Franiker to Amsterdam

 We had a really nice wander around this lovely little town this morning. No rain today so it was nice. I just loved wandering around the old town streets which have been loved and cared for over the centuries. It is so nice to see the butchers and bakeries and delicatessens still going strong and being well patronised by the locals. There were also some really nice clothing stores for both men and women, the clothes are very  nice and obviously not mass produced in China. 


Our hotel is on the right of the photo. 

The next three videos are all about a bridge moving. If you are not into bridges skip these videos. 


We then packed up and headed just a few km’s up the road to the port town of Harlingen. A lovely port city with many old sailing ships tied up at the jetty. We spoke to one young woman who was part of a crew preparing to set sail for the Carribean with a bunch of school kids. Much like our Spirit of Adventure. 



Another picture postcard town with much photography going on. Reijo and Robyn are so keen on this and take great care with their compositions. Barbra and I wait wait patiently (mostly) and just soak it all in. 

Then it was on the bikes on the very fast road along the seawall to Amsterdam. It was very windy which made for a challenging ride but it was fun on these perfect roads. Incredible to see the sea on one side and this massive estuary on the other side just separated by this man made dyke and a couple of flood gates. 

Many many wind turbines also both  on land and in the water. There is also a lot of  solar panels also so I think combined with amount of bicycle riding this country is doing it’s bit for fossil fuel reduction. They do have a lot to lose though but their mitigation infrastructure is very impressive. 

So then the navigation into Amsterdam, going from one motorway to the next and trying to make sure I was in the right lane. Luckily it was moderately busy so traffic slowed down a bit which gave me a bit of time to make a call. 

We made it to our hotel without any errors so that is always pleasing. 

After settling in Robyn and Barbra had time out in the rooms and Reijo and I had timeout in the bar. We have clicked as friends from the first time we met in Argentina in 2006 and we have kept in touch and met several times since them. 

Later in the afternoon we headed into the city. We need to cross the river but the ferry which runs every few minutes was not far away. We enquired where we should pay but were informed that it is a free service. 

There are so many bicycles here it is hard to decribe. They virtually have their own roads and where they intersect with cars it is the cars that give way. Pedestrians also need to be careful when crossing the cycle lanes. It is just so normal to get around by bike and people have time for one another. A nice way to live I think. 

The architecture in Amsterdam is really creative and mixes old and new together well. 



We wandered around the tourist crowded central city and found a nice place to eat. We then wandered around the more colourful (red) part of Amsterdam and took in some of the sights and smells of what this place is famous for .





We then retraced our steps back to the hotel for a much needed rest. We calculated we had walked 14km just in Amsterdam let alone the other two towns. 

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