This morning I tried Dutch breakfast sprinkles, a ubiquitous part of the Dutch breakfast. It makes the bread taste a bit like cake. Kris and Ester were not keen.

The way they presented our boiled eggs at the Pastorie B&B was very cute.

Our route today took us from Waaxens through Blija, Marrum, Hallum, Hijum, Vrouwen-parochie, Sint Annaparochie, Berlikum, Ried and Franeken to Harlingen. An easy 64km ride.

    

This octagonal church, from 1683, is in Sint Annaparoche. Rembrant was married in the forerunner to the church in 1634.

       

I had two flat tires one after another, we changed the tubes at the side of the road (looks like something inside the tire causing the problem). The second flat was just as we came into Franeken near the end of our journey. We paused here and bought another tube, also a new mouse for Kris’s computer. We had coffee at a central coffee shop, enjoying sitting outside.

      

When we got to Harlingen it was very lively, with heaps of people in the main street area. There was a music and drama festival on that day with shows in pubs and cafes. We caught part of one as we were riding past.

Harlingen has a harbour, canals and lots of rigged sailing boats – it is a stunning town and we could easily have stayed longer.

     

     

The young man in this dingy sped up when he saw me taking a photo from the bridge!

  

Our accommodation is a bed and breakfast attached to a garden centre. We had little huts to sleep in around a centred covered area with big trees and other plants – very cute.

We had a nice social time in the evening in the Slotjie pub – together with some locals. “Slotjie” is the name of a traditional sailing boat. The local people speak both Dutch and the Frisian, which is a language of its own, not a dialect. Our friends included a man who works on off shore gas rigs and the cleaner of the pub. We are invited to camp in someone’s back yard next time we are in town!