The bicycle is a part of the Dutch national identity and the degree to which Dutch people ride bikes is truly astounding. One of the interesting things about the bikes is they all appear to be "old-timey" - from another age. 

In fact, this style has roots in the Nazi occupation of Holland.  During that time, the Nazis tried to confiscate the bikes from the locals.  Those bikes that were left became symbols of the resistance and even today, many of the bikes on the street either date back to that era or are reproductions of the same bikes.

And as locals described to us, the style is practical.  You site upright on the seat in such a way that it is easy to carry groceries or kids, or dogs or whatever.  However, what we found is that this is true in a flat country like Holland.  Don't try to go uphill on a Dutch bike.

On a recommendation from TwinF member cwolz, we took a day and took a train from Amsterdam to Gouda and then rode bikes from Gouda to Oudewater and back.  He was right - biking in the countryside is a trip into the real Holland.  We highly recommend it.

One of the things we miss about being on the road is contact with our friends and family and even a little contact with fellow Americans.  Sachi was saying yesterday that she has gotten so used to English with an accent now that it sounds normal.

Luckily, we’ve had a few occasions to hang out with friends from Seattle to get our fix.  What has made this extra special is that we never made specific plans to meet anyone – it was purely good timing. We both want to give a quick shout-out to a few folks that made the effort to meet us along the way…

A few days before arriving in Hong Kong, our friend Christi realized that we would be there at the same time as our mutual friend Kerry.  Sure enough, we were there at almost the exact same time and spent a day and night together, including a little karaoke.

After that we heard from our friend Jake Ludington that he would be in Beijing for a conference and sight seeing and sure enough – the dates coincided nearly perfectly.  We ate Peking Duck, drank beer over the Forbidden City (below) and in a couple of neighborhoods around Beijing.

With both Kerry and Jake, meeting them really made us feel like we made new friends.  We knew them both before, but not very well.  Now though, having shared international experiences together, we have great new friends.

Lastly is our friends in Amsterdam and The Netherlands.  Betty and Josh got married months ago and planned an Amsterdam honeymoon.  Once their date was set, so was ours and Amsterdam become a far off date for us to make. As it worked out, we had a great time with them over a few days, including a Heineken Experience.

I’m lumping Lilia and Robert into the Seattle people because Lilia lived there for a while last year.  This is the same Lilia that also met us in Moscow.  She and her Dutch husband Robert opened their home to us in the town of Enschede, Holland and we got a chance to meet their friends at a party for Lilia’s birthday. Their friends also included Ton Zylstra, a blogger that I’ve known online for a long time and finally got to meet in person.  It was such a great experience to see a glimpse of their normal lives in Holland.

Sachi, Lilia and Ton at Bad Bentheim Castle near Enschede...

 Our hospitable hosts, Lilia and Robert...

For the next couple of months we’ll be in Europe – so if anyone out there is visiting and would like to hook-up, please do contact us – we’d love to meet you…