With a little urging from Angie, I thought I'd write about a bike trip through Europe I took some 40 years ago. I joined a group of 10 the summer following my first year of teaching. First stop, London, just in time to watch Wimbledon tennis. We spent about three days there before pedaling up to Stratford (Shakespeare) and Coventry.
From New Castle, we ferried over to Bergen, Norway, then biked and bused to Oslo. The scenery was spectacular. My knee "went out" on me, making pedaling difficult. We took a train to Stockholm, giving me a chance to recuperate. Overnight stays were in youth hostels--some nice, some not so. Keeping track of my bike, pack, passport, etc. was stressful, I remember.

The 70 mile (in one day) bike ride through Sweden was most memorable. Over to Denmark, and down to Copenhagen. We would spend a couple of days in each city, going to museums and famous landmarks like "the little mermaid" and Tivoli Gardens. Then we rode through the Netherlands and Belgium. I won't bore you with details, but we did hit all the big cities--Amsterdam and Brussels--with its art museums and breweries(!).

We rode and bused south to Paris, spending 4 days there to see the sights. Some city! I discovered my high school French was useless. So far, the trip had taken 5 weeks. And despite all the biking, I'd gained 5 lbs. Pastries, bread, cheeses, chocolate were my undoing.

From Paris, we dispersed for 3 weeks to go where we wanted (We had to leave our bikes for some reason). Some rented cars, but ol' cheapy me hitch hiked, first across France, then through central and southern Germany. About half my rides were non-English speaking, but I managed. I went to Innsbruck Austria, over to Switzerland, and back up through the Black Forest of western Germany. This all took 3 weeks--no time to go to Italy or Spain. We all had to be in Brussels by a certain date to fly back to America (L.A.). I was in 12 countries altogether, including Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
The trip was quite an adventure--I've given you the nickel tour. Slide show upon request. Total cost: $1100, including airfare. Wish I could do Greece and Italy for that price now!