Highlights of the Low Countries

June 15 - July 4: Belgium and the Netherlands

The stepped rooflines along Amsterdam's canals

Amsterdam's canal bridges

Andy, Sylvia, Aurora, and Naomi reunited with Sue and Ian - fun (and some sun)!

We had great fun meeting up with old Peterborough (now Hamilton and travelling) friends Andy and Sylvia and their two girls (NASA). We explored Brugge, Belgium, while tasting chocolate and then tasting more chocolate! We climbed the famous bellfry there with Naomi and made plans for our days together. Our goal was to reach Amsterdam in time for the Roots Music Festival. With all our gear loaded in the NASA 'sag wagon', we made our way north, still in cool weather and battling strong winds from the North Sea. We had strong headwinds and unseasonally cool/cold weather all 4 days through the western Zeeland islands to Amsterdam. We enjoyed large Indonesian food lunches, camping with Andy and Sylvia each night. The festival was great with an interesting Chinese folk band, East Indian rap group, and artists and food stalls, but the biggest cheers occurred for the sun when it shone! The weather started warming up just as Andy and Sylvia and the girls headed off to visit family in Germany.

Coming up the coast, we loved the towns of Middelburg, Delft and Leiden, and the canalside riding where boats of varying ages and character are parked in front of cute houses. We would have been more impressed with the dunes and dykes along the coast if it weren't for the wind. Best not to plan a bike route along a corridor of modern windmills - those engineers know where to place those things!

We have come 500 km in northern Belgium and Holland without a map, and we have only had to look around a bit for where to go, even in Amsterdam. How can that be, you ask? Throughout the country, yes, the whole country, each major intersection of a bike lane or separate bike path is assigned a number. Every 5 or 10 km, there is a map of the region, showing where all the numbers are. You plan your route by looking at the map, writing down the series of numbers that will get you to where you are heading, and following the directional signs with the numbers on them. Very simple - love it!

We love the numbering system for cycling routes, and we love the cycling facilities. In 500 km of unplanned routing, we have not been let down once! No highways without cycling trails on the side, no thoroughfares without cycling trails on the side, no roads without cycling lanes. Coming to a major international highway, it's easy: follow the cycling on-ramp up and around and take your segregated cycling trail across and down the other side. Or sometimes there are well-designed underpasses. And the routes through the countryside are almost all paved and with a constant flow of cyclists of all ages. We are in cycling heaven, for sure!

Watching the Dutch people cycle is interesting. For them, it seems to be meditative, like spinning. They pedal in a steady slow cadence, never slowing down, never braking. They look like they are going slowly on their upright city bikes, but even the old ladies are breezing past us. The wind knocks us back and they don't seem to notice it at all. If anyone tells you that cycling is so popular in Holland because it is a breeze, they mean it literally. Cycling is not easy here. Yes, it is flat, but the wind can be tough, really tough. Without our baggage, we were working hard on some days to break 12 km an hour. Our usually pace is 18-20 km/h on the flat. And if you think the French dress well, you haven't seen the Dutch on their bikes. We have seen some stunning outfits, including high heels and designer bike bags gliding past us. And the kids get a great ride perched up front or at the back on special seats, or commonly in a big front opentopped box. And the dogs love their trailers and handlebar baskets! Cycling is their meditation here; I think they need to do it like other cultures need to pray. I don't know if we can bike anywhere else now - we are so looked after as cyclists in Holland.

After our friends left for Germany, we spent three further days in Amsterdam at a great campsite and toured the city: the canal cruise at sunset was delightful, the houses and churches interesting, and the masterpieces and art history in the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum were impressive. We both enjoyed watching the cyclists and street scenes. We even tried out the colourful 'Heineken Experience', where we had fun (and of course beer) amidst all the history and marketing. We also took in a modern ballet, entitled 'Najinsky', that included powerful dancing. Both of our bikes got a tuneup at a local bike shop, with Sue´s getting new butterfly handlebars to ease her hand strain.

Then we were back on our (now fully loaded) bikes for a very pleasant ride east through a 10 year old town reclaimed from the sea, shady forests, heath, and easy trails for 115 km towards Arnhem. Unfortunately, Ian´s chain fell apart 12 km from town, so we left the bike at the train station´s secure bike parking with an arrangement for it to be repaired, and then made our way to a Peterborough friend´s sister´s house in southern Arnhem. Geert waited up late for us (she is a night owl, anyway) and was very hospitable. She showed us around the sand hills and heath vistas nearby and then explained the dike system along the Rhine at Nijmegen. She told us stories of what it was like for her family to live through the Second World War, giving us some better appreciation of what that era was like for so many in Europe.

We had made arrangements with Andy and Sylvia to meet again in De Hoge Veluwe National Park, just north of Arnhem. The park, the largest in Holland, was acquired in the early 20th century by a wealthy merchant family who purchased estates of ´wasteland´that had been overgrazed, deforested and become depleted heath and sand dunes. Mrs. Kruller-Muller also acquired a large art collection, including many Van Goghs and sculptures, and set up a museum within the grounds of the acquired lands. These were later turned over to a foundation and state to be managed as an integration of art and landscape, both nature inspired and human maintained. The availability of 1000 free white bikes made exploring the scenic forests, savannahs, heath and dune systems, plus the intriguing museum and sculpture garden, very accessible. Ian also got his repaired bike back, in much better shape!

We continued north through wonderful pastoral landscapes full of sheep, dairy cattle, and surprisingly many horses and ponies. Crops of corn and reeds for thatch, plus many baling systems, were evident along the way. We enjoyed watching several World Cup football/soccer games with the Dutch, who wear lots of orange and cheer with much enthusiasm! Forested parks with beech and oak tree lined avenues then made way for canals, lakes like the Kawarthas, and quaint villages such as Geithoorn. After too quick a tour of Assen, we were off by train to the bustling northern city of Groningen as we prepared for the next stage of our journey into Scandinavia.