16 From Rotterdam to The Hague - Headwind and finally the sea!

In contrast to the weather forecast the day before, fat rain clouds hung over Rotterdam on Sunday morning and provided the plants with plenty of water :P

Actually, I had planned to start around 10 o'clock, but I had a leisurely and extensive breakfast with my hosts. There were again super interesting conversations - among other things about usability topics, travel & bike repair - and mega helpful tips for my further route. I was also recommended the app 'Fietsplanner', where you can get super route suggestions with individually adjustable parameters such as 'close to nature' or 'suitable for racing bikes'. Besides, I got to know a typical Dutch breakfast specialty: Hagelslag. In principle, this is nothing more than chocolate sprinkles, but they are not used for baking like ours, but eaten as a topping on buttered toast (untoasted). This is actually shown on the packaging - unfortunately I didn't take a photo :D

When I said goodbye with a heavy heart around half past eleven, the rain had stopped and I cruised a bit through the west of the city. Then I continued westward, along various waters and unfortunately also quite industrial areas. Unfortunately, the wind also came from the west, so the last kilometers cost quite a bit of energy. Nevertheless, or especially because of that, it was an amazing feeling to finally stand on the beach - arrived with my own bicycle ;)

Of course, I still had to cycle to the very tip of the pier and put my feet in the water before enjoying a picnic on the beach.

But the day was far from over, because my next accommodation, again via Warmshowers, was a few kilometers north, on the outskirts of The Hague.

The way there completely blew me away! The coastal cycle path did not just run near the coast, but really directly IN and THROUGH the dunes - breathtakingly beautiful!

From the hills, the sea could be seen and even in the hollows, there were such fantastic dune landscapes to admire that I couldn't stop marveling. My previous hosts had already mentioned that this continues along the entire Dutch coast, but my expectations were completely exceeded and I was hugely excited for the next stages of the journey!

As if that wasn't enough, I was greeted by my next host in accent-free German and as if he were an old friend. It turned out that his girlfriend - also super nice - is German and both speak fluent German and Dutch. That really motivated me to learn a few words of Dutch :)

In the fancy apartment in a house from the 1930s, I was immediately served delicious coffee and as soon as I had showered and relaxed for a short while, dinner was already on the table: Penne à la Vodka. Look it up and try it, super delicious ;)

After dinner, I was taken on an evening walk through the so-called International Zone of The Hague and learned interesting things about the country and its people, for example that due to Corona, the high school graduates were exempted from taking exams and it is a tradition to hang the school backpack on the flagpole at home when someone has passed their high school diploma. I had actually seen that in a village before, but thought it was a prank :D

Back 'home' (it really felt that way ;)), I received great tips for places worth seeing in the Netherlands and support in researching ferries and such for my further route. Thanks a thousand times again to my wonderful hosts!

At this point, maybe a short general hymn to the Warmshowers community: I actually hadn't planned to request accommodation from others so often and I wasn't sure how open people would be to that in times of Corona, but given the fact that wild camping is difficult (and forbidden^^) in the Netherlands and campsites are only allowed to reopen their sanitary facilities from June 15, Warmshowers has simply turned out to be the perfect solution. And I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful hospitality that was shown to me everywhere, for immersing myself in the life of locals, and of course for the warm showers, which are more than appreciated after a long day on the bike :)

Unfortunately, I have only had the opportunity to host someone once BC (Before Corona :P), but I thought it was incredibly amazing to hear the stories and have interesting conversations with virtually strangers.

So if you have a corner to stay at your home and want to meet great people with super interesting stories, sign up as a host (for free), even if you're not mega cycling freaks - and thank me later :P

https://www.warmshowers.org