Bruges to Middleburg

 Today we started our bicycle tour. We left Bruges behind and started toward Leeuwarden which is where we functionally end our trip. Riding out of Bruges was no easy task. The roads are all cobblestone and quite jarring on the bike. After we left the old city(of Bruges) we ended up on what seemed like a bicycle trail except for the occasional cars.

We followed this canal for quit a distance. It was striking with the double row of trees planted on both sides. The first town we came to was Damme. It was a sleepy little burg that must rely on tourism and commuting to bigger cities as there was not much else there except houses.

Damme is another of these old towns that if you look at it on google maps you can see exactly where the defensive walls once stood in a star like pattern. There are remnants of it that you bike by.

Along the way we saw several more Windmills. (Only missed getting a picture of one.)

These were definitely the real thing not a modern reconstruction. We also saw several new wind turbines generating electricity. 

The land is flat and were it calm the bicycling would be very easy. Unfortunately today we fought a strong north wind the majority of the day. Not sure if this is true but the roads we road on were elevated from the fields. I don’t know if the road was first placed then the water drained out to make way for the fields. We are biking today and most of tomorrow through the province of Zeeland. It has multiple islands separated by large bays from the North Sea. Today we needed to cross a larger one and there was no bridge so we hopped on to a ferry.

You can see a ferry in the picture. 

Our total distance to day was 51Km or about 30miles. Tomorrow is our biggest day. Our bike tour company encouraged our current route as this time of year the winds are generally South Westerly which should push us on our way. Unfortunately today was all North easterly which fought us the whole way.

Tonight we are staying in Middleburg which is the Capital of Zeeland. We are in a B and B which has been great. We walked into the old city and found this large building complex. It was the remains of a large monastery. That is until the reformation when it was goodbye priests and monks and hello to the Reform pastors. The church had a list of ministers in succession from the 1500s until 1977. It currently is actually split into two churches each using half of the old cathedral. The art work is not what I would expect to see in an American church…

Definitely Adam and Eve before the fig leaves.

Well I hope you are enjoying the nightly updates. As long as there are flat fields and windmills look for more pictures tomorrow.

Peace

Dale and Ila/