Aire at Kampen – N52°22. 174’ E5°35.950’

The bicycles got their first outing this morning for a short hop into Zwolle. It was only 3km to town so we’d normally have walked but we had to leave camp by lunch hence the bikes. Penny can almost walk as fast as she cycles so it’s not a huge saving but we did it anyway!!

It was market day in Zwolle so everywhere was buzzing. Once we’d finished looking around town we found the tourist information shop, they didn’t open until 10am which is why we’d missed them originally. The church as usual was stunning and the theatre very different, all in all a nice town surrounded by a canal.

Next and final stop for the day was Kampen. For the first time on this trip we were just camped on a car park so no facilities but there were about 10 of us so we felt safe and it was really really close to town. Quite literally we set foot out of the van and as we were looking which way to set off we spotted the town gate.

Through the town gate and 100m we were in the thick of the town, shopping, history and all. We actually did a bit of shopping on the high street as well as looking at all the touristy bits. The guidebook told us to look out for the drawbridge but for us this was the least remarkable part of town. We can’t find out why but all of the town is leaning and a lot of buildings are propped up. As well as all the nice buildings (Hanseatic again) there were lots of oddities some of which we’ve photographed. We had a lovely afternoon and evening in town, we even ate out and partook of some local specialities; bitterballen (creamy mushroom bread crumb coated balls), oxensausage (it looked like raw mince/sausage meat but tasted ok), dry sausage, KamperKrolleCheese (very nice) and deep fried spring roll type nuts/noodles.

Holland is famed for it’s cyclists but how they all survive we have no idea, just watching them cycle whilst texting (the majority), holding shopping, umbrellas etc or even pulling suitcases and then dice with the traffic. As well as zebra crossings just round the roundabouts, cycles have a separate path and have priority over traffic, for motorists it’s a nightmare. The roundabouts also have kerbs in the middle making it extra tricky to drive round. Now as for the motorists, they are almost as impatient as the Italians and definitely as stupid, pulling into spaces that simply don’t exist. Mark is definitely not enjoying the travelling again!!