Copenhagen

the ride north from Belin was fantastic, i followed a bike route the entire way to the Polish border.it was very enjoyable to be on established bike paths for the entire distance. after arriving in Poland i changed my pans at the last minute and decided to take a ferry to Copenhagen instead of traveling through the Baltics. partly because my bike frame broke again where the rear rack attaches to the frame so i put some clamps on this time instead of finding another welder to braze the broken piece back on.

i met an American guy at the port before boarding the boat to Denmark, he was also bike touring around Europe and heading to Copenhagen. when we got off the boat he offered to have me stay with a friend of his in Copenhagen so we rode outside of the city to meet his friend early in the morning. for some strange reason his friend had two apartments and offered to let me stay in on of the apartments which was not being used. so i have been very pleased to have my own place to stay here, especially considering how expensive acomodation is in Denmark.
i am staying in a small suburb about 15km outside of central Copenhagen. my plan is to stay here until the middle of next week and then start riding to the north-western tip of the country and take a boat to Bergen, Norway and then ride as far north as i can. i really like the feeling of Denmark,the country has a very comfortable and civilized approach to life, the only thing is that it is shockingly expensive. need to watch my budget in a place like this. you go into a bar and order a beer and find yourself saying, "the beer is how much? 10 dollars, umm no thank you!"
another upsetting thing is that my camera was stolen out of my bag on my first day here. i had a lot of great pictures from Berlin which i had not downloaded so that bummed me out a bit. i need to find another camera for the ride north.things like this happen on all trips, i just try to not let them get me down and just get back up and keep moving on.
overall everything is going great and it has been a fantastic voyage and a life well lived indeed.

Berlin, Germany - Phase one of the grand bike Tour completed

Berlin

view from hotel balcony in Berlin

river crossing

Saxony, Switzerland national park - Germany

river ferry

CouchSurfing in Dresden, Germany

i arrived in berlin acouple of days ago and this marks the end of 'phase one'of my bike journey. i started in Athens, Greece on May,2 and have slowly made my way to the magical and historic city of Berlin. just like all the major cities of our world it takes time to get to know and develop a relationship to a place. time that i do not have on this trip, but i would love to spend several weeks exploring this fascinating metropolis.

phase.2 of the bike tour starts tomorrow (July,16). i am planing to ride north to the tip of Germany and then head east following thecoast through Poland-Lithuania-Latvia and then Estonia. From Estonia i hope to take a ferry to either Finland or Sweden and then
go to over to Norway and up North. will see how things unfold...

Leaving Bamburg, Germany

Here is a rough outline of my trip thus far:

leave Athens on May,2 2010 and ride to the port in Piraeus,then ferry to Santorini.
Santorini to Heraklion, Crete. ride the coast to Kissamos and take ferry to Gythio.
Gythio to Sparta and then to Kalamata. train to Patras.
From Patras another long ferry ride to Bari,Italy. from Bari to Susa, Italy and over the alps to Grenoble,France.
Grenoble to Geneva, then to Neauchatel and Bern,Switzerland.
from Bern to Lucerne. Lucerne to lake Constance.
took a boat across the lake and went to Munich from there. Munich to Bamburg. Bamburg to Dresden and then finally to Berlin.
this is obviously a very concise outline just to provide a general idea of the direction i took on my route,about 4000 km ridden so far.
below is a map showing the route taken.

i am looking forward to new roads to the east and north. the journey continues!

Words of wisdom and advice from the late Pema Norbu Rinpoche

All the sufferings are caused by our own past actions, without which it cannot happen. Therefore, all of us must act according to the teachings of the Buddha and the advices of one's teachers, and in accordance with the basic principles of the Karmic cause and effect; love each other like children of one's family. When we face any difficulties about our wealth and others, we must be patient. One must try one's best to avoid cheating each other. Only the Triple Jewels can save us from the sufferings of the samsara. Although there are powerful gods and demi-gods in the world, they are themselves in the samsara as they are the embodiment without any defilement and with all the positive qualities. If one has the faith and respect to the Triple Jewels, they can save us from any difficulties such as disease, weapons, famines, and all the others as well as fulfill our wishes all through life and wealth. Not only that but also will one be able to avoid the sufferings of the lower realms in the coming lives and be able to tread on the path to the liberation till one attains the absolute pure field of Buddhahood. If one has fit and respect towards the Triple Jewels, they will definitely save us. So one must be accountable to the Karmic cause and effect and live in harmony with others. One must not give into any difficulties that one might face about life or wealth, otherwise it will only cause even more disease to our body and more sufferings to our mind without any solution. To think positively and having steadfast faith in the Triple Jewels, respecting the Karmic law at all times.

The blessing from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche for world peace.

Moving through Gemany - "i went to Munich and saw the Glockenspiel!"

standing on bridge in Bamberg,Germany

Bamberg, Germany

Bavaria

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From Bern Switzerland i rode to Lucerne and spent two days there staying with a lovely lady from CouchSurfing. i then made my way around Lake Lucerne on a very clear day. i was very happy to see that there was a bike path all the way around the lake. From Lucerne i went to Lake Constance and stayed at a campsite there for three nights. i really liked the town of Constance and enjoyed my time there very much.early one morning i took the ferry across the lake and followed the bike path on the other side. this afternoon i made it to a nice small village in Bavaria to watch the German world cup football match. it has been exciting to be in Europe during the world cup, the euros go crazy over this game.
the next day, when i was about 100km outside of Munich the right braze-on for my rear rack snapped off. so i rode to the next town and decided to put my bike on a train to Munich instead of riding with a broken frame. once in Munich i found a very festive and comfortable camp site filled with young backpackers from around the world. the following day i found a bike shop that was owned by a young aussie guy who happened to be a welder and was able to mend
my bike back together. not only that but he reinforced both rack braze-ons so that they are twice as strong as they were before. so i am confident that they can carry a lot of weight without breaking again. subsequently i ended up spending 5 days in Munich, there are definitely worse places to be stuck and i actually really liked the city and was a little sad to leave. i enjoyed spending my days in the english garden sun bathing by the river.
From Munich i went to Nuremburg, then to Bamberg which is where i am now. i am staying with a very friendly and accommodating guy. today he took me on a tour of Bamberg which was very impressive. Bamburg seems to be a very historic and unique place.
the next destination is Dresden which is said to be another important European city.

the journey continues....

Lake Lucern