented by me "eating kilometers". Still there are very beautiful landscape views. A highlight here was the impressive Mansion of Wotersen. It was probably the most detailed filmed of all the places I filmed during the whole tour. At the end of this part it was, as the title of the video ("To Güster, and then it gets dark") says, very dark near Güster. And so this part ends with very dark impressions of my night camp, including a not really perfectly set up tent.

The impressive Mainson of Wotersen. I just thought, that this would be the perfect residence for the Chaoslord ;)

The Soundtrack
Due to lack of new sound material, I had to resort to older stuff again. However, the 4 tracks (that could be heard already in some AlionLive videos) from the alionsonny album "Reggae?" fit very good with the visual material. Here is the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Summertime 2008
• 04:26 - Hamburg
• 09:56 - Travelling Lion
• 14:26 - Springtime 2009

If you like the music, and you do not already have bought the album, I would be very happy if you would support me a bit by buying it. No, I'm still not wealthy ;). Representing all online stores where the album is available, I put links here to the album on iTunes (CLICK!) and Google Play (CLICK!), because from sales there I get a bigger part than anywhere else ;).

A bit older (2010), but still fresh: alionsonny - Reggae?

What's next
So first I can say that this series will most likely have 5 parts. This is due to the fact, that I "magically" filmed about 20 to 30 minutes on each of the 5 days. Perfect! In the next part we ride from Güster on towards Zarrentin, where we arrive quite late. Due to technical problems regarding my body, I did ride less than usually on that day. That's all I want to tell now about the next part, which is already in progress, for "tension reasons".

Somewhere right in the middle of nowhere.

And what about Madeira?
Let's put it this way: It's slowly but surely progressing. The work on the Willma Poppen album is still quite extensive and has priority. Some peculiarities and the double length of the video delay the completion also. The main obstacle is, that I talk a lot in this video, which is causing an enormous amount of my always loved writing of subtitles. Well, man is his own worst enemy by the work he creates for himself and which would actually not be really necessary ;).

At the end of this part, in Güster, it went really dark. Good night!

 

Well, now have fun with the video! I know: It's not a highlight in AlionLive history, however, and I can already tell this, from Part 3 on we really get going!

Spring in Madeira - From the Caldeirao Verde to Queimadas - The end of day 10

This is the fourth and final part of the mega hike. Now that I have watched the whole thing several times while editing, I am somewhat proud of our performance. To surpass this is going to be somewhat difficult, but we'll see what we do on this year's trip.

The Plot
Well rested after a reasonably long rest at the Caldeirão do Inferno, we went surprisingly rested on our hike to Queimadas. We had long abandoned any hope to somehow still reach a bus. This was not just slightly having an impact on our mood. However, here you will experience a little twist: Where I was the one in the previous part, who was rather worried and Malina had to cheer me up, Malina was now recognizable frustrated by the length of the remaining distance. Thus, it was now up to me to take care of encouragement and to calm things down. We hike across steep stairs, along a spectacular Levadas, and of course through more and darker TUNNELS. We stopped only briefly at the Caldeirão Verde and there was no time to visit it in detail. After a long time we finally arrived in Queimadas. And as already announced, we encountered a nice surprise in terms of our return to Funchal. What exactly? No, I will not tell that here ;).

This is the whole route, retraced in Google Earth.

Soundtrack
Again, the soundtrack consists of songs from Cimelium's album "Mesopotamia" ...with one exception: I couldn't resist to integrate the preliminary version of the track "Queimadas" from the album "Madeira by "Cimelium, which is still in production. Do you still need the link to the album "Mesopotamia"? Okay, better safe than sorry. This time I link again to iTunes. And also the link to the homepage of the album with other sources should not miss. And here is the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 Lilith (Mesopotamia)
• 06:06 Dagon (Mesopotamia)
• 16:57 Queimadas (Madeira)
• 22:00 Enki (Mesopotamia)

The height profile of the hike. NOTE: Some important information about this is in the video.

What's next?
After such a long hike we had truly earned a day off. This was spent in Camara de Lobos and here we, to put it crudely, drank alot. In this video there will be a musical premiere of historic proportions ;).

And now have fun with the video!

Spring in Madeira - Caldeirão do Inferno - New Video

I am sorry to say that the camera, during this third of four parts, unfortunately is even shakier and inaccurate, than you already know it, because of increasing fatigue. However, there are beautiful views of nature around the Caldeirão do Inferno.

