54 degrees: Part 0.

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Prologue

A mission to follow the 54th parallel was the original idea behind this trip. I've lived either side of this line and when I thought about it there are a lot of interesting places along this line, so I decided that I would start to travel along it, find out about some of the places on the route. To get things at home in perspective I thought I would start in Germany, and we would go by bike from the North Sea following the 54th parallel eastwards for about a week. But Kasia broke her wrist this summer and it was not to be. So instead, with the holiday apartment booked and paid for on the island of Rügen, we made our way over by train without the bikes. So this isn't really a travelogue about the 54th parallel, more of a dry run so to speak (except when we swam in the Baltic), so it is now designated part 0.

First Stop: The Netherlands

Amersfoort is a railway junction, and the first place we stopped off on, on our way from Rotterdam up to the north of Germany. The guidebook told us that on Friday mornings, a flower market was held in one of the squares in the old town. Indeed there was, and so we had a florid accompaniment to our Dutch coffee, watching people stacking their bicycles with fresh blooms to take home.

So after a couple of hours we got our next train to Osnabrück, then on north to Hamburg and our friend who lives nearby. We were going to meet a metallic Bismarck, a 15 minute day on Swiss Railways and a lot of marzipan.

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Comments

[Theo van Veenendaal]

your blog about Holland
Dear Dorian, I have read your travelblog about your visit to Holland and it was very interesting! I am Dutch myself and for my Geography Masterthesis I am doing research among tourist bloggers from abroad. Your blog caught my eye because you visited some less famous places in Holland, like Amersfoort. It is so interesting to find out why a part of the tourists in Holland visit those less famous places next to the highlights like Amsterdam and its surroundings. That's why I am wondering if I could ask you some questions about your visit, to complement the info in your blog. It won't be a long survey, but more of a short interview-type conversation about your experience and opinion. You would help me a lot and I am also very curious to know about what you think about Holland and the reasons why you choose to visit it. I really hope to hear from you. The interview will be used in a completely anonymous and confidential way. Kind regards, Theo van Veenendaal [e-mail]