Holland

This was our travel day to Haarlem in Holland. It was a shame to have to say goodbye as we had the most amazing time with the Kiesl family. About 9 hours of travel and a bunch of trains later, we were in Holland and it felt so good to be back! A walk to the supermarket and homemade dinner later, we had settled in to our Air BnB.

9th October
In the morning we went for a coffee in the square and had beautiful views of the church. Inside the Grote Kirk is the biggest Organ in Western Europe and is so beautiful. We walked further and went to the Adrian Molen windmill and did a tour inside it. Kyle practiced his Dutch and we had bitterballen and a beer outside looking out onto the canal.
The rest of the day we walked around Haarlem and found another huge church and we were only just in time to enter as it was almost closing for the day. It was HUGE! Very impressive – I had been there 7 years earlier – but it was just as good the second time.
That night we had dinner at home and went out for a wine in the square. The lights around the town centre were spectacular and it was so pretty. It’s hard to describe Holland, but 'Pretty' is the best way!

10th October
Amsterdam – We got up early and made our way to Amsterdam. It truly is beautiful with the canals and old houses. We did a canal cruise and walked the city. We went to Oostzanstraat which is where Oma was born and grew up – it was special to be able to share this with Kyle.
Then we had a nice lunch and watched some German teenagers get shouted at by an angry Dutch man who was over all the tourists!
We bought some hemp chocolate for later, and went to the Anne Frank House museum. It was really amazing the way it was all done, and being inside the actual house was very interesting. Now Kyle just needs to read her book.
Back in Haarlem we had another wine in the square, then watched a movie and ate our chocolate back at the Air BnB.

11th October
Delft – We had made an error in our booking so needed to go elsewhere before our booking in the Hague. Delft is so beautiful with a leaning church and stunning canals. It is here we had our epiphany and mental breakdown. Not in that order. We were so exhausted from travelling from place to place and having to do all the sight-seeing so quickly, that we were totally burnt out. We decided while watching the ducks in the canal that we were going to come back for a week or so, and just chill out. We changed our Eastern Europe

countries and already felt better about the whole thing.

12th October
In the morning we went to the old town gates of Delft by the East Port and it was pretty cool where it is now someone’s house and Kyle is pretty jealous. We then met up with Elsemieke, a girl I had met in Driehuis where I was staying here 7 years ago.
The Hague – We travelled to Den Hague that afternoon and checked into an air bnb. We got some food at the supermarket and were then joined by Tim the German. That night we played Cards Against Humanity and polished off some alcohol.

13th October
Tim the German was a slave driver getting us out and about into the centre of Den Hague. We did a few touristy things and went from pub to pub. It was a great relaxing way to see the city and it was pretty with the parliament buildings but it was really a shopping city.
That night we met up with Pat Stewart who lives in Den Hague and I went to university with. The four of us went to GroteMarkt in the centre by Uber (Tim the German’s first time) and had a few drinks. It was nice to catch up with a Kiwi again. Later that night back at our accommodation we played Cards Against Humanity again.

14th October
Scheveningen – the three of us took heaps of buses to get to this beach which was really nice and again, went from pub to pub and enjoyed a few drinks. It was a cruisy day and then later Tim the German went back to Germany.

15th October
We went to Ede today – this is where Rita Verbelen lives, she was my German teacher at high school in NZ and we have kept in touch since then. We went for a walk and had bitterballen in the shopping centre and then just relaxed and waited for Rita to arrive home which wasn’t until about 8.30pm.

16th October
We went into the centre of Ede and picked up our rental bikes. We rode to the supermarket and back to Rita’s place. We had antipasto with Rita and a nice dinner!

17th October
Today our self-guided bike tour began. We left about 1pm and Rita’s friend Josee had taken our big packs to her cottage in the woods where we would be staying afterwards. We went to Oudewater which was 80km away. We thought it was 40 (no idea how we got it so wrong!) but had already booked non-refundable accommodation so really had to make it! The bikes were typical Dutch bikes and were heavy and we couldn’t go too fast. We arrived in Oudewater at 8pm in the pitch black…going down the stairs of our hotel to the restaurant, Kyle’s knees gave way. Our bums were so sore…never had a beer tasted so good!

18th October
We walked around the small town and had pancakes and croquettes in the square. It was such a quaint little town and so beautiful. Very old and only 11,000 people! We went to the 'witch weighing house', which is original. In the 1500s people used to come from all over Europe to be weighed. If they were less than a certain weight then they would be deemed a witch. The king at the time passed through there and saw that they were being very honest about their weighing and ordered all people accused to be weighed there. So that is how it became famous – you got a certificate to prove

you were not a witch from them. No one was ever convicted of being a witch in Oudewater. The original scales are still there and we got to stand on them and be weighed.
Then we very reluctantly put our sore bums back on the bike and rode 15kms to Gouda. The scenery is so hard to describe as you need to experience it – but the canals and farm houses were just so beautiful and we took the scenic routes every time. Even though we were sore, the journey was worth it.
Once in Gouda we checked in and then walked around the town for a while. The town hall was magnificent in all its glory in the middle of the square. We had salami and cheese for dinner in our hotel room.

