On the road with George, Jean, Gina & Annie

Friday 15/6, we head north out of Amsterdam and arrive at Zaanse Schans. A little village where there are still operating Dutch Windmills and demonstrations of cheese making and clog making. Wandering around here in the rain. After here, we head off to Monnickendam and then onwards to Marken with still the odd shower. Backtrack to Monnickendam, and then off further north to Volendam. We had accommodation booked in a B&B in Hoorn, so that was our next destination. We had the street name but no number, and when we found the street, the B&B was not obvious. Thanks to McDonald’s and their free Wi-fi we found the number and then met with our host, Donna and her little dog Suzy. Suzy is a long-hair Teckle, very nice and friendly.

Saturday 16/6, we head off through the old town of Hoorn and onwards to Enkhuisen. We stopped here for morning tea and while walking around the old town centre, I saw a Scout flag, then a banner which said “Scouting, 100 years”, and then an arrow sign which said “Scouting, street event”. Walking a bit further, I came across 3 “Rover Scouts” and they told me a parade was about to pass in around 20 minutes so we stayed around for that. We watched the parade, lead by the Town Crier, who announced in Dutch “Scouting in Enkhuisen, 100 years.” After here we headed along a dike which is 28 km long, and has two tunnels in it, which take the road under the boat locks, very interesting! Then we were off through Lelystad and on to Apeldoorn. In Apeldoorn, Ronald McDonald saved me again, as we then booked this hotel via their Wi-fi. Meanwhile Jean found a bead shop, and 45 minutes later left it after discovering that they should have closed just after she walked in. Then it was a quick trip down the freeway via Arnhem to Nijmegen where we stayed overnight and are about to depart for Ghent in Belgium, where we have our next night’s stay already booked. Holland is full of “Killer Bikes”, bicycles ridden by everyone with no helmets and no rules. Families go for a ride with children on the back carrier, and young children (about 1 year old) sitting on the handlebars drinking from their bottles. Thank goodness that The Netherlands is flat. At the Central railway station, next to our hotel, there is a 2 storey bicycle park. Each floor has twelve bicycle racks. Each bicycle rack is double height and each rack in total holds 100 bicycles. That’s 2,400 bicycles in the bike park.