That was the forum topic, started by Nolenator, announcing he was going to drop his Moun10Bike V1 somewhere in Europe.
What a question! What would I do to get my hands on “the coin of coins”? Dunno.... quite a lot I guess.
Well, the first thing I did was to put this coin on my watchlist, to see where it would go, and monitor the topic.

A month later the word was out: it was in Italy! At Manarola High #2.
WOW!, not only a difficult cache, by the looks of it (22 attempts in 4 years and only half of them succesfull) but also more than 1000 miles from my home!
Anyway, since we are always in for some adventure,we didn't have to think very long. The question was no longer IF we were going to get it, but WHEN we were going to get it!
I phoned my friend Mighty Moose (who will do almost anything for a good laugh) and he started packing before I even raised the question.

Working on a project where I could not be missed, it took 3 long weeks (checking every day if the coin was still there) before I could arrange to take a weekend off.
Friday afternoon at 15.30 h. we finally got in the car and drove to Italy, crossing Germany and Austria on the way, mostly awake, but sometimes driving and sleeping in turns.
We arrived in Manarola around 7.30 am, the next morning. What a beautiful village!
We had carefully read al listings on the cachepage and looked at all the pictures, so we had a pretty good idea where NOT to start. But where to start? I think we have been very lucky, because it took us only about half an hour before we found the right way up

Then started the climb. The old steps were a real blast and at 08.15 it was already 95° F which did not help much either.
However, the scenery we passed was stunning! When we passed the place where the hammock used to hang, and the little settlement close to it, we knew we were on the right way, although GPS reception was pretty poor.
When we reached the viewpoint on top of the hill we knew it had to be right, and we started searching.... and searching,.....and searching. Aaaarrrgghh!! Nothing!

This cannot be, we said and I told Mighty Moose that even if we had to end up sleeping on the mountain, we would not go down empty-handed.
We carefully read all listings again and looked at all the pictures we printed and we were able to narrow the circle of our search.
Suddenly Mighty Moose recognized a stone formation from the pictures and I crawled into the bushes. FOUND IT!!
With trembling fingers we opened the box, to find the coin was still there!!!
The feeling that came over me then, was about the same as when I finished my first marathon.
I have never danced with a man before, but Mighty Moose and I were dancing on the mountain top!!
After we placed our logs and carefully put back the cache, we sat still on the mountain top for about an hour, enjoying the experience and enjoying the marvellous scenery.

After that we made the long and strenuous walk down to the village, where we walked and sat around for a few more hours, having drinks on a terrace near the seaside,

walking a part of the path along the cliffs and enjoying the stunning views in this beautifull village, until it was time to drive the long way home again.

This time we were no longer in a hurry and managed to get 4 hours of sleep when it was too hot too drive (in the shadow of some trees near a gasstation in Parma). We took a 2 hour break for a walk in the Austrian mountans (didn’t find the cache) and did 2 more caches in Luxembourg on the long drive home.

Sangsvan of Sweden, Thank you for this beautiful cache and we especially thank Nolenator, for creating the challenge that got us here!!

[This entry was edited by Twin Peaks on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 1:00:04 PM.]

By Twin Peaks

Comments(2):

1. Twin Peaks...

   I really enjoyed reading the story of your adventure. Congratulations on getting the coin - it was well deserved.

   Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Lucilla

2. Great pictures and an amazing adventure. Thanks for sharing this story.

   Saturday, November 21, 2009 Marvin