René's old blog

Whatever I feel like posting, whenever

This site goes back some twenty-five years, so it is bound to be full of stale links and irrelevant information. It is, at best, updated irregularly.

  • Today is election day here in Italy. So is tomorrow, as two days are needed here to vote. Voting started this morning and will continue until ten in the evening, to be resumed Monday morning at eight until three in…


  • I have bought a bicycle here in Mestre, and the other day I went to Venice by bicycle, and from there to the Lido. While it can be done, I’m not so sure it is advisable. Driving a bicycle here…


  • My friend Francesco Muntoni from Cardedu Kayak in Sardinia has put up some photos of fish and other marine creatures he has caught while paddling in his local waters. Here are a few: Dentice, 5kg: Barracuda, 3kg: Squid 2.5kg: More…


  • It’s time to get some of the nitty-gritty details of the Venice Kayak project done, so I’m now in Mestre where my business partner Marco Ballarin lives. It is our plan to get some of the basic formalities and agreements…


  • I’m on the train from Genoa to Venice via Milan right now. I have a bunch of posts to prepare and loads of photos to upload from the week Valentina and I spent in Sardinia with Francesco Muntoni and his…


  • On Sunday the 30th of March we went paddling along the spectacular coast of Golfo di Orosei, where I also paddled last year. A 50km stretch of coastline is part of the national reserve of Gennargentu-Golfo di Orosei, which means…


  • On friday the 28th the sea was livelier than we wanted to be part of, and we decided on an excursion by car to the mountains in the Ogliastra hinterland. First we drove to Jerzu which is a bit further…


  • Francesco Muntoni has run Cardedu Kayak for ages. He organises kayak excursions for both beginners and experienced paddlers along the middle part of Sardinia’s eastern coastline, from between Muravera and Cardedu to Cala Gonone, which includes the national park of…


  • Tuesday evening (March 25th) we left Palermo for Trapani. The ferry was scheduled to depart at nine in the evening, but we ended up at Giacomo’s chatting until after seven, and arrived at Trapani harbour at ten to nine, only…


  • The weather has gone haywire in most of Europe, and we’ve got our part of the fun here in Sicily too. No snowstorms though, its not that extreme, but we’ve had a lots of rain, winds between force 4 and…


  • We’re in Palermo now. The journey went smoothly and we’re fine. For some reason flight is the opposite of most other commodities, in that the less you pay the more you get. Our itinerary took us therefore first from Copenhagen…


  • We’re off to Palermo tomorrow morning, but the winter here in Denmark decided to give it one last try. This is the view from our kitchen window this afternoon: This little fellow doesn’t really care and neither do we, because…