The Balkans

After leaving Podgorica we decided to head towards Kosovo and skip Albania as the northern road there is poor and there have been reports of criminal activity (according to the travel reports I read).  The hills of course had to continue and there were plenty of them in the Balkans.  Seemed like every day we were climbing at least 1,000m. 

We exited Montenegro by crossing the border at Kula Pass and met a retired man from San Diego riding his motorcycle around the Balkans.  Into Kosovo we had a long downhill which was nice, but bad on the brakes.  Due to me being paranoid about the landmine situation in the former Yugoslavian region I have been insisting we camp in places where people have set foot on.  As such, we finally found a spot in Decan, Kosovo at a school.  There we waited until it got dark to set up shop.  Unfortunately there were some young punks around that never stopped bugging us.  A few of them were civil and nice but there was this one dumbass that was narcissistic and clearly enjoyed pleasuring himself.  He kept calling me ‘boss’, wanted to compare muscles, abs and chest sizes, and admired Trevor’s legs.  What really annoyed me was that he had to touch everything on my bike.  And try things on.  He didn’t know any English and I didn’t know his language so you would think there shouldn’t be much to talk about.  But he kept saying stuff to us and laughing.  He was making fun of us and all his buddies were laughing.  I really wanted to drop this guy flat on his face.  In the end we spent all that time waiting to set up shop but thought there were too many of them and there was the risk they could try something later in the night so we went and found a hotel to stay at.  I was pissed.   

Overall, Kosovo was pretty crappy.  The place really looks like it is still war torn with beat up buildings and filth everywhere.  What we did find peculiar is that there are many foreign plates everywhere… not sure if they are there to help the recovery process or they are nationals that immigrated to other European nations.  Because we saw many German and Swiss plates.  Pretty sure they weren’t there on vacation because Kosovo is definitely not on any hot travel destination list that is for sure. 

I had a few conversations with people I like to call ‘WTF just went down?!?’.  The first was in Skopje, Macedonia.  We spent the night at a park in the city centre and this guy approaches us on his bike and asks if we are foreigners.  I reply we are and are from Canada.  Since his English isn’t all that great I really don’t know what else to say so I continue cooking my pasta.  He then just starts to stare at me for the next minute and then all of a sudden says ‘sorry’ and cycles off.  I guess he thought I was a little annoyed at him staring at me which has some truth but I don’t think I showed it.  In any event, I was confused. 

The second conversation was with this pretty attractive girl in Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria.  She and her pregnant friend pull up to the McDonalds we were chilling at for the free wifi (nice to have that back albeit momentarily) and she tells me her car ran out of fuel and if we had any petrol in a bottle.  I say no, sorry, but there is a Shell gas station right behind you?  She then goes into McDonalds with her friend to use the washroom and sit down for a small chit chat.  Then they come back out and she asks me if I have any food because they are hungry.  I reply no, don’t have but you are standing outside a McDonalds and there is a Billa Supermarket just across the street.  Again, I was left dazed and confused.  Believe me this girl has to have some money because she has the breast implants to show for and they were on display for the world to see.  I’d like to think maybe it was a pickup line and I just didn’t clue in but I doubt that.  Pretty sure she was just trying to bum something off of us.

In other news Trevor bought a whole new wheel in Sofia after the rim broke while the mechanic was replacing the hub.  We did meet a couple of nice gentlemen while waiting for the new wheel.  One Bulgarian man told us how bad things are in Bulgaria and offered to let us stay at his place in the south. 

We are now in Istanbul after a few days of intense headwinds which was not fun.  Lots of nice Turkish people though.  One guy at Bim’s Supermarket gave us 2 free chocolate bars and then snuck me a loaf of bread from the delivery truck.  This other guy in his car stopped us on this intense hill we were climbing and gave us some refreshing towels.  Thought at first maybe they were teabags but nope, refreshing towels… we’ll take it! 

Tomorrow we cross the Bosphorus and enter Asia… 

The Balkans… and its many mountains. 

Another find!  This time 3 bags of Clipsy snacks.  Who tosses 3 unopened bags on the side of the road?  Really?  I don’t understand.  Still though my best find was the Apple headphones I found in Germany.  I am currently using them now after my old headphones died.       

This is the school we were going to stealth camp at in Decan, Kosovo.

Trevor navigating us out of Prizren.