The Plot
After we had passed the long and dark Pico Ruivo tunnel, we made a (for myself) surprising decision. Time was running out. If we went straight back through the tunnel, we would have reached the bus back to Funchal probably. But Malina was simply not up for hiking again through the tunnel and suddenly wanted to see the Caldeirão do Inferno. The Lady's wish is my command, and so I agreed, with not just a bit of a doubt. The past, quite strenuous, hike was reflected by increased fatigue. And so we crossed a fairly large number of additional tunnels to be rewarded with a magnificent spectacle of nature: the Caldeirão do Inferno. This is a deep valley surrounded by impressive cliffs, from which water is flowing everywhere. Here we had the first real rest of the day and drank at last the only beer we had brought. Then we went, surprisingly well rested, on the rest of the hike, towards the Caldeirão Verde and Queimadas. And with us leaving the Caldeirão do Inferno this part ends.

I think there is no place with more spectacular and vertigo-causing views anywhere in Madeira than near the Caldeirão do Inferno

 Soundtrack
Just as the previous two parts, also this is one accompanied by Cimeliums album "Mesopotamia". And also this time I find the music choice more than suitable. Here is the track list:

• 00:00 Babylon
• 05:54 Akkadia
• 11:38 Sumeria
• 17:34 Lilith

And now again only the purchase link for the album is missing. One can buy the album anywhere else, but I simply prefer iTunes. This link goes directly to the album. Also, the link to the homepage of the album on alionmind.com should not be missing here. There you'll find more sources.

All hail our mighty hiking boots ;)

 What's next?
Well rested, we go on our very long hike to Queimadas. We visit, very briefly, the Caldeirão Verde. Time was not only running out, but we were long overdue.

And now have fun with the video!

Hiking along the Levada do Pico Ruivo to the Pico Ruivo tunnel - New Video

There's really is not much to say about the second of four parts for day 10. With 16 minutes it is slightly shorter than the other parts and this is so because the the cut did just fit.

The Plot
We hike nicely for a long time along the Levada do Pico Ruivo. We pass many small and smaller tunnels. The hike offers us breathtaking views and I do quite a lot of nonsense. This is due to the fact that I was actually a little annoyed by the unexpectedly long distance, and had to cheer myself up. Initially my jokes, with which I more or less convincing tried to fool the audience with with false Pico Ruivo tunnels, were still funny. But with each false Pico Ruivo tunnel it became less funny. At the end we had to find that the Pico Ruivo tunnel was divided in two by a ravine. The first part was indeed somewhat long and very dark, but it was not the 2.5 km monster that awaited us. Speaking of darkness: The darkness was additionally supported by the fact that my beloved flashlight suddenly had a power shortage, despite previously inserted new batteries. This part ends before the long section of the tunnel.

Always on duty, here in one of the many small tunnels.

 Soundtrack
As the last part, this one is also accompanied by Cimeliums album "Mesopotamia". I think the choice of music fits very well with the images. The soundtrack of this part in detail:

• 00:00 Ishtar
• 05:06 Enlil
• 10:14 Assyria
• 15:25 Babylon

What is missing is the obligatory link to the album. This time, I recommend buying it at the GooglePlay store, which can be wonderfully accessed via this link. More buy links can of cause be found on the homepage of the album on alionmind.com.

The entrance to the first part of the Pico Ruivo tunnel.

 What's next?
Because of the darkness in the tunnel it made no sense to film. And so the next part starts right after the tunnel, where we were rewarded for the long hike with amazing natural spectacles. The absolute highlight here is the Caldeirão do Inferno, where we can finally drink our Coral Tonica. No AlionLive without beer!

And now have fun with the video!

Hiking from Cruzinhas to the hydroelectric plant and the Levada do Pico Ruivo

On day 10 we started the longest hike of this journey and longest to date at all. We knew that this would be not a short hike, but then were somewhat surpised how long it took to reach the Pico Ruivo tunnel. Yes, Madeira is in this respect, because of the mountains, always good for a surprise. But it should get even better: We came to a daring decision, which again extended the hike considerably. Since the video and photo material was accordingly extensive, and I've recently introduced the "20 minutes +/- 5 per episode' rule, there will be a total of 4 parts for day 10.

Each hike starts somewhere. And this was our start for the day, near Cruzinhas.

