All Trip Photos | Top 16 Photos | Map of Trip | Detailed Journal | Itinerary |
Miles Biked: Total bike miles about 500.4 miles
Days of biking: 16 days
Location: Iceland, Netherlands, Belgium and France
Flight information
Total Expenses: ~= $6810.70 USD
Itinerary
Day 1, Saturday, May 7, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 0 miles for trip (did cycle 17.37 miles before leaving Portland)
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA to Seattle, Washington, USA, boarded flight to Reykjavik, Iceland
Points of interest:
1. Took the max with my 2 suit cases from my house to the Portland airport.
2. Read about Iceland to try figuring out what to do when I arrive in Iceland the next day.
Expenses: None
Accommodations: Slept on Plane
Day 2, Sunday, May 8, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 0 miles
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland to Vic, Iceland
Points of interest:
1. My luggage did not show up in Iceland.
2. Bingvellir National Park
3. Haukadalur valley - Geysir Hot springs
4. Gullfoss waterfalls
Expenses: 23,026 ISK and $229.46 US – Transportation, food, gas and lodging
Accommodations: Slept for a few hours at Puffin Hotel in Vic, Iceland
Day 3, Monday, May 9, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 22.32 miles
Location: Vic, Iceland to Reykjanesbaer, Iceland.
Points of interest:
1. Only slept 4 hours
2. Jokulsalon Lagoon
3. Dyrholac cliffs
4. Eyjafjallajökull volcano that had erupted on April 4th, 2010.
5. Cycled the Reykjavik water front.
Expenses: 25,227 ISK – Gas, food and lodging
Accommodations: Slept for a few hours at a Alex guest house in Reykjanesbaer, Iceland
Day 4, Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 0 miles
Location: Reykjanesbaer, Iceland to Amsterdam, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. Took about an hour to return rental car, check in baggage and get through airport security.
2. Easily took the train from Amsterdam airport to Amsterdam central station.
Expenses: 40.5 Euros and $2.5 US – Transportation, ATM fee and food
Accommodations: Slept on Frederick’s house boat – Air BNB that Nancy reserved
Day 5, Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 33.2 miles
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. Nancy rented a bike.
2. We cycled the route of the city tour buses.
Expenses: 56.83 Euros and $2.5 US – Food and ATM fee
Accommodations: Slept on Frederick’s house boat – Air BNB that Nancy reserved
Day 6, Thursday, May 12, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 38.5 miles
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. Got on car only road with my bike and got cursed at by a man in a car.
2. A Lady offered me coffee when I was resting on a bench.
3. I ended up on a one way bike trail and got cursed at.
4. Nancy and I took a Canal tour.
5. We went to the wax museum.
6. We went to the ice bar for drinks
Expenses: 87.82 Euros – Food, Wax Museum, Ice bar and souvenirs
Accommodations: Slept on Frederick’s house boat – Air BNB that Nancy reserved
Day 7, Friday, May 13, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 13.93 miles
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. Cycled North Amsterdam
2. We boarded the Angelina with our gear.
3. Then we went to a bike shop and I went for a walk while Nancy did her Laundry
4. We joined the others on the tour at about 5:00 PM to get dinner
Expenses: 176.37 Euros – Food, souvenirs and MicroSimms
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 8, Saturday, May 14, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 10.34 miles
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands to Vianen, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. I walked to Jordaan neighborhood and checked out the open markets
2. The bike tour meet time was noon and departure was 1:00 PM. I arrived at the boat around 12:30 PM and everyone was already there and waiting for me.
3. The boat left Amsterdam a little about 1:00 PM and we stopped for a short bike ride that evening.
Expenses: 2 Euros – Food
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 9, Sunday, May 15, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 40.6 miles
Location: Vianen, Netherlands to Gorinchem, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. Day started with a little rain, probably the heaviest rain of any day on this trip.
2. Found an open windmill and received a free guided tour, while everyone else was on a coffee break.
3. Went to glass blowing demonstration.
4. Saw a stork in its nest on a pole.
Expenses: None
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 10, Monday, May 16, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 29.15 miles
Location: Gorinchem, Netherlands to Den Bosch, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. We walked the city loop trail of Woudrichem
2. We walked around Den Bosch.
3. Took the under the city canal tour in Den Bosch.
Expenses: 3.75 Euros – Food
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 11, Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 31.2 miles
Location: Den Bosch, Netherlands to Geertruildenberg, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. We check out the outside of a concentration camp (camp vught)