As we were nearing the Macedonian border in Kosovo we turn a corner and there is this cow eating grass on the side of the road.  Unfortunately it gets startled by us, and then books it across the road and bam!  It collides right into this van.  The cow falls to the ground and I thought it was done for but it manages to get up slowly and staggers off.  As you can see the van took some damage too.  The driver was left distraught. 

Me at the centre of Skopje, Macedonia in front of a statue that bears an uncanny resemblance to Alexander the Great.  The Macedonian capital isn’t a bad place to cycle as they have a nice path that runs along the river.  Skopje exceeded my expectations. 

From Macedonia we went through Serbia to avoid what looked like a busy road to Bulgaria.  Here is some nice lake we passed in Serbia.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.

Here is the spot where I had that conversation with that girl.  As you can see Trevor is sitting outside a McDonalds and behind him is a Shell gas station.  You would think all her troubles could easily be taken care of here right? 

Had another quick cycle through a country, this time Greece.  It was easygoing there as the road we were on had a generous shoulder, something we hadn’t seen in quite some time. 

Doing some washing up in Turkey.  After another few crappy nights where my stomach acted up again I have decided to buy water in Turkey and onward.  I still am not sure what was causing my bloating and gas problems but I think the water may have had something to do with it. 

Trevor most impressed with the Aya Sofya.

Didn’t think we would get them the same day but here I am with our ticket into Iran.  Also if you look behind me there is a clothing store called ‘Paul Martin clothing’ and it says P.M.C. which I assume stands for Prime Minister Canada.  I found this kind of strange because I didn’t know our former prime minister is in the clothing industry, let alone having a shop in Istanbul?!  Maybe there is more to the story I don’t know…

After a stressful afternoon cycling around Istanbul trying to find a place to stay we ended it with a dip in the Sea of Marmara.  I wasn’t going to jump in but after seeing Trevor soaking it up in the water I couldn’t resist.  It was certainly refreshing because we were roasting.  Have to say Istanbul is not a place you want to cycle.  Steep, steep hills, loads of traffic, horn honking, crazy drivers and pollution of all kinds.  Trevor was almost hit by a taxi driver too.  Glad to be leaving tomorrow. 

Tensions are Rising

Leaving Austria was alright but a stupid wasp or hornet attacked my face kamikaze style.  It swooshed right in and stung my lip.  So for the next few hours I had a fat lip.  I was a bit worried as this was the second time I had been stung since I had been treated for my wasp sting allergy years ago.  Luckily I didn’t react and blow up like the Michelin Man. 

From Austria we entered Hungary for a super quick hit.  We cycled quickly through and had the pleasure of being poured on by a few thunderstorms.  After that we entered Slovenia and it was pretty good on the whole.  We were low on water so I dropped into a bar in this small village and this nice, young Slovene girl filled up all our water bottles and answered my questions about Slovenia. 

When we entered Croatia we had our first border check since entering Europe.  Never like getting out the passport and doing the border control thing so it was nice cycling through the EU.  We cycled to Varazdin and there found a hardware store called BeauMax.  I needed a strong cylinder to keep my broken post for my tent together and found one there.  I then spent a good 30 minutes in the store cutting the meter long pipe with a saw.  Have to say my shop skills need some work but I got the job done and now have about 9 of these cylinders and the tent is holding its own.  Sweet deal. 

We detoured a bit west because we wanted to avoid Bosnia and Herzegovina as that country has many unexploded landmines and it isn’t wise to venture off the roads like we do when we stealth camp.  I still was worried in Croatia as they too have landmines but not as many.  As a result we picked our spots very carefully, that is, we camped in public places or in towns where we knew there couldn’t be any landmines.  Better safe than sorry.

From Zagreb we cycled south and met a few Croatians riding to the coast.  We rode a tiny portion of the way with them.  Later in the day I was again stung by some annoying insect that had a full on assault of my upper body.  It really stung me hard around my chest causing me stop.  We passed Plitvice Lakes National Park which is a nice spot with beautiful lakes and waterfalls but I didn’t go in because there is an entrance fee.  From there we cycled down to Korenica and Trevor’s bike all of a sudden seized up.  His cassette was spinning properly and essentially his bike turned into a ‘fixie’.  As a result we had no choice but to get a room in Korenica and do some research on how to proceed.  Unfortunately the following day was Sunday and nothing is open on a Sunday so we were stuck in Korenica for an extra day doing pretty much nothing.  On Monday Trevor hopped on an early morning bus to Zagreb with his wheel to get the thing fixed.  The axle cone in his rear hub turned out to be worn and the bicycle mechanic said he would need to replace it soon.  The only dealer we know of in the region is in Sofia so we have had to change our route up a bit. 

