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Karen Fig
Karen Fig

Karen Fig

traveled in 9 countries Read more🇺🇸Chicago
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  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Notre Dame

    June 9, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    I'm glad I went to the cathedral in Laon because Notre Dame de Paris was PACKED and I had no interest in being in those kind of crowds.

    So instead of going inside, I stood in the square and watched people let PIGEONS land on them.

    Wtf? Do these people not have pigeons where they come from? I just kept thinking "skyrats skyrats skyrats...."    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    The 1am lights. Personally I prefer the classic look

    333 miles later

    June 8, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    Met a couple korean girls at the hostel who were leaving soon to go see the Eiffel tower, which apparently does a mini light show at 1am. Well, I wanted to go to bed because I am the World's Worst Tourist, but I'm glad that I didn'tRead more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Ice Dragon enjoying the view of the French countryside

    le train

    June 8, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Ice Dragon (my bike - yes, that's its name, don't laugh - never mind, it's ok to laugh, it's ridiculous) and I felt a little bad taking the train during a strike, but we had no choice. No one in France drives a pickup so we couldn't even hitchhikeRead more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I forgot to take a picture so I stole this one off the internetMe pretending I didn't have the shittiest morning everView of the cathedrale from the train station. It looked reasonably bikeable!I biked from all the way over there!

    Laon

    June 8, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    After a full morning of riding in traffic, and also falling off my bike and hurting my leg a little when trying to ride on a dirt road to stay out of traffic, and getting swarmed by these tiny beetles everytime I stopped which was truly making me crazy, I was like, hey, this is supposed to be vacation. 165 miles in three days ain't nothing to be ashamed of. I bought myself lunch and a train ticket to Paris.

    There's a national railway workers strike going on so I had a few hours to kill before the next train. I decided to bike up a small mountain to see the local medieval buildings. Totally worth it!    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    the peacock spent most of its time in the hole in the roofGarageI wonder how many buildings this old have solar panels

    auberge le valle du sel

    June 8, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    the local "campground" was lovely - a rustic bed and breakfast in what seemed to be the ruins of a very old compound or village, with camping allowed in the yard. the cats were friendly, the chickens and peacock were loud, and the buildings were gorgeousRead more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Madame Marie Lescargot decided to stay home when she heard what was happeningOthers remain unaffected by the news and are continuing their day as normal

    Gastropods of Belgium Under Attack

    June 7, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌧 68 °F

    The snails and slugs of the Rance Regional Forest in southern Belgium woke up to a grisly scene Thursday morning. An American cyclist rode 18 miles through rush hour traffic, injuring dozens. Some, like Monsieur Jean-Baptiste Lelimace (pictured) narrowly missed death by bicycle, but many remain unaccounted for or in critical condition. Paramedic crews are, very very slowly, on their way to the scene.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Campsite #3

    June 7, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌧 70 °F

    Where I endured one of the strongest thunderstorms I've ever seen on a bike trip.

    I was woken up around 1am by rain pounding on my tent, thunder and lightning. This "campsite" was not technically at a "campground" - I just pitched my tent on the side of the trail - and I didn't know it was supposed to rain, so I hadn't secured my rainfly very well.

    I woke up again at 3am. The lightning and wind had picked up and I had lost a stake. After listening to the trees getting blown around and feeling my tent almost move with me in it, I decided to abandon ship and find real shelter in case a branch fell on me. I put my raingear on and headed out. Naturally, about 15 minutes later, things calmed down.

    Didn't get much sleep and coffeeshops don't open until noon around here (apparently). This morning is a struggle.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Some see beauty in this. I only see hillsI think Flemish mosquitos are paying google to lead me, a succulent American snack, to their lair

    Thank god for soccer

    June 6, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Rode 60 shitty miles.

    The first 20 were EXTREMELY hot and in the sun (and my face is already peeling and burnt from day 1 - its very attractive)

    The next 25 were under construction, unimaginably hilly detours around the interstate (which googlemaps kept trying to put me on), or gravel/dirt/poorly maintained.

    The last 15, mercifully, were through a beautiful and cool forest, which smelled amazing (like forest-scented air freshener), but entirely uphill

    So I didn't make it to my destination, but I made it to some random small town in southern Belgium near it, where it's 9:25 pm on a Wednesday, but, to my surprise, everything is still open because there's a Belgium-Egypt soccer match tonight. Enjoying a Jupiter beer and Belgium is 2-0! Even the hard days end up alright.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    The Delirium Bar was really cool and in a super old building though!Not one of the food groups but I have to eat ice cream every day

    Things I ate and didn't eat in Bruxelles

    June 6, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    The five basic food groups of brussels are: waffles, beer, fries, chocolate, and mussels. It's a weird combination, to be honest. Well, this unpopular opinion penguin is here to say:
    1. I don't like chocolate, so I didn't bother
    2. Waffles in the US are better. They're too sweet here. Even just the plain ones have sugar carmelized on them and powdered sugar on top of that. Gross. Gimme chicken and waffles anyday.
    3. Delirium Tremens (see photo) was voted the Best Beer in the World in 2008 in the World Beer Championships in Chicago. I think it's fine.
    4. I'm allergic to mussels, brussels
    PROVE ME WRONG    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    not-french fries

    June 6, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    Belgium is REALLY into fries and beer. I saw a guy with a belgian fries tattoo today. Usually they come in a cone, but this was the "small." They gave me two forks....I ate them by myself.

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I rode a lot of empty trails and roads today.
    I've only been in Brussels 4 hours and already miss the solitudeCampsite #2. Not bad for a panicked google search when I realized I wasn't going to make it 80 miles

    Brussels, finally

    June 5, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Well: yesterday, because I started so late, I only made it 55 miles instead of 80. Which means that I had to make those miles up today. I rode 95 miles to get to Brussels, Belgium. Holy crap.

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I was only halfway through my day, so I had to take it easy
    "Proost!"I came for the beer but honestly stayed for the trappist cheese and super spicy mustardA beautiful latte - I don't know how I ever did any bike trips before i drank coffee

    Cafe Trappisten

    June 4, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    There are only 11 Trappist breweries in the world and after 45 miles today I'm at one of them! Trappists are a particular order of monks that live a pretty strict monastic life, but (because it's Europe) they brew beer and make cheese in order to fund their charitable projects and lifestyle. For some of the most famous beer in the world, the most expensive beer you could get still only cost $4.40 (US)!

    Oh. And I'm in Belgium now. Honestly i have no idea when that happened.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    "Ohhhh...."

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌙 61 °F

    I was riding my bike through the charming and quiet Dutch town of Passantenhaven when I had the following interaction.
    Small child: "(something in dutch)?"
    Me: *smiles and nods*
    "Something else in dutch?"
    *smiles and nods*
    He turned to the gaggle of kids ahead of me. "(yells excitedly in dutch)!!!!"

    Then they all threw water balloons at me.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Lunch. A feast fit for a queen of cyclingThe Netherlands is the largest cheese exporter in the world!

    First forty miles

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Well, my "early start" turned into not leaving until almost noon. Luckily the first 20 miles were easy, flat, and smooth - a paved trail with the gorgeous River Vecht to the left and cows and sheep to the right. 40 in (on bike roads the entire way) with 40 to go, and I should be making tracks but I couldn't resist stopping for a delicious blueberry-earl grey popsicle.Read more

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