We spent our weekend in the east of the country. Cycling, enjoying the countryside, watching birds. We stayed at a small camp site, which has its own vegetarian restaurant. A lovely meal, four courses, all tasty and unusual. You can find vegetartian meals almost everywhere nowadays, but the menu often is predictable. You end up having a pizza or a curry, for example. And often you don’t really get to choose.
There was a wonderful moment on Friday when we cycled towards some trees and suddenly noticed a huge shower. It was like cycling towards a wall of rain. I had never seen the edge of a shower so clearly. We stopped to have a look at this, and not to cycle into it, but we didn’t have to. The wall quickly moved towards us, and we ran to take shelter in a barn on a farm yard. We watched the shower move across the fields, and it looked stunning.
As for the birds. Highlights were a hoard of young Housemartins stuck just under the roof of a farm we passed. Over 40 nests with young about to leave the nest. And at the camp site a couple of Spotted Flycatchers who were not bothered by people staring at them for a long time. Then there were the Woodpeckers that could be heard throughout the weekend, but could not actually be seen.
Cycling out there for me was also a strange mixture of history and literature. I’ve been reading Dutch historical novels set partly in this area, and seeing all the small castles and monumental houses brought those books to life for me.
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