| hey you guys |
[Aug. 11th, 2006|05:58 pm] |
So we suck at writing on live journal. Internet has been very expensive. So the beer is plentiful and nick just got over his sickness finally and the alps are beatiful. We have been biking through the alps for about three days. The big hill climbs are brutal. I worked muscles I didnt know you could use during biking. On the other hand Ive never gone so fast or had so much fun on a bike. Nick and I were easily keeping up the the cars.
Germany was very fun to bike. always a beautiful river to bike along. not many good youth hostels though. htey always sem to be a couple kilometers out of town. Pensions are cheap though and usually much more comfortable. Nick has been very sick and sleeping more than any human should. but we are out of germany and nick is no longer sick.
Austia is very beautiful but not many people speak english. we get by. we will try to write soon but nothing is for sure. anyone who reads this please say hi to anyone we know. we are doing well and will be back in the states in 12 days. "chow"...or something |
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| Ian's email |
[Aug. 2nd, 2006|10:49 pm] |
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I have heard much talk of this sendage but I have not recieved any. I am not sure where you guys are sending it but my email adress is Ian.Lawson06@kzoo.edu please send all Ian stuff there. adios. |
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| more tomorrow |
[Jul. 29th, 2006|10:15 pm] |
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this is taking to long to do all these pictures, I will do more tomorrow. and don't expect a picture of a hooker cause they hate that and people get mad at you. we were gonna pay a hooker to get our picture taken with her but never got around to it. |
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| PICTURES!!!!!! |
[Jul. 29th, 2006|09:44 pm] |
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we are in Bonn Germany right now and are luck is getting better. The biking is supposed to be awsome along the Rhine and we found an internet cafe that we can post pictures! so I will do a seperate post for each country, starting with France, then Belgium, then Holland. None from Germany yet, we just got here. |
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| allarma llarma |
[Jul. 28th, 2006|06:17 pm] |
Amsterdam is insane. We have been hostel hopping around the red light district trying to find the best deals. We,ve been here so long we now have a pizza place we go to every night...the owners know us... its so cheap and good.
anyways, nick got into an accident after a day trip to the north sea (the beaches were filled with beatiful and not so beautiful topless women). Nick was fine, just a few scrapes, but his bike was in pretty bad shape. we found a bike shop and he bought a new wheel. On our way home we realized that his fork was bent and my back tire had a leak. We resolved that nick should go ahead and I would lag behind pumping my tire every so often. with only five kilometers left until home, I discovered that this plan was impossible. Through some walking, a creepy but helpful guy, and very panicky bike riding I made it back to the hostel where nick had dinner ready for me.
mostly we have just been hanging out doing whatever. We went to the heineken museum and got got three free beers. on a day to day basis we go to our favorite coffee shop and talk with the owner about the kinds of coffee.
Also, walking around at night is hilarious due to our position in Amsterdam. Outside our hotel door we can see hookers trying to seduce anyone who walks by. They knock at their windows and point at you. its one of the wierdest things in this city. And there are tons of porno supermarkets. creeeepy.
tomorrow we take a train to Bonn,Gremany. It has taken us this long because nicks bike was in the shop getting the fork replaced. we are very safe and happy so no worries. We will write again soon.
adios |
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| Amsterdam!!! |
[Jul. 24th, 2006|02:05 pm] |
So we left Brugge on the 22nd and made it to Domburg in great time. It was the best bike ride ever. We didn't get lost once and about 97% of the time we were on bike paths. the North sea coast is amazing and before we got to domburg it was a perfect day. But being us, something had to go wrong. When we got to Domburg, we found that it is the biggest tourist spot for europians in europe. There were no places to stay within 40km of the coast. so we rode back to middleburg which was 11km in 23 min which is really fast. and there was no place there either. So we took a 15 minute train to kapelle and found a room there. Kapelle is around 40km from middleburg. Physically we were fine but we were very fraustrated and we realized we couldn't bike along the north sea anymore cause there would eb no place to stay. we must have gone 90 km of riding that day.
So the next day we realzid we could not bike up the coast cause everything was booked, even the capital city of Den Hagg. So our only choice was to take a train to amsterdam and try to find a room there. So we got into amsterdam yesterday and stayed in the bulldog hostel.Today were staying in meetingpoint hostel and then the two night after that we are going to stay at Christophers hostel. It is pretty easy to find rooms here.
But becuase we had to miss all that good biking on the north sea, we have decided to take a bike ride tomarrow along the north sea coast and then head back to amsterdam. Then we will spend a few more days in Amsterdam and then hope for good biking and rooms in germany.
