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We started the day by driving 10 minutes away into the artsy town of Bergen; a quaint area with both small well kept homes, and large impressive abodes - especially for European standards. The backyards were the size urban Canadian's are acustomed to, much larger than the average Dutch yard. We were told that the bike rental shop in Alkmaar would be closed on a Sunday, but that Bergen's would be open. We found it in a residential area, a block away from the business center, in a home owner's garage. Brennin thought the owner looked like the actor Robin Williams. The owners were busy with returns and new bikes going out, but friendly and helpful getting us set up with 3 bikes. The first bike was unique, an aanhangfiets meaning "hang on bike". Belia sat on the back pedaling, hanging on for dear life, while Brennin controlled the steering from the front. With both of them pedaling it was easy to power. Darius and I both found a bike that fit, and Darius got the serious lecture about paying attention because the streets here are busy!
Tim and Mariah drove to the grocery store and we pedaled home. The bike paths were scenic. The front yards in Bergen were filled with a variety of flowering plants, the bunches of fat hydrangeas caught my eye the most. Purple, white, pink, blue and fragrances hanging in the air; some fragrances coming from the flowers, while others were coming from the perfumes and colones worn by the cyclers passing by.
The bike path was a busy place with a variety of personalities. Ladies in pretty skirts, serious cyclers dressed in spandex, couples out for a leisurely ride, and some on their cell phones chatting as they pedaled. Kids stacked neatly on mothers bikes or placed in a bakfiets meaning "container bike" (the mini van for parent cyclers). Basically a wooden wheel barrow attached to the front of a bike. We saw people moving groceries, pets and kids with this practical bike.
We pedaled toward our house, passing fields of grazing sheep, but missed our canal crossing. We thought we had our eyes on the right windmill as a landmark, but in reality we were mistaken. I wasn't concerned because I thought there would be many places to cross the canal - again a mistake. By now Brennin was looking unimpressed with me, Belia was still "hanging on", and Darius was quickly running out of steam. I was enjoying the scenery and couldn't see what the big deal was! I didn't want Tim to worry about us so I asked a passing cyclist for directions. With some backtracking, and some rest stops we spotted Tim and Mariah across the canal - we all waved enthusiastically to each other. The bridge nearby made it clear how close Berga really was to where we were staying. A 20 minute bike ride turned into just over an hour. But the scenery was beautiful! Darius didn't think the scenery was worth it, and to top it off a car honked at him when he crossed at the wrong time, making his experience even worse.
With our groceries put away we prepared for Jetta's visit. She wasn't far behind us and soon the reunion began. She brought Wiebe and Jenta with her. The last time we were all together was in 2001, but it took no time at all to feel completely comfortable with each other. Jetta was staying nearby at a campground, we made plans to visit her family there, and we made a supper date at our place when Marieke and her children could join us as well.
Darius and Brennin took Jetta, Wiebe and Jenta for a row down the slootje. They enjoyed their ride, and Jetta was very impressed that the rental home included 2 bikes and a boat.
After Jetta's visit we had supper and watched a WW2 show. Details about the war meant more to us now that we had visited numerous war sites throughout our trip.
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