TravelStream™ news feed for member kochwebb on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/kochwebb en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:14:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248322409/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248322409/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248322409/tpod.html Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:14:11 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Manchester, England, United Kingdom

This morning we woke to greet our last day in Europe. We packed everything up in the BMW and said our goodbyes to Carol, who couldn't join us due to the lack of room in the car with everything we had for baggage. Our trip to the airport in Manchester took us on a highway that went through the Saddleworth Moors, which is an eerie and desolate looking place that seems to stretch on for miles.

We made it in plenty of time and the flight was pretty smooth and uneventful. Connie’s concern about flying with her injuries were quickly abated. We arrived without fanfare in Toronto and then took an airport limo home. All relatively boring stuff.

Now that the trip is over, I’m sure Connie and I will be recounting numerous memories of this fantastic trip. Our plan is to go back over all our posts and fill in the gaps as the fog of our memories clears and then make a coffee table book out of it.

As we sign off, I’d like to say a thanks to everyone that made our trip such a great success, including Kelly (our daughter) and Stacey for looking after the homestead while we were gone, and all the people that made our stay so comfortable and heartwarming in the various places we visited. We may not be doing this again by motorcycle, but we’ll definitely be following this up with something equally as exciting. Let the planning begin!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248322047/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248322047/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248322047/tpod.html Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:13:17 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Ilkley, England, United Kingdom

Today was a rainy day and the forecast was for much of the same all day, so the girls decided to assault the local Mark's & Spencer store and spend some money on needless frivolities, like clothes. The M&S in the area is a massive store that is more like the size of a small shopping center. Luckily…or not…they had wheel chairs available, so we grabbed one for Connie so she could spend even more time there…but not get too uncomfortable. How convenient…

Mick owns a tire recycling business that needed some attention, so I joined him to sling some tires around…or as they spell it…tyres. It’s a very interesting and lucrative business that bears looking into on this side of the pond. Anyway, after that we went to M&S to see what mischief the girls had gotten into and how much it was going to cost us. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t that bad. Then we headed back to the house so that Connie could rest up a bit.

Happy Anniversary!!! Today was our fifth anniversary, so we went out for a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. What a surprise! The owner told us that he actually had a cousin that owned an Italian restaurant in Woodbridge that we’d eaten at before. Small world indeed. The meal was fabulous and after that we went to the club in the gated community where Mick and Carol live.

During the previous days, I had a chance to wander around the local housing area and saw the very old buildings that made up the hospital that was on the site. The developer would be renovating some of the old buildings into homes as well as building new ones. However it wasn’t until we went to the club, which was set up in one of the old buildings, that I found out that the hospital was actually a mental care facility. In fact, it had the dubious reputation that those who entered…never left. Over 2500 patients had been buried in the on-site cemetery, and the man who buried most of them frequented the club. A door at the rear of the club lead to a large main room with a row of doors on the far wall that opened to cells where the patients were kept. On the walls of the cells were numerous pictures of the facility that were taken by a local photographer, and former patient. The whole experience was very unsettling and I couldn’t imagine buying one of the renovated homes knowing the history. A strange place indeed.

We had a couple of beers at the club and played some pool…what else do you do at a former nut house…and then went home for the evening. Mick and I had picked up some fixings to make Mudslides, which was our drink of choice in Sint Maarten, so we spent some time perfecting the recipe.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248321688/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248321688/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248321688/tpod.html Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:07:54 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Ilkley, England, United Kingdom

A quick call in the morning to Connie confirmed that things were looking up. She was just waiting on a visit from the physiotherapist to see how she was doing with range of motion considering the pain levels and if that all went well, she may get out on Friday. However, with her current state and how well she was feeling, we both thought she should be able to get out later today. Mick had arranged the loan of a BMW 3 series 4 door from one of his neighbours, which would be more comfortable than Mick's Jag for Connie…besides…it had a rear seat that seemed to be an option that Mick didn’t get on the Jag.

