Day 1 biking

Often when biking it is more about the food and drink and less about the exercise. This morning at the Fletcher Hotel, we had one of the best breakfasts we have ever had. There were scrambled and boiled eggs, bacon, croissants, pain au chocolat, 2 kinds of buns, 5 types of bread to slice, ham, Black Forest ham, sliced chicken, 3 kinds of cheese, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit salad, fresh apples, oranges, kiwis, pears, pate, liverworts, tomatoes, cucumber, 5 kinds of juice, coffee, teas, and some i have missed. Since I couldn't possibly eat all for breakfast, it made sense to take enough for lunch. So I did.

 On our bikes and headed into the country. A beautiful warm and sunny day as we biked along canals and pathways.

 

 Up and over with rails for bikes. Such a civilized country.

 And so flat. You go to love that. Me and Queen Anne Lace (I think)

There are birds everywhere and lots of babies.

 Canadian eh!

And in some cases the swans are huge....

 Always time for a coffee along the way.

 To throw away that coffee cup, you can do it as you bike by. Cool!

 Lunch aka breakfast was a stop at Saint Nicolaasga. We added a Heineken, a coke and some chips just to make it a balanced meal.

 On our way to Lemmer we came upon Commonwealth War Graves. Stopping by always brings an emotional time. Many of the young men died December 16, 1943 and most were in their 20's. 

 The Dutch do a beautiful job at keeping the graves well maintained. On May 5 every year they commemorate the war. 

 Soldiers were from New Zealand, England, Australia, Poland and Canada.

 

 The town of Lemmer is right on the ocean. So many boats and a definite tourist town. 

 Boats coming and going through the locks and bridge lifts.

 There were big sailing vessels too.

 It takes a big crew to handle these ships.

 As we headed to our final destination we passed along the shore and were amazed at how many windmills there are in the water. All turning! 

 The country home we saw were massive. Norm explained that only part were the home and the larger part the barn.

 

 This one with a thatched roof must be old.

 We arrived in Oudemirdum about 4 pm and 20 minutes later the skies opened and thunder roared! We were so happy to have just checked in to our hotel, 

 Sun came out a bit later and we enjoyed dinner at our hotel - Lust Hotel 

 Back to our room with Yellow Bunny.