New Madeira 2014 Video: Hiking the Levada dos Tornos!

It is a T and not a P ;)

No, this video is not really new, at least for my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter. It has been uploaded already almost a week ago. However, a personal problem  kept me from writing the usual blogs and promote the video properly. And then there was also Christmas, when I, like every year, tried unsuccessfully not to participate ;). Anyway: If you missed the video, this blog is certainly a welcome reminder.

Somewhere on the Levada

The Plot

This is the second part of three on the penultimate full day in 2014 on Madeira. After we hiked from Aguas Mansas south to the Levada dos Tornos in the last part, this time we hike for quite a time along it. As already in the last part I was extremly silly, which probably was due to two rather strong ponchas and also because of our generally great mood on that day. The silliness is already noticeable in the intro. I really thought for some time about whether I should leave the bad joke about the "Levada dos Pornos" in the video at all. Yes I am indeed a friend bad jokes. But contrary to an overwhelming number of other Youtubers I spare my audience usually with sexual jokes and innuendo. Just not my style ... usually. So don't panic: This will not become a habit ;). On the Levada we hiked through a countless number of smaller and larger tunnels. The highlight here is a small cave vault, whose former purpose will probably remain a secret forever. Also some "banned ceans" have been consumed again and, quite irresponsible, we also had a beer on the Levada. The shaky camera is also prominently present again. So, dear viewers with inclination to dizziness: Better not watch this, or just turn off / fast forward when the shaky cam parts start. At the end we end up in Camacha, where we didn't really wanted to go. There I placed the thematically appropriate end of this episode, because Camacha is where we left the Levada dos Tornos and started the descent to the coast.

At work in the mysterious cave vault

The Soundtrack

... comes as as in the last part from the alionsonny album "Dub Antiquities". I apologize specifically to everyone who generally does not like Reggae, or my special flavor of it. I do this, as already mentioned in the last blog, at the request of some viewers. And the desire of my audience is my command. And besides this, I at least try to present the works of my three music projects equally in the videos. But if you are one of those who like those dusty early works of yours truly, and if you do not already have "Dub Antiquities", I would be exorbitantly happy, if you would buy it on iTunes (CLICK HERE!) or Google Play (CLICK HERE!). Each and every cent will be invested in new equipment and / or tasty beer. Big promise! Oh yes, of course the album is not only available on the two platforms mentioned above, but also in any well-stocked shop for music. It is also available on streaming services. Since the revenue, for example, from Spotify, unfortunately is a bad joke, I would personally recommend to purchase a download. So, enough talk, here as always, the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 Mountain Biking on Mars
• 04:05 Fya Pon Everything
• 09:25 Revolution NOW!
• 14:16 Versionist Dub
• 18:25 Drunken Joe In Space

alionsonny - Dub Antiquities cover art

What's next?

Because of the forementioned personal problems, we will not be able to finish the series "Spring on Madeira" this year still. I'm sorry - I planned that differently. But before the third part of the day 13, it is again the Schaalsee bike ride's turn. And I shiver when I think about editing the next part of it, because this last part of the series is very text heavy. And this means, I have to write plenty of subtitles. In this final part we ride from Mölln via Trittau right back to Hamburg. Since the fore mentioned personal problem is anything but over, it may take a while before the next video is uploaded. I'll do my best! But for now have lots of fun with the current 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!

Spring in Madeira (2014) - Hike from Aguas Mansas to the Levada dos Tornos!

Why do I almost always have to blink when somebody takes a photo of me?

Here is the latest video from the series "Spring in Madeira" from 2014. And yes, we are approaching the end of the series. Maybe we can scratch it off the list this year still ;). In the ending text of the video I unfortunately wrote accidentally, that I would have already mentioned the reason why the video footage of day 13 is divided into 3 short parts on this blog. In fact I explained it only on the AlionLive Facebook page. I beg your pardon for any confusion and will, before I tell the plot of the video as always, catch up on the explanation now. The whole unedited material of day 13 is about 1 hour 20 minutes long. Initially I wanted to divide it into two parts. However, I would have had to place a very unpleasant episode cut in the middle of a hike along the Levada dos Tornos if I did this. But I like my episode cuts neatly on thematic boundaries. And this is only possible if I divide the material into three parts, namely:

• Part 1 - From Aguas Mansas to Levada dos Tornos
• Part 2 - Along the Levada dos Tornos to Camacha
• Part 3 - From Camacha to Garajau

And before anyone assumes again, I would do this to drive my small Youtube advertising revenue to immeasurable heights: No, it would not be worth it. I just say this: My monthly advertising revenue on YouTube is not even enough to pay the beer I drink during an AlionLive episode. And dividing the video into three instead of two parts doesn't change this significantly ;).