2. Lots of white asparagus farms.
Expenses: 7.9 Euros – Food
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 12, Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 42 miles
Location: Geertruildenberg, Netherlands to Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands
Points of interest:
1. Visited Saint Peter's cathedral in Oudenbosch
2. Walked around Bergen Op Zoom.
Expenses: None
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 13, Thursday, May 19, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 38.19 miles
Location: Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands to Antwerp, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. Crossed the border from the Netherlands to Belgium
2. Visited a section of an electric fence from WW1.
3. Stopped at wilderness area where I hiked on some of the trails.
4. We walked up the stairs to the roof of the MAS building.
5. Came across the Red light district in Antwerp
Expenses: 26.5 Euros– Bottle of rum
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 14, Friday, May 20, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 0 miles
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. Went on walking tour of Antwerp with Eddie.
2. I came across the area where they cut diamonds and was told not to take photos in that area.
Expenses: 5.65 Euros– 4 beers
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 15, Saturday, May 21, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 38.65 miles
Location: Antwerp, Belgium to Dendermonde, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. Cycled through a tunnel under the Schelde River.
2. I got a neat photo of a castle with its reflection in a river.
3. Saw a neat naked lady sculpture near river side bike trail.
4. I got behind and had to follow a group of racers to catch up.
5. Went to an artist’s house/ gallery in the countryside.
Expenses: 10.5 Euros – Food
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 16, Sunday, May 22, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 28.48 miles
Location: Dendermonde, Belgium to Gent, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. We only had 5 people cycling, due to predicted rain.
2. Went on walking tour of the town of Gent
Expenses: None
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 17, Monday, May 23, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 31.17 miles
Location: Gent, Belgium to Aalterbrug, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. We took a small paddle operated ferry across a small canal.
2. We took a guided tour of the inside of the Ooidonk castle.
3. I walked on wilderness trails near where they park the Angelina for the night.
Expenses: 9.14 Euros – Food
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 18, Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 32.43 miles
Location: Aalterbrug, Belgium to Bruges, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. I was the bike group sweep and 2 times we got left behind the group.
2. I had a 10% beer at lunch time
3. Walked around the town of Bruges
Expenses: 3.9 Euros – Beer
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 19, Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 30.07 miles
Location: Bruges, Belgium to Ostend, Belgium and back to Bruges, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. Cycled by WW1 bunkers.
2. Went to Northern Sea.
3. Saw a wild pheasant in a field.
4. Saw a Belgium horse in a farm pasture.
5. Went on the Henry Maes brewery tour.
6. I assembled my Bike Friday that evening.
Expenses: 13.25 Euros – Chocolate bar, beer and beer glass
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 20, Thursday, May 26, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 19.78 miles
Location: Bruges, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. Visited main attraction.
2. Went on river boat tour.
3. Went up the stairs to the top of the bell tower.
4. We visited a chocolate factory
Expenses: 161.5 Euros – Food, tours and souvenirs
Accommodations: Slept on Angelina
Day 21, Friday, May 27, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 20.39 miles
Location: Bruges, Belgium to Lille, France
Points of interest:
1. Finally got my Hertz rental car
2. Cycled around Camp de Mar Park in Lille, France
Expenses: 126.34 Euros and $157.72 US – Rental car, food, lodging
Accommodations: Spent the night in the IBIS Hotel in Lille, France
Day 22, Saturday, May 28, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 0 miles
Location: Lille, France to Brussels, Belgium
Points of interest:
1. Got and lost a photo with Soldiers at the Grand palace in Brussels
2. Checked out peeing boy (Manneken Pis) in Brussels.
Expenses: 51.35 Eros and $134.07 US – Souvenirs, food and lodging
Accommodations: Spend the night in the Sharaton Hotel in Brussels, Belgium
Day 23, Sunday, May 29, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 0 miles
Location: Brussels, Belgium to Portland, Oregon
Points of interest:
1. Walked Nancy to the train station
2. Had trouble going from Downtown Brussels to the Ring road (took ~1.5 hours)
3. Once at airport I needed gas and got stuck in the parking garage.
4. At the unmanned gas station I had trouble figuring out how to operate the gas meter.
5. Took about 3.5 hours to go from my hotel in Brussels to the Airport gate for my flight home.
Expenses: 74.6 Euros and $2.5 US – Transportation, gas, parking, food and souvenirs
Accommodations: Slept on plan from Belgium to USA
Post-trip, Monday, May 30, 2016
Daily Bike Miles: 33.53 miles
Location: Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington
Points of interest:
1. Buffy’s Memorial Day party in Vancouver, Washington
Accommodations: Slept at home in Portland, Oregon
Post-trip,, Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Returned to work at 8:00 AM