vampyresheep | Castlefest / Noordwijk Post 4 - Thursday day out cycling (Reply)

Thursday, Cecile, Simon and Paul managed to hire bikes too, so we went for a little ride to a nearby castle, the Ruins of Teylingen.

The weather started gloomy and drizzly but it soon started to clear up although the wind was picking up place in return. Turned out the castle only opened at weekends and not much could be seen from the street, so we planned a little circular route back via some windmills and to Noordwijk-an-Zee for lunch. It was a pleasant enough route, all on well maintained cycle paths, wish cycling was this enjoyable and safe in the UK!

this is what we should have seen

this is what we actually saw

disappointed cyclists

instead we saw this - plastic zebras and ....

..... plastic cows and ...

real live wallabies! (Also a sign saying not to take photos but it was in Dutch, so what were we to know!)

then on to the windmill

Stopped at a lovely beach bar for lunch, where I was delighted to tuck into a massive bowl of seafood salad - masses of smoked salmon, mackerel and prawns.

By now the wind was really picking up, with practically a sand storm on the beach and despite the screens around the bar seating area, we were covered with a fine layer of sand by the time we left! Went to visit the high street for a browse around the shops and ice-cream, I couldn't resist a giant sheep garden ornament, which Rob somehow was able to pack in his rucksack to cycle it back to our bungalow.

wrapped sheep! (I guess I can't really comment about the odd people who have plastic cows and zebras in their garden now can i)

Got back onto the dunes path towards our bungalow with the plan to stop at a beach for a swim, Rob, Paul and I decided to go back to bungalow first to drop stuff off and then cycled back to meet Cecile and Simon on the beach. As we approached the sands the wind was insane, blowing up so much sand it was painful on the legs and face, so Rob and I decided this was no fun and turned back for a cycle on the dunes, figuring that was the safest option in that weather …. How wrong was I! At the next junction, a sudden gust of wind threw me off my bike! Once Rob was able to extract me from the bike on the floor I assessed the damage and figured I'd be very bruised but nothing broken. Consider whether to continue our ride then realised the knock on my shin had swollen up twice its size so we decided it would be more sensible to rest it, heading back down to a nearby bar where I could put my feet up with a cold compress on my shin and have a nice coffee at the same time.