2. Tag: von Amersfoort nach Alkmaar

We stick to the cities with the letter A as the first letter. After breakfast - and a last tech talk with the Norwegian guest - yes, the one who wanted to pick up his bicycle with a titanium frame and Rohloff gearshift in Amerfoort today (estimated price: 5,500 euros - without a motor, of course) - we then headed towards Amsterdam with our bicycles, discussing navigation and battery life on bicycle navigation systems along the way.

I don't want to mention the excellent quality of the bicycle paths and the well-thought-out bicycle path concept here, but I would like to invite the councilors of Mönchengladbach-Rheydt to take a look here...

Our hometown Bocholt is also proud of its title 'Bicycle-friendly city in NRW', although the first place recently went to Münster, if I remember correctly. Allow me, esteemed reader, to comment on the situation (if you continue reading at this point, you have given me permission...): if Dutch cities were to participate in this competition, they would all line up behind Bocholt - and by a wide margin. Why? Just use the bicycle path at the roundabout Alfred-Flender/Pannemannstrasse in Bocholt 20 times, or maybe try out the new traffic light system at the intersection Alfred-Flender/Ringstraße. If you still haven't noticed it by then... And those are just 2 examples.

Forgive me, esteemed reader, but that had to be clarified. I shall hurry now and return to today's stage. In the Netherlands, there are few hills - this thesis, which is always reiterated, can be confirmed so far. We didn't have to climb many meters of altitude, for long stretches the landscape was so flat that you could 'see who's coming to visit on Sundays' already on Wednesdays.' But instead of aiming for altitude records, it is possible to achieve low values - today we were below sea level for long stretches, up to 12m (assuming the navigation system can be considered precise here).

Before Amsterdam: Fort Naarden was built by Willem van Oranje between 1675 and 1685 after he had recaptured the city from the French. In the centuries before, there had been repeated destruction, murder and looting, for example during the 'Hook and Cod Wars.' However, Wikipedia fails to mention German war guilt in this context.

On the rest of the way, we will go to Alkmaar, known for its cheese market. On the way there: Zanse Schans, an open-air museum with almost 2 million visitors per year, where the oldest industrial area in the Netherlands is shown - with windmills at the center. Here's a little tip for our Dutch neighbors: a 'gastronomic' attraction would certainly be very popular with visitors, our fellow countrymen in southern Germany have not missed the opportunity to position several of these tourist attractions in one place.

Alkmaar is beautiful. As often in the Netherlands, it is crisscrossed by canals on which tourists can move around by boat.