Exploring

Today I rode out to the UU campus with a couple of friends. Since they were both staying there, we didn't remain at the campus long, but rather went to look for the old military installations left over from both world wars. After biking along a path with trees and a large river on one side and rolling pastures filled with cows, sheep, and the occasional rabbit on the other side, we finally found the first of the forts. The concrete bunkers we found were nestled into the side of knolls facing the river. they were awesome in and of themselves, but after parking our bikes and exploring further, we realized they were there to guard a much larger fort on the island at the center of the river. We chained our bikes to a bench nearby and walked through a gate to the path leading around the river.

As we walked around, the fort on the island became clearer and our preeminent goal became to reach it. Despite our goal, we were still stopped on our journey by a multitude of other fascinating items such as the remnants of old military trenches and a cottage made entirely of concrete. Eventually we saw the bridge to the island and on our way to it were stopped by fence and a rope delineating the paddock of a flock of sheep. Defeated, we turned around and after successfully summiting the concrete cottage, headed back to our bikes. Before long we ran into an elderly Dutch couple and inquired about the fort. They were incredibly helpful, explaining that the fort was open for a limited time now, but a tour needed to be charted to get over to it. They also shared with us some the history of the area, something hard to come by given that every sign was in Dutch. The small bunkers in the area were actually built by the Nazis during the occupation of the Netherlands and they used them to protect the World-War-One-era fort that they controlled. As soon as this information was imparted we were besieged by a deluge of sheep who had followed us away from their pen. Thankfully the amount of sheep excrement on the ground, something that before had made it much more slippery to climb onto the cottage, relieved my fear that we had just started a mass sheep exodus. Despite that fear being alleviated, I was still wary of the large flock of sheep descending on our position. The elderly couple promptly walked on, but unfortunately for us the sheep were blocking the exit.

Thanks to my goat-wrangling skills acquired helping John at Nueva, I quickly took care of the goat's wooly cousins and the exit was clear. Before leaving, however, I made sure to pet all of the baby sheep; one white, one brown, and one black, and we made fast friends much to the chagrin of their parents.

After mounting our bikes, we again took-off. Passing pastures of cows juxtaposed with bunkers resting in the center of their grazing land was quite a sight. Along the same road, we passed a farmhouse with a large number of families on the property. I quickly stopped and dismounted my bike to read the sign and promptly remembered that I don't Dutch. After that sobering realization we continued on our way back.

Our final stop was something found only in my greatest dreams. De pannenkoekenhuis, just saying this word brings a tear to my eye. Out in the middle of the forest and countryside we had found a big-red pancake house, that judging by the large amount of automobiles present (an odd sight in a country of mostly bikers) was immensely popular. Upon further inspection we realized that this was the same restaurant recommended to us privately by our instructor Jaap after class on the first day. The old-styled thatch roof adorning the building and its river-adjacent location made me feel like someone in a Tolkien novel, while the stunning playground made my friend Charles remark, "I know I'm 21, but that is a really cool slide." Unfortunately as it was getting late and none of us had money, we turned around and left the pannenkoekenhuis for another day.

While biking back to school we came upon another flock that I hadn't expected. What could only be described as a murder of hot-air balloons, a sight I can't recall ever seeing in person, sailed over the tree lines of the nearby fields, giving a fitting ending to an eventful day.