Getting past Split wasn’t fun.  So much traffic and we were honked at a few times as we probably weren’t allowed on the road we were on.  As a result we got off quickly and took a longer way around town.  From there the entire ride down the coast was unpleasant.  It was hilly and when we hit the coast we were met with too much traffic going down to Dubrovnik. 

We are now in Podgorica, Montenegro and are contemplating our next move on how to go about getting to Sofia, Bulgaria.  The road getting here was very stressful as the drivers don’t give much room and there are no shoulders.  So far this former Yugoslavian region is getting thumbs down from both of us.  

Taking a breather in a park in Hungary.  We passed a thermal bathing joint in Hungary which is the thing to do there and in hindsight we probably should have stopped for a dip because we both reek.

Quick stop somewhere in Slovenia for a water fill-up at a gas station.

Trevor exiting Zagreb.  Little did he know at the time it wouldn’t be his last and only visit to Zagreb. 

Trevor bored as ever in a park in Korenica waiting for the weekend to end so he can get a move on to Zagreb and fix his wheel. 

Trevor outside the bicycle shop in Zagreb.  Job done but he isn’t out of the woods yet.

It has been so hot we take cover when we can.  Here I am in a dirty bus stop.  

Hasn’t been fun riding along the Croatian coast but there is sure some nice scenery.

We didn’t avoid Bosnia and Herzegovina completely as we had to cycle a quick 10km stretch or so along the coast.  Passed through Neum which was kind of nice.

The Adriatic Coast… nice.

Trevor looking overjoyed upon entering Dubrovnik.  He absolutely hated the city as he dislikes anywhere there are too many tourists that do the hop on, hop off, take a snap and go thing.  Plus the road was just horrible to cycle on.

Montenegro is super hilly.  But with hills you get nice vantage points like the one I am at here overlooking the city of Kotor.   

The Hills are Alive

 After we left Denmark we hopped on a quick ferry to Sweden.  From there we rode south towards Trelleborg and caught the early evening ferry back to Germany.  Sweden was pretty nice on the whole.  Quick and easy.  We arrived in Sassnitz around 22:30 and cycled in the dark until we found a camp spot.  While setting up camp my post snapped due to the corrosion from the salt that has been eating away at it.  That salt came from those storms back in Mexico.  Anyway, luckily I have this ring thingy that I put around it so it is holding its own at the moment.  But I worry that it too will eventually snap and I will be left with no home. 

Eastern Germany wasn’t as great as western Germany.  We cycled down many roads which didn’t have bicycle lanes nor any shoulder.  There were also parts where we had to ride on cobbled stone.

I didn’t end June very well as I had a very crappy day.  And I mean that figuratively and literally.  We cycle along the German/Poland border and Trevor spots an apple tree.  He has one but it isn’t quite ripe.  I try one and it is indeed bitter.  But I have a few bites.  Then later I have my flour mix with chocolate and/or vanilla and the last of my melted margarine.  Then we go to Poland and right off the bat there is a gas station with a free toilet.  We stock up on water but it is quite cloudy.  Later we cruise into a Polish town and eventually hit a dead end trying to get back into Germany.  I start to gas up but it isn’t bothersome.  Then we take this crappy road which leads to a sand road.  Complete crap.  Couldn’t cycle it and had to walk most of the 11km.  It was also very hot.  Finally get back onto a ride able road and manage to cycle it to a better road back to Germany.  Then we cycle to Gorlitz, a nice, picturesque town, and my stomach acts up.  I struggled with it in the late afternoon into the night.  Not sure what caused it…. the melted margarine, me eating too much dough, the Polish water, or the unripe apple.  I had numerous gas attacks and had to drop my shorts pretty much wherever I was on a few occasions in front of everyone to see.  Luckily there was a bush but still I provided a full frontal show for any passerby’s.  My stomach was a wreck.  We finally ended the day on the Polish/German border in a forest.  In the night I had to get up 2 times to relieve myself.  Gas, gas and more gas.  Loud gas too.  And the crap was crap.  The next day I didn’t feel great but eventually whatever it was got out of my stomach and I am now okay. 

