From Emmerich to Rehnen - Madly in love with the Netherlands <3

How do you know you're in the Netherlands:

- Bicycles have priority. Always.

Even pedestrians, who could cross the road, sometimes wave you through.

- The cycling infrastructure is world-class.

There are cycle paths everywhere, often with the choice of the 'fast route' or the more scenic route, both well signposted thanks to a sophisticated point system.

You can often see roundabouts and underpasses exclusively for cyclists.

- Nobody wears a helmet in the city. There is no need, cycling here is incredibly safe (exception: road cyclists).

- Rural areas consist of beautiful farms made up of multiple picturesque brick buildings.

- Masks are not required in shops and restaurants.

- Curtains are always open - and the decor is usually very tasteful ;)

(Closed curtains are seen as 'mysterious').

- There are a lot of people on Warmshowers!

You might sense that I'm just a little bit fascinated by this small bicycle enthusiast country ;)

The only somewhat negative point is that it's quite difficult to find a (wild) camping spot, but tonight I've decided to stay in my hammock :D That doesn't count as camping, right?!

And thanks to the active Warmshowers community here and the possibility to use official campsites from June 15th, I'm not worried about finding a place :)

Update:

- Every larger town has at least one Albert Heijn (supermarket) and Hema (department store).

- Almost every generation speaks fluent English, which makes traveling here even more enjoyable :)

- Each apartment has its own house number, so there are hardly any doorbells; additionally, almost all (single-family) houses have a flagpole where the flag of their own province flies or a 'United Against Corona' flag is often seen nowadays.

- A certain percentage of the budget for major public construction projects, such as dikes, is allocated for cultural or artistic purposes, such as sculptures at the site. That's why there are so many beautiful places here ;)

- The Dutch language is just cool! It always seems similar to German, but then it's somehow completely different, and the pronunciation, especially of proper names, often becomes a tongue twister - I'm just saying Schiermonnikoog [Sch-chierr-monnik-ooch] or something like that :D

Here are some of my favorite Dutch words:

Fiets [fiiits] - Bicycle (of course, in first place ;))

Bos [boos] - Forest

Schoonmakmiddel [sch-chown-mak-middl] - Cleaning agent

Vuurtoren [vwür-tore] - Lighthouse (literally: Fire tower)

Pindakaas [pindakas] - Peanut butter