Fietsparadijs

The Flemish region of Limburg is known as "Fietsparadijs", which means "biking paradise". I have to admit that I agree with this title as there is a huge network of well-marked bike trails throughout the region. It's also very flat and green. While other regions in Flanders have great bike networks as well, I find Limburg to be one of the prettier parts.

Rick had still not replaced his stolen bike so we decided to go to the Hoge Kempen park and rent some. They gave us these bright green bikes that had "Fietsparadijs" written on them. At first glance, I thought they were going to be pretty basic. But they turned out to be really good bikes. We followed a beautiful trail that weaved in and out of the park's bounderies.

As usual, we ended our day with a trip to a couple of beer bars in the area. One of which was our old favorite the Wedelse Molen.

I apologize once again for all of the derriere shots. Rick was taking pictures while riding. I need to start making sure that I'm riding behind him :-)

Netherlands: Polish Pottery Outlet And Utrecht

Ali and I took a trip to this Polish Pottery Outlet in the Netherlands. I know the patterns are "a little bit country", but I like some of them and they make great serving dishes. There are also some pieces, such as pie plates, quiche pans, and casserole dishes, that can be put directly in the oven. The outlet had a huge collection and the prices were reasonable. We spent 3 overwhelming, but fun hours shopping!

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon so we decided to go to Utrecht for a few hours before heading back to Brussels. I was pleasantly surprised by Uterecht. It's a typical Dutch city with canals and people zooming around on bikes. The narrow streets and canals are lined with trendy places to eat, drink and shop. It's like a mini-Amsterdam, but much more quaint.

Polish Pottery

Utrecht

Biking In De Hoge Veluwe National Park

I came across the website for this park in the Netherlands while searching on-line for something else. The park is made up of several different ecosystems which were man-made originally, but are now left natural. As you go through the park, the landscape changes from sand dunes to forest to something that resembles a midwestern prairie. It was pretty bizarre!

The main way to see the park is on a bike. The park is known for it's interesting system of bike rental. They have these old, refurbished white bikes located throughout the park. There are some at each entrance as well as at some other locations within the park. You pay an entrance fee, which gives you access to the park and the white bikes. As long as a bike is parked in one of the designated areas, you can take it and ride it. When you are finished or if you stop for a break, you just leave your bike at one of the designated areas. If someone takes the bike you had, you just take another one. The main rule is that you can't chain the bikes up. The park, while not beautiful, was pretty cool. The only problem was that the bikes were pretty basic. Although it was fairly flat, I could have used a few gears! I could have brought my bike, but Rick's was stolen so we both decided to go for the "white bike" option. Moreover, we liked the whole communal bike idea.

The Kröller Müller Museum, which has the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings outside of Amsterdam, is also located inside the park. It also has a very nice sculpture garden.

You can check out the websites below for more information:

http://www.goworldtravel.com/ex/aspx/articleGuid.98a646d5-b248-4eb0-bf31-2fca412ccb6d/xe/article.htm

http://www.hogeveluwe.nl/

Sidenote: Rick likes to take pictures while riding. Therefore, there are a lot of pictures of my backside!