Medemblik
May be the most beautiful route. All the time looking the water. I love it.
Only today and tomorrow is left to enjoy riding my bike in the Netherlands. I often stop to breath or take photos. The sun, the green landscapes, the channels, the boats, the public gardens are incredible... I'm not sure if they have a good level of education but everything is clean and well organised. I suspect that the appearance of that country is the result of a great level of evolution.
I can't avoid my astonishment when I passed close to a big manufacturer. It's impossible for me to imagine the weight of that buildings but they are floating for centuries as it was easy.
Today the path is a bit elevated compared to the village and to the water. Then, I'm riding and looking easily at the houses garden. I'm not sure if the owner of the house takes care of that or they have a gardener. May be depending on the house. But, they are incredibly. They can go to a competition to win prizes. You can find mazes, antique bikes, little wind mill, bridges, wood decoration, fountains or channels inside the garden too.
Another shocking experience is the different types of bikes. Some are prepared to carry all your family, dog included. Other to protect whatever you carry from the wind or from the rain. Ones are e-bikes others aren't. But everywhere there are lots and lots of bicycles. The most exaggerated place where you can find for example a three-storey bike park is near a train station. I'd never seen that amount of bikes together. The lockers are also different from that one I've seen before: some of them have a kind of brake on the wheel and when you turn on a key the bike is protected from robbers.
On my route to Edam I find the most organised swan family I've ever seen. It is a gift for your soul riding a bicycle and contemplate that natural facts. From my surprise I discovered that Edam cheese is not manufactured in Edam. Edam used this to attract tourists. There are some shops where you can buy that cheese but not all the village is turned to this purpose.