Final thoughts from Europe!

So, we stayed in five countries while we’ve been away, starting in France, ending in the Netherlands and fitting Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the middle!

There was much coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth, on televisions and radios. We weren’t expecting that, neither did we expect expressions of sympathy from people that crossed our paths. It really brought home how highly regarded her majesty was outside the UK.

I think we made it clear that cycling in mainland Europe is generally a joy. As to the roads? I’m not sure we saw a pothole. The journey home from Harwich, while not a joy, was more pleasant than the M25 but the state of the A120 meant we knew we were home!

Since we left, almost two weeks ago, probably 90% of our meals have involved cheese. Porridge is a bit of a shock for breakfast, as is making our own meals and clearing up after ourselves.

As has become usual, we thought we’d record our most memorable thoughts.

Starting with Ken. He pays tribute to his car for its fortitude and resilience in transporting them to a place of great infrastructure maintenance and putting up with the potholes on the M20 on the return journey without complaint. All more exceptional because Ken does not have a great track record of caring for his cars

Jacky just loves the Bodensee, the weather was fantastic, the scenery stunning and, she believes, she was blessed with good company! She will also remember the many lengthy debates over which route to take!

John gives the award of ‘Best cleanliness and maintenance’ to Germany and he quite likes that you can tell when you leave Germany for Belgium. It has nothing to do with border signs and everything to do with a significant change in the quality of the road surface.

As to Kim, she had carefully worked out where she could put her bike on a train at every stage of the holiday and didn’t consider it once.

And, although a day late in publishing, happy birthday to Ken