plactagonic

Yeah that's the issue right now the pictures are massive for this server and my old phone that could downsize them died...

Maybe through catbox or something I may post. If you want to see some pictures I post more on mastodon https://f.cz/@plactagonic

In the end I didn't take it but I wanted to ride Santiago de Compostela to Irun, it is possible that on other lines they have cars with racks and stuff but don't expect it everywhere. And don't trust that label "bike transport possible" it usually means the disassembled bike.

In the end I took 2 trains in Spain one on the Madrid network and one on the San Sebastian network, it really doesn't matter which lines (I don't remember exact details, would have to look it up) they run pretty much same cars on the network. The Madrid one had bit more space but the train was bit ugly and sterile looking.

Only thing in France is that you need reservation for some trains. I didn't wrote it in my posts.

Right now I have it locked in the case I fall asleep, but mainly because I had to buy U-lock in Paris and found out that it is just quick and convenient. Still there are bags on it, only camping gear so nothing with big resale value. As said earlier in the other trains I had to be with it.

In the case of helpful staff yesterday I was on Brussels-Midi asking about today ride and got the answer "Today is a strike so I don't give much F about it" in really nice tone but today it was much better.

Generally the Spain is horrible for that - you can't take your bike assembled even on the slow long trains. The regional lines are ok but no bike racks so you just somehow put it on the spot for disabled people. Still the regional lines are only few hubs and not an network.

Portugal is better in this I didn't personally needed the train but met few people who used it. Still it depends, most trains take the bikes but you can't find much info about the ones that don't take them.

In France it is really ok on shorter routes in regional trains, on the long routes you still have to disassemble the bike.

I haven't been that long in Belgium but I think that it is really ok, I am now taking the DB trains through Germany and as I knew no issue there.

So more north-east you get the better the service.

After my bikepacking trip I will pitch the interrail to my parents. They are so excited about the places I visited but don't know how or if they will be able to get there. They (me too) don't like flying and by car it is just too stressful.

Really nice experience - 9 completely different beers, it was more local so I was bit of curiosity but I had really good chat with few people there.

Yes some stout with bourbon, beer brewed with spruce, tripels and more. Every beer just tasted completely different.

Bit more chill than in France, different style of signage (node network) and today ride in Brussels was lot easier than in Paris.

What is worse is that there is forbidden wild camping and they don't have many campsites, first day I stayed on someone's garden and then I had bit of long and short days of riding to get somewhere to camp.

Yesterday I crossed the border, tooted on mastodon and someone told me about local craft beer fest...

I think that the first day in Belgium was really great.

This is bit misconception, pigs are really similar to us and we can get BSE or how is it called in humans (it has several names according to the animal that gets the disease).

The problem why the BSE got out of hand was because they used these parts as feed for another animals.

To be honest I understand the children here. The saving part of me just understand that it is better to use everything.

It's pretty much the same with pigs, only part that isn't used is brain.

Yeah, I changed my plans again few weeks ago.

I met someone that I promised to show her the beer culture in CZ, so I am taking train from Brussels to Czech to meet her there in few weeks. I will skip the German/Netherlands part.

But the craft beer scene is, according to people I talked to, biggest around Barcelona. Sometimes you just randomly find some place like NASA brewery in Pontevedra (I liked it, really nice place).

I live in CZ and beer is mostly water so it doesn't make much sense to ship it that far and we have lot of small brewerys. They usually experiment somehow but not much of them got to Belgian styles.

I had few Belgian beers, one pub have sometimes few bottles, but not that much. That's why I am going to Belgium...