Mick and I spent the morning goofing around and called Connie back up at noon for an update. Both she and I were tired of waiting and I told her we’d be there later in the day to pick her up…and sneak her out the back if necessary. So off we went to King’s Lynn. On the way there, we talked with Connie over the phone again and she confirmed she would be ready to go. Amazingly, there was no bill or charge for either the emergency work or the stay overnight for her as we were considered a Commonwealth country. Free is definitely cool. It’s even cooler if the service is phenomenal, which it was. Connie was very well taken care of by a caring and thoughtful staff that really made us feel much better about everything.

It was a sad departure for the hen party…most of the old girls had gotten very attached to their surrogate great-great-grand daughter. We wished them all the best and then got the hell out of there!! The BMW turned out to be a bad idea after all. The M-series suspension combined with the big rims and low profile run flat tires made the for a spine shocking ride, which wasn’t so bad if you didn’t have six broken ribs. For Connie, it was a painful trip. I tried to be as sympathetic as possible and told her to suck it up…princess.

Once we arrived at Mick and Carol’s, we dropped off Connie’s belongings and grabbed her a pillow, then headed off for a nearby pub for a good English meal. It was of course a short evening as Connie’s energy level was low, but it was great to be able to get out with Mick and Carol after such a long time. We made some plans for the next day and then called it an evening.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248316467/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248316467/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1248316467/tpod.html Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:24:24 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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King's Lynn, England, United Kingdom

Last night I fell asleep quickly due to the exhaustion of the day, but this morning my mind began to recount the previous day's events and panic began to set in as I thought about all the logistics like what if the tow truck guys didn’t get the bike up here in time, what if they won’t take the bike at the airport, the bikes and paperwork are in Connie’s name and what if they don’t accept my signature for the documents, how’s Connie doing, what if she can’t fly with the broken ribs, why is the sky blue, why does it hurt when I pee???…etc.

I called Connie at her bedside phone, which I had set up the evening before, to see how she was doing. She sounded pretty rough as stiffness had set in, but said she was better than the day before, which made me feel somewhat better, but not much. Mick and I set off on the hour and a half trip to the airport, he in the Jag and me on my bike. We found the shipping company that would be handling the bikes without any problem, however they didn’t have any waybills or any knowledge of the bikes being shipped out. The guys there were very helpful in contacting the right people to get the information and confirmation that they needed and sort everything out for the shipment. My bike was checked out pretty quickly and I was relieved when they told me a wash down wouldn’t be needed as it was already clean enough. As we moved the bike into the dangerous cargo area, Connie’s wreck…I mean bike…arrived.

Before taking it off the flatbed, I had a chance to look over the bike and the damage. It actually wasn’t as bad as it first seemed to me on the side of the road…mind you, I was in a different state of mind at that point. There was damage to the very front of the fairing and some scratches on either side. Several fairing mounts were trashed as was the front suspension where the forks attach to the frame, but the cast aluminum forks and everything but the rim itself looked to be in pretty good shape and there was no damage visible to the frame or drive train of the bike. In fact, it even started up pretty easily. Overall, it certainly didn’t look like a write off, and it should be easily repairable. We got the bikes prepped for transport and paid the usual minor fees for paperwork and that was that. Prepping my bike was easy, but we had a real challenge figuring out a way to get Connie’s bike strapped down properly without causing more damage. With the bikes now off my plate, I started to calm down from the frenzy I was going through. We started the 3 hour trip to see Connie at the hospital and drop off some goodies and get the prognosis from the doctors.

As we arrived, I warned Mick that Connie was located in a ward that looked more like a geriatric center. Not one of the five women in the other beds was under 80. Mick promised he would try his best not to hit on any of them. Connie was in pretty good spirits, all things considered. She had no internal injuries and the pain was manageable now. Our concern at this point was when she would be released and whether she would be able to fly. So far, the doctors were cautiously optimistic about both and thought she might get out on Friday, although Connie had her concerns about being able to make the flight. Mick and I spent some time making sure she was alright and then headed back to Leeds for the evening, leaving Connie and her hen party to plan their entertainment of the evening…somehow, I didn’t think getting the male nurses to pole dance was in the cards...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247629561/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247629561/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247629561/tpod.html Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:17:54 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Harwich, England, United Kingdom

We were awakened on the ferry at 6am by the address system telling us we'd be in port in 30 minutes. The seas were pretty calm overnight on the way to Harwich so there was no thrashing and banging around and we got a pretty good rest. We grabbed a quick shower and then carried our belongings down to the vehicle deck where our bikes were safely strapped down. By the time we were ready to go, the ship had docked and the cars and trucks were starting to drive off. We loaded up our gear, unstrapped the bikes and started our way out off the ship and onto land meanwhile over the communicators we were constantly reminding each other to stay on the left side of the road. The first stop off the boat was at customs to cross into the UK, and once getting to the other side we took a few pictures of the ship and then headed onward.

