I confess, I have no idea why, but I have taken a liking to The Netherlands.  The first part we did I could have been at home, maybe that is why but I don’t think so.  I like mountains, the Netherlands doesn’t have any. I keep saying I’ll move away from Cambridge to get hills and lets face it the slope to the old railway bridge is not a hill despite however many times I call it a hill.  It doesn’t make sense that I like The Netherlands when I prefer hills.

• You may have picked up by now we cycle a reasonably amount. I, of course, had heard that The Netherlands was good for cycle paths.  This just simply isn’t true, it is brilliant for cycle paths. They are everywhere. They are well maintained, cyclists have right of way over cars, it’s a dream place to cycle.  I cannot get over in this blog just how good the cycle paths are. The paths are all busy which can spoil them a bit, I’m used to having a cycle path to myself. I’d thought the paths in Germany, France and Switzerland were good until I came here.  I heard a great podcast on cycling where the mayor of Copenhagen was interviewed (I must go to Denmark). He said create places for cyclists and pedestrians and they will get used. He went on to say that there are 3 issues solved when you make somewhere cyclable, 1 – obesity is reduced, 2 – traffic jams are reduced 3 – pollution is reduced.  Netherlands proves this with it’s cycle path usage. 
• No one wears a cycle helmet, I asked Sjoerd (a local) why no-one wears them. He said it’s because traffic free cycling so safer.
• Roundabouts often have barriers between the lanes as you approach and go around the roundabout to stop you changing lanes
• Fish and chips, well more fish shops. On the coast you get deep fried fish shop, where you  choose your piece of wet fish and they cover it in batter and deep fry it. But you have to go the chip shop next door for your chips, which nearly everyone does.
• Dutch – I have not learned any words of Dutch, I launch in English and without blinking the person I’m talking to responds in almost perfect English.
• Cafe culture – people sit outside in cafes all the time in all weathers, giving towns a real buzz.
• The people as a nation are very friendly or at least come across as such.
• Master card and Visa cards are not accepted by many places which means we are getting through cash.
• We have not found many cheap places to camp in The Netherlands but everywhere we have camped has been nice.