katie and i both wanted to ride bikes in the netherlands, but both of us were a bit worried about riding in a crazy city like amsterdam...every dutch person rides a bike regularly, kids learn how to ride at a young age...even before they learn how to do it on their own, they are in bucket seats on the bikes of their parents...one day while katie and i were walking around amsterdam we saw two moms riding along with their kids in front seats...one of the kids was asleep, the mom was holding up his head with her hand while riding along...i wish i'd been able to capture the image with my camera but they went by too quickly...
we took a train to haarlem, the ride was cheap and only 15 minutes...in one area of the train station we were able to find a bike rental place...the prices were definitely lower than the prices we'd seen in amsterdam...we both rented cruiser bikes, with foot brakes and not a lot of gears...
almost immediately i regretted not renting fancier bikes...it was windy and rainy, YUCK...we both had rainjackets on, but lets face it, with that kind of wind we knew we were both going to be soaked...for both of us, the only concern was for our cameras and phones...
we were able to follow a main road out of the city, all the way through zuid kennemerland national park, to the windswept beach...sooooo windy, but still fun...we parked our bikes near a police shack, then ran around a bit...we didn't stay around as long as either of us would've liked, as the wind was strong, and the sand being blown into our legs was almost painful!
we spent at least an hour inside a cafe, warming up and drying off with hot chocolate...
we rode back into haarlem and explored the city...in terms of aesthetics, it reminded me of amsterdam...canals, bridges, churches, etc...there was one big difference though: far fewer people...
when we parked our bikes near one of the churches we finally found the locks on the bike, so we weren't stressed anymore about someone taking our bikes while we were inside...(that was why we parked near the police shack in the national park, wouldn't people be less likely to steal from right next to a police shack?)
there is a center platz in the city, with the city hall on one side, a church in the middle, and other cute buildings...there must've been a festival/concert the night before, as it was still being cleaned up when we arrived...
we saw a bridge that turned sideways to allow boats to go through instead of splitting in half and raising up...(we also saw one of the latter bridges as well)...
we saw a windmill that was more for show than anything else...due to the crappy weather, the photos didn't turn out so well...(i spent much of the day trying to keep the lens dry, or wiping water drops off the lens)...
haarlem felt like a small town, very attractive...if it hadn't been such crappy weather we would've walked around more, both in the city and in the
national park...
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