Holland!

After a good nights sleep, we took our morning shower, ate breakfast, grabbed cappuccinos at the campground center, and decided to go exploring Wageningen by bike. We packed a picnic lunch and headed out. The sky was clear at the moment and it was perfect biking weather. We headed towards the woods and followed the bike trail in. Fun fact about Holland (and reason 623 why I need to move there) is that the entire country is connected by bike trails. Meaning, you could go ANYWHERE by bike! And for the most part, it's a fairly flat ride. Um, amazing? I think so! Anyway, so we had a pleasant ride with LOTS of stops, because nature is really distracting! One stop was this rather large, and toxic, mushroom on the side of the road. It was nearly as big as my face and pretty cool. But not as cool as the next mushroom we found. Once we got onto the train in the woods, it began to rain (again... Apparently it rains more in holland than Seattle) but it was worth finding the edible cauliflower mushroom! It was seriously cool and we took it with us for dinner after we got a positive identification. We kept riding along and the sky cleared up a bit. We came across a field of wildflowers along a corn field that had sugar snap peas nestled amongst the sunflowers! We picked a whole bunch for dinner and our trip was quickly turning into the best bike ride ever! Dark skies were looming so we decided to stop at this pancake house we passed right when we got out of the woods... Because in holland it's also normal to have rather random placement of stores, restaurants, art galleries, you name it. We previously passed a lumbar shop into the middle of this really woody area in this rather remote area. Anyways, the pancakes! Since it started pouring when we sat on a bench outside to eat the lunch we backed, that's when we decided to just get pancakes instead. So firstly, let me attempt to describe the pancake house. Imagine this typical dutch house, situated in the woods with lots of really random knic-knacks all over the walls and hanging from the ceiling, then fill it with lots of families, conversation, and laughter... Then you'll have a slight idea of this place. It was so wonderful! Arno and Blair insisted i tried chocomel... Which is ten times better than chocolate milk or a frappe, so tasty! Then we got these mini pancakes (I forget the name) which were phenomenal and Blair and i shared a tomato, oregano, onion, mushroom, and i think something else pancake... I can't even describe it in words! The Dutch pancakes aren't what we think of in the states where it's fluffy and you drown it in maple syrup. These pancakes are more crepe-like but thicker and just damn good. I tried a bite of Arno's apple and raisin pancakes which was also on the same level of delightfulness. After we were more than full, and the rain finally stopped, we continued on our bike ride. From there we found this very weird trailer park (the Dutch version... Which is pretty fancy and definitely not the trailer parks we think of in the states) and Blair and i were rather intrigued by the window displays. Another fun fact about the Dutch, they want people to look into their windows and actually decorate them so people walking by can admire. I mean sure, why not! We passed more mushrooms including one called a fairies bench that if you knock on it, it's like knocking on a wooden door! We came across more fields of flowers, corn, and farm animals; a weird field that looked as if a UFO may have landed; and a really cool Zimbabwe art gallery. This gallery was also situated in the middle of the woods and had tons of rock carved sculptures. You could even take a class if you wanted, which i thought was pretty cool and wish i could take. Maybe one day. Then, Arno showed us this really cool remains of an abandoned industrial complex. It was a little creepy, but still really cool to walk around... Because there's no trespassing laws like in the states so we didn't get arrested! I guess a lot of these old industrial parks are being torn down and turned into green spaces so it can go back to a more natural landscape. HOW COOL!? All we do in America is take AWAY all the trees and last remnants of green to build houses and buildings that just sit there unoccupied for years! We have a lot of catching up and learning to do... Oh and! Fun Eco fact, they use glass bottle for most things (soda, juice, water) so they can be reused. You can actually see the markings from the machine they go through that cleans and disinfects the bottles for reuse. I swear, this place is just perfect! Okay, so our last stop was at this pick-your-own fruit and flower garden (do you understand why i love this place?!) where we just strolled around and snuck some blueberries which weren't quite ripe but still good! But when we made our way home, we got distracted again and made a detour to this community garden some folks told arno about when we were admiring the cauliflower mushroom in the woods earlier. Arno and blair are on the hunt for a community garden to join and this one is perfectly located right behind this house. The best part, besides the awesome apple tree and lots of vegetables, was the blackberry patch on the other side! There were so many and they were so delicious! We got our fill and headed back (seriously this time) to the house. When we got back, we did some kitchen work and put together part of the countertop. Then, we cooked our "harvest from the wild" dinner and the mushroom was so good! It tasted like buttery pasta -- wicked good! And the snap peas were also delicious! By that time the rain started coming down like a monsoon again so we watched some more Dexter before going to bed. In the morning, we woke to more pouring rain which posed an obstacle for our bike commute to the train station. After breakfast and watery cappuccino (it wasn't as good compared to the day before), the rain didn't appear to be letting up so i wrapped up my bags in plastic and arno and I took on the rain! The ride wasn't too terrible even with the rain, probably because it's so gorgeous even when it's raining. We got to the train station soaking wet but made our trains. When we go to the next station, Arno and i said our goodbyes as he headed to Leiden and i to Hoek van Holland to catch my ferry to England. I must say, the train station was beautiful and so clean! I made all my connections with no problem and made it to the ferry to say goodbye to Holland. I wish i could've explored the Hoek van Holland because the view i got from the boat reminded me of cape cod. The beach went on for what seemed like miles as we departed and i couldn't believe the beauty of it. With a smile on my face and on the last leg of my journey, i now am making my way back to London where i will fly out on Wednesday evening to head back home to Boston. I can't believe the trip is over and that I made it all this way. Its been an incredible journey and one I'm glad i pushed through the bad times to get to the good. Will write more when i get to London. Send over your good karma and peaceful thoughts as i enter a city currently filled with violence and unrest. Until next time, enjoy!