Day 10 September 2, 2012 37 miles, total:260 miles, Haarlem to Scheveningen

This faucet was on a side street as we returned to the B&B after dinner.  We thought it humorous and worthy of a picture.

 By 8:30 this morning we were fed, packed and ready to roll.  We left out the back of the B&B and headed for Scheveningen which is on the northern seaside section of Den Haag (The Hague).  To the non-Dutch, it is impossible to pronounce, but everyone knows where you are going when you try to say it.

After 45 minutes of pedaling through Haarlem's suburbs, some farm land and the every present canals, we reached the Noordzee at Zandvoort.  It was just beautiful  We could see the barges sailing in a line in the distance.  Of course as we set south, we had a cooling breeze (force 3 wind) in our faces.

We were heading south through the dunes on a  bike path that had frequents trails to the sea.  The bike path was over 10 miles long and is paved.  On weekends there are many cyclists riding as fast as they can.  Sometimes it was a solo rider, but often it was a swarm.

As we entered the path through this set of gated the warning sign says "WILDROOSTER".  We certainly did not see any wild roosters.  We have seen this sign before and I suspect that it means something else in Dutch!

 As you can see, the ride was spectacular.  The views were varied and we enjoyed the up and down of the hills and curves.

 At last we have left the Province of Noord Holland and entered the Province of Zuid Holland.  We are still on the western side of the country.  There is so much variety in the landscape, it is hard to believe that we have actually only been in two provinces.

 Cyclists and walkers aren't the only people using these dunes.  We had seen horse trails before, but this was the first time we had seen any horses.

After we reach Noordwijk, we headed inland.  Once again, this is a scene we expect to see in this section of Holland.  Where there are canals, there seem to be windmills.

 This, however, was not a sight we expected to see.  We turned into a park off the bicycle path and there were people scuba diving in this lake.  There certainly has been diversity in the views we've had during our lunches.

 Then we rolled into Leiden.  This is the home of the first university and the original tulips.  While we saw neither, we thought this modern architecture was interesting.

 When we finally took an afternoon break, we were able to watch part of a men's field hockey game.  Not exactly the way we expect to see a field hockey game played!  I didn't know a hockey ball could make such a loud noise when hit.

 Finally we reached Scheveningen.  We are staying at the Belle Vista just a couple of blocks from the beach.  When in Holland (and other places in Europe) room 101 is on the second floor!

This is one of the most popular beaches in Holland.  Although it was breezy and in the mid 60's, the "boardwalk" was packed and somehow this pier withstands the assault of the North Sea.  We walked down to the pier and saw a pair of people bungy jump from that crane at the end of the pier.  I know some people think we are crazy to be pedaling around with just a GPS and a plan, but we have nothing on those two!