Strasbourg encore and dance party!

I arrived in Strasbourg yesterday around 1pm.

I saw Michel and Veronique again and it was great. They invited me to a friend's party with "old people" as they called it. I had a great time there and had some really great food! The party guests were really interesting but the best part was the dance floor, the house DJ one of the party guests put on everything from Stromae to Michael Jackson. It was great just dancing around.

I have about 2 more days here before heading to Amsterdam and my plane back to Canada. Tomorrow I got a full day going around to the bank and closing my various accounts and tying up loose ends.

I wish I took more pictures but I was too busy dancing or enjoying the food haha. 

Peace from Strasbourg.

Bike Trip Summary

I am officially done my bike trip now. Here are some quick facts about my trip.

Total days of trip: May 20-June 27th (38 days/ about 6 weeks)
Total days traveling on bicycle: 16 days
Total distance traveled: ~800KM
Total time on bike: ~60 hours

Total cost including everything and I mean everything!: 839.96 Euros = 22 Euros / day

What I learned

The best size city for me is about 100 - 500 000 people. When it gets bigger than that it becomes too touristic and hectic. Every destination has its own charms and wonders but for me big cities like Marseilles and Barcelona really are not my cup of tea. Meanwhile small places like Toulons, Argles sur mur and Girona were amazing (just to name a few)!

It is not about the destination but the journey. Originally I planned to go all the way to Portugal but plans quickly changed as I was staying more than 1 day in each place and exploring it with my various friends and couchsurfers.

Sometimes its better to spend some extra money for a hostel when I want to socialize with people. Couchsurfing is great for meeting the locals but sometimes I just want to go out and party with travelers and I should have done that especially in Barcelona when I had 1 week to spend there. Plus it would have turned out to be more economical as with a hostel staying for a long time I could buy some really cheap groceries instead of eating out with the CS hosts.

I really enjoy touring around on my own bicycle. But as with everything everything in moderation and I really enjoyed spending time with others as well to recharge after the long stretches of solitude. 

Touring around with Katerina I learned if I were to do this with others there needs to be ground rules about who is navigating and no second guessing, otherwise it becomes a long process and a headache. 

What I did well. 

The preparation and patience. Sometimes my roads turned into gravel and instead of marching on anyways I took the time to look for other routes or simply walked. This saved me the trouble of repairing flats and my bike held up for the whole trip without the need for massive repairs.

Buying a small gift for the couchsurfers. I think this is just common sense, but I haven't been doing this prior to this trip with couchsurfing and I think it makes a big difference coming into someone elses' home with nothing in hand. It just makes a good first impression. I usually show up with a bottle of wine in hand now :D

Budgeting. I budgetted 30 Euros / day and spent way under that. In fact my last stop I kind of went overboard and spent a lot if not I would have probably stayed 10 Euro/day or something like that.

What I could improve on for next time. 

Carry less weight. I didn't think I carried a lot of weight this time. But I definitely could have shed some kgs. The extra pairs of T-shirts, pants and overall was not needed. It really adds up when the kms add up. Listen up for the next trip this is all you need:

5 pairs of underwear and socks, sandals, various tools for bike, electronics, one set of going out clothing, one set of lounging clothing, bike clothes, sun glasses, sun block, toiletries, bungee cord
Take out: bike lights, extra clothing

Plan to stay a maximum of 3 days in cities even big cities. It is better to be traveling on the bike then play the role of the tourist and see everything there is.

One of the most relaxing and fun days in Toulon on my CS's boat

Peace from Toronto.

Barcelona for one week

I was in Barcelona for one week. I have mixed feelings about the city.

On the one hand I met some amazing people like Karime and Sam my first couchsurfers. On the other hand it was really really touristic and big. Stopping in such a big place for such a long time for this trip was a bad idea in my opinion.

After Karime and Sam I checked into a hostel and relaxed there for two days. Then I met up with my next couchsurfer Marco and his sister Mariana. They are both working in the hotel industry. Marco is such a nice host, I stayed with him for 4 nights and he even drove me to the airport in the morning of my flight at 4am.

I also got to enjoy some local culture with Marco. He took me to Mondric to go rock climbing and introduced me to all his friends as we went out for tapas.

The last two days I spent at the beach by myself and read. The water was perfect and crystal clear. The only thing detracting from the whole experience is the amount of people at the beach.

I also met up with Hsing my friend who can speak 24 languages on my last night in Barcelona. He is in Barcelona to help his friend from Midland hostel find a job. Since Marco is a manager at a hotel I passed her resume to him, hopefully that will help.

Gaudi church

One of the cathedrals of Barcelona

Sculpture to represent the festival that takes in Catalan of building human pyramids. They build them as high as this sculpture which was about 4-5 stories high.

Me, Marco and Risa

Me and Marta the other couchsurfer of Marco

Marco took me rock climbing!

Parc Guelle

Parc Guelle

Olympic park

Pixar statue

Longboarders going down the steep hill

Hsing and me

Trying to sell my bike at the beach. In the end Marco's friend Tony bought it for 50 Euros.

My hat at in its sweaty glory

Peace from Barcelona.

Barcelona!

I am now in Barcelona!

I actually arrived yesterday due to a mishap in communication.  Karime accepted me on a last minute request.  When I looked at her profile it had said Calella so I had planned my ride to stop there.  But while on the road she messaged me and said she actually lived in Barcelona so I did about 50km more.  In any case I arrived around 6:30pm after doing my longest ride of about 130km.

I met up with her and her boyfriend Sam.  They are super friendly and Karime is Colombian Spanish while Sam is Italian Spanish.  They used to live in Calella but now for the summer they are in Barcelona. 

They took me around the city on our bikes and we saw many attractions in just one day.  Barcelona is such a big city and it was all very wonderful but also overwhelming at the same time.  I think in 1 week I will have a better sense of everything. 

Today Karime went to work and Sam and I visited his friend who was at the velodrome.  We saw a film being made there about the Spanish Olympian of bicycles and saw them practice in the dome. 

In the evening we plan to check out the park again and have a picnic there. 

amazing beautiful fountain at parc de la Citudella

Karime and her friends 

Magic fountain

I am standing ontop of a old Bullfighting areana which has been converted into a shopping mall. 

Sam and Karina taking me around the city. 

French station so named after the exodus of Spanish people into France.

Giant mammoth at Parc de la Citudella 

Peace from Barcelona. 

Girona

Today I explored Girona and found a little place of heaven. 

After saying goodbye to Noëlie I rode my bike towards the old Cathedral.  The city center is encompassed by a dense wall.  It was well maintained.  I walked around the outside perimeter until I passed by a beautiful garden that was teeming with huge oaks and various exotic plants and animals.  The lush vegetation provided great relief from the blaring sun.  I know now why Spain has the siesta during the middle of the day! 

I also checked out the old pond again and explored the various nooks and crannies of the old town. 

In the afternoon I returned to the garden and took a 2 hour nap!  It was so refreshing.  Coming back to my bike I saw some street event that was taking place.  There were mountain bikers rushing down the castle walls into the small streets below!

Finally I came back on my bike to Julio's place.  Tomorrow's destination is still up in the air.  Still trying to find couchsurfers in the Spanish coast right before Barcelona and not having much luck. 

I think Mataró is a good destination so I might just get a hostel there if I don't find anyone tonight. 

Amazing garden inside the old city

Me and Julio!

Peace from Girona.