Once we entered Czech Republic we were met with something we hadn’t seen it quite some time… a hill.  Not just one hill, but many.  On the whole I wasn’t a fan of the hills but Czech Republic was a pretty good country to cycle through.  They provided public toilets at gas stations and they have fruit trees alongside many of the roads we cycled down.  The cherries were in season so we had a lot of cherry stops.  Yum. 

We had a few thunderstorms in the night which I thought was a bit surprising.  The rain came down super hard.  I was a bit worried if it kept up that we would be flooded again.  Luckily it passed after a while. 

We are now in Stadtschlaining, Austria and will be heading south eventually towards the Balkans.  I am a bit worried about the mine situation in Bosnia.  Apparently there are still plenty of mines there.  Also some around Croatia.  We hope to not go deep into Bosnia and try and stick on the coast of Croatia.  We’ll see though.   

Here is Trevor somewhere on the outskirts of Malmo, Sweden.  These houses remind of those jelly bean houses we saw in St. John’s, Nfld.

In Germany we cycled through a number of roads that were surrounded by big trees just like this one.  Trevor says these roads remind him of World War 2.

A white stork and its babies perched high up in their nest in some German town we passed through.  

Trekking through the sandy road in Poland.  Not fun. 

Here I am down and out on that day where I fell sick.  Not good…

Trevor standing where Germany meets Poland and the Czech Republic.

Czech Republic gets big marks for having plenty of cherry trees on the sides of the roads.  They also have plum, apple and hazelnut trees but they were not yet ripe.  The cherries were quite nice.

Trevor washing himself at a fountain in Czech Republic.

This is the biggest vending machine I have ever seen.  You could get pretty much all your needs in there.  

Not how you want to go down a hill.  When you work so hard to climb a hill it sure sucks walking down some steep stairs.  Here is Trevor walking his bike down somewhere on the outskirts of Vienna.

Here I am just now in Stadtschlaining, Austria!  Great spot as I could dunk my head in the fountain behind me and I found this copy of the Economist.  Now I have some reading material for the next little bit.  Sweet deal.     

Stop and Go

A new continent!  But it almost wasn’t as we had some trouble getting into the UK.  We stroll into the border control at Gatwick Airport and I thought it would be a breeze getting in.  Originally the plan was to enter with our Canadian passports because we wanted the entry stamp so we could travel onward with them while we get the Iranian and Central Asian visas for our Swiss passports done in London.  Turns out that plan failed big time.  Because we flashed our Canadian passports the border official asked where our return flights or ferry out tickets were.  We had nothing to show for because we are on bicycles and the plan was to pay for the ferry out whenever that time came given it is difficult to provide concrete dates while cycling.  So we stood there with nothing to show for pondering what to do.  Trevor suggested showing him the blog to prove we were doing a bicycle trip around the world.  He wasn’t interested in that.  Then the guy starts threatening to put us back on a plane to Canada if we cannot produce bank statements or some ticket out of the country.  Some border officials really annoy me, like they don’t have to make threats or be mean when questioning.  This was one of my worst border control experiences… not quite as bad though as getting into Israel or the USA.  I then proceeded to tell him I used to live in London and worked there using my Swiss passport.  I don’t know why it never occurred to me just to let him know we are dual citizens as that would have made things a lot easier.  I guess when you are faced with adversity you don’t always think straight.  In any event he then became super nice and stamped our Canadian passports on the basis we are Swiss citizens.  Phew! 

From there we cycled into London where I was reacquainted with cycling on the left side of the road.  The ride in was alright.  Spent 5 days in London running around trying to figure out what to do about the visa situation and getting our bikes fixed up.  After getting nowhere going to the Iranian consulate (which is closed in London, they refer you to Dublin) as well as some of the Stans’ consulates, we decided the best way to go about getting them was to first do the Iranian one and then get the others when we get closer.  With the Stans’ you need to provide exact entry and exit dates and that is something we definitely couldn’t do so we will be getting them later.  I think it should be fine though as many cyclists do it this way.

The other task needed doing was getting the bikes fixed up.  We took them in to a bicycle shop in Central London and got them booked in for the Saturday.  We brought them in first thing Saturday as we were keen to get going again the next day or day after at the latest.  Due to some miscommunication which I felt was their fault, the bikes were in their shop until late Monday!  I wasn’t pleased.  I thought it was understood what needed to be done when we took the bikes in.  But we were talking to the sales guys and not the mechanics.  The mechanics usually phone you back and tell you what they need to do and need our confirmation again.  I didn’t have a phone so it was tough getting a hold of me but we did go back to the shop later in the day to see how things were going and no one ever asked us anything so we thought all was fine.  Anyway, we both ended up getting complete new drivetrains and brakes.  I also have a new front derailleur.  The mechanic was adamant on me replacing my back tire as it is showing the inner green layer.  It probably is time for a new one but I feel it will hold its own until Turkey so I declined.  He was shocked and said he would be surprised if I make it out of England.  Well I did.  And some. 

