Juneau, the capital city

Back to Alaska!!! I`m in Juneau, the capital city of this state, and I reached it after a 6 hours ferry from Skagway (where I had a good hike to Dewey lake). The city is pretty good, even if really small. It`s considered the little San Francisco `cause of the many hills that surround it and the ocean view. It was a pleasure for me to stroll in the main street looking for good fall season`s sale, but now it`s time to leave... and tomorrow I`ll get a 2 days ferry to Prince Rupert, Canada.

On the top of Grey Mountain

Another beautiful day for outdoor sports has gone. I`ve taken a different shitty bike from the hostel and I`ve cycled to the beautiful surroundings of Long Lake, then I `ve headed to the summit of Grey Mountain for an amazing view of the Yukon river and valley. It has been pretty tough, with more than 11 km uphills on a gravel track, but I loved it. Cycling to the top of a mountain in Yukon Territories... sounds really cool!!! Oh, just a big shame: I waited up there in the cold wind for taking photos at sunset... and when the sky turned into incredible colours all the valley, the batteries of the camera were dead... Too bad!

The spirit of Klondike

What a beautiful day I`ve had today in Whitehorse! In the morning I`ve walked to the downtown where I`ve seen the historical "SS Klondike" steamboat and the MacBride Museum of Yukon. Then I`ve taken a shitty bicycle from the hostel and I`ve headed to the Miles Canyon. It has been a wonderful sunny day and what a gorgeous trip I had on the quiet gravel roads along the Yukon river!!! Maybe I`m a dreamer, but is there something cooler than wandering around such an historical river (even one of the longest of the world) on a bike, just with the northern wind singing for you? The canyon has been remarkable and from there I`ve also had a short hike to Canyon City, which was a settlement in the goldrush era, while now is still possible to see all the rusty cans that pioneers ate... Charming. And I`ve taken a photo to a miner statue which has a sign dedicated to "all those who follow their dreams": that`s the true spirit of Yukon. Pioneers came here searching for gold, but it doesn`t matter whatever you do or wherever you are: keep on searching, man, maybe you`ll find your own Eldorado...

Can-can, Canada!

Here I am... That`s a brief resume of these last days I lived in the far North... For three nights I`ve slept in a Joe`s friend wooden cabin in "Goldstream Valley", few miles north of Fairbanks. Great place!!! Then it was time to moving on, so I went to North Pole (!!!) for a short visit at Santa Claus House... After that I had to move toward the Canadian border so I`ve hitchiked on the way to Tok. It has been tough to get a ride there but finally I had a lift from Karma - the prettiest girl of Delta Junction - and later from a terrible driver, marijuana-smoker guy, who brought me to a youth hostel in the forest, south of Tok. There was just one problem: the hostel was completely messed up and closed, while it was getting really late and dark... So I`ve been smart enough to check the reception door; it was unlocked and inside that room (among an incredible mess) there was an heater turned on and current water... enough for me to overnight there!!! The day after I had to wait for a long time to hitch a ride, but I finally reached the junction to the "Top of the world highway" (the only way to go to Dawson City from Alaska). That highway is usually closed from mid of September, and now it will be closed from the 25. Even if some people told me to avoid it for, I decided to try to get a lift from there and I was really disappointed when I saw there wasn`t traffic at all, just one truck in a couple of hours... I started to think about quitting Dawson City for everywhere else, when I`ve been so lucky to meet Craig and Karen - a couple from Wyoming with the biggest and most beautiful motorhome I`ve ever seen - that offered me a lift directly to Dawson City, Canada, the capital of Yukon "Gold Rush", settled at the confluence of Yukon and Klondike rivers. Later in the evening, we went to see some Dawson City`s can-can dancers, while drinking loads of beer... Too funny! The town at night time was really beautiful: cold, dark, without tourists at all... It was for me like turning back to the last century!!! And then I slept in Craig & Karen`s motorhome: I`ve been very surprised about their hospitality, I`ve never experienced something like that before. Thanx!!! I don`t remember who wrote "People is the best show existing, and you don`t have to pay for the ticket to see it..." True. They also gave me a lift to Whitehorse, where I actually am, and which is the capital of Canadian Yukon Territories. When I arrived today, I`ve only had the time to enjoy a beautiful sun reflecting on the slow waters of the mythical and majestic Yukon river...