Amsterdam is amazing. Our first hostel was in the middle of the red light district. Hookers stand in windows and try to seduce you and there is a coffee shop on every corner. we finally did laundry and we found a bike shop but it was closed today. still no speedometer but I have been marking on the map every where we go. The last few days we have been spending a little over budget and I have a feeling we will spend a lot in amsterdam. The hostels here are around 22€.
still no places to put the camera or the chip so we will post pictures some other time. keep posting, it is nice to here from everyone. |
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| Brugge is Beautiful! |
[Jul. 21st, 2006|03:28 pm] |
Yesterday we spent 10 hours and three trains getting from Compiegne to Brugge, Belgium. Our train passes work great and we can take as many trains as we want in a day. We only get 6 days within two months though. But that should suffice. We got into Brugge at around 11 and it was getting pretty dark. We biked around the Lively city for an hour looking for youth hostels. We found three but they were all full. Fortunatly, one hostel had two unfilled reservations that were given to us at around 1 am. We had a beer at the bar and then went to bed
Brugge is like the Rothenburg of Belgium. Only bigger, more lively, and more pretty. Today we spent the day walking around and looking for another place to stay because all the hostels were booked. We found a cheap hotel for 30 euro. Today is Belgiums national day so there will be a big celebration tonight. one problem we keep having is that every bke shop we find is closed. We also can't find a good map store that sells good maps of the Netherlands.
Tomorrow we plan to bike to Domburg, Holland but we won't be able to stay in the youth hostel because it is all full. Sorry that there are still no pictures, these computers won't let you plug in your camera. We will post again soon. Bye! |
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| Rough first day, but getting much better |
[Jul. 19th, 2006|06:17 pm] |
Our first day out took us 8 hours. It sucked. we left the airport at 11am and arrived in Creil at 7pm. We got lost alot, Ians bike had three problems and by the end of the day we were really exhausted. when we got in at è we went straight to bed and both had a horrible nights sleep. we only spent 18€ each the fist day though. The hostel in Creil was very nice but we met know one who spoke English. We actually have not met anyone who speeks English yet. But were actually doing pretty well with communicating in French.
Today was much better. It still took us a while to get to Compiegne which is where we are now. We fallowed the Oise river but it still took us forever because we got lost a few times and had to stop a lot. We left Creil at 9 and got into Compiegne at around 3. Compiegne is a great city and were having a good time here. were staying in a hotel which cost us 38€ and we will have spent around 60€ each today. We have decided though that northern France is too hard to bike through because it is taking us soo long to get to places. Its not that we get tired, its just we have to stop so much and it takes too long. and we are planning to take a train to Brugge Belgium tomorrow. I know the biking there and in The Netherlands will be much better.
Sorry there are no pictures, there should be many next time we post. And sorry for the spelling, these French keyboards are crazy. Hope all is well in Portland.
Nick & Ian |
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| Packing! |
[Jul. 17th, 2006|12:12 am] |
Hey we leave in 5 hours! Here is all of my gear unpacked and packed. It really isn't that much.   |
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| Hagg Lake!!! |
[Jul. 15th, 2006|07:20 pm] |
We biked 30 miles of tough hills. Thats 3 times around Hagg Lake.
Then Over 25 people showed up in the afternoon and we swam for hours. Here are some pictures.    |
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| Hagg Lake directions |
[Jul. 14th, 2006|11:49 pm] |
 Take the I-405 S ramp to (US-26) - go 0.5 mi
Take the US-26 W exit 1D to Beaverton - go 4.8 mi
Take the OR-217 S exit 69A to Beaverton/Tigard - go 1.7 mi
Take the OR-10/OR-8 exit 2A to Beaverton - go 0.2 mi
Turn right at SW Canyon Rd - go 1.1 mi
Continue on SW Tualatin Valley Hwy - go 4.3 mi
Continue on SE Tualatin Valley Hwy - go 1.0 mi
Continue on SW Tualatin Valley Hwy - go 0.3 mi
Continue on SE Tualatin Valley Hwy - go 2.3 mi
Continue on SE 10th Ave - go 0.6 mi
Turn left at SE Baseline St - go 0.8 mi
Continue on SW Baseline St - go 0.8 mi
Continue on SW Tualatin Valley Hwy - go 0.2 mi
Continue on SW Baseline St - go 0.9 mi
Continue on E Baseline St - go 0.7 mi
Bear right at N Adair St - go 1.3 mi
Continue on Pacific Ave - go 0.6 mi
Turn left at OR-47 - go 5.2 mi
Turn right at SW Scoggins Valley Rd - go 5.6 mi |
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| Party Saturday!!!!! |
[Jul. 10th, 2006|05:37 pm] |
We are going on a bike ride around Hagg Lake this Saturday and after we're done we're just gonna hang by the lake and have fun. Anyone is invited so call Ian and I up for the time we are all meeting there. It should be around mid afternoon. We want everyone to come because it will also be a good-by party for people who are leaving for college. We want to see those people that we won't see after we get back.
Nick & Ian |
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| hard bike ride yesterday |
[Jul. 10th, 2006|05:29 pm] |
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We went for a 42 mile bike ride on sunday and it was pretty hard. we biked to Sauve Island, then biked around the 12 mile loop, and then biked back. It was a pretty hilly ride and we arn't expecting that many hills during the first part of our tour. So we expect to go 50 miles a day. |
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eurocycle's journal
Beethoven's House!!