Aside from sorting out visas and doing up the bikes, I met up with a few friends which was really great.  Always nice meeting up with friends.  I would have liked to meet up with many more but we needed to get going again.  In any event, I am sure I’ll be back again someday.    

One other task I managed to complete in London was patch up my Therm-a-Rest!  Basically I realized on the first night of camping back in BC that I had a hole in my mattress.  As a result I would get up in the middle of the night a few times to blow it back up.  This happened every night all throughout Canada.  I finally bought a patch repair kit in Toronto but was too lazy to fix it up then and there.  I am proud to say I finally got the job done here in London and have had uninterrupted sleeps thus far.  Yes, it took all of 2 months to do this but I got the job done.  Productive I know. 

The ride out of London to Dover wasn’t fun.  We didn’t really plan our route before because I thought I would eventually remember the good way to get down to Dover as I had ridden from London to the southeast coast many times in the past.  But I screwed up and things weren’t coming back to me en route so we ended up following the A2 more or less and that sucked.  Narrow roads and lots of traffic. 

Cycling through Europe isn’t as easy as it was in Canada when it comes to relieving yourself, filling up on water, finding free wifi and navigating.  In England I had to use the little boy’s room so I went into a pub but the owner said there were no public washrooms, only for paying customers.  That was annoying because when you got to go you got to go.  A lot of gas stations don’t provide washrooms as well.  But we have noticed as we progress things are getting better on the washroom front.  We have seen some gas stations that provide toilets.  Sometimes though we (or maybe I should say ‘I’) resort to going in the forest on the side of the road.  I regret having to do this but like I said before, when you got to go you got to go.  We used to rely on McDonald’s for water fill-ups and wifi.  They have let us down… but we have managed to still top up our water there.  Except for when we tried in Denmark.  They charge 5 kroner for tap water!  I didn’t have it on me so we gave it a miss.  We tried using the wifi or WLAN as they call it in Germany but you need a cell phone and I think be on the T-Mobile network.  Not totally sure as my German is well, nothing.  I feel bad walking in talking in English in these countries… should at least attempt to speak a country’s language but we are going through so many it is tough.  We also used to get free washrooms at supermarkets in Canada but here in Europe they do not provide them.  With regards to the roads, there are many so there is a lot of stop and go, turn left here, right over there ,stop, remap, repeat.  This especially held true in the Benelux region.  Too bad we are not allowed on the freeways as those go most direct. 

On the whole, Europe has not been very exciting as we basically cycle through lots and lots of flat farmland, then pass through a quaint small town.  Funny though in Canada I would always wish for no hills or crappy roads and that is what it is like here in Europe.  They also have separated lanes just for cyclists.  So I should be happy right?  Well I am finding that all that stuff made cycling more exciting so overall it has been a bit dull cycling through Europe.  It is also confusing at times to ascertain if we are allowed to cycle on the roads because they have separate bicycle lanes on the sides of the roads.  Again, you would think we would like this but not always so.  One, you have to pass many others cyclists using these paths who are usually a lot slower and two, they have more bumps than the main road.

But I will say, everything has gotten better as we progress through each country.  That is, Denmark has been the best so far, then Germany, then the Netherlands, then Belgium, then France and then England (sorry England… but that was probably my fault for assuming the better route would come back to me). 

Now that we are in a new continent, we have new supermarkets to go to.  Trevor sincerely misses the Superstore and No Frills back in Canada.  He likes things in bulk whereas they don’t do bulk so much here in Europe.  For example, he would get 2kg bags of chocolate chips or peanuts in Canada but they come in 250g in Europe.  He doesn’t like that as it is too much packaging.  I don’t mind the new selection though as I have found stuff to my liking.  We have been stocking up at Lidl for the most part and they have what I need.  I miss my syrup but now my new thing is mixing chocolate powder with a bit of water and then throwing in some oats.  Super cheap.  And super delicious.  It is like having an oat chocolate bar.  Trevor is not keen on my new concoction.  He is missing out. 

