Monday 12 August 2019

Time to Blog Off...


For anyone who wants to know
This is how far we had to go
To cycle round the Baltic Sea
To camp in the wilds - be totally free.
To battle the weather come rain or shine
To pedal on flat, or up an incline,
And now that it's over and once we recover
We'll be looking at maps and planning another!


Days 61 - 64     Distance - 176 km

Amsterdam - Home


Our last few days have proved to be some of the toughest yet as we cycled into near gale force winds and torrential rains, and endured a rather rough 8 hour ferry crossing AND the London traffic...
Amsterdam was great, and the campsite in the city was a reminder of more youthful days - it was like the aftermath of a great festival - scattered bodies that hadn't quite made it into their tents, that were either sound asleep, or in utter hysterics (you know what I mean!).


The campsite was right next to the tramline, so the bikes had a rest while we enjoyed the city, with its charming buildings and amazing graffiti...



We feasted on poffertjes - little Dutch pancake delights made at this family run stall in one of the markets...


And they fuelled us nicely for our rainy ride to The Hague - the city which houses the UN's International Court of Justice. It was cycle paths all the way, part of which went for miles through coastal moorlands and made for a lovely day's riding despite the weather.


The campsite was about a 5km ride through beautiful woods and streams to the city centre, and the pond weed was fluorescent!


We were lucky enough to chance upon a street-van-food-festival so we feasted well, and then took a beer down to the Binnenhof - one of the oldest parliament buildings in the world still in use.


As you can see the weather was building, so even though we only had 35km to cycle to The Hook of Holland the next day we left early. And good job too as it took about 3 hours to battle through the 60km/hour winds and a few proper soakings! We were sure bad luck would continue to thwart us and the ferry would be cancelled and we'd have to endure another wet camping, but no, Stena line sailed, not smoothly, but we took plenty of journey food and beer to see us through! It rolled (literally) in an hour late so we landed in Harwich in the dark - we're not properly equipped for night riding - so let's just call the 5km cycle to the guesthouse...
exciting.
We caught the train to London, managed another brief city tour and pedalled the final 40kms back to my mother's house. 
She's away. 
In fact, our timing has been off the whole trip. We missed friends in Sweden, Denmark and Germany also. Even Queenie was away when we arrived at Buckingham Palace!


So that's it folk's. Until we pedal off dreckly next time...!

Auf Wiedersehen, pet.

Steve here...
Well, sadly we're on our way home, and although we've spent the last couple of weeks in Germany and Holland, and I'm not saying these countries lack humour, it's the Scandinavians who have the last laugh with another helpful toilet sign. Might get one myself...


And on to Spot the Dog. The moment we crossed the border into Holland we stumbled upon our first 'Amstel' bar. Always difficult to keep Julia away from a good pub, it was here we met 'Billie', the owner's dog.


It was love at first sight and they took some separating I can tell you!


Finally we met 'Emma' the Boxer, also in Holland. Her German owners only managing a bewildered but sympathetic smile as I tried to explain my 'Spot the Dog' audience.


Until the next time...

Thursday 8 August 2019

May the wind be with you.

The prevailing wind is a pest
Cause it blows hard from the southwest.
It hindered our pace
Cause it blew in our face
And now we don't half need a rest!




Days 56 - 60       Distance 266 km

Lubeck - Amsterdam

Well, we thought Lubeck was impressive with its ancient buildings, but Bremen was even more amazing. 


And we ate some very good pea soup here in front of the huge cathedral...


And of course, it is the home of the Town Musicians of Bremen - a 12th century fairytale retrieved and republished by the Brothers Grimm in 1819. 

(Yes, Steve really IS wearing those sunglasses in public...)

We left the manic holiday buzz of Germany behind us and entered a very refreshingly peaceful Holland - our 10th country. The campsites were small, family-run affairs where nothing was too much trouble, the toilets were manually operated, and the traffic was minimal ...



The Dollard route takes you on endless cycle paths along the man-made dykes that keep the North Sea from flooding these flatlands, and weaves in and out through numerous sleepy villages, where, if you're lucky you might even find some frikandel, and chips with mayonnaise...


We were delighted to discover that the 32km cycle path across the Afsluitdijk - a man-made feat of engineering built between 1927 and 1933, was closed due to maintenance works and you had to go on a free bus instead. The wind was so strong that day it would have taken us all day to cycle it and all the next to recover!


We also camped by the quaint town of Edam, full of canals, wonky buildings and luckily for us, the weekly cheese market - with reenactments of how the market was in the middle ages...




And on to Amsterdam. And it is cycles paths and waterways all the way - right into the campsite that's just a tram ride from the city centre. I feel a city tour coming on without the bikes...and hopefully without any rain!

Sunday 4 August 2019

Toilet Texting...

The Danish rain still got us wet
The country's rather pricey,
But the ride was flat and easy
And the camp spots super nicey! 


Days 50 - 55         Distance - 345 km

Copenhagen - Lubeck (Germany)

Despite the old fashioned rural feel to Denmark, with its thatched cottages and quaint towns, it was unbelievably modern in other respects. For example, upon locating the public toilets, it comes as a great surprise that one has to send a text message to the 'public-toilet-controller' who then will magically open the door for you. I'm not sure what you're supposed to do if you don't have a mobile!



There had been an algae bloom in the sea - and much of the coastline was deep in seaweed and stank, but we were lucky and found clear places to camp and swim, in the rather surprisingly warm Baltic sea.


There were bridges to cross and ferries to catch to link up the islands...


And churches with their own unique style...


We came across The Barnehoj passage grave (collective tombs) that were erected during the stone age - about 5200 years ago! Men, women and children from the tribes most prominent families were laid to rest in the chamber, along with amber beads, weapons, food and drink. (The wise old budda wasn't quite as old...)


The ferry route across to Germany from Rodbyhavn to Puttgarden was an extremely busy but efficient route. Ferries left every half an hour to make the 45 minute journey, where campsites and towns were packed - Germany is on holiday! After being turned away from one full, pre-booked massive site, we ended up in another town where an international street performing festival was going on. This made a great celebration as we'd clocked up a total of 3000 km!


Onward to Lubeck, and quite an amazing city - full of ancient, wonky buildings, and definitely worth a visit. 

We did a good city tour...until, yet again, another thunder storm stopped play!