11 September 2010
ALKMAR e GRONINGEN - Netherland
As we're closer to autumn, and we're moving toward the North of the country, the temperatures drop and the amount of rain increases. Initially we don't understand that the situation is getting worse, but we start noticing it from the average level of wet socks that we deposit on the rear seats of the car and from the fact that we’ve started measuring the amount of daily activities by calculating the number of socks and shoes that we have to change in order to have dry feet. This need, combined with our natural curiosity about the culture that is hosting us, raises the doubt that those pieces of wood shaped as shoes typically Dutch, are not only the result of a weird tradition but that it can also have an actual benefit...
Wake up in Heiloo and we immediately go towards Alkmar to see the cheese market. Too bad that it ended the week before. Full of hope, we go to the Tourist Information to ask if there were any cheese factories nearby. The first direction sends us to a touristic place where we were supposed to find some Edam. The second piece of advice we have, brings us to a place where they also make wooden shoes. As a matter of fact, Bruttone buys a pair. Actually, at the first place we bought some goat cheese and at the second place we eventually found Edam, in addition to the shoes.
We got lost while looking for the cheese factories, and this gave us the chance to see cows in a big flower bed near the road. One was a large bull, the other two were younger. One of these was a male and was the softer of the two calves.
Since it was early, we decided to go to Groningen. The bridge that was built as a dam is very long (around 30 km, 18miles).
We managed to find the campsite and even free showers! Awesome!
Dinner in Groningen:
- Moustardsoup: mustard soup (tasted like mustard and contained leek and bacon)
- Tomatensoup: a more liquid tomato sauce with the addition of bell peppers
BRUTTONE’S NOTES:
It’s been a while since I gotta pee. She is asleep. Suddenly she screams “Toilet!! Toilet!!” and points to the McDonald’s sign. Then she falls asleep again. 3 hours traveled, 2.5 hours slept…”
