Saturday night, three of us decided it would be a little bit of an adventure and a whole lot of fun to ride our bikes to the nearby city of Venlo and take the bus back to Well. Venlo is about 25 kilometers from Well (15-16 miles) and is, from what I can gather, the closest "city."
A few minutes into the ride, I remembered that I hadn't really ridden a bike in years. Decades, perhaps. It was a beautiful ride, though. The Dutch countryside is so green and unlike anything I am used to. Also, the terrain has several identifying features: flat.
Also also, the trees are planted in rows. So many straight lines of trees.
It was in Venlo that we discovered that bikes are NOT allowed on the busses. This meant a 25 km ride back to the Castle in the dark. At least the light on Noel's bike worked.
On our way back we rode through this quaint little town called Arcen. Arcen is all brick and has, from what we hear, the best ice cream in Holland. We had stopped to check our lights, or something, when a pack of Dutch girls came around the corner singing. It was then that I saw the little ice cream shop and shortly after when we were instructed by the girls to get ice cream with them.
The ice cream was fantastic. I had (I think) Cookies n' Cream and Chocolate in a waffle cone. We sat outside, in the crisp night air, eating wonderful ice cream and learning "Dutch" from these girls. It was one of the girl's birthday, and the owner of the shop came out singing variations of "The Happy Birthday Song" including, "Hanky Panky Shanghai." I wouldn't ask.
Long story short, we all made it back in one piece. And with sore butts.
3 comments:
Cool - looks like a blast! What a great way to meet new friends! (I hope your skinny butt has recovered.)
Hanky Panky Shanghai?!?!? hahahahaha. love the pics- the trees are beautiful even if they are straight and on that flat flat land.
If you continue to ride your bike to Venlo, you will be in great shape by the end of the semester!
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