We have just today of riding left on this trip and I will be sad to see the end. I have truly enjoyed the riding along in both the Netherlands and into Belgium.
The countryside has changed dramatically. We started in the area of relatively new polders where there was lots of water and have gradually gone to older landscapes. Trees are mature, and the types of wildflowers along the cycle path have changed too. I am recognizing more of them. There are still masses of reeds along the riverbank and a few days ago we saw a thatch roof being installed on a house using bundles of those weeds when dried.
Since leaving the Netherlands, we have not seen any more windmills and with them goes much of the uniqueness of that landscape.
But yesterday we were in Ghent. I guess Ghent is what I imagined Amsterdam should be. The city is clean, and well organized. There were lots of tourists, but it did not seem to have abandoned parts to the tourists as Amsterdam has. There was no pervasive smell of smoke-- either cigarette or cannabis. The buildings were impressive and well maintained. It had the elegance of an old diplomatic city. And great ice cream!!
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