In June I took more people flying. First another astronomer/cat (baby) sitter on the usual sightseeing tour around the control zone, then – finally – I also managed to take my parents for a flight! We had the plane for a whole day, so I decided to fly to Mannheim City and take the tram from the airport to Heidelberg. It was a great day, although it would have been better to have a bit more time for walking around after lunch. Over the next two days we also visited (by car and on foot) the Villers Abbey, Namur, the Gaasbeek Castle (and its garden), and enjoyed the view from the University Library’s bell tower in Leuven. At the same time my motivation for cycling was dropping at a rapid pace.

On the 2nd of July I went fly fishing for the first time – Willem took me to the Schulensmeer, and I caught my first (tiny) fish with/on a dry fly. I also hooked something bigger with a nymph, but we never got to see it. Also, I was hooked! [Sorry.] I made it my goal for our upcoming Norwegian road trip to catch (and release) my first trout. I even reorganised the trip a bit to have more time near potential fishing spots. Back then I knew so little :D I did not even know that there is trout in Belgium. And I would have never guessed that there is a tiny river 20 minutes from home which holds trout too. But we will come back to this later. While I had a day-trip planned to Germany as my flying this month, at the end all I managed was an hour around Charleroi, in occasional rain and difficult conditions (see last picture in the gallery above). I was actually happy that I managed to fly at all, as it was useful to build more experience in these conditions. On the 16th we left for our road trip to Norway (and we were gone until the 31st). This time (which was our third time) we decided to tour the Southwestern part of the country, and as always the trip was a big success. The main memories of the trip include: Hamburg (especially the mix of old and new architecture along the many channels), the lovely old Danish town of Ribe, a very windy walk along the coast (lighthouse and fortifications) in Hirtshals, walking around sunny Kristansand (and dinner in the silo-turned-museum), the Southernmost point of Norway at the lighthouse of Lindesnes, the hike across the waterfall-covered mountain at Skrelia, the beaches of Havika (with Clio finding all the animals) and especially Ogna (with a series of secluded white sandy beaches nestled between huge rocks), the drive on the Jæren National Scenic Route, the old town of Stavanger (and me doing all the beginner’s mistakes while trying to fish at the lake in the evening)…

… The hike to Sollifjell (with amazing views towards the Lysefjord with the Preikestolen on the opposite side, and a bit of a shower/downpour on the way back to the car), the ridiculously beautiful drive on the Ryfylke National Scenic Route to our highest accommodation at the Haukeliseter fjellstue (where I again tried to fish both on the evening and in the very early morning, but – looking back now – with a very minor chance of actually catching something, which does not mean that I did not have fun trying; at least I got some casting practice with the fly rod), the Otra valley (especially the river at the Honnevje rest stop, which was also the first place where I tried wet wading), the evening lights from our cabin, the very narrow mountain road to the Sandvigvatnet rest stop, walking the smooth rocky riverbed, the narrow pedestrian suspension bridge at Valle, the Eidsborg Stave Church…

… Almost losing hope of catching any fish after another unsuccessful overcast morning in Dalen but going back (thanks to Clio’s motivation) in the afternoon after a nice hike and catching 5 beautiful (small, 15-20 cm) wild brown trout on the dry fly (wet wading knee-deep in the ice cold river, but smiling like a child), revisiting the Heddal Stave Church, the beautiful rugged coast around Verdens ende (the World’s End), the cute villages on the way back to Kristiansand (Kragerø, Risør, Arendal, Grimstad), and finally on the way back home the city of Bremen.