{"id":39595,"date":"2018-08-08T17:32:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T22:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=39595"},"modified":"2018-08-08T11:53:07","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T16:53:07","slug":"biking-in-the-netherlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=39595","title":{"rendered":"Biking in the Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here it is August, and we took a bicycling trip way back in May.\u00a0 I haven’t taken the time to tell you about biking in the Netherlands\u00a0 yet.\u00a0 We did a two-week boat and bike trip in Europe on two different boats.\u00a0 I wrote about our week of cycling in Provence here<\/a>.\u00a0 Now, I might get thrown out of Blogland for what I am about to say.\u00a0 You know that I love France, but the Netherlands is my favorite country.\u00a0 And here is the reason:\u00a0 the small towns and villages are just so darned cute and charming, and I think they are prettier than the ones in France<\/em>.\u00a0 There……I said it.\u00a0 We have bicycled all over both countries, including all the way from the English Channel through France to the Mediterranean Sea, and bicycling in the Netherlands wins.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Biking in the Netherlands<\/h2>\n

This trip began in Maastricht, which is the very southern part of the Netherlands almost in Belgium, and we ended up in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

We cycled for six days and spent our nights on a small passenger boat that holds 20 people. Being on a boat with other cyclists is a great way to meet interesting people with common interests.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

As we cycled along we stopped at interesting spots including this day of living statues in Thor. First of all, you would love Thor.\u00a0 All of the buildings are painted white, and they are very old.\u00a0 Most of them are brick painted white, which is even better.<\/p>\n

\"Stautes<\/p>\n

Throughout the village center on the day we were there were humans disguised as statues.\u00a0 This man was a bust on a marble pediment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Netherlands<\/p>\n

This is Charlie Chaplin.\u00a0 He held himself up with his own strength for long periods of time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bikeing<\/p>\n

She is a barista.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A sleeping mermaid was very impressive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

Do you recognize Cruella?<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

There were so many people that it was nearly impossible to get a shot without someone’s body part in the corner.\u00a0 That explains the bit of hair in the bottom right of this photo.<\/p>\n

\"Statues<\/p>\n

This was my all-time favorite.\u00a0 He has just “crashed” his bicycle into a brick wall and is on his way over it.\u00a0 He held himself up with one arm for at least five minutes at a time.\u00a0 It was amazing.\u00a0 This is an annual event, and it is a fundraiser.\u00a0 We just happened to be there on this special day.\u00a0 It was very hot and packed with people, but I loved seeing it.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

Bicycling in the Netherlands is something that so many friends are curious about.\u00a0 People ask me if we saw any tulips.\u00a0 Just like in the USA, certain parts of the country are good for certain things.\u00a0 Like here in Lexington, we are good at raising race horses and making bourbon.\u00a0 Tulips are only grown in certain areas of the Netherlands, and we weren’t in those areas this time.\u00a0 Plus, we were about a month too late for seeing tulip fields, but we have seen many, many of them on past trips.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

I always love seeing their interesting and beautiful landscaping.\u00a0 This is a farmhouse that we cycled past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

This house was originally built as a summer cottage along the River Vecht.\u00a0 People would escape Amsterdam by train to cool off in the country.<\/p>\n

See Interesting Sites<\/h2>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

I love their interesting bridges.<\/p>\n

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\"Biking<\/p>\n

The Netherlands is often called Holland, but Holland is only one of the provinces.\u00a0 Amsterdam is located in Holland.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

Biking in the Netherlands is Stress-free<\/h2>\n

Mike likes to do a big and challenging trip each year, but he also enjoys cycling in places like the Netherlands, which is the friendliest country in the world for cycling.\u00a0 We usually do between 30 to 40 miles a day when we are there, and it is no hassle and stress-free.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

They have little ferries, that work on a pulley system, that are used for crossing canals.\u00a0 We were about to do the work of getting ourselves to the other side when these folks from Sweden came along and wanted to do it.\u00a0 The lady with the blue backpack is my “Dutch sister” Francien, and she is coming to visit us in November.<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Biking<\/p>\n

If you have ever thought about doing a cycling trip in another country like biking in the Netherlands and have questions,\u00a0 just send us an email.\u00a0 We both have a lot of experience in that area and would be happy to answer any questions you might have.\u00a0 Thank you so much for being with us today.<\/p>\n

Take care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here it is August, and we took a bicycling trip way back in May.\u00a0 I haven’t taken the time to tell you about biking in the Netherlands\u00a0 yet.\u00a0 We did a two-week boat and bike trip in Europe on two different boats.\u00a0 I wrote about our week of cycling in Provence here.\u00a0 Now, I might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39595"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39595"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39640,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39595\/revisions\/39640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}