The first traffic circle is the trickiest one and we managed to get behind a car with GB plates so we could use them to keep us from jumping the wrong way into the traffic circle. We hadn't had a chance to get a coffee into us yet, so we were keeping our eyes open for a place to get a coffee and a quick bite to eat, however it was only 7am and we weren't having much luck in the tiny country towns and villages we were travelling through. The country roads we were travelling on were very narrow with lots of twists and turns, but they were in good condition. The buildings were all brick or natural stone and some had marvelous thatched roofs similar to what we saw in the Netherlands. We stopped at a restaurant that we thought might be open but it wasn't, however there was a lady there that gave us directions to a cafe in the next town. We had quite a problem getting our way into the centre of the town because of the driving on the wrong side of the road and the heavy morning traffic, and once we found the cafe it also turned out to be closed until 9am, which was still a half hour away. Rather than lose more time, we carried on to the next town hoping to find something which turned out to be a good choice as we found a motel like place with a restaurant. Once we had a bit of breakfast and a couple of coffees we started back on the road.

We were doing well and making good time when tragedy struck. As we were leaving a small town the divided roadway came back together and up ahead about 100 yards, where the roadway curved upward to the right, there was a roadworks truck parked on the right side. As we approached, a big transport truck pulled around the roadworks truck into my lane and I had to hit the brakes hard and swerve to the left as he pulled back into his lane on the right side just in front of me. When Connie, who was about a hundred feet behind me, saw the truck and my reaction she instinctively swerved to the right and then realizing her mistake swerved to the left. Connie's bike smashed into the curb of the sidewalk on the left side of the road and then flew across the sidewalk and into a fence supported with cement posts.

I was still driving slowly forward when I saw the roadside crew in front of me running back towards the direction I'd come from. Looking back in my mirrors, I saw Connie's bike laying on its side on the sidewalk. I turned around as fast as possible and rode back to where the bike was laying. Connie was laying in a fetal position on the other side of the fence which was pushed down on top of her by part of the bike. One of the road crew helped me get the bike off her and stand it up on the sidewalk. Connie was awake, but was in distress and wanted to get her helmet off and turn over, which I didn't want to do because I was unsure of her injuries. I calmed her down and assessed her injuries which seemed to be localized to her rib area, meanwhile the road crew were calling for police and ambulance service, both of which arrived within minutes. The emergency crew quickly started working on getting Connie out of the fence and bushes. All the while she kept saying that she was sorry for ruining the trip and asking how her bike was, typical Connie always concerned about others. I told her to stop being silly and reassured her that her bike wasn't that bad. The ambulance crew put her on a backboard to pull her out and got her into the ambulance in no time and stabilized her for the ride to the nearest hospital 11 miles away. To Connie it seemed like she was laying in the bushes for hours. Meantime, I had a chance to clear things away with the police and survey the damage. The bike initially looked like a write off with body parts and the front suspension crushed, and the frame twisted, so we called for a wrecker to take it to the town of King’s Lynn, where the hospital was and where I could deal with it later.

The ride to the hospital in King’s Lynn was relatively quick, although in my mind it took forever. Once we arrived, the crew got Connie into emergency and nurses and a doctor began to assess her injuries, which seemed to be only in her rib area, however in order to be sure they needed to get her off the backboard to do a full assessment. Because the emergency was very busy, it took an hour and a half before they could muster the 5 people needed to roll her over in the event there was spine damage. In the meantime they kept pumping her full of morphine for the pain, which wasn't having much of an effect due to the medication she was already taking for her chronic pain. They finally got her off the board and into x-ray and confirmed that the only injuries were to her ribs on her left side, where she had broken 6 of them, 3 in two places. Connie was still in great pain and they wanted to keep her in the hospital for at least a day for observation and further assessment, they also wanted to do a CT scan to confirm if there were any internal injuries.

