Netherlands bike ride with Debbie and Dan 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 September 

6 days riding, 300 kilometres, around Lake Ijsselmeer, north of Amsterdam .

This ride was generally fun and sometimes, surprisingly, hard work.  We experienced all seasons most days, or should we say most hours. We had plenty of head winds, the occasional tail wind, rain, sun and everything in between.  We saw some lovely villages, lots of canals, dikes, bridges and boats of all sorts, windmills, polder and more polder.  The food was quite nice and very plentiful.   We grew very familiar with Dutch apple cake and various delicious cheeses.

Traditional Dutch boats in a village harbour

Dike and polder!  A polder is a tract of low land reclaimed from a body of water.

Marken

A traditional lifting bridge.

Canal, Edam.

Joy's birthday at De Fortuna, Edam.  A special meal and a day to remember. 

Windmill!

A street scene Hoorn.

Yarning at the Zuiderzee museum, Enkhuizen.

Five Gapers at the Museum - used to indicate pharmacists in the Netherlands.

Cheese anyone!

Taking a ferry ride across a river.

Imagine our surprise when we saw groups of Dutch folk singers, singing English and Irish sea shanties at a festival.

Boat ride under the high bridges and past thatched houses in the lovely town of Giethoorn.

Saw a lot of wild roosters around and finally worked out that they were cattle grids.

We started and ended the journey in the forest.  Even encountered a bit of a hill here, on the last day.

The triumphal return to Mooi Veluwe, Putten.

Amsterdam    3, 4

Crazy city!  The home of canals, bridges, boats, bikes, great museums, the red light district and a melting pot of people from all over the world.  

It is fun wondering along the canals.

Of course there are bikes everywhere.

Bill on one of the lifting bridges.

Our hotel, a huge Art Decor building.

Wester Kerk and Prinsengracht Canal near Anne Frank's House.

Looking through seven bridges.

Decoration on a choir stall in the Oude Kerk - the moral "money does not come out of your arse".
Quirky sense of humour ,the Dutch!

A typical brown cafe.

One of the biblical wall plaques, with scriptural quotes and illustrations.. 

The Begijnhof is a gated community for women, founded in the middle ages. It was originally built as a sanctuary for the Begijntjes, a Catholic sisterhood who lived like nuns, although they took no monastic vows.  It includes a church as well as the oldest house in Amsterdam.

Other towns and villages in Umbria    
                                         Montifalco is not the only gem in Umbria.

The beautiful town of Assisi.

San Francisco, Assisi

Carved church entry, Foligno

Wash house, Bevana

Fontana Maggiori in Piazza IV Novembre, Perugia

Walking the old Roman aqueduct in Perugia.

The Annunciation made from tiles in a church in Deruta (the ceramics town).

Outside the ceramics factory in Deruta, where we went on a tour. 

Ceramic artist inside the factory.

A courtyard in Spello.

Roman ruins, Gubbio

The caged gondola lift to church above Gubbio. Quite a thrilling ride!

Todi

Detail on a church entry, Todi

More  Montefalco Memories      

One of the gates leading to our walled town.

A street scene.

The Town hall on the piazza at night.  It was quite magical to see all the town parading up and down and the children playing.

Montefalco's famous painter Benozzo  Gozzoli (1420-1497).

Going to the International Short Film Festival at the theatre on the piazza one evening.  We saw  a couple of Italian films and an American film.  We also went to a folk concert one night.  The singing was in Italian and it was lovely.

Our favorite restaurant l'Alchimista.

Enjoying dinner.

Our friendly Signore and Blacky the dog, enjoying the piazza every evening.

Great desserts!