Can't get more Dutch than Windmills

My visit to Holland has been a visit of connecting with friends I have met during my travels. My first stop was to go see my friend Hennie.

And when in Holland there are three must do's.

1. Ride a bicycle

2. Where wooden shoes

3. See the Windmills

 It was a perfect day so we headed off to see the windmills of Kinderdijk.

You really do not get more Dutch than these two pictures of the traditional windmills.

Meeting the locals means doing things the locals do. So why not an outdoor concert in the village of Laren

What a great night! 

The music was fun the beer cold and the friendship great. 

My next stop was to visit my friends Ingrid and Branko who I met in Guatamala three years past. Little did I know that I would be riding again as Ingrid's other passion aside from motorcycles are horses.

This could be a scene from the movie the Hobbit with me on what I swear was a pony. But Ingrid assured me it was a real horse haha. We laughed so hard as she was like Geldor on her giant horse and I was like Baggens on my little pony.

Me in Ingrid in every guys dream garage.

I was really happy to get to see Branko again.

 Just as I was ready to leave he came back from his business trip and we had a chance to have a quick coffee and chat.

I needed to fix my pannier and what better place than Branko's shop. Everything you need to work on a motorcycle was at hand.

So it seems like I will have to visit Holland again as I still have other friends which I did not get a chance to see.

Until next time my friends and thanks for the great visit.

Amsterdam Netherlands (Country #51)

As much as I like to avoid Capital cities. 

Amsterdam is a must see city due to all its vibrancy of shops, people and of course the many many canals.

with a little imagination you really got the feeling of what it might have looked like back in the 1800's

Just walking through the streets you can smell that familiar aroma coming from what they refer to as the Brown Cafes. 

Lets just day that you can order more than coffee.

And of course you do not need to go to the Brown cafes to find a little pice of heaven. Just drop by a corner store. 

We all know the Dutch are know for bicycles but you do not realize until you get there how bike crazy they are. Absolutely everywhere is dedicated to bicycles and the paths are not only found in the city but even in the country crossing farmers fields. We have multi story parking for vehicles and they have them for bicycles. 

I have never seen a three level parking lot for just bikes!

As much as I liked central Amsterdam it did have some tacky tourist spots. Like Madame Tussaud wax museum and the dungeons of Amsterdam

And of course please do not forget to visit the Red Light district! That is about as Amsterdam as you can get. 

I will leave those pictures to your imagination.