Country-change!

I got to stay in the nice couples house so I could sleep for as long as I wanted. I went up by ten o’clock, took a shower and then went down for breakfast (that was already on the table. I do feel spoiled sometimes while traveling like this!).

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Aad came back from Utrecht at 1225, so I met him to pick up my rain clothes and say goodbye. It was a really nice stay, especially during the circumstances (that is, not having anywhere to sleep).
I then started to bike to my next destination: Gierle. I had another Warmshower answer who told me she had actually moved, but her parents could probably host me, so I contacted them and got an OK pretty soon!
With 42 kilometres left I stopped for a brake and ate a sandwich I had gotten with me from the breakfast. I also took the time to take some new profile pictures for Warmshowers and Couchsurfing as I do not longer have my long blue hair!

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I then continued, and after a while it started appearing Belgium flags everywhere. Apparently I had crossed the border without even noticing!
The vending machines seem to be pretty popular here. For snack I bought some waffles and a cola, which was actually good, and cheap according to me!

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I went the last distance, but had problem finding the house. Apparently the road is some sort of three-way, but after finding someone who knew the road, I found the house right away.
This couple, Agnes and Gilbert, was also really nice. They lived in a really nice house on the outskirts of a small village. They did have some trees and plants they got fruit and vegetables from, and also chickens. They had also traveled by bike earlier, for example in Marocko, and had some nice pictures in a calendar from the trip!
Also, the blog view from tonight was really nice!

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‘s-Hertogenbosch

Or Den Bosch, as they apparently call it, was my next goal. It was only 77 kilometres according to the GPS, so I did not feel any pressure at all.
I ate another late breakfast at Normas place, and then hanged around until 1200. I started biking, and this day it was really hot, so I put on suncreen and did not have to use any jacket or trousers. Too bad that resulted in forgetting my rain jacket and rain trousers at Normas place, though. 😉
It was a really hot day. I do not know if this thermometer showed the right temperature, but it must have been right in the sun.

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There were a really nice biking way to Den Bosch from Amersfoort so I liked the trip.
When I arrived in Den Bosch, I went into the city centrum and found wifi. Apparently, I wrote the wrong date in my request, so I had nowhere to sleep for tonight!
I sent out some requests and then went to get a snack at the super market. When coming back to the wifi again, I tested warmshowers instead, and found a host with phone number written. I wrote an email and also texted the phone number, and got a really fast answer! I went over to his place, and he and his wife made some dinner for while I took a shower and were very welcoming, even though the short notice. Also, he is working in Utrecht, were Norma is working, so he will pick up my jacket and trousers after work day. Everything went well as always, and now, after some tea, blogging and also some stories and pictures from his trip in Turkey, it is bedtime!

Enough rest!

And so, I was biking again. It really felt strange to leave the place, so I guess I have been there almost too long!
On the way into the city, Kim made company with me as she was going to get her new bike back. On the way there, we met Lieka, which was lucky, as she still had the case and charging cable for my speaker, and then I also got to say goodbye to her.
After going separate ways with Kim, not much happened. As opposed to when I went the other way, this time I took a more north-bound route so that I would pass all the construction sites. I only had two small brakes on the way, as I had eaten just before starting to bike, and also would only bike approximately 60 kilometres.
Even though I tried to start late, I still was two hours early at Amersfoort. I spent the time on McDonalds, eating a cheeseburger but more importantly using their wifi and bathroom.
I met up with Norma and we went to her place. We had a small walk with her dog before going to shop, and then she made this really nice Chicken Tandoori. Second time eating dinner here, second time it was really nice! 😀
We then hanged out, talked, looked at some Simpsons and then switched over to the game. I started sleeping in the couch pretty early, so after Norma had walked the dog again I went to sleep!

…and a third resting day.

