Staying in Sassenheim: A ride to the North Sea - beaches and dunes
We really like this campground - 10 euros for a nice pitch for our tent, free Wifi, a bathroom to ourselves (no other campers!) and electricity available for charging our computer, camera, etc. The best thing for me though, is that for 5 euros, the woman who runs the campground will do our laundry. Yeah! After 3 months of travelling, our clothes need a proper wash. We dropped it off this morning and will get it back tonight. It doesn't get any better than that.
We headed out to explore Sassenheim and stopped for lunch at Moeder's. We had a great meal, but the best part was talking to Bert. He works/owns? the restaurant and sat down with us to chat about Amsterdam and other things. We had considered taking the train in to Amsterdam from here for a day visit and he was most helpful. Having lived in Amsterdam for several years, he was full of tips and good information. We really enjoyed talking to him about travel generally as well.
He also advised us that we would really enjoy heading up to Nordwijk and the beach area. His advice was spot on - the ride through the countryside was what we love and the beach was spectacular - especially on a sunny autumn day. The highlight for us were the dunes. We rode through the dunes on a cycle path and it was magical.
We circled home through Sassenheim - satisfied with a really wonderful day of riding and meeting new people.
School is finished for the day and the trail is filled with kids riding home and socializing. It struck us that in Holland, we never see parents lined up at school to drive their kids home as the kids bike home by themselves. This has a nostalgic feel for us - like our chidhoods, a more innocent time.