As they prepped Connie for the CT scan and her ride up to the ward room I started to calm somewhat such that I could start to deal with the logistics of getting Connie’s bike up to Manchester, which was 320km away. Initially I was thinking that we would just leave it behind and call it a write off, but then again selling the parts off the bike would pay for the lift to Manchester at a minimum and we were already out the money for the return shipping cost, so screw it, we’d get it back to Canada. My first call was to the shipping office at the airport to confirm they’d take a damaged bike, which they said wouldn’t be a problem as long as there were no fluid leaks and no issues with strapping it down safely. My recollection at the crash site was that there wasn’t any fluid leaks except for the brake fluid from the reservoir which had completely disappeared from the handlebar, but there was only so much of that anyway and what had spilled out could be dried off. Then I called the towing company to see if they could take it up to Manchester the next day as the bikes had to be there 3 days before our flight, which they said would be no problem.

Back up in the ward room the doctors confirmed there were no injuries to Connie’s internal organs or punctures to her lung, which was the primary concern at that point so at least we knew that she was relatively okay under the circumstances. Connie was now starting to feel a bit better and was able to converse so relief began to set in and we were able to relax a bit. I didn’t really want to leave, but there was little I could do for her and I had to make sure the bikes got away okay the next day or we’d be in for even more problems. I stayed with her until about 7pm and then reluctantly started my lone two and a half hour ride to Leeds, near Manchester, where our friends Mick and Carol, as well as a much needed bed awaited.

The ride was a bit wet although otherwise uneventful, which was welcome at this point as I couldn’t take much more drama, and I made good time. Meanwhile, Connie was getting good care at the hands of the hospital staff and some much needed rest. It was a strange and very lonely ride as it was the first time since we started the trip, four and a half weeks ago, that Connie and I were apart.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247707615/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247707615/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247707615/tpod.html Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:56:07 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Hoek van Holland, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Today we loaded up the bikes, checked out of our hotel, and went for a little ride around the Amsterdam area. Our plan was to go north to see some sights that were recommended, then go around Amsterdam to the west and see some more sights on the way to the Hook of Holland where we'd be catching our ferry.

As we travelled the backroads of Netherland, I was surprised at how flat the country was. You can pretty much see for miles and there aren't any natural hills to speak of. Our first stop was Monnickendam, which is a port dated to the 1600’s that maintains the look of that period. We were not disappointed. It was really cool and we picked a nice little café with a great view of the port to have soup, beer and coffee. Next we took a short ride to Edam where the famous Edam cheese comes from. Unfortunately the cheese market is only open on Wednesday and Saturday, however we did see some interesting striped cows and a working windmill. Seeing a working windmill up close is truly amazing and they are as effective at moving water or crushing wheat as they are a work of art. The cows were the strangest we'd ever seen, with brown fronts and rears and a white stripe that ran all the way around the body between the front and rear legs. All of the were the same in terms of where the stripe was. From Edam we went to a town called Lisse that’s supposed to be the centre for Tulips, but as the flowering season is over and there wasn’t much to see. We then went to a town that was supposed to be a great place to see a bunch of windmills, but we would have had to take a ferry over to where the town is, and time was running short for us to get to the Hook of Holland to catch the ferry, so we called our sightseeing tour short.

On our way to the ferry at Hook of Holland, we stopped at Karen and Nicole’s apartment in Den Haag to say hello and drop off a CD of pictures that I’d been holding onto for almost two years. Steve and I had met them in Bonaire while on a dive trip and I had promised to send them pictures, but as it had been so long, it was good to drop it off in person and to see them again. Connie and I had a coffee (yes…both of us) and had to depart in much too short a time. It was great to see them again and we hope to spend more time with them on our next trip.