The Plot

We started very early in the morning, after a long bus ride, in Cruzinhas, near Faial. From there we hiked the unexpectedly long gravel road to the hydroelectric power plant of Nogueira and even catched a glance at the Balcoes, from where we had already examined the route the day before. The sight of the height difference gave us a general idea of ​​the ascent to the Levada do Pico Ruivo. Behind the hydroelectric plant, quite well hidden, is the path to the ascension. As we already known from Madeira, we hiked in snake lines on the really hard ascent to the Levada. I must say here, because people told me different, that this route does not pose any danger. Arrived at the Levada we had a wonderful view. Since the trail was quite wide, this route was, contrary to some warnings from friends, quite harmless. However, the hike to the Pico Ruivo tunnel was, as already mentioned, unexpectedly long. There were also a lot of tunnels on that route. So we thought a few times that we had already reached our destination, and it wasn't the case. And so this part ends in the middle of the Levada do Pico Ruivo.

The hydroelectric power plant of Nogueira. From here we always went uphill.

The Soundtrack

Since the new Cimelium album "Madeira" still awaits completion, I have decided to use the album "Mesopotamia" for the videos of day 10 again. This album has served well already in several Madeira videos. In this video, the following songs are used:

• 00:00 Innana
• 05:58 Dumuzi
• 10:58 Marduk
• 16:03 Ishtar

What is missing is the mandatory purchase link for the album if one or the other likes the music. The easiest and most profitable way for me ;) is to buy the album on iTunes. Links to other sources can be found on the official website of the album.

On this hike, we saw the mountains of Madeira yet from a different angle again.

Thank you "Can"

I met Can on the Portugal forum and he was so kind to provide me with a KML file with the GPS coordinates of the trail to the Pico Ruivo tunnel. This not only helped to find the entrance to the gravel road to the hydroelectric plant, but also to deal with the ascent to the Levada. A very big thank you for this! Can has a nice blog on which he presents his wonderful travel photos to the world. Check it out!

Gues who's this ;) This is the closing picture of this part.

What is next?

In the next part we complete the other (approximately) half of the hike along the Levada and finally reach the Pico Ruivo tunnel. Here we walk even through the first section of it, where it is interrupted by a ravine.

And now have fun with the video!

First Hike 2015 - North-East Hamburg!

The first hiking video of this year is very short but crisp. What? This guy constantly uploads Madeira videos! Yes, that's true, but the material is from spring 2014, and so it is almost one year old. This video, however, is brand new. Why does Sonny write a whole blog post for a 7 minute video? Because I can and because there is actually something to say about it.

The occasion of this little 35 km hike was the first day of this year with really nice spring weather. In addition, I decided to acquire a head lamp for some travel (mystical undertone), to avoid having to stumble with the fat Maglite flashlight through slippery tunnels again. That flashlight has indeed let me down during the last time in Madeira. The relevant video of the 2014 Series is not yet available, but will be the second to next one. And since Malina's head lamp, a Petzl Tikka, performed very well, I wanted one of those too. The only shop nearby that sells something nice like that is the Globetrotter in Barmbek. So it made sense to do the first hike of the year to there, of course only through green areas and this is more than just possible in our nice green Hamburg.

Another reason why it was a good idea to do a hike again was that I feared that my old bones were so rusty after the long winter, that I would badly fail during a upcoming travel (mystical undertone). This fear, however, has proven to be 100% unfounded. Legs and feet were quite tired after the hike, but the next day everything was alright again. Works!

Another reason for the hike was provided by the fortunate circumstance that I call my own a beautiful new camera and wanted to test it in detail. First reactions on the video embedded below say, that the purchase was definitely worth it. I agree. The video looks much sharper and generally better. The capacity of the built-in battery seems to be as specified by the manufacturer and is therefore suitable for very long hikes. I didn't like cameras with built-in batteries, because these batteries usually had a rather laughable capacity. I will do a detailed review of the camera soon, because I have some surprises in store for you, I don't want to spoil (again mystical undertone).

The soundtrack consists of two pre-release versions (unfinnished) from the soon released album "Madeira" of my music project "Cimelium":

00:00 - Poiso
04:41 - Santo da Serra 

Finally, I can only say that this little hike in all aspects fulfilled its purpose and has provided the desired results, including the tiny little video that I hereby present to you. Have fun!