After Bruge I cycled toward the Flanders seaside and then made my way toward the Netherlands. On the way to the border I passed herds of cattle eating breakfast in pastures, and crossed a number of canals that ran through pancake-flat Flanders. It felt great to cross the border into the land of dikes, windmills, canals and bicycles. Everyone seems so responsible and reasonable here. I think it is safe to say that most people would want their children to grow up Dutch. (9/08/04)

I caught my first glimpse of the North Sea shortly after the border, and although it was still early, several Dutch were already out in the cold breeze staring at the sea. I cycled toward Zeeland, much of which is below sea level, separated from the North Sea waters by a line of protective dikes. The largest barrier that the Dutch have built against the North Sea is the Delta Project, which is a series of enormous concrete and metal structures and artificial islands running for about 40 or 50 kilometers along the outer perimeter of Zeeland. This is a photo of one tiny section of the structure, which has hydraulic pistons that can raise and lower a series of gigantic metal barriers in order to regulate the flow of the sea into the inland estuaries. The bicycle highway that I was travelling on actually ran on top of the structure. I was impressed by this feat of Dutch engineering. (9/08/04)

I was really happy to be cycling through rural Zeeland, which was in the middle of several autumn harvests, including that of the pumpkin, squash and onion. I stopped at this pumpkin and squash stand which had on display hundreds of different varieties of squash-like organisms that looked like they were invented in a Dutch laboratory. I felt a little homesick upon seeing the pumpkins. I also caught glimpses of the onion harvest in action, with old Dutch onion farmers driving machinery to rip the onions out of the fields and shoot them via conveyor belt to a truck bed. The roads were littered with the carcasses of squashed onions that had fallen in the harvest frenzy, never to make it to the Dutch dinner table. (9/08/04)

When I reported that France was cycling paradise, I had not been through the Netherlands. All things are relative, and without denegrating France, the Netherlands is without question an unimaginably fantastic cycling utopia. The well-posted cycling highways run to every town in this country, and you can be cycling along a path in Rotterdam and see directional signs all the way to Amsterdam. It totally eliminates the need for maps. The paths are actually full-fledged cycling highways, with turnouts, traffic signals, overpasses, underpasses, and as pictured here, even extensive tunnels. I thought I had made a mistake on the outskirts of Rotterdam when the directional sign with the bicycle symbol pointed into a building. After circling the building I realized I was supposed to ride inside, and when I did I saw large bicycle escalators and elevators ferrying cyclists deep underground to a tunnel that lead to the city center. This two-lane tunnel here was exclusively for the use of cyclists. Everyone in the Netherlands rides bikes, even really old people - not just grey-hairs, but blue hairs - I mean the people who, if in America, would be playing shuffle board in Miami with oxygen tubes. My favorite is seeing mothers carting their kids around, with one tot in the front on a seat near the handlebars, and another over the rear tire. Ah, the Netherlands . . . (9/08/04)

It is a fact that there are more bicycles is the Netherlands than there are people. When you see the bicycle parking lots outside of the train stations in the center of town, such as this one in Rotterdam, your heart skips a beat or two. I stared in awe at this dense sea of cycles that stretched out over several football field lengths. This is not even Amsterdam, where the cycling lots are multi-story, and where they even have guarded parking (which I myself am using at the moment). Ah, the Netherlands . . . (once again) (9/09/04) *

The canals in The Hague are almost tropical with overgrowth and tree blossoms coloring the canals lime green. I was really tired when I rolled into the Hague, and other than ride through the town past all of the beautiful and stylish Dutch people congregating in the squares and lanes I didn't see too much of this town - except for the campground (which was located next to a field hockey center). But it was nice to take a break from the strenuous museum circuit and get in some reading. (9/10/04)

My first impression of Amsterdam is that it is a really charming city where too many people come to do things that they cannot legally do at home. But I have only been here for a couple of hours and only in the center of town, so I am sure that this will change by tomorrow, when I have had more of a chance to cycle about. (9/11/04)

A helpful reminder to all of the visitors to the red light district in Amsterdam. This building stood on the edge of the coffee-shop filled district. (9/11/04)

In the middle of my first night in the capital, campground security tossed out a camper (against his loud and lengthy protests) who had climbed the fence for some free camping. The next morning I woke up to the sound of coughing in all of the tents around mine, with a haze of funny smelling smoke rising from the tent meadow. The campground was like the one in Paris in the sense that everyone had to camp within feet of each other due to the multitude of tents. The swarms of campers clogging the tent meadow - judging by the morning routine - seemed to be paying Amsterdam a visit with one purpose in mind. I went into the city, crossing the large canal by way of the free ferry, and paid a visit to the Van Gough Museum. Afterwards, I wandered around the city until dark. In my random wanderings I happened upon the house in which Anne Frank´s family hid, which was actually fairly close to the center. It was strange to stare at the brick facade and to think that she had actually lived there only sixty some years ago, and that although Europe had radically changed, the house itself was still there, probably looking just as it had then. (9/12/04)