Welcome to Amsterdam

We made it to Amsterdam! The Freedom From Fuel Tour has officially gone international.

We have the good fortune to have a wonderfully kind and helpful friend who works for Delta who helped us get standby tickets for a fraction of the price of normal plane tickets. When you fly standby, you know that you will get to where you need to go, but you can't be sure when you will get there. We were super lucky- we not only both got a seat on the first flight we tried, but the seats were next to each other, and in first class! It was a ridiculously luxurious experience. We felt very grateful, if not a bit guilty, enjoying a celebratory glass of champagne and being able to watch our pick of movies, recline to horizontal, and wash our faces with warm, lemon-zest-imbued wash cloths. What a way to kick off the tour!

We got to Amsterdam around noon local time, and set to work putting our bicycles back together. Even using big Amtrak boxes (69 x 41 x 8.5"), we had to disassemble our recumbents more than standard bikes. We were a bit dazed from the 7 hour time difference and only a few hours of sleep, but we were happy to be outside in the sunshine!

A veritable bicycle tunnel! It goes under a runway, right outside the airport.

A bicycle DETOUR!!! It seems that in the U.S. nobody takes the time to implement anything to help cyclists if their path is closed. For example, we came to a similar bike/ ped bridge in Virginia on our East Coast trip this past summer, only to find it closed, impassable, and with no suggested detour. Here, they have poured a concrete path around the construction, which lead to a short temporary bridge onto the half of the bridge that remained. Really outstanding care for cyclists here in the Netherlands!

Biking through a park southwest of Amsterdam.

A few shots of the communal kitchen at our camping-hostel near Amsterdam for our first evening in Europe.

We're very excited to explore Amsterdam over the next couple days, then head off to explore more of Europe. Below are the shows Paul is playing in Europe, which gives you an idea of our route. If you know anyone along our route who we should say hello to, let us know!

2016 European Tour Dates​
5 July Amsterdam, NL De Nieuwe Anita
22 July Cologne, DE Kulturcafe Lictung
24 July Stopperich, DE Solawi Stopperich
26 July Kriftel, DE HP Velotechnik
28 July Mannheim, DE Kulturbrucken Jungbusch
29 July Maisbach, DE SoLawi Rhein-Neckar
30 July Ludwigsburg, DE House Concert
5 August Munich, DE Kaffee Giesing
6 August Munich, DE Ligsalz8
14 August Degersheim, CH Oekodorf Sennruti
15 August Winterthur, CH VeloPlus
17 August Zurich, CH Bar 3000
23 August Freiburg, DE Anti-Atom Freiburg
26 August Strasbourg, FR Bretz-selle 
27 August Cologne, DE Klimacamp
9 September Paris, FR Cyclo Camping Intl.
21 September Lille, FR University of Lille
23 September Brussels, BE House Concert
24 September Lovendegem, BE Cohousing Vinderhoute
28 September Amsterdam, NL Einde van Wereld