 Europe definitely has more cyclists than North America.  I think though that has a lot to do with their well-maintained bicycle lanes.  It was kind of surprising though to see grandmothers walk out of Lidl with their groceries and then hop on their bicycles for the ride home.  Seriously, everyone rides bicycles here.  Everyone. 

We arrived at my Aunt Erna’s place in North Zealand on June 20^th and have spent the last 5 days eating, resting, eating, meeting up with cousins and eating.  It has been really, really great.  We also took the down time to do some intense research like where good bicycle shops are ahead, how to take a proper crap in the bush, how long it takes for crap to decompose, important stuff like that.  Also started the Iran visa process.  I sent in our information to an agent in Iran back in London and they obtained the visa code needed to make a formal application.  In order to pay this agent for the visa code I had to do an international money transfer to Thailand due to the sanctions against Iran.  Funny how a task you think should take no more than a few hours takes 2 days.  Took me a full day to figure out how to wire the money and when I finally do I expected a receipt to be sent.  There wasn’t one, just debited my account.  As such, I had to call my bank and try and get this.  So I spent day 2 on the phone with my bank trying to obtain a scanned email of this receipt so I could send it to the agent in Iran as confirmation of payment.  I was on the phone multiple times throughout the day but finally managed to obtain what I needed at the 11^th hour.  Happy to say I have the code and so we now have 3 months to enter and exit Iran provided the formal application process goes smoothly in Istanbul.  

We will be leaving North Zealand for Sweden on Tuesday morning as Trevor needs one more day to improve the map on the blog.  He is adding pictures to the exact points where they were taken en route.   On the topic of additions to the blog, I have finally added a video section!  I have taken a lot of footage from the 1^st attempt as well as the current one but have just been too lazy to post them to Youtube.  Well, maybe it was just I didn’t really know how to upload them before to Youtube which turns out is very simple.  Anyway, they aren’t very exciting and at times the wind overpowers my voice so they likely won’t win any Academy Awards.  Oh drat.  Plus I have noticed a few instances where I have spit or food on my face.  This happens at times when it is windy and when I eat oats from the bag.  Trevor of course isn’t kind enough to let me know I have stuff on my face.  Thanks.  

Once we got our boxes holding our bikes we pushed them through Gatwick Airport outside.  There, Trevor worked his magic and assembled the bikes while I went to the washroom numerous times.    

Here I am with my good friend Ewa and her young son Emil.  A huge thanks goes to her and Eddie for letting us stay at their place in London while we got the bikes fixed up.  They introduced us to a new game called Carcassonne which occupied many of our evenings.  Good times! 

Here is Trevor confounded in Dunkirk, France.  So many roads and no real direct route makes Trevor scratch his head.

Here is a donkey trying to get it on with a llama on a farm in Belgium.  A llama in Belgium!?  Anyway, I felt sorry for the llama as it was not keen for some loving. 

Trevor on the outskirts of Bruges. 

Trevor posing in front of a windmill in you guessed it, the Netherlands.

So we are cycling down this road in Holland and all of a sudden I smell candy.  Next thing you know I look right and there is Candy Castle!  Smelt so good sniffing the candy.  Shame though I couldn’t stroll on in and take samples. 

Germany is taking a lead in renewable energy and it sure is showing.  We have passed many wind turbines and solar panels along the way.  Good for them. 

In some small village in Germany we see this bus stop with a beat up couch so we stopped and took a breather.  Too bad all bus stops weren’t like this one. 

I guess Germans sure love smoking their cigarettes because they have these vending machines all over. 

You know you are in Denmark when you see that post box.

We don’t just cycle, we also kayak!  We spent an afternoon with our cousin Jan doing some kayaking in and around the canals in Copenhagen.  The goal was to kayak to the Little Mermaid statue but Trevor wasn’t interested as he wanted to take a dip in the water instead.  So he toppled over into the water and made a quick sprint to shore carrying his kayak in the water.  He quickly realized he didn’t like the cold water so we continued kayaking… slowly but surely.

There were plenty of bonfires on June 23^rd in Denmark for Sankt Hans aften.  We took a stroll around our Cousin Martin’s place with him and his family checking out a few bonfires.   Here is Trevor with our Aunt Erna in front of the biggest bonfire we checked out.  A huge thanks goes to her for letting us stay with her these past few days and ensuring we each gain 15lbs before we head off through the rest of Europe.