28.08.12 - 09.09.12

Day 1 @ Jonas in Bremen 

Hamburg - Bremen

Like last year, Jonas was my first stop on my Europe trip. Together with Hubi, we went sightseeing and enjoyed BBQ and drinks on Jonas' enormous balcony, followed by drinks in Bremen downtown.

Day 2 @ Couchsurfing at Laurens and Ineke 

Bremen - Oldenburg - Groningen

Enjoyed wonderful landscapes, tree-lined streets, drove along and picknicked at the river Ems, passed weird tiny suburbs, felt so insecure everytime I saw loose gravel (contact point between bike and ground: size of 2 credit cards) and felt unbelievably happy everytime I saw hay rolls for some weird reason.

I couchsurfed at Laurens' place. He lives in an empty office space, where he has a whole floor for himself - pretty cool! We went out with his girlfriend and friends in cosy and lively Groningen. Before, they asked if I can ride a bike - kinda funny question for a Dane. Over a few beers, they then made a list of what I need to try in NL:

Day 3 @ Couchsurfing at stupid dude's place 

Groningen - Amsterdam

Today was a good day which turned very bad. I drove through nice landscapes and visited Edwin's hometown, Dark Pants (!). Then passed the dike, which defines the border of the largest lake in West Europe, the IJsselmeer. Finally, I arrived in Amsterdam, where the misery started. In short, I had crappy food, fell over, drove through the worst thunderstorm ever, arrived totally soaked, the couchsurfing host was 30 mins late so waited in the rain, then finally got inside and then he tried to hit on me. Fuuuuck.

Day 4 @ Jeroen in Antwerp

Amsterdam - Delft - Rotterdam - Tholen - Antwerp

Left early. Fortunately, I had a great day which started with tea in cosy Delft (Ole, how come there is so much duckweed in Delft?). Next break was in Rotterdam, where I visited the Cube Houses. Then off to Tholen, where I tried the frikandel (a hotdog-look-a-like) in a restaurant playing hits from the 90's. Finally, I arrived in Antwerp, where I had Moules-Frites all-you-can-eat and tasty Belgium beer with Jeroen and Eline. I met Jeroen in Ecuador 9 years ago and hadn't seen him since and it was so cool to catch up!

Day 5 @ Joy in Lille

Antwerp - Gent - Bruges - Lille

Just next to Jeroen's place is the most fantastic café, where we enjoyed a delicious brunch with champagne on the house (not so good when you are on a MC trip). I cycled through their lovely city with its beautiful facades and visited the spacy 'Museum Aan de Stroom'. Next stop on the MC trip was beeeeaaaautiful Gent, followed by almost as beautiful Bruges. Here, I ate too many sweet local specialities in the sun at the canal (hey, you gotta try the éclair, cuberdons, Dutch cocoa etc.). Total sugar shock! Weighting 5 kg more, I went to Lille where I stayed with Joy, whom I met in Taipei a year ago. Together with four other Taiwanese (so including me 5,5 Taiwanese) we had a great night at the annual Lille Flea Market - the biggest flea market in Europe! Kinda cool being on MC Europe tour and then hanging out with Taiwanese and speaking Chinese!

Day 6 @ Youth Hostel in Paris 

Lille - Paris

Unbelievably tired. My butt hurts. Terrified of the traffic in Paris. And don't even know where I'll be staying tonight. But everything turned out better than expected. I had an easy-going trip to Paris and when I arrived there, the traffic wasn't nearly as bad as expected (although I did what I'd sworn never to do, namely to drive in between cars in a traffic jam...). I checked in at a youth hostel in a room with not a single electric socket. Took the metro to the centre (the metro map is slightly bigger and more complex than in Copenhagen ;-) and went to Notre Dame, just in time for an impressive mass. Walked smilingly around the city and was approached by several men. I then tried to look bored instead and then a guy approached me, saying I look sad. Haha. Had frog legs, rabbit and creme brûlée for dinner. Aaaah!

Day 7 @ Marie in Versailles

Paris - Versailles

Hardcore-sightseeing-day. Visited the Eiffel Tower, Louvre & Mona Lisa, Sacre Coeur and many other churches. Saw someone lose 200€ in a (very fascinating) shell game on the street. Had snails, duck and crêpes with super delicious speculoos bread spread. Oh, and caneles is some of the best pastry I have ever tasted! Then, I went to Versailles to visit Marie, whom I met in Taipei last year and had a great night with her, her mom and her cat :-)

Day 8-13

Somehow managed to delete the rest of the trip diary. But in short, I visited Léo (whom I met in Taipei) in Paris, couchsurfed at Aurélie's place in Charleville-Mezieres, visited Heidi (whom I also met in Taipei) in Maastricht, Bedrana (whom I met in Copenhagen) in Dortmund, Kathi (whom I met in Hamburg) in Hameln and finally got back to a yet again relieved mom in Hamburg.

Trip summary: 2.537 km / 132 l fuel / 1.363 photos :)