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Of the many options with the expensive prices of gas in Europe, we opted for the route towards North Cape starting on a ferry from Germany to Denmark, followed by a series of bridges to get to Sweden.  The dash up to the Ice Hotel led us across the Arctic Circle and introduced all of us to the eerie feeling of Polar Night, the time of year when the sun never makes it above the horizon when you are so far North.  The light and the feeling you get up here is nothing like I have ever experienced before.  The twilight and color of the sky give you energy and make you depressed at the same time.

It seems like a dark and lonely trip, but even up until now, it is one of my favorite points on the whole expedition, this trip North.  So enjoy the photos.

Some people in Bavaria consider themselves Bavarians, not Germans. Many of the Germans we met outside of Bavaria, could not stand the place. TWBR on the other hand could not get enough. Bavaria is a place that for all practical purposes is a separate country from Germany. The beer halls and beer gardens are full of silly music, guys in Lederhosen doing silly dances with silly hats, and beer chugging masses. The locals talk about beer like the French talk about wine. In fact we all went to a beer drinking course two times while in the region that would rival any wine tasting in Bordeaux (maybe because you are encouraged to drink the whole beer instead of just a sip like with wine).

No one takes things too seriously in Bavaria. It is a land where beer flows like water, people are focused on a good time, and the citizens hold on to their culture stronger than many places we have been in the world. I will continue to be confused for the rest of my life why anyone would not love it here, but I guess it just takes a good sense of humor to enjoy all that Munich and the area have to offer. Like most places we visited in Germany, this is on the must return to list. So for all of you too hot to trot fancy pantsies, I will be happy to enjoy a glass of wine with you and talk about the wonders of aging expensive cheeses, but your cries about the unruliness of the Bavarians will fall on deaf ears…I love those guys.

In the south of Germany, in Bavaria, there is an enchanting little town called Hilpolstein. Steve Bouey made some friends there a few years back while doing a triathlon called the Quell Challenge. When he left there they invited him back and demanded that Hilpolstein be placed on the route of The World by Road.

Luggi, Diana, and Felix’s demand’s were met and we could not have had a better time here. It was hands down one of the highlights of the expedition. I have a feeling that all of us will visit this town and our new found friends (or old friends) many more times in our life. In fact, Bouey has even talked about moving here, to be quite honest he was actually tearing up when we left:)!

We had a chance to speak to the students at Felix’s school, we were in the newspaper, and Luggi even took us up in the fireman’s ladder at the Firehaus where he is a volunteer. By the time we left, after being in the newspaper and a few late nights at the local pub, we knew a lot of the people in the town and they were standing in the streets waving and smiling as we left for our journey south to Switzerland.

TWBR hearts Hilpolstein, thanks so much Luggi, Diana and Felix.

It has taken forever to get more photos up and we all apologize. We have also been far behind on the blogs…and we apologize. We are also behind schedule…and we apologize. We are also extremely low on funds, and until we are able to raise enough money for South America, we will fall further behind, but you all can help with that a few different ways by clicking here.

Africa has been tough as you all well know from reading the blogs, but we made it through and, at least for me, it was a truly amazing experience. I am in the states now and have been working vigorously to get caught up on photos, video and more. While the guys have been having the crazy adventures, I have had to play office boy for a little while trying to organize shipping of the trucks and scrape together the funds we need to continue on.

But going through the photos and getting them online is a rejuvenating experience down memory lane. Europe was an incredible experience and that is where we left off in catching up with photos. So here is album number one on the catch up…BERLIN! It is a wonderful city and worth a visit in anyone’s lifetime.

Just when we think we are getting caught up again, we realize that it has been a while since we have updated everyone on what we have been up to. The whirlwind through Europe continues. After an all out race to make the Newcastle ferry from Bergen, Norway (the ferry actually waited for us and literally pulled away from the dock as we were getting out of the trucks) we had a few days to catch our breath as we crossed the North Sea. However, the North Sea ferry crossing proved to be extremely rough and the weather tossed the mammoth Queen of Scandinavia around like a bathtub toy. Crashing glasses and dinnerware coupled with vomiting passengers made for an interesting ride and what should have taken a little more than 24 hours was stretched out to more than 30 as a result of the foul weather.

