The country side

What's the only thing you relly wanna do after being in a big, dirty, and most all overwhellming city ?  Relax. So relax is what i did, dug thru my phone numbers and contacted my taunte in Dronten, (which should be the name of the entry but it wouldnt recognize it.)  and arranged to meet at the train station.  After sitting down to chat and find out what's going on with each other and our familys back home we turned in for the night so we could go explroe the country side the next day! Up and at it bright and early, grabbing a traditional dutch breakfast before heading out on the road 15km away to a little fishing village, Ellberg. Wiht no idea of where we were going i had no expectations but if i did or could exspect somting from a small fishing village, it would have been blown away. Upon arrival you can stroll along the harbor seeing fishing ships well ast their day but still being used to bring in the fish for the markets, locally and abroad. You'll know where to go, walk along the main road , under fishing nets strung out overhead as a symbol to the city's heritage, which seemingly is still the same as years past. The main church was struck by lightening and had the steeple knocked clear off, and that's how it stays , with no steeple. The city walls still stand and while you seee sheep grazing  you can imagine that at one point armies may have tried to roll through a viallge like this in a day but they would have another thing coming.  If your near by  would reccomend a relaxing visit here, and while your at it try to down an entire raw herring ! ( very good actually. )  After Ellberg i began to get a feel for what the Netherlands are really like, and the next city was no exception. Urk lays on the westren egde of the Isselmere ( forgive the spelling ) and roughly 20 km form Dronten it's self.  Before the dykes were built and the land reclaimed, it exsisted as an island  while now a dyas it is part of the reclaimed land. If there is a friendlier place, or a place more like my native PEI, i havn't found it yet and i doubt i will.  The town is small, and frinedly, as you walk down the narrow roads or walk the shore line and watch as fishermen fix their boats you would be hard pressed not to get a smile and a"good day".  Well the water was too cold to go swimming i managed a toe in the water beneath towering rows of windmills that line the shore and harrness the wind to save on electricty and the burning of fossil fuel.  Again, if your looking for a samll relaxing taste of the netherlands, look Urk up, it's bigger on hospitallity then it's name is long so don't pass it by. One more city to go through, but firsti thought it only right to mention ( for those of you who don't knw me personally and are reading somewhere out there in the big wide world ) that this enxt city has some heritage for me, and being as such i always wanted to come se the place where my namesake comes from.  DRUMMMMMMM ROOLLLLL PLEASE! Hmm, well maybe not, but stilll i was excited.  Again, Kampen is roughly 15km form Dronten and so we hopped in the car and drove over. A small city, which on every road way in made me smile to see my last name posted up everywhere, "geez i thught i must be famous over here"  ;)  Well maybe not, but sitll cool none the less.  It is a typical town, small and cozy, winding with bike paths, and canals that out number the roads.  Spending a day in the city will suffice, as with the other towns mentioned here as they are small, but just great to get away and relax for the day in. Honestly, there wasn't to much of interest here, but it was still my favorite due to the aformentioned heritage. Well i didn't spend more then a day biking around Dronten, ( too busy everywhere else) it did impress on me  and give a feel for how everyone gets around in The Netherlands and that's by bike! If you csan, borrow or rent a bike for a day or more and get lsot ina city  or small own, you won't regret it. I dn't know exactly what i was looking at or the name of the field where i ate lunch , but to me that wasn't the point, i was there just to experience the countryside and i think i accomplished it quite well. To sum it up, get out of the cities and into the countryside of the Netherlands to et a feel for  the culture and people, you be amazed how many people will stop and talk to you in small towns like this and it's the best way to get a true feel for the area.

Ps. for those of you curious , i was solo during this leg of the trip as Ken and Steve went  to Hamburg for a few days after which we met up in Berlin.