The Netherlands can be tricky. There can be early morning fog, sun at mid-day, rain in the afternoon, gusty (better make that gale force) winds anytime of day or night, followed by hail, snow, sleet, and possibly even a special Dutch concoction of weather for which you will be unprepared unless you carry a winter coat, rain jacket, rain suit, polar fleece, down jacket, hat with ear flaps, sunhat, suntan lotion, warm scarf, mittens, swimmies, turtleneck, t-shirt, corduroy trousers and possibly capri length slacks with leggings for warmth. Could be a sandals morning and a wellies afternoon.
Today was one of those days.
The sky was blue and the sun was shining mid-morning as we made our way to Enkhuisen for
a bit of window shopping and bike parts for the scooter. Found a great shop called Bike Totaal with a helpful mechanic who fitted an air horn and pads for the footrests. Another day I will look for a collapsible basket and cushions for the handlebars. Also, better lights altho I do have flashers on the front and the back.
The Netherlands is top-notch for me and my scooter. Everyone looks because it has wheels but then this a country with more bikes than people. No one looks askance just interested in an alternative scooter. This is a very creative country for bikes as everyone rides from the very youngest to great-grandmothers.
The best one I have seen is a side by side tandem trike.
The streets have bike paths (not lanes) and all the crossings have dropped or cut curbs. In the afternoon we floated to Sneek amid high winds that blew the furniture around the deck and rain that caught everyone unawares.
By evening the sun was shining again and the sky was starry-night blue but the temps had dropped to near freezing.
We ventured out for an Indonesian rijstaffel and found one on the quiet streets of Sneek. Klein Java or little Java is a family run restaurant in an old pub. As it was a Saturday night at 8 pm, every table was taken but we were invited in (including the scooter) and found seats at the bar until a table was available.
Worth waiting for - a really tasty rice table of 4 meat dishes and 4 vegetable dishes. Lamb, beef and chicken satay, beef in a sweet sauce, gado gado, steaming white rice, tempeh, green beans, a veggie medley and a hard-boiled egg dish.
When the meal was over - 2 hours later - map in hand and lights flashing we make our way along the canal and over the footbridge to our floating hotel-boat. Another wonderful day in the north of the country.
Tomorrow at six we head for Lelystad and Kampen.
No comments:
Post a Comment