The resting days has been more than three, I can assure you, but at least I had a plan for tomorrow!
I woke up at 1049, and the swedish girls were going on a tour around the city at 1115, which I would not be in time for. We decided to meet at the central station at 1430, which meant I could go to the fashion show and then directly to the station, which would be perfect.
We ate breakfast, and then started biking. Kim had to get a check-up for her new cool touring bike, and I needed a new 3.5 mm stereo cable as the old one for the mini speaker was loose. After this, we went to the fashion show and delivered the cable, and Kim got ready for filming while I went around looking at the clothes and stuff. The exhibition was in an old brothel, Yab Yum, which apparently was a higher class brothel earlier but nowadays was used for art exhibitions and the likes.
The show was as the rehersal, but this time I got to see it with the right clothes, and I do personally think it was really cool! Just two photos to show some of the clothes, and also the surrounding:

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I think Lieka and her two mates did a really good work with the clothes and the choreography!
After the fashion show, I went to meet the two swedes. We hang out in Amsterdam until around 2200, before we were getting tired and also they had a time to be home at at their hosts place.
We agreed on keeping in touch as they were going to interrail some more, and maybe we would meet in another city!

…second planning day…

I did not really have a plan for which route, and wanted to go by one of the couchsurfers in Amersfoort as we only had time to meet for a few hours last time. She did not have time until tuesday or wednesday, so I skipped going south, thinking I would go by Amersfoort first.
We ate a late breakfast, and also a late lunch. I went into the city to join Kim at Liekas fashion show rehersal. The plan was to go to another place afterwards and see a couchsurfer play guitar live at The Candela. I got to borrow some clothes today so I dod not have to wear my usual beige shorts with black bike shirt!

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At the fashion show rehersal, Kim had to test shooting angles as she was going to film, and I went into the city in the meantime. There, I visited the ordinary places, the old church, Red light district and looked around at all the coffee shops and all the contrast. There were no strange sight to see small kids eating pizza with their parents close to the windows in the alley, which was really strange for me to see. Also, the usual “church in background of red light district”-picture:

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I managed to see some swedish brands on backpacks and a sleeping bag on a pair of backpackers, so I asked them if they were swedish. Apparently they were, and we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses so we could maybe meet tomorrow!
After the sightseeing I tried to find my bike, which was impossible. I had a GPS tag, but I had put it out too late, and thought I would find it anyway. After half an hour of circling the canal, I looked at the map, and found another canal parallel to the first one, less than a hundred metres away. At that canal I found in less than five minutes, but I do was scared for a short time!
I met up with Kim, who was also going home, and biked home. We ate some small dinner, and then Lieka told me that their portable stereo had been stolen, and asked me how strong my mini speaker was. Apparently, it was strong enough, and I had no problem letting them borrowing it. This also was excellent for me, as I needed to stay one more day before going to Amersfoort. It felt like I had stayed for a pretty long time, but when you are able to help, it does feel better! 😀

Planning day…

This day, I did not really do much. I slept for pretty long, and did not went up before 1300. I ate the pancakes I had brought from Sweden for breakfast.
I wrote some for the blog, and then borrowed Kims computer for some planning. I spent most of the afternoon looking at South park in the living room, just relaxing. It felt really strange to not have a time plan any more!
I went with Kim and shopped for dinner, were “we” (mostly she) made some sort of nice spaghetti thingie.

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Too bad she had to leave it as Sufraen (I still do not know how to spell it right) had a flat many kilometers from home, so she went with his van and picked him up. Some more South Park for me, and then had some nice talk before going to sleep!

Going back again!

We woke up pretty late, as we did not really have any time to pass.
The day got started with us actually shaving my head. From now on I will let it grow and hopefully not touch it in a year, to see how it will grow and look like in the end!

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We then made pancakes (Yeah. I do like pancakes.) which we ate outside in the garden. It was really nice weather, really sunny, and perfect for breakfast.
When Astrid had gone home, I started packing for my trip back to Amsterdam. The rest of the afternoon I spent with my parents.
We ate a late lunch at Pizza Hut some kilometres from Arlanda, and Tim and Maria also joined us which was nice! After the pizza my parents drove me to Arlanda, where I checked in and then waited some time with my parents before going through the security check. Everything went well, but this time I also got to wish for seating, so I chose emergency exit at the windows, which would show to be a really good choice.
When I had boarded, it appeared as I did not have anyone sit beside my. That meant three seats for me, with extra space for the legs!