We then headed for the ferry and made it just in time as all the other passenger vehicles had already loaded. Only the trucks were loading up, which was quite a sight as the ferry has three levels and the trucks actually turn around inside the ferry. We parked our bikes among a group of others in the bike parking area and strapped them down, then made out way to our cabin. Our cabin was very spacious and had its own full bathroom, which was much more than I expected for a ferry, so we were pretty comfortable. Once we settled in, we went to the back deck where we watched the sun set off the back of the ferry as we pulled out of the port. After we were under way, we headed for the bar and a nightcap before calling it a night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247704967/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247704967/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247704967/tpod.html Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:49:24 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Today we awoke to cloudy skies and a steady rain, so we headed into the city and planned our day around seeing some museums and staying out of the rain. Connie and Isa decided to go to the Anne Franks house, which is where 14 year old Anne Frank and her Jewish family hid from the Nazis during WWII. This family essentially hid in a room in the house for 25 months before finally being found and put into camps where only the father survived. He later went back to the house and found a diary that his daughter Anne had written during their hiding. Very interesting, moving and overwhelming stuff…Hanno, the girls and I went to the Amsterdam Dungeon house instead. There's no real story about this house other than it was entertaining fun and I got tortured.

Well, as it turned out, the line up to get into the Anne Franks house was much too long and so Connie and Isa went to a houseboat that was set up for show in a canal instead. We met up in a café (not a Coffeehouse) where we said our goodbyes to Hanno, Isa and the girls, who had to head back home. Of course, Connie shed a tear as we walked away.

Originally we were supposed to take a ferry to Harwich, England tonight, however the ferry was all booked up and we ended up staying another night in Amsterdam, having secured a spot on the overnight ferry the next day. We headed back to the hotel for a rest and then went into the city for dinner and a short stroll. We didn’t make it a late night as we wanted to spend the day seeing a few sites before getting to the ferry.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247703671/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247703671/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247703671/tpod.html Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:44:36 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Despite the late night, we managed to wake up and make it to breakfast, which was included in the price of our hotel, before it closed. The breakfast buffet was excellent and had the most variety we've had since our trip started. We gorged ourselves and made plans for our second assault on the city.

We took the tram back to the city centre where we’d spent the evening before and essentially followed the same route again. The weather was a bit warmer and sunny and, in the daylight, we were surprised at how much ground we’d covered last night. Despite the walking we’d done thus far, Connie was still doing very well and was able to cover a lot of ground, which was better than she’d been able to achieve in Stuttgart with the cool wet weather. The number of people wandering about had increased twofold over the night before, which was amazing as there were quite a lot of people out last night, although the demographic had changed from young mostly male to young and old people vacationing and sightseeing. The number of transients was really surprising and diverse and could really give the diversity of Toronto a run for its money.

We spent the day sightseeing and shopping for…guess what…spoons and keychains. We did run into some pretty cool clothing stores and a Clog store, which was interesting but not as interesting as the live-aboard boats that lined the walls of the canals. There were also a few areas with market tents lining the sidewalks selling their wears. These areas were grouped together depending on what they were selling, for instance in one area there would be tents selling custom jewellery, another selling clothing, another selling flowers, and another selling art, etc. Sadly, there was no market dedicated to selling spoons or keychains, so our search continued. We capped off our tourist day with the obligatory canal cruise…which is where I met Heidi. Unfortunately, Heidi was taken, and was celebrating her impending marriage with her friends around the streets of Amsterdam, so I was left with Connie. Oh well, better luck next time. The canal cruise pretty much covered all the areas we'd seen already, but seeing the sights from the water gave a different perspective and I would highly recommend it...besides, they serve beer on the boat.

A few things we noticed was that the red lights in the district had disappeared into the pavement. They seemed to be hydraulically actuated to prevent vehicle traffic only at night. Also, both the café’s and the Coffeeshops were very active throughout the day. I had tried to get a photo of a menu at a Coffeeshop, but was told that this was strictly forbidden. Of course, for the record, the only reason I went into the shop was to get the picture. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

After the cruise, we headed back to the hotel for a siesta as we were feeling run down for lack of sleep. Then we made our way back to the city centre for supper and some more wandering about. This getting up late and eating supper after 10pm was starting to get to me, so it was good that we were getting lots of exercise wandering around after eating. We pretty much covered the same tracks again, although a bit shorter a route this time, and then went back to the hotel for the evening.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247475884/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247475884/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kochwebb/1/1247475884/tpod.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:20:06 -0400 kochwebb's Great Adventure