19th October
In the morning we went to the square and had pancakes and chocomel. After walking around for a bit we saw that there was a stroopwaffel factory and you could do a tour! So we booked that online and then wandered around a bit longer until that time.
The tour had a long video at the beginning and was all in Dutch! So that wasn’t very helpful. But the guy in the actual factory spoke English so translated the next part for us. Free samples were included so I was particularly happy.
Later we walked through the town square again and it was all lit up. So pretty!

20th October
Kinderdijk – we went about 25km further to Kinderdijk and had to cross the river on a ferry. The man on the boat was very friendly and couldn’t believe we’d cycled all the way from Ede. The UNESCO site was spectacular and on bikes we got away from the pedestrians really quickly. Windmill after windmill along the canals – so typically Dutch but so beautiful. The windmills transferred water to the farms.
On the way to our farm-stay we went past a letterbox with Alblas written on it, which is Kyle’s great grandparents names, so that was cool! Our farm stay was cozy – literally cows right next to us and had a chilled out evening there.

21st October
We went back to the windmills in the morning and video called Lorna and Tony so they could enjoy the views with us. It was really nice having them see it too. Then we left Kinderdjik for Gorichem (said with two hoicks) and we walked around. Gorichem is a town that is built on an old star fort which was the appeal to go there. We stayed in a tiny hotel that was near a canal and had no one manning it as it was a Sunday! We walked into town and had a glass of wine at the water fountain in the main square.
That night we went to a pub for dinner and I had a nice risotto, Kyle had a steak.

22nd October
The next morning we went another 25km to Zaltbommel which was another star fort town. Our hotel was amazing so we made the most of it! I did a workout and Kyle watched TV. We went for an evening bike ride into town and it was dead and cold but pretty. We walked around for a while and found a Greek restaurant and had a really tasty meal, with complimentary ouzo shots!
Back at the hotel, a Harry Potter movie was playing so enjoyed watching that on TV! We had a big ride the next day so had to mentally prepare!

23rd October
We set off about 10am for our 60km ride. It was

bitterly cold and very windy. Luckily for most of the ride we had a tail or side wind, but nearing Ede we had a head wind and were tired too. The scenery was average and were near the motorway for most of the ride. We were thankful that the weather had been amazing the whole time except for today so had to keep reminding ourselves of that!
We FINALLY made it to Ede and got picked up by Josee at the bike rental place. Then we went to her house and oh my gosh! It was in the Dutch woods and they had a guesthouse on their section. It was quite big and had a wood burner. We put it on straight away and enjoyed a movie by the fire. It had started to rain so we were so thankful we had missed the bad weather on our cycling trip. The cycling was such a highlight for us so far, and we were so pleased we had done it.

24th October
We slept in and then later that afternoon met Josee and Rita to go to the pancake house which is down the road from the cottage. We had an apple one and a cheese and bacon one. They are the size of massive American pizzas and are delicious! Then we went back to the cottage and played with Josee’s dog, Shanti. We lost her toy. I lost her toy. It was bad. That night Rita met us for dinner and Josee cooked a beautiful meal for us. Rita joined us too and it was nice to get to know other people and be social.

25th October
We packed up and Josee took us to the train station where we headed to Delft. It was nice to be back again and we have an amazing Air BnB where we can relax.
26th October – 30th October
We spent this time in Delft, chilling out and walking around the town. The weather was up and down and sometimes very very cold! We used this time to relax and recuperate after being so busy.

30th October
We went back to Ede and spent a few nights at the cottage with Josee and Peter.

31st October
Josee and Frau Verbelen had spoken about the National Park that was in Ede, called Otterlo, Gelderland which was a forest but had sand dunes as well. Once you were inside you could use the bikes that were provided. There were hundreds of them! We rode around the forest and it was spectacular. It was amazing to see such beautiful

greenery, then all of a sudden it was like a beach with sand dunes. We had a nice lunch there too and went to the art museum. It is here that has the 2nd biggest Van Gogh collection and it was so amazing to see them close up. There were also other famous paintings there including Picasso.

1st-2nd November
We stayed in the cottage in Ede and did a little bit of cycling there. We were lucky to have a hire bike through Frau Verbelen and Josee took us to the train station when we needed to go to the airport. We were so grateful to Frau Verbelen and Josee for their hospitality and help.
- Danielle