Past adventures

Past adventures. A multi part post. Part one. In 1971 I went on a 45 day motorcycle ride in Europe. I was riding my BSA Lightning. I left Berlin by train because I couldn't get permission to pass through Communist East Germany and besides the Russians would have lived to interrogate me. I left the train in Helmsted in West Germany. I immediately headed west along small two lane rural roads. By sundown I hobo camped in a forest area near the Dutch border. The next morning I crossed into the Netherlands. I was amazed how friendly the people were not as stodgy as the Germans. I ate breakfast in a cafe having a traditional farmer's breakfast of fresh eggs, lean ham and potatoes. The coffee was the best. I rode through the countryside and stopped at a market to get some food. Everyone greeted me in English. I was surprised to learn that you get 8 years of English in school as they consider it the language of commerce. By afternoon I stopped by a canal to have dinner and had a good conversation with some young men and women about my motorcycle and culture in the United States. They gave me directions to the border crossing for Belgium. I ride on towards Belgium.

To be continued

Part two.

Part two.
I was approaching the Belgium border near sundown. The border guard was more interested in going home for the night so he raised the gate and flagged me through. No visa check, no papers. He wanted me to get as far away from him as possible. I stayed in a small hotel in a nearby village. The next morning I continued my wandering. I went to Brussels and Antwerp and say the sights then turned towards Luxembourg. Up to this point I had no real language problems. I found parts of Belgium spoke Dutch or a dialect called Walloon. In Luxembourg they spoke German or French. It was then I met another motorcyclist who was going my way. We hit the autobahn headed for the English channel. Along the way we stopped for a snack. The stand offered french fries in various shellfish including cockles muscles and clams. The French fries are the best I've ever had in the world. Instead of ketchup they serve tartar sauce. Also the shellfish were served raw. On the side you could have chopped onion and some vinegar. After a snack we hit the road again. As we're cruising along at 80 miles an hour it started getting foggy but that didn't slow us down. It was white knuckles until we hit the coast and made it to the ferry terminal. They loaded the motorcycle into the ferry and we lashed them down. The seas that night were stormy and it was going to be a rough crossing. We found a place inside where we could crash and catch some sleep. The ferry lurched from the dock about midnight and we were on our way to England.

To be continued.