Get on the road.

So we rode our bikes.

We made around 90 kilometres last weekend, over the course of two days, with breaks in between, but still by far the biggest trip we´ve ever done. I wanted to cancel last minute, because it was cold and wet and I really wasn´t in the mood, but my men - especially the younger ones - were really excited, and everytime I tried to reason with them, Miro told me "We´ll pull this through!" - and so we did. 

Part of the trip we took a train, but we did cross the Dutch/German border by bike, and though my sons started to be tired at that point, they really liked hopping on the line of the former border, back and forth, shouting "Now I´m in Germany - now I´m in the Netherlands - now I´m in Germany again - and back to the Netherlands!" because they were really fascinated by this crossing-frontiers thing. 

See the clothes we are wearing? Yeah. This is late in May. And still feels like early March. But whatever. 

As soon as we crossed the border, it got better. We did not have a real map, or plan, but Dutch people are the most helpful folks, so it wasn´t hard to find our way. One time, a friendly elderly couple even rode with us for about an hour or so, just to show us the quickest and easiest path to our campsite.

So we did camp. 

I had found a beautiful campsite - according to the owner it´s built on the grounds of an old monastry, and therefore the oldest recreational park of the Netherlands, and actually there were some ruins amongst the tents. Other than that, they just had an amazing amount of kids-amusements, playgrounds, bike-trails (yes!),  and a swimming pool, and my kids would have loved to stay there for eternity.

And cuddling up, feeling the warmth of five people in cozy sleeping bags, that´s nice for sure. There are so many, many birds you can hear. And I like to wake up with a cold nose and the smell of green all around me. 

And as soon as the sun came out for, like, five seconds...

...we ditched our clothes and jumped into the pond. 

We saw a horse tournament, and we ate cheap, greasy indonesian food, and we met many rabbits, sqirrels, cows, but Miro did not manage to catch a rabbit to take it home. Now, what a pity. And of course, we read: 

And now we´re back home, and know that we can do it: Make 50 kilometres a day, carry all the luggage, and cross borders with our bikes. So, in case the summer ever comes, we can keep this in mind - there´s an option of spending our entire summer vacation on bikes. Right now, looking out of the window into the pouring rain, I wouldn´t mind riding somewhere warmer than Holland, though. It´s been a while since we´ve last been in Turkey :)

Music: 

Bastille is an awesome band I just discovered, and they seem worth a closer examination!