Another spectacular day exploring the Dutch countryside, this time in the Zuiderzee area, north of Amsterdam. We took the train to Hoorn where we had some breakfast and then wandered the town before heading back to the train station. There we hopped aboard a historic train like the ones that travelled through Holland in the late 1800s/early 1900s. As the train meandered through the countryside we watched the cows, horses, goats, ducks, bunnies and farmers going ...

We woke to grey, windy skies so instead of heading out early we rolled over and had a Sunday sleep in! We finally got out the door at about 11 and rode north to the Amsterdam-Sloterdijk train station to begin our journey to Haarlem and Zandvoort. Taking bikes on a train was a new experience but after a couple of elevator rides and eventually just carrying our bikes down to the platform, we were on our way. Twenty minutes later we were in Haarlem and following th...

We got a bit of a late start today and finally headed out on our bikes at around 10:30. We rode into the centre and then followed two of Rick Steves' walking tours including one through the Red Light District. Ladies of the night (and day), sex shops, strip bars, "cafes" and more...despite the heavy rain, it was all very interesting! Afterwards, we focused on the other landmarks of Amsterdam and learned some of the history of this remarkable city. Back on our bi...

After our wild night, we were able to still get up by 8 and out the door by 9ish. After taking the tram to the Dam, we made our way to Central Station to take the train to Alkmaar, a small town north of Amsterdam that is famous for its Friday cheese market. The town of Alkmaar is busy with tourists but beautiful nonetheless. We wandered into the old centre where the cheese market was in full swing and the main square absolutely full with tourists. We watched som...

Up early and had a quick breakfast before Olaf took us to the train station in Coesfeld. It was sad leaving our friends, knowing that it may be several years before we see them again. After a couple of transfers (including a short bus ride in Enschede due to construction at the train station), we arrived in Amsterdam Centraal. Wow! What a busy place! We caught the bus to the area of our hotel as per the instructions we were given. However, I was having trouble...