Reunited!

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(Aug 08)
There's much to say about Holland, but the one thing that strikes me as THE thing to do here is f i e t s e n (dutch for cycling) !
Imagine, a land full of dedicated bike paths, a land were anyone on two man-powered wheels is king and where everyone else is in the pitiful position of severe disadvantage...
Well, apart from the fact that the wind doesn't bother the guy on a motorbike leave alone the rain and the guy in the car... and yes, guess what - my little cycle adventure in the kingdom of bicycles enjoyed the added benefit of a cooling shower from above almost every day - wanted or unwanted. That's the deal - flat land but horrendous wind and the odd bucket load of water straight into your face ('cause wind + rain = horizontal precipitation). Bike paths as wide as a motorway but any imaginable weather that could be classified as average winter day in other parts of the world (it's August!!!). Still - if you ever wanted a hassle free trip on your two-wheeler that doesn't draw everybodies attention (in fact, it doesn't attract ANY attention - everybody does it!!!), this is your country!!!
I don't think there's any place on earth that's more fietser-friendly than NL - I totally loved it - and that even though there's NO mountains at all - not even tiny ones - unless you want to call dunes that *haha*!!

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Photos

The Star of the trip - my old lady! Finally reunited!
She's probably about 14 years and a few thousand km's old now but holding up quite well

What a bike path
Like a motorway right by the sea

Tiny houses for the tallest people on earth
(Statistically proven I heard, that is that the dutch are the tallest guys on earth - on average)

Amazing bike paths through the dunes
away from roads and other nuisances

Flowers everywhere
Unfortunately the tulip season is long gone

Low Tide
Sometimes you can even walk from one Island to the next

Ferry from Texel to Vlieland
Looks like I'm not the only person cycling

This is were the ferry dropped us of
Yes we had to traverse this huge sandbar. The boat can't land anywhere else due to the "Waddezee"

Nice bike paths, hey?!
Most of the time I had them all for myself (not like the chaos in Amsterdam)

You got a fancy car in the garage?
Well, the thing here is to have a fancy bootje in front of your doorstep

Marken
Marken used to be an Island, now there's a dam accross, but it still feels like a faraway island