Oh So Tired

Today's highlight: bunnies, blue herons, windmills, canals, cows, sheep, goats, sail boats... everything.
This has been an amazing day, and I am just dead tired from the wonderfulness of it all. Alex, Adrian and I went on another bike tour, a little like the one I did with Alex, Laura and their friends from France. Poor Laura had to stay home and do thesis stuff this time, but we brought her with us in spirit. We biked to a small town an an island off the coast called Marken. The town was separated from the main land until the 1960's, when they built a causeway, at roughly the same time that the North Sea was dammed, creating an inland freshwater sea (kind of like a massive lake :) This is the same lake that they use to flush out the canals in Amsterdam when they get stagnant, which is all the time now that it's warmish.
On the way there we were against the wind... and in Holland the wind is no joke. It blows constantly, and since we were biking along the dikes of the lake, it was always in our faces. But everything was so BEAUTIFUL it was hard to care that much (well, maybe a little). We went throught a few tiny towns along the bike path, and every house was perfectly Dutch. There were animals running around all over (rabbits, huge pig, and many kinds of chicken), and every house had its own boat tied up in the backyard (there are little canals running either behind or all the side of most houses.)
To get onto the path we first biked through North Amsterdam (Dartmouth side of Amsterdam) which I now feel guilty for calling Dartmouth. We biked through a community entirely made up of houseboats, in all shapes, sizes and styles. The best part though was that each had a boat, instead of a car, in the side yard. There were art deco style houses, "ov'r the mountain" style houses and everything in between. There were some great little places along the way though, like I was saying before I interrupted myself. I took a photo of someone's christmas ball tree (red balls only) and a tree with clogs nailed to it (just like Stan's tree at home Mum and Dad!) It was a beautiful ride along the coast, but it was hard going in the wind, and a relief when we finally made it across the causeway to Marken. We brought a picnic with us, and took a load of to relax on the dock. After we ate we explored to awhile before we started on the trip home. I can't imagine a more picturesque place. There were tiny little streets too narrow for cars, beautiful churches, gardens, boats, animals, little bridges that raise to allow boats to pass, and just about everything typically Dutch. There was even an old woman wearing traditional Dutch dress, and a very sweet old man on a Sunday stroll with his walker. People there were all very friendly. The day was just so that it was chilly enough that most of the throngs of tourists that would normally be there were absent, and the town was quiet. It was kind of strange, because there was a disproportionate number of cafes, bars and restaurants for the size; it was really obvious that the whole place catered to tourists. I know that silence isn't great for business in a place where tourism is the only source of income, but I (maybe selfishly) was very glad we were the only ones there.
The ride back was nice, we saw lots of birds, and all the same cows and things. It was through the inland this time, so the wind died down and we were able to just enjoy the ride. Beautiful.
I took lots of pictures which I will try to put up on flikr soon, but I have a whole day with Judith tomorrow, so I can't promise anything.
When we got back we went and got a drink at a bar on a boat on the canal outside the apartment, and listened to some jazz. A great way to end the night
Love to all
Adrian and Emma