Yes, I did it… I am in Japan now… finally, the last great place I always wanted to visit and now I am here… well, and how is it you might ask? What to say… the parts I have seen so far are not so super high tech as I expected, but than, there were already several highlights… starting with the airport where when we landed I glimpsed out of the window just to see the new airbus A380 next to us… what a nice and big plane… and although not omnipresent there were plenty of new things to learn… I managed to get the train tickets, found my hotel and even have an personalizes subway pass by now… what more? I found out that taxis have remote controlled doors for the passengers… I watched one of the fancy dressed girls stopping a cab… and I thought why does she not open the door, is she too posh to do so…? strange enough, but she waited there and suddenly the door swung open, she entered and once she sat down the door closed… wohooo, not to bad I thought… and than there is the high tech toilet and the police cars, but to this, I will write later to keep you interested… ahh, and how did my first day end here in Tokyo? Well, as I can not read the fancy signs on the restaurants, I had not sushi yesterday.. no no… I ended in a Vietnamese restaurant at curry… jeje, so much to my knowledge of Japanese

Yes, you see right… this is the inside of the famous Wörthersee-stadium… just recently chosen as the nicest football stadium of the Euro2008 and I tell you that it is really a beauty… but you might think what GeraldN want to say with this… well, yesterday I had the super great pleasure to see “en directo” the 11^th match of the Euro2008… the stadium, sold out of course, was bustling in anticipation of the match between Germany and Croatia… and what a game it will turn out to be… just marvelous – two goals of Croatia and than near comeback with a late goal of Podolski… but this should just turn out to be the start of a crazy Euro2008 night.. my friends and I went on to a “Bierzelt” where we would party until early morning… exactly what one would expect of such a serious sport event… 

After my water adventure in Croatia I had my mind set to do something on solid ground… luckily a friend of mine had to do the annual revision on his motorbike in Germany… more lucky he has a stressful job and can’t take the time off… so I could do him a favor to drive to Germany and do the revision as well as I got a fabulous bike for free for few days… and even more lucky, Reinhard, a colleague from my university times in Austria, took a week of vacation and joined me on this trip… so we both were fast clear on the route (Alps, Alps and more Alps)… besides the usual hick-ups on such a trip as police and rain, we had a great time… we had a great ride, along the “Alpenhauptkamm” enjoying the scenery of Central Europe… after two days we landed in Munich were our common tour ended… Reinhard returned via Tyrol back home, where as I visited some friends and returned days later via Styria to my beloved hometown Klagenfurt… and all this with lot of sun, bike and Alps…

Throughout my journey I have the special opportunity to see that friendship is something special… over the last few months I meet so many friends, new and old, that this alone is worth my sabbatical… and more wonderful is it, that even as I have not seen some of them in years, we mostly kick off where we left -  and this does not mean with wine, although this seems to be the practice… ahhh, and if you are a careful reader, you notice, that this story goes nowhere… so I rather stop and have a moment of silence to listen deep into me and be just happy to have this opportunity…

Last week I had the pleasure to participate in a week long sailing turn just off the coast of Croatia… and it was a real pleasure… Captain Peter V. gathered a real fun crew around him (you can say I was the only mistake, but what the heck it is my life so I do not feel overly guilty)… so we all meet last Saturday to board our Bavaria 37 cruiser… just like the name of our “vessel”, FUNKY, that is how the entire trip would turn out - funky… when we left we had winds of up to 32 knots (for non-sailors – this is a lot especially if you do not know how to sail)… regardless we fought the sea with its two meter waves (some said they were 5 meters, but this is just how the fish gets bigger after you caught it) and safely got to the marina of our choice… the high winds and shaky sea were actually that much fun that a board member decided to return his food to the sea (do not worry Mario, I won’t mention it was you)…  but given that the sea is large, this did not impact the beautiful scenic around Biograd (see picture section)… plenty of small and larger islands, lots of wonderful marinas and the right crew to have fun… although the weather was changing every day from sunny to rainy I had a great time on board… the entire crew was clear that sailing is about wind, sea and beer… and I think this mix was the reason we had so interesting conversations… you are interested what men talk when they a one week in a boat…? here two examples of the right to the point thoughts after long and thoughtful discussions: “in most cases the mothers in law are older than their daughters” and my personal favorite: “wennst de Augn zua host sigst nix” (for my international readers here the translation: “if you have your eyes closed you can’t see”)… well, did I promise too much…? now reflect over this and until soon…

In the past I was travelling to so far reached places that sometimes we forget what we have in our “backyard”… and so I took the chance to see Toledo together with Jaime… after a 6 hours drive through Spain’s interior we reached this wonderful place next to Madrid (where this year’s football champ comes from – Hala Madrid)… when we arrived we immediately hit it of with some friends… and guess how Spaniards show you their city… we parked the car, stepped out of the car and Rafa immediately pointed out a bar “we have to see”… of course it was noon and I have not had any food yet… so before ordering he politely asked – beer or wine… and what about the food I asked… he said – do not worry… and than I understood, with my delicious glass of red wine, there came some gigantic tapa (a small dish) which surprisingly was included in the price of the wine… so for €1,20 you get a drink and half a meal… that is what I call a deal.. and Rafa made all to be a good host… after some tapas (read drinks) we went on to the city centre… and now that is how the city tour continued… Rafa pointed out an old building – this is where a special exhibition of portraits from the famous Prado… but before entering he decided we have to see another bar which serves even better tapas… OK, the crowed became larger as friends joined… and well, after a short round through the city centre (see pictures) the Latin’s were in their element… of course we had to go on for some more tapas (read drinks, I told you)… by 4 o’clock in the morning I had to skip out and went home to bed… just to figure out my friends went on with the “city tour” until 11am in the morning… guess the morale of the story is, if you are a central European, do not try to keep up with the Spaniards – they are a special “breed”… thanks for all the hospitality Rafa & Co – it was a great weekend…

Yes, you have read well… Gerald was in Brazil, but where the hell are the pictures… sorry, guess you can call me lazy, but I did not provide them – until now… see in the picture section two more folders… the one is Brazil – Coast which includes the places Rio de Janeiro, Paraty and a small tourist village in the north of Rio which name I have forgotten by now… and than there is Brazil – Interior which includes Sao Paolo, Tiradentes, Sao Joao de Rei and Petropolis… have fun and if you ever want to see this places I did it in a two week span and can say this was pretty much enough to get a nice feel…

Yes, the break is over… and GeraldN is going to explore this earth some more… so what is the plan for the near future… well, right now I am sitting in an internet café in my hometown Klagenfurt (yes, this is where the Euro2008 will start in few days)… and just plotting out the last few steps where I will head too in the next few weeks… and this is the current plan… after visiting Toledo with Jaime (the stories there will follow soon) for a weekend, now it is central Europe for a while… tomorrow I will head off to Croatia for some sailing with former student colleagues… no plan where to go just a boat, some wind and a lot of Adriatic sea.. after this it will be per bike (motorbike of course) from my hometown to Munich… for few day with some friends – again, no plan, just a bike, some friends and a lot of road… next to this there will be the championship, which I will follow live in my hometown… and after a short break in Spain to see my neighbors I will be off to another highlight of my trip… I will go to Japan – wohoooo after waiting for so long, I have decided to visit this modern island in the far, far east… and by than it should be August and we will see where the wind will lead me than…

Yes, this will be the last post live from South America… five incredible mounts have gone by… and it was just amazing… tomorrow I will board my plane and it is Barcelona again… looking back, I simply can not comprehend how the time flew by… visiting seven countries, spending time in the most interesting places in the world and meeting so many interesting people, it still feels that it is only few days ago that I started… well it is only days ago, but 150 of them… now it is time to say good bye to this wonderful part of the world… this does not mean that I will stop traveling nor posting, as there are so many more stories to be told about this trip (for example that all Brazilian tourist information offices are staffed with people not speaking spanish nor english - so it is either portuguese or nothing – which means most time nothing)… so it is all melancholy now and the hope to come back to this great continent soon…

This marvelous city is all what one would expect of metropolis… besides being the 5th largest city on this planet, it is just a great place to visit… Sao Paulo is a fascinating mix of a southern hemisphere city, good looking people (especially the girls, of which I was so disappointed in Rio de Janeiro ), interesting constructions (the modernism in this city let you sometimes think you are in Moscow rather than in Brazil) and the constant noise of cars and people shouting at each other… and all this mixed with some southern laziness which makes the place so fantastic… as I said, it is just a great, great city and if you are around, this is a must see…