Once the Dutch deckhands found out what we were doing, they did not mind the wait

Upon our arrival in Newcastle, we quickly made our way down to London in order to pick up Shoppman’s parents who were going to be joining us for the next 10 days. London was a cool place and we spent a few days taking in the sights while taking down some pints of local ale. After completing an interview with the highly circulated and prestigious Guardian, we were able to meet up with our friend Chris. Chris is a U.K. native but was living in Denver during the preparation phases of the expedition and we got to be pretty good friends, in part because his sister Kate was the Community Relations coordinator for the Denver Center for International Studies. Our time in London was brief and we soon found ourselves making our way south to Portsmouth to catch yet another ferry, this time across the English Channel to France. We did detour via Stonehenge and contrary to what an unnamed guidebook referred to as an anticlimactic experience actually found it to be well worth our time.

Steve, Judy and Tom outside the gates to Hyde Park

Stonehenge baby, yeah!

France proved to be another whirlwind as Shoppman and I spend the majority of our time “Africanizing” the Tundra. We thought the process of beefing up the Tundra would take only a day yet it ended up taking the better part of four. The entire process would have taken even longer if the new coil over suspension and leaf springs had not been confiscated by TSA “officials” in the States. Thanks to that little problem, we are now trying to find a garage that can help us in Barcelona, setting up another hectic couple of days in a few weeks. Part of the TWBR team which now included Shoppman’s mom Judy and stepfather Tom and Craig the Kiwi, took in the Parisian sights while the others occupied their time setting things up down the road and getting dirty with some amazingly helpful and knowledgeable French mechanics in the Paris suburb of …. famous for being the birth and final resting place of Vincent Van Gogh. Between the gouda and grease we did squeeze in a magazine shoot for a French Toyota magazine and met up with another crazy overlander, Marc Mellet, who was introduced to us by our buddy Chinzo back in Mongolia… it is indeed a small world.

Alan from FOXY getting to work on the Thundra

Blocking traffic at the L’ Arc de Triumph

With the Thundra ready to rock, we off-roaded up some steps to get a great shot of the Eiffel tower at sunset just before the cops came

Before we knew it, Judy and Tom had come and gone and we found ourselves back in Germany. Nearly two years ago, I did an Ironmam triathlon in the small Bavarian town of Hilpoltstein and met some amazing people. At the time, TWBR was in its fledgling stages and I told my new German friends that if everything panned out, I would be back in Hilpoltstein on our expedition in a year or so. Well, 30,000 miles later, we crested the Solarberg, the toughest part of the bike leg of the triathlon and Diana and Luggi were there to greet us and show the TWBR crew three days of unprecedented hospitality… Bavarian style. Alas, our time in Hilpoltstein came to an end far too quickly and it was time to say goodbye. While holding back tears, I once again left Diana, Luggi, Felix, Ana and my ever-growing family in Hilpoltstein. At the same time, I was reassured that this small town seven kilometers off the A9 will forever hold a special place in my heart and it was certainly not the last time I would see my friends here in Bavarian Germany.

Luggi, Diana and Felix… amazing people, awesome friends

Group photo with the Hilpoltstein Volunteer Fire Department

So in an extremely brief fashion, that basically brings you up to date with us here in Grindelwald, nestled in the heart of the Swiss Alps enjoying some skiing, ice climbing and other activities courtesy of the Swiss Board of Tourism. TWBR will be calling Switzerland home for the next four days or so and then we head southwest through Italy and revisit France before entering Portugal and Spain via Andorra where we hope to finish our final Africa preparations in a timely manner so we can enter Morocco on schedule in few weeks!