Flatlands
We had a great time in Holland with our hosts and friends, Joep and Carola. They were so nice as to take a week off their busy life transition to show us their lovely country.
We were greeted at the airport with a huge Dutch flag! Then it was off to their home in Breda, which they have just sold because they are moving to Zurich, Switzerland. Then were introduced to one of many Dutch delicacies, hagelslag, chocolate sprinkles on brown bread and butter. Mostly popular with children, but like many childhood loves, it comes along with us into adulthood. We were told our potential itinerary for the week and we were ecstatic. Off to the beach for our first day to enjoy the freak weather of a bright sunny day. And our first bite of bitterballen, miniature croquettes.
Then it was two wonderful days in Freisland. Enjoying farm camping, boating the many canals and lakes, and, of course, eating our way around. We had herring, apple pie, croquettes, mussels, cheeses, and lots of beer. The people in the north are super friendly. This is definitely a country anyone can do a biking tour of, it’s so flat everywhere.
We then had a day each in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. With a fabulous evening of the best Indonesian food we’ve ever had in Breda. Both of the big cities are full of interesting old parts and new. Rotterdam definitely had a more industrial feel to it though. We had our first fresh stroopwafels here. Yum! We took a fun Yellow Bike tour of Amsterdam. Here we also tried poffertjes, mini pancakes covered with butter and powder sugar.
The World Cup final day was also our last day with Carola, she had to leave us for work in Zurich. So we had a chill day trying to windsurf and then seeing her off. It was also Sunday, so all shops were closed and Joep had to drive down to the nearby Belgium border for breakfast baked goods. We caught the game at local bar and biked back rather drunk. I think Eddy and I were the only ones cheering on Italy, but after what happened at the game, it was hard to muster any enthusiasm for either team. The next day we spent the morning looking for cheeses with Joep. It turns out the Netherlands isn’t quite ready to start their Mondays on time, most shops and restaurants aren’t in full operation until about half day or later. So finding a cheese shop was a bit challenging. Then we bid Joep farewell as well at the Breda train station.
We took the train to Den Bosch to meet up with another Dutch travelling couple we met in Laos, Albert and Lisabeth. After a nice lunch and short stroll around town we headed to the airport for our flight out to London, which we had to go through to get to Douarnenez, France. Thanks to Steve and Claire we had a place to crash for this brief stay in London. Our flight wasn’t until the next day.
We are currently enjoying the beach bum life style with Tania. Pretty much heading to the beach everyday to try surfing or boogie boarding. Tania heads out for kiteboarding if there’s wind. My beer’s getting warm, so I will write more later.