Germany

 
I stopped at Germany at the end of the ride today, although I will go back once to Holland tomorrow, before going into Germany for good.

  
This back and forth is really due to the strange border between the two countries, when I’m the one going almost straight forward.

  
As I’m in Germany today, let me spill my German jokes right now, because really they’re the wurst.

How many Germans does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, the others didn’t get there was a joke.

But seriously, did the Germans ever have fun? Well they had fun once, but no one liked it.

There is hope though, there is hope for the future, as even if you’re very kind, German children will always be kinder.

Finally, tell people you love them today, as life is short. But shout it in German, as life is also kinda terrifying.

  
Now that’s out of the way, a little note about the ride. I left Eindhoven knowing it should be raining early afternoon. I did get a little bit of rain right before the border, but only ten minutes. Not, like, for seven hours straight! The sky was grey but it was ok, still nice bike lanes all the way.

  
The path took me through little Dutch villages, which were completely empty, like in France. They did look a lot nicer though. Most also smelled like shit, sorry to say, due to the extensive fields all around, and the copious amount of manure sprayed upon them. Hey you can’t have it all.

   
 As I reached the border, I passed these two tractor-wagon contraptions, handmade RVs of a sort. And a little later I was in Cleves, yes, just like the princess. As usual I strolled through the local supermarket. You can learn a lot about a town, region or country from that : the wealth, standard of living, social classes, how organized and clean people are here, what is important to them, what they put forward, if they are tricksy or protective… It’s a good snapshot of the people.

Plus you get to buy chocolate.