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22. 07. 2001 Amsterdam (NETHERLANDS)

On the journey from Brussels to Amsterdam I learn from an American girl returning from Italy that in Genoa, during the G8, a protester had been killed! A certain Carlo Giuliani, but she didn't know much about it! Having arrived in the Dutch capital we head straight for the magic mushroom shop for Pedro. He had planned the whole trip solely around this stop! He was so excited! He'd been praising these mushrooms for a year! He said that last year he'd had wonderful sensations, he saw and heard strange things he'd never seen before...

He wanted to stock up and enjoy himself all year! Hmm! And yes, there was a hmm! I immediately forbade him from buying many, because it was dangerous when we crossed borders and I didn't want trouble over such nonsense! I'd also advised him to take them only when we were in a safe place, without our backpacks and with a "safe roof" (I meant Latvia), so that if we had problems... But he wouldn't listen to me! And after buying two bagfuls, I accompany him to the edge of a canal so he could "eat" them in peace! Even though I was against it, I stayed with him. He'd offered them to me too but fortunately I'd refused! At first he felt in "paradise", shortly afterwards hell began! After many mishaps we manage to reach the railway station and from there by train we go to Schiphol airport, where we are now.

[Pedro Daniel Aguiar Lopes from Porto, Portugal]: I feel very bad and if I try to explain something to you, I'm sure you won't be able to understand. What I felt today is impossible to explain in words and no one will ever experience it without mushrooms. I'll try to tell you small portions of the millions of things I have in my mind during the journey. I'm so sorry for what happened today; if I had known what would happen I wouldn't have taken them. I suffered so much, you can't imagine even a small part of what I went through. I almost died because for a few moments I lost control of my mind and body. When I say "died", I'm not exaggerating; I was unconscious many times at the restaurant, I felt like never before. Anyway, we'll have plenty of time to discuss this. This day, however strange it may have seemed, has been very positive for me.

As I told you, the mushroom experience is unique and it changes the way you think and see the world. You understand many things about what surrounds you, you find the meaning of every single thing, for every day of your life. I wish I could enjoy life the way you do, calmly, having fun, anywhere and with anyone... It's painful not to be able to. I'm trying to change but it's hard. Today, these mushrooms brought peace to my spirit, I hope it lasts forever, I'm eager to live my life in peace like everyone else, I hope we'll grow together... I'm learning so much with you, I really need our friendship to last forever.

23. 07. 2001 Bonn (GERMANY)

Here in the north of Germany it's starting to get a bit chilly. Bonn is a delightful little town, well kept, quiet. Around lunchtime we "settled" in a little park and, armed with our camping stove, we made ourselves lunch of lentil soup. Very good! After a wander round the centre, we decide to hop over to Cologne. The first thing that strikes you as soon as you leave the railway station is the wonderful, impressive cathedral! Now I'm sitting on a bench right in front of it... When I saw it I felt the same emotions as when I first saw "Stonehenge" or "Big Ben"! It's majestic and elegant! Almost always words are nothing compared to the sensations you feel... Adding to the emotion was the music coming from the many organs of the cathedral... What magic was in the air... In the evening we take our train to Copenhagen, not knowing the night would be very long...

They make us get off the train in the middle of the night over a silly reservation we hadn't made because we hadn't had the material time to make it. Having formed a little group (me Italian, a Portuguese, a young Finnish couple, a Norwegian, a Dane, an Indian and an American) we wander across Germany from station to station all night. In Hamburg we manage to book seats on a train to Denmark and, since we'd be leaving in three hours and considering we'd been awake all night, we take the chance to grab a nap. With sleeping mats and sleeping bags organised we fall asleep at once; after a while I feel someone touching my arm. Again the German police were telling us we couldn't lie down there. Annoyed, we head to our platform where Pedro and I, having taken out our camping stove, make hot tea for everyone!

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