Last year we have discovererd the joys of sleeping on new ultra-light-compact-comfy air matresses (Thermarest Neo-Air). For this trip we got some for the kids too. They were supposed to be the tougher models. They indeed didn’t get punctured, but this isn’t quite comfortable, is it. The internal barriers between the chambers came loose with a funny popping sound. Anyway, they soon became “unsleepable”…. After trying to get help from the shop where we bought them in Brussels (“Sorry, you’ll have to bring them in. You understand we can’t just send you new ones” – Thank you very much for the customer service after being a customer for 18 years!), we contacted the Thermarest distributor (Vertikal) for Norway. Thank you very much to Catharina at Vertikal for helping us out, calling different shops to check which might have our models! We 2 new matresses once we arrived in Oslo. Thank you very much too for the people at Sportsnett., where we collected them and left our old...

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We have been meaning to finally send an update. First, the Denmark chapter is over, so we thought we might post a new album (Gallery > Denmark). We definetely have had a good time there. We will be coming back, maybe for a tour around Teltpladsen, we really liked that, but didn’t have the opportunity to test the sheds. Here’s a short list of other thing we really enjoyed in Denmark: – “Hej, Hej”: Everybody was just so friendly. It’s really nice to be greeted (“Hej,Hej”) by nearly all bypassers. – Rybrød: Rye bread, white bread, wholemeal bread, Kanelsegl. Wow, Jonathan had nearly (but not quite) forgotten how good the bread is in Denmark. And, oh, what a relief to get good bread after nearly a week in The Netherlands where all you get is mushy-mushy, soft tasteless bread (Though Holland does have quite a few other things to enjoy) – Milk, Yoghurt & Tilsit: Fresh milk, exellent dairy products, what a joy – Copenhagen bicycle city: Wow, tricycles (Jernhest, Bullit, Christiania, Nihola), workcycles (Omnium), city bikes (Avenue), singlespeeds even “Eco” bikes (Eco2Bike) and the cycling experience was really good too. Funnily, there are about as many cyclists as in any other town in the Netherlands, but it just feels different. More easy going, less get-out-of-my-way from other cyclists. And so much faster: cyclists zip round the city… The postmen had, of course, their own cargo tricycles. -The thing I like most being abroad is just going to the supermarket and see what kind of products they have or have not. Organic food is really integrated in Denmark, we didn’t find specific organic shops as we have but you can find a lot of organic food in the supermarkets. What was striking was the (not-organic, ha!) candy in the supermarkets, even the smallest supermarket had a really big rayon of candy and always a self-service with candy. (On the other hand, only few places we’ve visited had any kind of recycling scheme.) -Flag (and flag pole)-dealers aren’t about to be out of business soon. Danish flags are up and flying everywhere! Every self-respecting Dane should have one in the garden (should I put up a small flag in Brussels?). For birthdays and special occasions they’ll hoist a bigger flag, but only between sunrise and sunset. Miro and Smilla got to up the flag at Jonathan’s uncle Peter. -Youth hostels are another thing to remember. We really enjoyed staying at them in Denmark (they are of course called Danhostels) besides the camping. And always a nice breakfast, but why are they mostly on top of the hill? The name of the Ebletoft Danhostel subtitle says it all: KOM PÅ TOPPEN!...

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In Denemarken hebben ze een netwerk van “teltpladsen” vertaald “tentplaatsen” waar wandelaars, fietsers en ruiters kunnen overnachten voor maximum 2 nachten. Het is voorbehouden aan reizigers zonder gemotoriseerd vervoer. Meestal zeer primitief maar het is variërend soms is er een toilet en één waterpunt. Soms zijn er ook shelters, dit zijn kleine houten afdaken met 3 wanden waar je onder kan slapen. Altijd gelegen in het groen op een mooie plek en voor maximum 25 DK (3,5€) per persoon maar soms ook gewoon gratis. Een ongelooflijk systeem! Ondertussen zijn we al op 3 teltpladsen geweest....

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We’ve had quite a few people e-mailing us to know where we are now. So here is a page where you see it all: Follow the ne menu “Where are we (going)?” We´ll try to keep it updated.

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A few days ago, in Ebletoft, we had the pleasure to discover we brought some pets on our tour. They don’t weigh a lot, we don’t need to feed them, but they are pretty itchy. They have been travelling on the heads of Dominique, Miro, Smilla and Nisse. Have you ever thought about how to get rid of them while camping? We neither. No problem, go to the pharmacy, book a room in a hostel to use the shower and that’s that. Isn’t it? Well, no luck: the hostel is fully booked, all the B&B’s too. So camping after all , on a ‘Teltplads’ (more on these in another post) with a toilet and one tap with cold water. Nisse was lucky she was being treated in the evening sun, but for Miro and Smilla it was already a little colder and Dominique that was at midnight. This is the result: The photographer of this picture was also sleeping at the ‘Teltplads’. He was there for a wedding…which explains why we couldn’t find a place to sleep. No helmets for a few days until we’re sure that we got rid of them. By the way, we have tested 3 licecombs for you: – The patented Nicomb2 with double metallic row of teeth – The double sided plastic one with wide and narrow gaps – The classic metallic one with long teeth. The results are clear: Plastic is rubish, Nicomb2 gets some out. For a better result, stick to the original. Feel free to contact us for a full test report (50 € + P&P, Thank...

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After nearly 3 weeks of wandering around, the first cracks & tears start to appear. Our first victims were the childrens’ shoes on which we’ve had to sew some seems that had come loose. Then came the spray-flap that Jonathan had made which prevents water spraying up from the back wheel on to the trailer, getting Nisse soaked after a while. Here also a few hand sewn stitches got it back in place. In Holland Jonathan broke one of the retaining hooks on a pannier, scraped a whole into the bottom of that same pannier (it’s just hanging very low on the front racks of the Pinos) and Dominique broke part of a buckle. All in the same day. Luckily, since then, we haven’t had a drop of rain, not even a muddy puddle to ride through WE ARE SO LUCKY WITH THE WEATHER. Over night, coming from Holland, we gained 10-15°C. We did have some fresh northern wind on our first Danish leg from Copenhagen to Roskilde, but that was it. After a quite some time without breaking any parts, Jonathan managed somehow to rip a hook out of the back of a pannier: riding through high grass he hit a wooden fence pole. Again, we are so lucky with the weather. And as we hadn’t quite expected this weather, we left the big tube of sun cream in Brussels. We also didn’t really feel the sun as it has been windy. So on our second leg (Roskilde-Holbaek) Dominique got a sun burn on her left arm and Jonathan on his left foot (wearing sandals). Yes, it is silly. But, as it turns out, we are travelling aproximately either West around noon or North in the afternoons. So now it’s an extra layer of cream on our left...

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