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The service was as good as the other way, so I ate as many sandwiches and cookies as I could. Think it ended with three or four sandwiches this time too.
On the airport, I had missed the bus by just some minutes, so I had 26 minutes to wait. I spent the time with the free wifi inside the airport. I came back to Kim, Mira and the others at around 2300 and was pretty tired. Even though, I tried talking with Ronja over the phone, but in the end I was apparently too sleepy!

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So after this, I felt it was time to go to bed. 😉

Home to Sweden

So, today was the day. After a pretty late breakfast I pitched my tent so it could dry as the last time I pitched it it was raining.
After that I went to cut my hair. As it was in bad condition, and I would also not be able to take care of it while biking, I was going to cut it short. Because I was going to attend my brothers marriage, I went to a hairdresser instead of just doing it myself or letting a friend do it. It was nice for being that sort of haircut, even though it was not really my style.

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I then packed my last stuff and packed my tent again before taking the bus to the airport. The flight was leaving at 1700, so I would be in Sweden at 1900.

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The service on the airplane was good. Even though it was only a two hour flight there were free drinks and sandwiches, which was nice as I had not eaten any real dinner yet.

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I took the flight bus from the airport and my dad picked me up in Västerås. We went home and I met Lizzie for the evening and, of course, made pancakes as I was almost home again!

Resting in Amsterdam

The day started with breakfast as usual, even though it was a late one. I made some porridge and then started writing for the blog.
I then went out to buy new tubes as I needed two new ones. After that I changed the tube as the valve was broken.
After that I made lunch from the leftovers since yesterday’s dinner.

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When I had eaten I felt really tired and went sleeping for 2.5 hours.
After that I went into Amsterdam. I explored a bit but also used an internet cafè to print my ticket, as I will have to fly home for my brothers wedding!
I came home around eight, and then went to shop ingredients for dinner. As it was a while ago I ate it, I made pancakes. What else!

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It was awesome, and Kim and Sufraen joined me for dinner.
After that I organised some more to pick out what I should bring home.
I went downstairs to Sufraen and Kim again and continued writing. When done I sat there for another hour and talked about stuff but also we fixed a plug for some lights as the plug had come loose.
After that I looked at another movie, and then went to sleep!

Arriving in Amsterdam!

As I had only 60 kilometres left, I did not feel like I had to be hasty about things. I ate breakfast with the others around ten or something, and as always, I love breakfast!

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After the breakfast I fixed the squeakiness in the doors at Annas place with my bike oil. It sounded much better afterwards – or should I say nothing?
After that it was time for Sam and Anna to go, and we took some good bye photos!

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As it rained outside, I took my time and did not leave before around 1200. I though it would only take about three hours to the next place, but so wrong I was!
I started with going by a scooter shop and pump my tire for real. Even though, after 35 kilometres it started to feel like a drag in the bike again, but I thought I was just paranoid.
When closing to Amsterdam, with 20 kilometres left, apparently they are reconstructing the roads everywhere, and I had to find a way around. When I after half an hour found the right re-routing road I started loosing more air in the wheel. I borrowed a cycle pump, but then, after 100 of metres, it was empty again. Not good!
I stopped and picked off all of my stuff. This time, I found what was making the punctures, as a small shard of glass had gone through the tire and made a small hole into the tube. I took the shard out and put a patch on the tube. So far so good.

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Then, while pumping the tire with my small bike pump, I managed to break the valve. I had enough air in, but I could not get the hose off of it, so I just used duct tape to fix it to the wheel so I could continue and arrive sometime.
Enough was not perfect, so it did not go as fast as it usually did, and also I had headwind. I arrived at 1715, which was two hours later than I had planned for… I am happy this was not an ordinary long biking day.
There, I met Kim at the house. This was also a community, with people from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, plus some Dutch people.
Some were at their home countries or elsewhere but I got to meet Mira, the girl from Finland, as she were at home. I went with her to the store and we bought food to make dinner together. We made a nice pasta salad and drank my liquorice tea!

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I then broke loose the hose for my mini pump as it was still attached to the valve, and also unscrewed the remaining bits that were in the hose.
I also started organising my things as some of stuff will be brought home because they are not needed, some I am finished with and some will be put in the trash.
I ended the evening by eating of some of the liquorice I bought at the store and looked at “Into The Wild” as I had never seen it before, actually. I really hope I will never try something like what he did unprepared!