I still have to get used to so much light during nighttime. I often wake up and think it’s already morning.

At the first gas station I stop to change tires, so as to wear the three of them uniformly. In the meantime a nice gentleman guffaws at my face when I tell him about my trip.

During the day I stop for a tour in the main towns.

I spend the night with an Iranian couple that hosts me in Umeå.

Without waking Cristoffer up I leave, Stockholm-bound. For a still undefined mistake of some sort I run out of gas along the motorway. Luckily I’ve got my spare tank.

After an hour from the event, a police car comes driving alongside me and tells me to pull over. They tell me I can’t ride on the motorway, but I tell them my engine size is 150. After a few phone calls they tell me I’m right and I’m free to go. We take a few minutes to keep chatting about my trip and after a customary picture we say goodbye and they wish me good luck.

I’ve got no news and no message from the couchsurfer that should have hosted me for tonight. I have to set camp somewhere. I find a lay-by near a lake along the motorway.

I wake up early. The night went well, despite the sunlight, that at this latitude is constant. Julian was right when he gave me a sleep mask, that does its job all right but scares you when you wake up and you think you turned blind.

After saying goodbye I leave. I stop at the first gas station because yesterday the right-side indicators didn’t work well. After solving the problem – a wire broken loose – I hit the road again.

Along the road I stop at a few places Julian and his flatmate recommended to me. One of these is Gränna, where they make the traditional spiral-shaped Christmas pudding, the polkagrisar.

In the late afternoon I get to Linköping, where Christoffer will be my host for the night.

With the opportunity of Franzi’s house, I try to get in touch with a few couchsurfers. I leave without hurry and indeed I manage to get to Rostock to take the 3 p.m. ferry, a little later than planned.

I cross Denmark and get to Copenaghen for a quick tour of the main landmarks.

At 10 p.m. I manage to get to Julian’s, a kind guy that lives in Lund and that will be my host for the night. He speaks Italian, so we even manage to have a chat before collapsing onto the bed.

Today the alarm set off early, around 5.00 a.m., because the couchsurfer had to go to work (at AUDI, of course).

I hit the road early, but with an inconvenient. I stopped to check the maps and while picking up one that flew away with the wind I delicately laid my vespa on the ground. So delicately that the screw holding mirror and front cowl together was shattered to pieces.

I stopped in Leipzig to buy screws and repair the damage.

All of today’s route is on the motorway, not much fun.

Around 9.00 p.m. I get to Neuruppin, a town north of Berlin. I buy a few groceries and when I arrive at Franzi’s, the couchsurfer, we cook spaghetti.

I wake up and I find a thunderstorm. I was prepared as the forecast already said it. After breakfast and thanking Ilaria, the rain stopped falling, but I put on my waterproof clothing anyway. Indeed after the first kilometres it started raining again and it didn’t stop until the afternoon.

I was prepared for rain but not for cold weather. After passing the Austrian border, I had to stop under a bus stop to put on some more clothes.

After passing the border there’s bad news, the new roaming I counted on doesn’t work so well. In Germany not at all. To get in touch with the couchsurfer I had to go into a biergarten in Inglostadt that had a wifi. The good news is that the beer was good.

First of all thanks to those that came to say goodbye friday night and saturday morning. But I’d like to thank also those that couldn’t be there and didn’t forget to wish me good luck. So I’m leaving, hoping I didn’t forget anything at home.

Riding a vespa, you imagine being caressed by a pleasant breeze. I suffered scorching heat up to Venice instead. I’m not complaining, though, because temperatures will be a little less pleasant the norther I go.

In the late afternoon I get to Udine and take a stroll around the city centre. Luckily, I stumble upon an old bike parade.

I get in touch with the couchsurfer. She lives in the outskirts. We even organize for a BBQ.

Before going to bed I check the weather for the following day and it doesn’t look very promising.