Category: Europe Again 2010
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Everybody Loves A Happy Ending
I rode into my small village in the East Midlands, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two days after cycling out of it, whooping with the recognition of every stick and stone, following Tenny on her bicycle past the park gates, round the tight bend which it was always so easy to overshoot, down the leafy […] Continue reading →
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The Briefest Glimpse of Northern Europe
French Flanders had an entirely different feel to the still-summery Provence, where we’d left the Mediterranean grape harvest in full swing. The suburbs of Lille, with their steep-roofed red-brick houses and street-facing gardens littered with the orange and brown leaves of autumn, felt distinctly British in comparison. Continue reading →
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Approaching The Island
The last three weeks have been a medley of the memorable and the mundane in the south of France. I’ve found little time or opportunity to write about it, however; cheap internet cafés are practically non-existent here in Western Europe. Everyone has their own computer here , so it’s no surprise, but it’s something I’ve […] Continue reading →
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The End Of The Road Is Coming
It’s coming. The end of the road. One more border, one more ferry crossing. And it will be finished. I’m incredibly excited on one hand; terrified on the other. What will it mean? What happens next? Is it really the end of anything? Easy to philosophise away, this kind of thing. Another young Westerner returns […] Continue reading →
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Homeward Bound — Skipping Through Italy
I’d worked hard to fund the ride home. Never before while on the road had I felt sufficiently flush as to splash out on a fresh delicious pizza, or a mouth-wateringly flavoursome ice-cream, or a expertly-prepared cappucino on an almost-daily basis! Continue reading →
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Thoughts From The Far End Of Europe (Part 2)
I wrote Part 1 of this article about three years ago. I’d just crossed the south-eastern border of Bulgaria. Landscape and society was shaded with new colours, and the whole panorama of history looked increasingly unfamiliar: Byzantines and Arabs battled in place of Normans and Anglo-Saxons; exotic Assyrians ousted the quaint familiarity of the Celts. […] Continue reading →
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Europe From A New Perspective
I think having my wife alongside me for this, the final leg of my three-year bike journey through three continents and down one aisle, is going to be a really good thing. Continue reading →
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Confessions of a Novice Cycle Tourist
So, Tenny, what are you doing today, and why are you doing it? Today? Well now I’m drinking my coffee before I start sorting things out, packing, cleaning the flat, cooking… yeah. And why are you packing and sorting things out and cleaning the flat? Continue reading →