After we left Lithuania, everything we wanted was chill out and rest as the van preparation lasted longer than expected. So we did exactly that. We moved south slowly, stopping by for some climbing and visiting friends on the way.

The first longer stop was Frankenjura where we spent 4 days climbing easy routes trying to get used to the rock. We liked it a lot but at the same time longed for some higher rocks and longer routes. And let’s be honest, sometimes we missed the first bolts which seemed to not exist here. In terms of the life in the van, everything seems to be working very well. The biggest pain is usually getting the drinking water. Although, when you get used to it, it’s not that big of a pain. Another issue is the time spent showering. Usually, Martynas is shouting at me “Your time’s up!” and I’m shouting back “I have long hair” :)

After Frankenjura we stopped by in Stuttgart and spent a couple of days with Aistė and Povilas, even checked out their local crag called Kesselwand which was surprisingly good. The plan has been to spend just one, but Martynas “cursed” Aistė’s car so that they couldn’t leave for Amsterdam. As a result, Martynas got to spend one more day with Povilas.

As we were just a couple of hours away from Zürich we also payed a short visit at Saulė and Gedas place. Had a delicious dinner in their balcony overlooking the Zürisee, listened to Gedas stories from Alaska, wished Saulė patience while waiting for the baby and headed further.

At this point we thought it’s time to stay a bit longer in one place and so we spent almost two weeks in Finale Ligure. Not much can be written about this. Let’s just say it was a proper chilling holidays. Lots of sun, sea and warm rock, let’s not forget the morning espressos and evening wines. We also had a very pleasant routine to watch an episode of Twin Peaks with every dinner and almost finished the old seasons. Cannot wait to start the third one!

During our stay in Finale we visited quite a bunch of the more popular sectors. We enjoyed a lot Bric Scimarco, Grotta dell’Edera and Monte Cucco (although this one is way too polished). We ticked off a bunch of the classics and these are the ones that stand out in our memories: Lubna (7b), Ciclone (7b), Katana (7a+), Le Mie Fragole (7a), Cianbalaur (7a).

Finale Ligure was too good to stay for long and we didn’t want to let ourselves get used to that so we headed to Chamonix next.