Kennermeer Duinen

This morning we did the wise thing and took a taxi out of Haarlem and to the entrance of the national park. We immediately found the white and red route sign and off we went. We soon realized that today's scenery is what we came for. Beautiful woods and lovely rolling dunes. Again, we are so lucky with the beautiful weather. Not even any wind. The sea is a pond with practically no surf. We walked along the edge of the water for about two km. 

Just before the beach walk we stopped at Parnassia (a historic beach Cafe) and enjoyed a light coke before doing the beach walk. It was a little tricky finding the route out through the dunes, but we managed. We passed a lake with lots of cormorants, we think. They were all sitting on a small island.

Our lunch consisted of a raisin bun on a bench and after that things went awry. Somehow, we lost our way again and walked what seemed like an endless distance along some lonely bike paths. Jeff turned on his GPS on his phone and it directed us to a destination on our left which turned out to be more woods. We backtracked several km, with me going in fourth gear. Finally we met a gentleman on his bike and asked for directions to our accommodation. He said just keep going and that is what we did for a few more km. At last, like something out of a dream, there was the Duin and Kruidberg hotel, our splurge for the week. After a quick shower we made our way down to the garden for tea and wine, some hitter ballen and some gorgeous cheeses. They were chintzy on the bread, however. Just one tiny piece!

We are now waiting for cousin Piet to pick us up and take us to his house for dinner. We have never met him. His dad and my dad were brothers.

Altogether, another wonderful day!