Lunch!

The Plot
Late in the morning of the 13th and penultimate full day of our trip we took the bus in the direction of Santo da Serra and planned to hop off somewhere between Camacha and Santo da Serra and then hike down to the coast in a southwesterly direction. The hike to the Levada dos Tornos had not yet been planned at this point, but it was a quite welcome addition. We left the bus in a small village called Aguas Mansas. Next to the bus stop we found a cozy Poncha bar with a very friendly owner, who didn't speak a word of English, but basic communication was possible. So we had lunch in the form of two very strong Ponchas. Then we started our hike, on which we experienced a real Flower-O-Rama. Therefore, this video consists to a large extent from recordings of many colorful flowers. The view from the road towards the Levada dos Tornos was impressive. Despite the quite foggy weather one could see all the way to the Ponta de Sao Lourenco and have a great view on the airport and the ocean. Due to the "Poncha mood" we were also not just a bit up for a lot of nonsense and discussed interesting topics such as "Beak Sauce" and insidious frogs, which lure unsuspecting goats into the Levadas, by imitating their bleating. A vocally gifted sheep and another one, which mastered "the art of not to be seen" as described by Monty Python perfectly, made everything just perfect.

A great view on the Ponta de Sao Lourenco, the airport and the ocean.

The Soundtrack
Because one or the other viewer asked me to once again use my special flavor of Reggae as the soundtrack, I did exactly this. And because I am a bit grumpy about  the contempt for the Willma Poppen Project works, I used the most ancient and dusty chestnuts from the album "Dub Antiquities". That's what comes of it! If there's anyone who should like what he / she hears, I deliver the usual buying links on GooglePlay (CLICK HERE!) And iTunes (CLICK HERE!). The rest of the links can be found on the official website of the album. The soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Individuality
• 06:09 - Terra
• 11:47 - Malina Dub
• 18:14 - mountain biking on Mars

What's next?
First with the penultimate episode of "Bike ride on the Schaalsee" series. I owe this to the lovers of the bike ride videos. After that comes the nice long walk along the Levada dos Tornos.

But now I wish you, as always exorbitantly good entertainment with the current 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!

Spring in Madeira - Hike from the Eira do Serrado to Curral das Freiras - New video

Some random tourist in cammo outfit in the mountains.

Yes, it took a while again, but that's not so bad, since the number of viewers of the last video kept within narrow limits ;). Unexpected complications and events in the private sector caused that I could not be as productive as I wanted to for a while. Now everything has stabilized a bit, and we go on. Here is the second part of day 12 of the 2014 Madeira series!

The Plot
After we hiked to the Eira do Serrado in the last part and spent quite some time there, this part is about the descent into the valley of Curral das Freiras. After what people told me about this route, I was surpised how relatively easy this hike was. There was not a single place where I had the feeling that my latent fear of heights would force me to turn back. Don't get me wrong: I would not recommend this route to everybody. It is not really a prime example of a well-maintained trail. You will experience one or the another unpleasant surprise if you think that this trail is your everyday hiking trail. At some places the path is very steep, there are reasonably narrow passages, rolling stones, crumbling edges etc. Madeira as we know it ;). Also one should not be fooled by the impression one has when looking down into the valley from the Eira do Serrado. It is easy to think "Oh, that's not far!". As almost always in Madeira one should be aware of the fact that there is never a straight route from one point to the other on this island. And that's a damn good thing, because you do not want a direct and straight path into the valley. You really do not want that... ;). No the trail goes nicely downwards in zigzags. Still I was positively surprised by how quickly we arrived in Curral das Freiras. I had planned about 2 hours more. Once we arrived in Curral das Freiras, we first did what we didn't in 2011: We visited the picturesque mountain village more in detail. While doing this we came across a very cozy restaurant with a extremely friendly service and the best Espetada that I had on the island so far. And we already had quite a lot. Really: Not one of them was as tasty as this one. After we had strengthened ourselves, we took the bus back to Funchal unusually early and there we just fell into the bed, tired but happy.
 

