Yes, we are kind of stuck. It's now 22:00 local time in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and we don't have any transportation means for our Epic Voyage.

But first, let's start from the beginning - I was too tired the other day to write.

Somewhere last year...

ps and I start thinking about a Demoscene Summer Tour. It would include a portuguese committee travelling around Europe for a month, an Epic Vehicle, lots of demoparties and everything associated with all of this.



1 - Demozone (Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands). 23 - 26 July
2 - Assembly/Boozembly (Helsinki, Finland). 27 - 31 July
3 - Scene Event (Harridslev, Denmark). 04 - 07 August
4 - Buenzli (Winterthur, Switzerland). 19 - 21 August
5 - Evoke (Cologne, Germany). 26 - 28 August
6 - InerciaDemoparty (Porto, Portugal). 02 - 04 September

Somewhere this year...

Rup and brainpower join the team, making the DST'05 a possible project. Expenses are calculated, meetings are held, everything starts to become a definite image of a great summer tour.

April - May 2005 (T minus a couple of months)

We don't have an Epic Vehicle yet. We try to get ps's father car, which is a Diesel one, but ps's father tell ps that he can dream of it during his sleep. Maybe not with these words, but we get a definite "NO" (what a trend, these days). The only possible solution would be my mother's car, an 15-year old Peugeot 205, which was stopped for many years and only recently had been of some use. But, of course, who would be crazy enough to drive it for 9000 km?

June 2005 (T minus 1 month)

The decision was made, the Epic Vehicle is going to be the Peugeot 205!! It's a great car, I'm sure it will work just fine!

01.07.2005 (T minus 22 days)

I arrive in Portugal, moving out from the Netherlands. As soon as I touchdown, I get the news that the Epic Vehicle is not available during the period of the demoparties. Everyone can start to panic. I have to figure out a solution, and fast.

14.07.2005 (T minus 9 days)

My father gives up the car. We have an Epic Vehicle!! It's beautiful, all dark grey and pretty. It needs some fixing, so I will take it to a garage.

21.07.2005 (T minus 2 days)

I pick up the Epic Vehicle at the garage. It responds like a dream car would. Well, not exactly, but in comparison with the previous state, it was quite amazing. The following day I would pay more than 300 Eur for the repairs, but hey, it was worth it, right?

There was still that strange little noise whenever we would turn to the right... but the mechanic said that shouldn't be a problem. Right... who am I to disagree?

22.07.2005 11:00 (T minus 18 hours)

The Epic Vehicle is fitted with 4 brand new Epic Tyres. Total cost: 200 Eur. Now the car seems to have glue on its feet!

17:00 (T minus 12 hours)

Finally, the Epic Vehicle has a sound system! For all these years, the car drove in silence - well, the engine makes that beautiful Epic sound, but apart from that... - and now it plays everything! Thanks to a special Epic Adapter, it plays all the systems that connect with a mini jack. Really nice!

20:00 (T minus 9 hours)

Time to buy food for the first part of the trip. Some cookies, fruit, water and of course the Epic Cereals. Like that, I'm all set for the trip.

23:00 (T minus 6 hours)

Everything is packed and I should be sleeping already. The Epic Vehicle rests outside, waiting for the big trip. The anxiety level is huge, but I NEED to rest!

23.07.2005 04:00 (T minus 1 hour)

The Epic Breakfast was delicious. A good start for the day! I do feel a bit tired, but I am completely awake and excited! I will pick up the other two guys now.

06:00 (T 01:00 D 0 km)

The brand new iPod from brainpower is taking ages to load. We are waiting for him to copy all his music so that we have a broader choice while driving. It's an Epic Morning, misty and cold, so we are confident.

06:30 (NEW REAL T 00:00 D 0 Km)

The Epic Vehicle is fully loaded with the Epic Gasoline and we are A.O.K to go. This is it! The Epic voyage can begin!

14:25 (T 07:55 D 689 Km)

The first Epic Refuel. We are somewhere in Spain, where the gas is cheap and the women hot. Ok, doesn't sound too good... Anyway, so far the trip has been a pleasure! To cross the Marão Mountain is like a dream... The mist, the sunrise, the landscape, it's really nice. Spain itself is also fascinating, so many different settings for the same country. It's really hot now but the Epic Vehicle is handling everything superbly. Or almost, because the noise is still there, and only when we turn to the right. The mechanic said it shouldn't be a problem, so I'm not worried.



22:00 (T 15:30 D 1250 Km)

We are driving slower than expected, that's because we want to spare the car and not burn it in the first part of the trip. We are close to Niort, in France, and we are not going to make it to Paris on time. I call Knos, a french scener that would host us for tonight, telling him that we are not stopping in Paris - that would be around 2 am and we don't want to bother him - and that we just go straight to Rotterdam. After all, it's only 5 hours extra or something like that.
We take the opportunity, now that we know that nobody is waiting for us, to eat and rest properly. So far, the rests have been between 15 and 30 minutes, which is enough, but now we do deserve a bit more. They have great sandwiches in France, and loads of different types! But we wanted something warm... Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed, so we all eat this instant soup that tastes like spaghetti à bolognesi, but without the pasta and without the sauce. It's warm, at least, so it burns our soul.
Time to depart again, now direction Rotterdam. We have to pass Paris anyway, Rup wants to have a sandwich beneath the Eiffell Tower, we shall see about that.

24.07.2005 09:00 (T 1day 02:30 D 2150 Km)

After leaving France and crossing the misty Belgium, we enter the Netherlands. It's funny for me to be here, it's like I never been gone. I recognize immediately the landscape, the language of the signs, the way of driving. Until now, Rup and I we've been switching in all the stops, and right now it was my turn to drive, quite convenient as I know the way quite well now. We enter Rotterdam, watch the beautiful skyline, and feel glad we are almost in bed. As we stop in the first stop lights, the noise that was bothering me gets harder, and the car wants to turn always to the left - maybe some influence from the people who uses to drive it. The noise and the turning gets worse with each stoplight. We get extremely worried. Right now, after almost 27 hours of travelling, all we want is to sleep. The car barely makes it to the doorstep, it's cracking and bursting with each curve. I guess the problem is much worse now.
After unpacking, I call the insurance company, and they send a mechanic. We wait for one and a half hours, and he finally arrives. A very nice guy, Peter was his name. He speaks dutch, english, french, spanish and who knows what more. He detects the problem right away - indeed the transmission axel from the right wheel - and assures us that it's an easy problem to fix, we might the have the car the next day. All the paper work is taken care and we can finally go to sleep.
Just a quick shower, some water and I fall on the bed.

19:00 (T 1 day 12:30 D 2150 Km)

We wake up like new men. We deserve some real food, and some resting. The plan is to go to the italian restaurant and then do some walking in the city centre. It's raining, just like In Porto, and we cool off our Epic Minds.