Netherlands/Belgium Bike Tour Day 3: Recreatiegebied Spaarmwoude to Bloemendal aan Zee
Posted by Cassie, November 10th, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Since we had a short day of riding today, we did a big loop around Recreatiegebied Spaarmwoude. As we were riding along, we happened upon a ruined castle. It was our first castle of our Europe bike tour! Neither one of us had been in a real castle before, so it was exciting to take a tour of it. We climbed to the top of the ramparts and saw the view that the castle defenders would have had watching for invaders. This was the oldest castle ruins in the Netherlands, built originally in about 1280. It was completely destroyed twice. The first time it was destroyed, it was rebuilt on the same foundation. The Spaniards destroyed it the second time, and it was abandoned afterwards. The castle is near the sand dunes, so it was buried beneath the sand until it was discovered in the 1800s and restored by the Netherlands government.
Castle Ruins
View from the top of the castle
We rode into Haarlem to the Grote Markt and did the Rick Steves experience. We got the raw herring sandwich from the herring stand on the main square. I was not expecting to like the raw herring, but it was surprisingly good. During our time in the Netherlands, we ate several raw herring sandwiches.
Haarlem Cathedral
Haarlem herring stand
After a short ride from Haarlem, we made it to the coast of the North Sea! It was really windy on the coast, and there were tons of kite boarders, windsurfers, and surfers out on the water.
Cassie triumphant at North Sea coast
Kite boarders
We camped in sand dunes, and the campground was enormous! The campground had almost 900 campsites, and it was completely packed with people!
Sunset over the dunes by our campsite
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