Well this day started well enough. I was packed early, ate breakfast at the Groningen University Hotel which is also where I stayed. It was a modern hotel in an old building. I retrieved my bicycle from the city operated underground bicycle parking lot. It was free and secure. The ride (45 km, I went the long way) was great with a nice tail wind. Plenty of sights to see and pictures to take. I got hassled by a worker on a house as I stopped to take a picture of his ladder setup. We had words about my taking a picture of his ladders, but I convince him I was a tourist and not from OSHA. He told me it was a strange country. I told him all country are different not strange. He spit on the ground and walked away. This was not the friendly interaction I usually have with strangers. As I came to the town of Assen after lunch the clouds gathered and the winds increased. The weather report for the next few days gets worse, more cold, more wind, and more rain. The bartender at the hotel told me snow was also in the forecast. I have never ridden in snow. It turns worse tomorrow afternoon. I travel south some more tomorrow but I do not know which way I will go after that. I will decide day by day. I may go to a medium size town and stay in one location for a day or two. I might even go into Germany as I am getting closer and closer. I also must decide where to be on the King's Birthday, a National Holiday for the Nederlands. I want to wear my nice orange shirt for the celebration.
The venders preparing for the daily open air market.
A sail boat near Groningen
A drawbridge in Groningen.
The drawbridge and the sailboat.
An interesting building.
Please notice the line on the left of the picture, as it gets smaller the time for the light to change is diminished.
The ladder set up by my friend mentioned above.
A Japanese Magnolia Tree, often called a tulip tree.
A rather nice home outside Groningen. Do you notice anything about the hedges in front.
A lock in the rural area. I am standing on the draw bridge.
The canal flowing from the directly above drawbridge and lock.
A horse with his winter coat.
Bob with his winter bicycle coat. It helped.
Bicycle path.
Weird!
A draw bridge in the city of Assen.
The beer of the evening, a local, I wished that I had of brewed it. Very good on all points.
My evening meal. A club sandwich with salmon as the main item. it was very good but I could not eat it all.
Wonderful day. The nice guy just showed everyone is not the same. Not sure why he didn't like you. Maybe bees scare him! Their houses are interesting. More like the Brits than German, or maybe French. Sounds like summer has not arrived in Holland like here. It was in the 80s here, and will be in the upper 80s upon your return. The bier looked great as did the salmon sandwich. Ride safe, Herr Hummel!!!
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