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!

Pikardijn

After visiting Geraardsbergen, we headed to this beer bar that was close by. The Beer Book described it as one of Belgium's best country pubs. It had a great atmosphere inside and outside as well as good food and beer. The beer list was quite extensive and the owner was very helpful in suggesting some interesting beers. We sat in a room that reminded me of a greenhouse. It was very pleasant. After our lunch, we took a walk in the countryside surrounding the bar. I think this one merits a return trip!

Geraardsbergen March, 2009

We visited this town in East Flanders at the end of March as we heard it was a popular destination for cycling and we wanted to scout it out. It is built around the Oudenberg, one of Flanders' few hills. There is a cobblestone street that runs downhill from the top of the Oudenberg to the market square. Cycling courses often come through Geraardsbergen and I've heard that many cyclists have "bit it" on this downhill. Thus, this street is known to cyclists as "The Wall".

The town is also known for three more things: A Manneken Pis statue like the one in Brussels, but much older (15th century); a curd pastry called a mattetaart, which we found to be dry and boring; and a festival on Ash Wednesday in which a local dignitary drains a goblet of wine containing a live fish and the audience pelt each other with thousands of mattetaarts. Now, that would be worth seeing! I'm guessing that the tradition started as way to get rid of the yucky pastries that are so hard and dry they are better for pelting people with than for eating.

An example of Belgian quirkiness---a Manneken Pis statue over a sink in a public restroom!

Day Trip to Diest, Belgium and The Wedelse Molen

Maria visited us for a long weekend at the end of March. On her final day, we decided to explore the small town of Diest in East Flanders as it was close by and she was flying out of Brussels that evening. Our trip to Diest, which turned out to be quite a cute town, was followed by a visit to a beer bar in Limburg called Wedelse Molen (old windmill). Rick and I had been there once before and were drawn back by the great beer list and the charming atmosphere. It is housed in an old mill. The outside patio looks out over farmland and the inside is cozy and full of wooden tables as well as a mechanism that still turns the mill unside.