11 June: My colleagues and some friends came to see me off at the Grote Markt in Antwerp.
From there I set course for Disc, just across the Dutch border.
I wrote very little text for this part of the route because most of the rides through Dutch polder landscapes led.
Beyond Rotterdam, I drove for several hours beautiful dunes, to Katwijk by the sea.
In Amsterdam, I stayed two nights with Martin Harlaar and his wife Monica, who took part in a large-scale action over the weekend to promote raise funds for cancer research.
Beyond Amsterdam, I had to stop three times earlier than planned because of very heavy afternoon thunderstorms with tropical rain storms. For Almere the first storm forced me to spend three quarters of an hour sheltering in a concrete sewer pipe, for want of better.
Delft
In Germany, something more forests and began to make the trajectory a little more hills.
At Meppen, my first stop in Germany, I stood next to a +70-year-old man in a trekking tent. I asked him what his destination was, and he did not have one. He was staying in Meppen to work for a company laying gas pipes, this to pay for his growing children's higher education. And he had insufficient funds to pay for a hotel or guesthouse. This in a highly developed country like Germany....
Camping Meppen
Over the next few days, I cycled towards Bremen-Hamburg-Puttgarden to take the ferry to Denmark there.
At Puttgarden I was standing next to Martin and Marijke, a Dutch elderly couple who were also on their way to Norway for a photo shoot. Martin is a renowned professional photographer who did reports for magazine such as Vogue.
Seaport Puttgarden
Arrival in Denmark
Denmark is a fine cycling country. The cycle paths or quiet roads are better than in Germany and the undulations are mild.
At Strøby I camped next to a wide beach. The next day it was market day in the town and a pleasant bustle prevailed.
A few hours later, I arrived in Copenhagen. What a nice city and how lucky I was with the weather. Truly a southern temperature.
I strolled around the city, visited the Nikolay Art Centre and the 'hippy district' Christiania and booked a ticket for the night boat to Oslo, where I will arrive tomorrow morning.
A far too short visit, therefore all the more reason to come back again.
16 September: Opening the door at Diamondway Buddhist Centre in Tallinn The centre's meditation sessions are open
