Today it was an easy ride from Lüdenscheid to Rotterdam, passing Wuppertal, Essen, Arnhem, Utrecht, Bodegraven and Gauda.
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| Little break after entering the Netherlands |
Our first stop - Kastel van Haar, near Haarzuilens. The current buildings are built upon the original castle in 1892. The oldest historical record of a building at the location of the current castle dates to 1391.
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| Entrance |
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| Water around the castle |
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| Herbie, across the castle |
In the cities of the Netherlands everything is subordinated to bicycles, even car lanes. They have a lot of roundabouts and cyclists don't look whether a car is comming - they have a priority in passing, and they just pass without checking for other traffic participants. So be very careful when driving here, especially if you come from a country where there isn't that many cyclists. Here, everybody is on a bicycle, we hardly saw any pedestrian. Also, scooters drive on bicycle lane.
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| One of many bicycle parking places |
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| Bicycle lanes just behind the trees, in both directions |
Next stop - Broewerij de Molen, Bodegraven. They have some of the best imperial smoked stouts we tried so far. Smoked smell and taste sometimes comes from aging in Bruichladdich barrels (and that Scotland city is on our visit list). The brewery is in a windmill and offers guided tours, tasting room and restaurant.
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| Brouwerij de Molen |
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| Oldtimers just arrived on brewery parking |
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| View from the brewery's restaurant |
Shortly after leaving brewery there was a rainstorm that made us pull aside and put our rain gear on. About 1 hour later we came to Hoek van Holland, Rotterdam. It is the largest port in Europe and from there Stena Line ferry will take us to Harwich, UK. It is a long crossing that lasts all night - departure is in 22:00h, and arrival in 6:30h.
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| Stena Britannica ferry model |
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| View from the port around 22h, days are long here |
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