Sept 9 Adios Gandalf and fellow passengers

After a last breakfast people took off in all directions for the rest of their European holiday.  Some had a flight home that same day. Others returned to Haarlem or launched a European city tour. 

Only the four of us, Maggie, Jim, Frank and Michael had our own bikes.  We cycled through Amsterdam, past Haarlem and down to Hillegom where we had a really interesting Airbnb place with a fantastic sculpture garden. It was a lovely cycle – except for the part where I took an ungraceful flying side-dive into the nettle patch!! It was right at the start of a very narrow and steep bridge and a big guy was barreling off in the other direction.  I stopped and he sort of startled/nudged me & I dropped off the trail into a huge patch.  At least he did stop and offer me a hand and told me not to put my hands down – or it would have been a lot worse than it was!  But it only lasted about an hour.

After dropping our gear at our bnb  we cycled to a nearby restaurant for lunch and then picked up provisions for dinner.  Marina and her crew met us there in the late afternoon, so there were 8 of us.   After dinner everyone enjoyed a quiet evening in the elaborate garden, and some enjoyed the huge chess set.

Marina’s  crew left early in the morning for their flight home, and the four of us headed south toward Bruges.