| TRAVELS - EUROPE |
| 2007 EUROPE GETAWAY AND ESCAPE PART 1 After what seemed like an astronomical amount of preparation and planning we finally took departure from our home at 6:30 AM in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. First by foot then by bus to the city center toting two small back-packs and our computer bag we boarded a taxi to the airport. Our 15 day trip getting to Europe that began April, 19 took a convoluted route on a variety of conveyances by foot, by bus, by taxi, airplane, shuttle, ship, train and ultimately bicycle. read more |
2007 Getaway and Escape
| 2007 EUROPE TRIP PART 2 - destination Nordhorn, Germany On the 19th of April Jane and I flew to Miami, spent two busy days purchasing two folding bicycles and boarding a cruise ship for a 12 day trans-Atlantic crossing to Barcelona, Spain. We spent a glorious fun-filled week in Spain sightseeing and stuffing ourselves on their superlative cuisine. Next we flew to Münster/Osnabrük, Germany via Palmas de Mallorca, Spain and then crossed the snow-capped Alps on the way. Bicycling north to our final destination of Nordhorn, Germany we took a four day layover in the city of Rheine, ironically situated on the Ems River not the Rhine. read more |
| 2005 EUROPE TRIP PART 1 - MSC OPERA CRUISE TO GENOA Our annual trek to Europe soon becomes convoluted. Jane spots a one way trip (repositioning) of a cruise ship while surfing the web listed with Freighter World. In order to reap the ultimate in pleasure and satisfaction out of our trip our imaginations lead us to one of our favorite pastimes, bicycling and how to incorporate this into our cruise ship getaway vacation. The ideal bicycle for this trip will be the small folding bicycles used by yachtsmen and European commuters. read more |
| 2005 EUROPE PART 2 - From Genoa, Italy to Nordhorn, Germany OFF THE SHIP: After 18 fun filled glorious sunny days of cruise ship travel aboard the MSC Opera with ten ports from Florida to Italy, we reluctantly take departure from our posh floating abode and hit the streets of the Italian port town of Genoa with our home made fold up bikes and backpacks. read more |
| 2005 EUROPE PART 3 - Destination Nordhorn, Germany WHY NORDHORN, GERMANY? After more than a dozen trips to Europe ranging from two to five months and visiting most countries, Jane and I have looked for peace and tranquility. We also live to bicycle and love law and order coupled with solid quality away from the tourist traps. This place is a biker's paradise. read more |
| Biking the Rhine River from Harrlo, NL to the Boden See Our way home was with a 30 MPH tail wind that had us flying along effortlessly. The only discovery was that our hands and feet were completely frozen stiff from the icy wet rain. We will have solved that problem before we make our departure for our trip up the Rhine River to Boden See .The government was setting our departure date. April 30th is the birthday of Queen Beatrix of Netherlands …the richest women in the world. The net result is that everything in Holland will be closed that day. Then the next day the Germans have May 1st as their day to shut down the country. So Thursday the 2nd of May will be our departure date. read more |
| Biking and camping in Holland and Germany then across the Atlantic on the freighter Irma and through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Cleveland - 2001. Our trip started in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico with a flight to Matamoros and a hike across the border to Brownsville, Texas where our camper and bikes were stored. This link is underconstruction Jan 2010 |
| 2003 Europe trip much delayed by war, our plundered finances and the high euro. This year Jane and I had a very wonderful and rewarding trip to Europe where we spent seven weeks. Though we only drove our camper van less than two hundred miles in all, we managed to put more than ten times that mileage on our bicycles…all nostalgically pleasant and fun. We got together with many of our dear old friends from years gone by to share our friendships and spend some quality time. I have not gone into the full detail of our wanderings but instead just given a sampling of our daily routines. Through photos and their captions I will present to you a closer look into our travels because like the old adage says, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. read more |
Europe 2003
| 2004 Europe - Fresh Air is in two parts. Part one is an essay by John M. Grimsrud- Dear reader; In this letter I will tell you about my observations of events, people and places plus cultural differences between first world and third world as I compare Mexico, Europe and the U.S. I am not trying to put a negative spin or in any way degrade these places that I love so dearly. This is just my critical critique, so I am not trying to be negative, only comparative. read more |
2004 Europe - Part two consists of photos of our favorite places in
and near Nordhorn, Germany where we rented an apartment and
visited beautiful places by bicycle. read more
and near Nordhorn, Germany where we rented an apartment and
visited beautiful places by bicycle. read more
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