The good people

I`ll never forget people from Fairbanks, they all have been very kind and friendly with me. I`m writing from the tourist information centre and today I cycled the whole beautiful Gold Stream Valley, North of the downtown, in a foggy and rainy day: the road was beautiful, very quit and traffic free. Then I headed to the Silver Gulch brewery in Fox, where the owner - Dan - gave me a personal tour of the brewery and some glasses of its exceptionally good beer. Thank you guys, it`ll be very hard to leave this place!!!

Close to the Arctic Circle

I`ve just arrived in Fairbanks, built by pioneers last century, about 200 miles South of the Arctic circle. Today I had the bus tour into the Denali National Park, it was the last for the season, from tomorrow the park will be locked up to tourists. The day was rainy and cloudy but it definetely worth a visit. To get that bus I hitchiked yesterday to the park campsite and I overnighted with my tent there... It has been really hard `cause the weather has been quite frozen and I hadn`t neither a warm sleeping bag nor something to put under it... By the way I`ve got now a lift from Joseph, a cool guy from Fairbanks, who has brought me to the city and offered me to stay in his friend`s cabin. Now I`m with him in a great bar where he works on Sunday drinking and eating cool stuffs!!!

Heading North

I`m in Talkeetna, a little cozy village built by pioneers and starting point for all the expeditions to Mount McKinley (the highest mountain in North America). I arrived here today, getting a lift in a motorhome from a kind german couple met in Anchorage. This is the "other"Alaska, far away from that bloody city which is Anchorage. This is the wild one, where nature rules and forests are endless... It has been a rainy day, but it wasn`t so heavy to stop me: just some waterproof clothes and I was ready to take a bike to discover this area. I wandered around the trails along the river Talkeetna and Susitna, and even if it`s cold (it`s going below zero...) the powerful colours of fall are really stunning... while the golden trees over my head make me feel like a king... Well, I gotta go: one more tea, then I`m gonna sleep on the coach of the hostel (more than an hostel is a private home... I`m alone with the whole house just for me!!!). Why on the coach? Easy, it`s cheaper than a bed...

News from the last frontier

This State looks similar to Norway, with higher mountains and more wilderness areas. Being in a such ourdoor sports heaven is great for me, but unfortunately I had to change some plans for this trip in Alaska due to bad weather and the wrong equipment for this season. By the way, in these days I enjoyed many sights in Anchorage, I`ve seen northern lights turning green the sky and I rented a bike to ride into forests searching for mooses or bears as well... no luck!!! I cycled the Tony Knowles coastal trail too, which was pretty cool and yesterday I hitchiked to Portage glacier for a 1 hour cruise in front of it. It has been quite expensive but it definetely worth a visit. To go there I`ve got a lift from Amanda - a cute girl from Frisco, living actually in Alaska - and for the way back I met Gustavo, a kind guy from Milwaukee with whom I also took the cable car in Girdwood to Alyeska Resort, for an unforgettable view of the valley. Today it was raining lightly and I`m thinking to move North soon.

First day in Alaska

It`s the first time in my life I`m outside from Europe! I`ve just arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, after an endless day. My flight has had a 7 hours delay so the airline has offered me a free room in a 5 star hotel with lunch and an afternoon tea with cakes... For what I`ve paid I guess it`s a very good deal!!! This country seems great, I only hope for the weather...

Back to Frankfurt, 10 years later...

I'm now in Frankfurt, also known as "Bankfurt" or "Mainhattan" because it's the financial centre of Germany and even Europe. Today I went on the top of the main tower to see the city view which was quite good, then a pilgrimage to the central bank of Europe and, at last, a stroll in the beautiful Romerberg, the old main square. But beside those sights, this city sucks... Yesterday I was in an hostel near the airport where I've rented a bike, so I've cycled for a total of 77 km mainly in the quiet Hunsruck region, and then I've reached the lovely valley of Mosel, under a warm sun. That area is very nice to be discovered by bike: let's try!

Keep on studying

Today I'll leave to Germany where I'll stay for a couple of days before taking the flight to Anchorage. Tonight I'll overnight in the airport and my journey will officially start... But before that I went to the University of Milan to register myself for a law degree. I love challenges and that will be my next one: after this travel, my main goal will be to find a good job while becoming a lawyer too...

Norway's photos

Today I've added on my site some pics taken during my cycling tour of Norway. If you wanna see them just open the right link from this page or go to http://norwaypics.blogspot.com/