Holland

Lots and lots of canals, if you don't have a bike you have a boat to get around in and chances are you have both. This canal was in the center of the village of Bolsward.

At last, sunny skies. The sail boats are liking the sun but are lacking a little wind.

At a local college you don't see parking lots for the students, you see bike racks, and lots of them!

The statue of Lely, the man whose dream was to build the 33km dyke between the Ijsselmeer(now a lake and Waddensee on the northwest coast of Holland. Unfortunately, he died just short of seeing his dream completed.

Churches take on a whole new look in Holland, this one has much more intricate work on the steeple.




Wow, 5 days without a drop of rain and not a hill in sight for a cloud to hide behind. This country is flat! Lots of peddle bikes...and riders on vacation with more roads only for bikes than there are for cars, canals and boats run a close second. Our first night in Holland we stayed in a nice campground at a farm, really clean but as we are finding out Hollands campsites have great facilities but you pay for everything extra, hotwater, the tent, people, electricity to charge the ipad and the bike, they also don't have kitchens like Scandinavia. Oh well, I guess we'll have to eat out more often, there goes the budget.

Amsterdam, here we come! We camped just south of the city and visited it for two days we walked and walked and walked! What a cool city. It's big, it has some beautiful old buildings, it has great beer, millions of bikes and as many canals as Venice! There is no way you can get bored in Amsterdam. I could just sit in a sidewalk cafe, DRINK COFFEE and watch the people go by for hours. It was great!

An older neighbourhood in Amsterdam has had a nice facelift.

I stopped to look at the flowers, hydrangeas love it here, and Ken looks at a couple of bikes parked on the sidewalk.

Pipes for smoking marjauana are sold in all kinds of stores. In some cafes you can order a joint and/or a coffee while you relax in a comfy seat line the streets, I don't think I saw a starbucks in Amsterdam.

Ken might have a hard time wedging himself into this little guy. It is even smaller than the smart car.

If you look closely you can see the prostitutes in the windows trying to attract a sale or two. They stand in windows lining the alleys and many on the main streets in the red light district, wearing not too much more than their birthday suits(and some on them are not all that nice). If you don't find what you want in a window there are lots on shows and shops with adult toys around. Crazy!

Ken was happy to help me drink the Heinkein beer we got when we took the tour of the brewery. I actually drank one whole beer! It'll be a while until I drink my next.