Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

Bon Nadal i Feliç any nou!

Zorionak eta urte berri on!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Natale hilare et annum faustum!

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!

Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr!

Kala Khristougēnna kai Ēutukhismēno to Neo Ētos!

Nedeleg laouen ha bloavezh mat!

God jul och gott nytt år!

Vesel božič in srečno novo leto!

Sretan bozic i nova godina!

Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo!

Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!

Häid Jõule ja Head Uut Aastat!

Bonan Kristnaskon kaj feliĉan novan jaron!

Veselé vánoce a šťastný nový rok!

Kellemes karácsonyt és boldog új évet!

God jul og godt nyttår!

Fijne Feestdagen en een Gelukkig nieuwjaar!

Cracin Fericit si un An Nou Fericit !

Wesołych Świąt i szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

S Roždestvom Khristovym i S nastupayuščim Novym Godom!

Looking forward to...

the man who is formally known as the kiwi! :)

As requested...

some news on the occupation. They're moving in now! :)




I couldn't believe my eyes. Tents everywhere. And suddenly university looks like a camp of scouts.

Somehow I like this graffiti:

BBC Top Gear internet streaming.

Click on the title to watch BBC Top Gear via internet streaming. It's one of my favourite shows. Enjoy! :)

Men don't want to look at naked men.

Funny commercial showed on a Spanish television show:

Where's the man?

Eventually I've been cheated on. Yes, he's taking one of those aeroplanes.. :(

The challenge is now a one man show. But hey, here's the good news! I just booked my ride home. It's a 420 bhp monster called Irizar PB. A bus. :) Pictures of the travel are coming soon!

Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Sixt,...

.. Budget, Atesa, National, pepecar, Niza Cars, autoeurope, Opodo, carbookers are all the same big shit! And there are lots more. I'm really sick and tired of their "offers" and horribly designed websites with this incredibly stupid search engines that could have been pogrammed by six-year-olds on a Nintendo and their mini tiny fuzzy terms and conditions gently hidden back behind.

So, this is the thing if you want to rent a car in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany or Austria in the middle of winter: You are going to die. Yes, if you don't have what is generally known as a big cash account you and your family will die on your way to your winter holiday. All the big names of rental car shit out there would actually let you drive away in a brand new car without winter tires as long as you don't specifically ask for them and that means of course paying for that! A lot! In France - for example - this would be the rent of a small car. And surely you would have to order a big car because they won't fit winter tires to a small one. Don't try to take a cheap alternative. You won't be able to get any extras as long as you pay big money for that without ever knowing how much it is because they won't tell you before you are actually standing right in front of the car.

Oh, lovely information by the way - if you already wondered. Snow in Spain? Snow in France? What's the matter here? Well, did you know that tires are actually the most important part of a car. Indeed, they are right in the middle of the street and your car and mostly the one and only responsibility to keep you on the road. Summer tires are made of special rubber-mixtures to work with high temperatures and they actually loose most of the grip if temperatures fall below 7 degrees. Interesting, isn't it?!

Now here is my advice. Try to get one of those offers. I mean, the really cheap ones. Get the highest insurance option without any own risk. Drive along a beautiful road. Enjoy your day, roll the car down a cliff, say the hand-brake was broke and walk away smoothly.

Facultat ocupada!

All this started a few weeks ago when the middle-sized Italian city of Bologna finally found its way to Barcelona. During the process of unifying the European education system it has been announced that the Autònoma is about to be privatized. Murmur went through the silent widths of Bellaterra. Since then university life got a bit stirred up around here. Graffitis appeared almost everywhere expressing that "Bolonya" is not very welcome and that a university can not be a money-making machinery.


Bit by bit the situation got worse and finally some students decided to take care of the circumstances by themselves. By now several faculties - including the Faculty of Communication Sciences where I'm supposed to attend two lectures - have been occupied since 10 days and lectures have been suspended for an uncertain period of time.



The university staff and all of the other people working here seem to take it very easy. There is no rush. No aggression. It is more of an adult and honest demonstration against what is about to be done and how this would effect lives. I think some of the lecturers are even participating the occupation. There are complimentary workshops all day long making clear what should be the most important goal of good education. It should be for free and open to everyone..

Empty halls:


Empty lecture rooms:


Empty.. aaahhm.. chairs:

Where's the countdown?

Alright! Past days I had to realize that a challenge doesn't exactly start when you want it to start. A challenge is a wild and furious thing. You can't simply push it into borders. You are not experiencing or doing a challenge. It dares you. It haunts you.
Gone insane? Sort of! :)
The thing is though, there isn't even one rental car in Spain with snow tires. This is a big problem! As long as we are awaiting snow while driving through the Alps - well, who would not - we are concerned. We have to find a car that is capable of winter conditions or we have to switch to a train or even a regular bus service. Urgs..

The countdown is gone. The challenge already began!