Allow me to introduce you to "my" bike. I've dubbed it the Green Machine.
Note the child seat on the back. No cool person in Holland bikes without one. I ride Thom (the five-year-old) to school most mornings. We sing songs along the way--the Spiderman theme song more often than not.
Underneath the blue chain is a U-shaped contraption. It's a bike lock, and every bike here has one. I've never seen them before. You have a key, and when you insert and turn it the back wheel will unlock. Otherwise the bike won't roll. Pretty cool idea.
And one final feature: my bell. When Spongebob's a ringin', get the f#$k out of the way!
Hilversum is the commercial center for the region. It also houses all of the television studios for Holland. It's about four kilometers south of Bussum.
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Have I mentioned what a paradise Holland is for bikers? There are bike paths all over the countryside.
Along the way I passed under a bridge for livestock to go from one field to another.
The shopping district was located in the most historic area of the town and was quite busy.
Hilversum was also the first place where I saw a lot of modern buildings mixed in with the old.
This is the parking lot beside the train station. I caught, maybe, a third of the bikes that were parked there.
And of course, churches.
I love how you can see the steeple in the background in this picture.
Well, to be honest, I wasn't overly impressed with Hilversum. Unless you are interested in shopping, it gets tedious quickly. Personally, my idea of hell is a gigantic shopping mall (with Jack Layton speeches playing over the loudspeakers).
So I consulted my map, and decided to cycle over to a nearby town, Laren.
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Laren was a beautiful town. It was the most picturesque place I'd seen so far. The downtown area resembles Wasagaming, for those who have spent time at Clear Lake.
(where's my rifle when I need it?!)
1 comment:
Great photos. I lived in Laren for 4 years and loved it.
Nearby Blaricum is also pretty.
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