The trip is going well although having to stick to a budget is cramping our style (if we had any to begin with). We have been very lucky with weather since our first day in Amsterdam (May 8th). We started of in hostels but have since started camping a lot as we both prefer it.
John has given the rough details of Belgium/Amsterdam. We have wasted a lot of time trying to find a place to stay when we arrive in cities. In Brussels we asked a policeman on a motorbike how to get to the hostel and ended up getting a police escort. The dutch are very friendly and they all speak English, as do most people so far (I must learn another language). We had a great time in Amsterdam with Mark and Diana but as you would expect left tired and skint. Also as you would expect Amsterdam is full of bicycles, canals, and windmills. The canals in Amsterdam were originaly used to deliver goods and in the country they were used to get to work (farm land).
After Holland we drove through Germany into Denmark and caught a ferry to Sweden. Our first night in Sweden was fun as we met a couple of friendly local girls and had a good chat. John ended up doing the Charlston with them on the sidewalk (pictures to follow).
A quick side note. I finally made it to an Autobahn and ironically I was in a Citroen Saxo 1.0! (For those of you interested John managed 105mph, down hill).
We then drove up to Oslo. I must recomend the tour of Akershus Castle. I learnt about King Christian IV who sounds like a real character. He was very fond of food and drink and had a dunk scale arranged with his assistant. 1 meant he was tipsy, 5 asleep. Because of this all official business had to be done before 11am. He was married 3 times and had 15 children. Best of all his hobby was cannon shooting.
After Oslo we drove west to see some fjords. On the was back to Oslo I met Helga from Berlin in a supermarket parking lot. She has been on the road for a year on a motorcycle (and through a Norwegian winter) something I would love to do (picture to follow).
I like Scandinavia alot. We have of course been very lucky with the weather for this time of year. The only downer is that it is so expensive here.
Rupert
Hamburg