Bike Ride Around the Island

On Saturday morning, we headed out with our packed lunches to bike around the island. The ride started (and ended) at the red and white striped lighthouse, just outside the city of Hollum. The first 27 or so kilometers were down the west coast of the island through the sand dunes. The dunes are beautiful, wide, and grassy; the perfect habitat for the various birds and large jackrabbits we passed along the way.When we reached the other end of the island, we hopped off our bikes for a while and took a four kilometer hike through a nature preserve. The hike took us through a low land area that was mainly covered with sand and tall grasses.



The ride along the east side of the island was next to the dyke and through farmland. Of course, we stopped multiple times to pet the baby lambs. We also passed colonies of nesting geese and other water birds.




The complete loop around the island and a few detours totaled 60 kilometers for the day. We were happy to spend the rest of the afternoon reading in the sunshine at the hostel, waiting for dinner.

That Ameland Feeling

Matt and I just got back from spending our extended weekend (6 days of PTO! - Queen's Day, Labor Day, a weekend, and Liberation Day) on the island of Ameland in the northern Netherlands. The island was a perfect oasis to get away from it all and enjoy some time outside.


We stayed at a hostel just outside of Hollum, in the shadow of the lighthouse. The hostel offered an all-inclusive deal that included breakfast, packed lunches, dinner, bicycles, and a few tourist attractions. I was excited I didn't have to grocery shop or cook for a few days and Matt enjoyed eating three plates of dinner and getting to skip washing the dishes.

We made good use of the bicycles and the over 90 kilometers of bike paths on the island. The bike paths go over the entire island, through the dunes, along the dike, through pine forests, and connect the four island towns. Our 4 day riding total was over 160 kilometers, and that doesn't include the walking!

Tulip Bike Ride

We're breaking now from our regularly scheduled programming (a recap of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day) to bring you something completely different: pictures from our bike ride today through the tulips fields between Haarlem and Leiden.

We set out this morning on a 40km bike ride in abundant sunshine to see the tulip fields and Keukenhof Gardens. Even though the fields of tulips weren't quite blooming yet, many were colored with assortments of daffodils and crocuses.

About halfway through the bike ride, we pulled off to visit the amazing Keukenhof Gardens. While outside the tulips weren't yet in bloom, the huge conservatory buildings (named after Dutch royalty) housed a beautiful selection of tulips, crocuses, daffodils, orchids, and other flowers. The grounds of the gardens were magnificent and I can't wait to go back with my mom in a few weeks to see them in full bloom.

Of course, we also had to stop in the petting zoo to see the new baby lambs. Aren't they cute? The baby kids, as in goats, were a little more skittish and wouldn't let people pet them.

You can find the rest of our pictures from the bike ride here.

Bikes Break Too

Matt discovered a completely flat tire on his bike last Thursday. After realizing our "All-In-One" tool wasn't up to the task of changing a tire on a bike with roller brakes, we happily paid the bike shop down the street €15 to change the tire. Unfortunately the cost of the tire and the tire change is equal to half the purchase price of the bike. I guess if anything worse goes bad you just buy a new bike...

37 Molens

Today dad and I took a 65+ kilometer bike ride around the middle of the Netherlands. Our goal was to see as many windmills as possible.

Our Route:

1. Gouda (pronounced How-dah)
2. Haastrecht
3. Vlist
4. Schoonhoven
5. Groot Ammers
6. Brandwijk
7. De Donk
8. Donkse Laagten (Natural Area)
9. Kinderdijk
10. Lots of Farm Land
11. Gouda
12. Bar

Enjoy the photos - they are straight out of an Impressionist Painting!


The last two photos are from Kinderdijk, a UNESCO cultural heritage site. There is a group of 19 windmills here that were built in the 1700s. These windmills are kept in working order and are on display on weekends during the summer months. Most of the windmills are currently inhabited by local residents.

Dad thought this was the best bike ride of the week. He really enjoyed seeing the farms and farm houses.

We saw at least 37 windmills during the course of our 5 hour bike ride. Wow!

Zeeland Bike Ride - Day Two

Day Two

This morning we got up early to walk along the North Sea before breakfast. It was beautiful - the dunes here are gorgeous. They are hilly, covered in grasses, shrubs, trees, and flowers, and quite wide; I am sure they are what the dunes in the US looked like before tourist hotels and shops were built over every square inch of them.

We started the 25 km ride back to Middelburg right after breakfast to avoid any rainstorms. The fietspad followed the dike along the North Sea; it was so windy that at times I swear I was going backwards.In Westkappelle we stopped to climb the church tower turned lighthouse.

Behind the tower was a WWII memorial to the townspeople that died when the Allied forces bombed the sea wall in 1944 in the hopes of flooding out the German defense.
After our ride, we rewarded ourselves with warm stroopwafels from the market in Middelburg.

Zeeland Bike Ride - Day One

Day One

On Wednesday, dad and I rode our bikes from Middelburg to Domburg - roughly 21 km. Along the way we encountered a Vliedberg mound or a refuge mound. This was their protection in the middle ages against their worst nightmare - floods and tidal surges.Next we passed a turnip mound - this is any child's worst nightmare :)
It was rainy, windy, and cold, so our accommodations for the night were extra special. We slept like kings and queens.Because our clothes were soaked and we were tired, we stayed in that night and played games in hostel bar. Dad cheated at war.

Peace Palace

On Tuesday, dad and I rode our bikes to Scheveningen Pier and back. It was a quiet day on the North Sea, but I can imagine the crowds and activity on summer weekend.













On the way back we stopped at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The building was completed in 1913 and was designed to be a place to arbitrate disagreements between states, international companies, and treaties. Currently the building houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Hague Academy of International Law, International Court of Justice, Carnegie Foundation, and Carnegie Library. However, contrary to popular thought and my own, it is not where they try war criminals. This building is only for matters of the states and international organizations.


While the building was paid for by Andrew Carnegie and designed by the French architect Louis M. Cordonnier, the interior design and decor is a collaboration between the many countries that make up the UN. I wish I could post pictures but photography was not allowed inside; so you will just have to come visit and see for yourself.

The room that impressed me the most was the "Japan Room". The walls were decorated with handwoven tapestries that 48,000 people worked to complete. The front of the room had four 600 year old Ming Vases that were in immaculate shape. The "Japan Room" is where the council meets to go over administrative items and such, and so each country has its own chair for its diplomat/ambassador to sit in. On the chairs are hand embroidered crests of each country. The floor covering is the second largest, single piece Turkish rug - and despite all the foot traffic over the years is in surprising wonderful shape.


Outside of the Peace Palace is The World Peace Flame Monument. In the center is a flame that was lit from a torch from all seven continents. The flame is surrounded by The World Peace Flame Pathway. In the pathway there are 196 stones, one from each of the United Nation states and 6 others, brought by their ambassadors/diplomats from their home country. We looked for the stone from The United States on the map of the monument, but someone had crossed it off the diagram.