Blogs from Friesland, Netherlands, Europe - page 3

While the title of this particular blog may not have strictly applied to my entire cycle trip around the Netherlands, it certainly sums up the weather conditions that I faced for the vast majority of my trip; for it seems that the Netherlands possesses a weather phenomenon that I have encountered nowhere else on earth - no matter which direction you happen to be travelling in, the wind is always against you! Well it's either that, or the wind swirls around the country in a clockwise direction - for my chosen route happened to follow an anti-clockwise route around the country and, sure enough, it felt as though I was pedalling into the teeth of those relentless North Sea winds every kilometre of the way! The one exception to this logic-defying rule came on day six ... read more

Well I think this shall be kept short and sweet. Up at 9, had breakfast together again then back in the car with Oom Arjen. Beppe stayed home today as she was a tad knackered from yesterday. Oom Arjen took us to a small village where there was a school/shop that has been kept the way it was in 1737. We entered into the small shop then went through a typical house and school from those days. Next we headed to another place (can't remember what it was called and haven't got the information with me at the moment!) where we walked around a village and saw things like a bakery where the lady was making some funny and incredibly unhealthy biscuits that looked like spaghetti! We also saw a cart that was used for transporting ... read more

Stinking hot night! We were awake at 3.30am for a long time because it never cooled down over night. We were seriously contemplating throwing our matress down the stairs and sleeping outside Aunty Margareth and Uncle Albert's room... but on deeper thought we decided against it after the thought of seeing Aunty Margareth when she gets up in the morning (Hehe love you Aunty Margareth)! We were up at 7.30 and ate breakfast then upstairs to pack. I am only 2 weeks into our 12 week OE and I am already struggling to pack my stuff into my pack... I haven't even bought that much!!!!! We were aiming to be on the road by 9.00am and we were so good this morning we were gone by 9.05am!!!! Tomtom took us to Friesland and we stopped on ... read more

Amsterdam. So after yet another long train ride, Julian, Tim, and I arrived at the main train station in downtown Amsterdam. This city is unlike anything I have ever seen. When we walked out of the train station, I immediately saw a ramp, with at least 5,000 bicycles parked and locked up. Everyone in Amsterdam bikes to where they need to get. It’s actually really annoying because they have their own lane on the sidewalk, and the have no remorse or worry for anyone not on a bike. I saw a middle aged man get absolutely drilled by a guy on a bike ... which really doesn’t make sense because they both ended up on the ground and cussing each other. Anyways, we made our way to our hostile, which happened to be in the heart ... read more

DE ALDE FRIEZEN Frysk bloed tsjoch op! Wol no ris brûze en siede, En bûnzje troch ús ieren om! Flean op! Wy sjonge it bêste lân fan d'ierde, It Fryske lân fol eare en rom. Refrein: Klink dan en daverje fier yn it rûn Dyn âlde eare, o Fryske grûn! Klink dan en daverje fier yn it rûn Dyn âlde eare, o Fryske grûn! Hoe ek fan oermacht, need en see betrutsen, Oerâlde, leave Fryske grûn, Nea waard dy fêste, taaie bân ferbrutsen, Dy't Friezen oan har lân ferbûn. Refrein Fan bûgjen frjemd, bleau by 't âld folk yn eare, Syn namme en taal, syn frije sin; Syn wurd wie wet; rjocht, sljocht en trou syn leare, En twang, fan wa ek, stie it tsjin. Refrein Trochloftich folk fan dizze âlde namme, Wês jimmer op dy ... read more