As always, there's lots of flowers in this video also.

The Soundtrack
Because it was absolutely impossible to showcase the whole new Willma Poppen album in the last video, we continue with the remaining tracks of the album in this video. And also this time all of the remaining tracks could not be showcased due to lack of time. So we have to continue some time soon. Sorry to those who can not stand the Willma Poppen Sound. Yes, I know you're out there ;). As always the obligatory links to where you can buy the album should not miss. Make me rich! You can buy the album on iTunes (CLICK HERE!), Google Play (CLICK HERE!) and all other well-stocked music sites. Here's the soundtrack in detail:

Album: Willma Poppen - Willma im Wunderland

• 00:00 - Madeira
• 05:12 - Karussell
• 10:04 - Liebe
• 14:54 - Blauer Montag
• 19:30 - Nachtwanderer

An interesting "transition moment" in the video. I find it quite funny.

What's next?
Next will be again a bike ride video, namely the fourth part / day of the bike ride to the Schaalsee. And after that comes the first of two parts about day 13 of "Spring in Madeira". On the 13th day we hiked from near Camacha along the Levada dos Tornos for a while and then all the way down to Garajau. I will still not reveal too much about the plot right now, because there will be a little surprise and I would also have nothing to write in the blogs about those videos. The cut will this time not be so well-placed, because there is simply no thematic "breakpoint" in the video material. And so the next Madeira video will abpruptly end in the middle of the Levada dos Tornos.

Well, but now, as always, have fun with the 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.

Spring in Madeira - Eira do Serrado

Some random tourist on the Eira do Serrado

It is done! In just two days, I soldered this video together. I owed you that, after the mishap with the last video. I decided to divide the approximately 50 minutes of day 12 in two parts. Yes, I know: Some want their video 'en bloc'. For others, 50 minutes is too long. This time the decision was quite easy, because the video should be available on Youtube as soon as possible. Editing twice the amount of video footage would have taken at least twice as long. And also the cut in the video is quite appropriate, because after about 25 minutes we started our descent to Curral das Freiras.

The Plot
After the heavy party day we were not absolutely fit, and because of that we did not easily get out of bed. Late in the morning we took the bus in the direction of Curral das Freiras. As luck would have it, no bus with a stop on the Eira do Serrado was going at this time. So we left the bus at the stop just before the tunnel before Curral das Freiras and went on foot on the easy ascent to the Eira do Serrado. What is the Eira do Serrado? It is a small plateau south of Curral das Freiras, from where you can enjoy breathtaking views of the little mountain village and the surrounding picturesque countryside. And so this video largely consists of exactly this: Views of fantastic nature. Of course there are also plenty of beautiful flowers again, a cat and during the ascent we also had a little lizzard feeding again with cheese. I'm not talking very much in this video, but you'll see me quite often on Malina's photos. Do not be surprised that I have used so many photos of me in this video. Malina simply shot so many good pictures of me on that day that, in my opinion, it would have been a shame not to show them.

View on Curral das Freiras from the Eira do Serrado

The Soundtrack
Actually, the new Willma Poppen album was supposed to be presented in the lost episode. The music style would have also fit much better. But what happened, happened. So the album will be presented most probably entirely in this and the next episode. There will, as always, be people who do not think that the music fits with the video. To those I recommend to turn off the video sound and listen to classical music ;). If you like the album, you can buy it in all major online stores. Just for example I link here to iTunes (CLICK HERE) and Google Play (CLICK HERE). And now, as always, the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Willma im Wunderland
• 05:03 - Apokalypso
• 09:57 - RaumReise
• 13:30 - Himmelswiese
• 18:28 - RaumZeit
• 23:25 - Madeira

Without any doubt: A valley! ;)

What's next?
In the next part we accomplish the medium hard descent to Curral das Freiras, where we have a delicious Espetada in the evening and then catch our bus to Funchal quite early. I have to ask the friends of the bike rides for a bit of patience, because "Spring in Madeira" currently has priority. Of course the Schaalsee series will be continued soon. But for now, as always, have fun with the video: