Hej hej allihopa, [Ida's personal greeting, so no translation possible]
Today it's time again for a new entry on our blog!
At this time, we can still write entries ourselves and only have to rely on our translators. But our transcription-crew will soon be kept busy, too! :-)
Today we'll have you join us with our preparations again. Actually, we would be able to take off right now, if it weren't for some pending activities for both of us.
Big and small plans
Tilman, for example, wants to see a ballet in Oslo and started cycling there on June 12th. I am sure we will read one or two test-entries from this trip soon. And a pompous graduation party at Potsdam University is coming up end of June for Ida.
So you will please excuse that we can't start our trip before the beginning of July :)
A big Thank You!
We were pretty busy over the Whitsun-weekend. Tilman's removal took place successfully and prooved we are not only good at teamwork when maneuvering our a bit extra-long tandem, but also when it comes to a little longer removal vans! At this point we would like to thank the people who will store our stuff while we are on the bike: Tim & Melina give shelter to Tilman's belongings and Ida's parents somehow managed to stow away Ida's stuff. Thank you so much!
Our odds and ends equipment
Well, now to the essential part of this entry: Our odds and ends:
It's always an advantage to have a Hobbit in the family. Thus catering will always be taken care of, also during a bike tour. That's why Ida's parents gave us a phantastic set of cutlery for our birthdays. Small stowable, from metal, and really cleverly thought-out design. The cutlery by Gentlemans Hardware is absolutely recommedable. Right above the cutlery you can see a little aluminium can that is however-years-old. We got it from Tilman's aunt Christa. According to her statement the can already climbed some summits. Now it's gonna do it's job as our snack-box. Furthermore we have a cooking pot Trek 1400 from snowpeak. This pot will have to prove itself in the future. The stove itself is a gas stove which we found in Tilmans basement and which belonged to no one. Well, now it's ours :) To pack our food we just took simple, well sealed plastic boxes from Edeka. For the last item (the beautiful wachspaper) the whole commuting by train and collecting all those bonus points really payed off :)
Even more odds and ends
With every household comes odds and ends, we are unable to resist for our cycling tour. Part of it is our packsack (red), waist bags from Idas parents, a seat pad from sweden (pink), two compact games, which can be played independent from language, and also a headlamp. Similar to have to the Hobbit, it's good to have a registered nurse in the family. Idas mum assisted with advice on organising a first-aid kit. When we feel like it, maybe there's going to be a separate post (provided that you are interested!). Furthermore we drag along a travel adapter, a travelsheet for the sleeping bag and detergent for our clothes (rei).
A lot of the stuff will have to prove itself while we are travelling. You are going to hear, what served well and what did not.
The next post will probably provide impressions from Oslo!
Adios,
Tilman & Ida