Hi dee ho good neighbours.

Well,we got up this morning and made our way to the shuttle so we could catch our 10:30 am train to Giethoorn. The shuttle was packed and since they are doing roadwork, the 20 minute turn around time is now drastically increased with the bus trapped in traffic...so that means twice as many people are trying to get on the same bus.

So I figured out where the bus seems to stop and I line ourselves up with the front door wheel before it arrives. As it pulls up, Dom and I are one of the first ones on and get two of the coveted 40 seats. The bus is packed and and I see a lady in her 70-80' s standing so I motion for her to take my set and she squeezes through and hops in.

Then some cheeky young 20'yr old girl looks at me and offers me her seat. Dominique's eyes grew wide with a cheeky grin knowing karma did what it does to me. I respond in a reasonable way to the nice young lady " Damn you, I am not that old yet, I'll stand". Yes she laughed and knew I was kidding.

So we get to the airport/train station and tickets in hand we need to find intercity bus 1831 to sttenjwik, we check the boards and "oh boy" they don't post routes just the final terminal with a scrawler with stops... there are 16 platforms, each with a scrawler and since the bus was late we are tight for time. We ask a guy and he says we need to go to platform 1-2. Off we went, now people everywhere, 1 train loading, one not arrived.....find a train guy, and I never understood a friggin word he said....some guy leaning against a post talks to Dom and pointed us in the right direction....10 minutes later, on we go for our 1 1/2 hr ride.

We arrive in steenjwik which is the nearest town to Gierthoorn and need to take bus 70 to Gierthoorn....wander and ask and find our stop and give the driver 4 euros each and 17 minutes later driving through the village. OMG first impression is off the charts, with the neat housing and waterways everywhere along with the bikes, scooters and mopeds, it looks like fun. We get off the bus, and can't see a hotel, so Dom asks a local who's blowing his leaves, and tells us that the hotel used to be right next door to him but it burned down. First there's a moment of panic but then he tells us where the new one is. We walk to our hotel but check-in is at 3:00pm and it's 1:30pm. We find a swing then off for a beer and a glass of wine, we sat there drinking and knitting....and taking it all in...

At hotel Gierthoorn, they have automated check in...you type in your reservation code and password they previously sent you and it spits our your room number and passcode to get in.

Up we go and our room is 12 ft by 12 ft in size, includes two single beds pushed together, a desk with small fridge underneath. The bathroom has a sliding door where your toilet is located with a beautiful shower. Quite different but very comfortable.

We have a quick nap, then up we go to book a boat but it was too late and the boats don't have lights. We went to book these crazy motorized scooters but again too late in the day. We did rent two bikes for 25 euros for 24 hours, so I felt it was good value.... we had some good chuckles with the lady when I complained how Dom ruined my life. She initially agreed stating "woman" then she played both sides of that fence taking Dom's side

What I found appealing is the lady renting me two bikes, for cash with no I D being provided....pretty amazing, she asked if we were looking for a good restaurant and we stated yes....she got us a map and circled an area out of Gierthoorn around 4 km away....sounds good, off we go

What an incredible ride through the countryside...sheep, cows and tractors. We arrived and it was definitely off the beaten tourist area. We were showed to our table by a lady who never understood English. A English speaking waiter took over and took our order. Dom had beef stew and I had swine....how they serve it here is incredible. Dom has her pulled beef come in. 6" pot and placed on a burner at our table. I have a mound of pork with bone arrive on my plate. They then put down bowls of potatoes, carrots, shredded cabbage and apple sauce. We ate leaving plenty behind. I don't know the tipping rules here but we gave a healthy tip. Great authentic restaurant....

Anyway, ride home and in for the night.

See u tomorrow

Harold