Day 17 ~ Volendam & Edam

Early this morning we picked up our rental, beach cruiser style, bicycles, packed a lunch and headed out of the city. We boarded the (free) ferry at the train station and slowly made our way out of the city. We had a poor map, but the signs and bike trails were mostly sufficient. Many of the street crossings had traffic signals for both automobiles and bicycles! We did get off-course and slightly lost once during the day, but that was part of the adventure. Eventually we were winding down rolling country paths next to large canals. The sky was perfectly clear and the air was crisp and cool. We passed old-fashioned hand bridges and an authentic windmill as we rode out to the towns of Volendam and Edam - quaint, quintessential Dutch villages. We ate our picnic lunch on the water in Volendam and soaked up the salty air and sunshine. It was a wonderful, relaxing day, and we had a great time! This is something I highly recommend for any bicycling enthusiast!! By the end of the day we had pounded out almost 50 km - not too shabby on a single geared bike!

We made our way back to the city with sore back-ends and sunburned, smiling faces. After returning our bikes, we grabbed a quick dinner and boarded our first overnight train on our way to Berlin...