So we have done 4 days in the Netherlands: We ended up in Broek in Waterland to stay for 3 nights at a B and B for a very reasonable 35 euros: We spent one day in Amsterdam seeing the tourist spots and then a trip out to Groesbeck/Arnhem for some Canadian war history.

Overall this is what we noticed.....
- the roads are excellent and very straight, Patrick only got corners on the on and off highway ramps
- the drivers are fast but good and normal
-the average litre of gas was 1.14 euros
-we ended up doing around 600 km s all together
-signage was quite good and we only got a little lost

Food was good but the coffee was excellent. Beer rating is good.
ATM - no problems, for my banking friends I am using the ING card and I haven't tried out the Credit Union one yet.

As we head out to Groesboek and Arnhem it starts to rain, then it starts to poor and then the wind comes up like a blast from the North Atlantic. I am sure that Patrick is going to pull over at any time......no apparently not.

We go through the motorways and head down on a secondary road to Groesboek. The rain stops but it is still overcast and windy. We get into town and start to follow the signs to the cemetery when we suddenly come across police controlling the traffic and about twenty thousand people walking around. Now, we are in small town Netherlands here. So we have stumbled across the 4 Day World Walking Competion. When we asked some people what was going on they were shocked that we had not heard about this. We are very very confused. There are bands playing, food cooking, people camped all along the path of the road as these walkers just keep coming and coming and coming. We stop a fellow motorcyclist and he is actually from the city so we gets out his map to try to get us on a back road to the cemetery. However, we have no luck, all the roads are blocked due to the walkers who are walking for 4 days in a big circle and the cemetary is right in the centre of it......Back on the bike we go.....we have decided on a new rule for our travels, plan and read up on where we are going so that if there is a Walking Competition or a festival we will know before hand.

Back to the B and B with little problems and the weather cleared up a bit. Headed into another town by bus called Monnikdam for a nice dinner and then back to the B and B to pack and get ready for the morning.

We are on our way now to Belgium through Bergen op zoom - another Canadian War site/cemetery.

sorry no pictures yet - see you in Belgium