Daniele Somenzi's Netherlands

Netherlands

Elisa's white Peugeot drives very well; 1200cc is certainly not like my 500, nor the 126, which are both 600cc.

Entering the Netherlands from Belgium, we head for the coast, exactly to Zandvoort, historic home of the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We discover that the track is right next to the beach; that's why on windy days the circuit gets covered in sand. Who knows, perhaps that was also one of the reasons they no longer held the Dutch GP. We spend the night in a hostel, with many other young people. I've used hostels many times by now, and when I'm alone I'm even glad of the company, but when there are two of us, no; indeed very often it's better to take a double room for the same price.

A visit to one of the many Dutch villages, perfection itself: clean streets, well surfaced, pavements without dog mess, and all the houses freshly painted, even with patterns and frames around the windows. Cycle paths are everywhere and many people use bikes to go shopping; they're very environmentally minded here.

We often see that we are below water level; the rivers are three metres above us, held back by sturdy embankments. No wonder they're called the Low Countries. The windmills really are there, and many of them; some turn, they use them to grind wheat and oats.

We don't see the famous tulips because we're out of season, but wind farms we do. Here you can choose whether to buy electricity from wind power or the traditional kind. Even if the price is the same, at least you feel better psychologically.

Elisa and I make a quick trip to Amsterdam, the capital; these canals, complete with barges passing through, are very picturesque, as are the red-light windows (those are arousing too).

The next day we do something crazy: we park the Peugeot in the airport car parks and take a flight to go shopping in London, coming back exhausted on an evening flight; luckily the car is there waiting for us.

We spend another night in the Netherlands in a hostel surrounded by green meadows. How beautiful the Netherlands is, it reminds me of New Zealand.

Bye