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Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Once we left Belgium and entered the Netherlands our trip was pretty uneventful all the way to Amsterdam, although the weather had cooled quite a bit and was pushing to get to 17°C. Of note is that I didn't see anyone wearing clogs, nor did I see one windmill, so I think those stereotypes are completely false. Also, we saw the return of lane splitting motorcycles in the more high traffic areas as we got close to cities around the 5 to 6 pm timeframe, which is a sight we hadn’t seen since Italy. I also noted that the gas stations are void of beer, and there were numerous cars that stopped for a break at the rest stop where the people would jump out and share a beer that they were carrying for the occasion while having a smoke.

We got to the Novotel Hotel in Amsterdam at about 7:30pm and ran into Hanno, Isabel and their friends from Romania as they were leaving for the city centre. Antonia and Nadena are sisters and daughters of a client of Hanno’s that are living in Stuttgart and going to school there, and Hanno and Isa are keeping an eye on them for the parents. We set up a time and place to meet in the city centre and set about to get our room and get our gear unloaded. Major parts of the hotel were under renovation so they had set up a temporary building housing a lobby and restaurant. The security staff had us park our bikes right beside the main entrance under overhead cover and well within their sight and recommended we keep them there and travel with local transit due to the number of bike thefts in the city.

Once we got cleaned up, we jumped on the tram to our meeting place and had no trouble finding the guys. We were amazed at the number of bicycles around…they are clearly the transportation of choice in this city and everyone uses them. The city is well set up for them too, with separate bicycle lanes between the sidewalks and roadways, and you better be looking out when you cross these lanes as the bicycles have the right of way and let you know it with the wild clinging of bells.

We had a few drinks at one of the many outdoor cafés and soaked in the night life of this amazing lively city, then we started walking about looking for the Red Light district. The city is as amazing as the pictures I’m sure everyone has seen, with mazes of waterways lined on either side by roadways. It was while we negotiated the maze of road/alley ways and waterways that we started to notice how many Coffeeshops there were. Now, for those not inclined…if you want a coffee, you go to a café…if you want Marijuana or Hashish, you go to a Coffeeshop. The other thing we noticed was that the smell of Marijuana smoke was everywhere and you couldn’t go around a corner without encountering a whiff of it.

After asking numerous people for directions to the Red Light district, we finally found it. There were posts with red lights in the roadway that prevented any cars from using them, which was handy due to the massive number of people walking about. Lining the streets was a diverse combination of sex shops, live sex shows and red light houses with women for hire. We wandered about this area for a while then made our way back to the city square to grab a nightcap and a cab back to the hotel as it was already 3am.
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Spa, The Ardennes, Belgium

We started the day with yet another breakfast of brochens, meats, cheeses, and fresh fruit, a typical European breakfast. I was overjoyed when I was offered a helping of eggs or a boiled egg to break the monotony. Don't get me wrong, the breakfasts have been great, but let’s face it…the same thing every morning for 4 weeks gets tiring.

After breakfast we loaded up the bikes but kept our walking clothes on for a tour of the town. The hotel owner once again extended his assistance to us and let us keep our riding gear in a back room of the hotel lobby where we could get changed into our gear afterwards. We walked around Bernkastel for a few hours and took in the sights of this cool little town with its small and crooked buildings and of course couldn’t leave town without a spoon and a keychain…sigh…

We got back on the road pretty late due to the sightseeing and we only travelled along backroads until we got onto the first of a series of Autobahns that we’d be travelling on for most of the day due to Amsterdam, our final destination. Every now and again we took short cuts to get from one Autobahn to the next and the GPS did its best to get us lost and show us parts of the German and Belgian countryside that I’m sure no Canadian has seen since WWII. At one point in Belgium we saw a woman driving in the passing lane on the wrong side of the Autobahn. On-coming cars were flashing like crazy and she finally realized she was not where she was supposed to be and then negotiated a three point turn, right in from of on-coming traffic of course.
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