Groningen

Almost our last stop in Germany we visit Jever, a small town famed for it Brauerie

Previous Brewery trips had proved quite successful 

But not this one as, despite several attached gift shops and brewery related cafes, they are geared up only to accept german visitors, and tours when booked are only available in German

My German speaking and comprehension has come on leaps and bounds this year but will not extend to the finer details of the brewing process so we gave it a miss

A cursory glance at the camperstop book, our new travelling bible, reveals a "Historische Landbrauerie mit Brauhaus near Hesel close to the Dutch border

Our kind of stop this;

Park at the back of the brauerie for the night and drift over in the evening for a great meal and plenty of that stunning Landbier

Not our personal selection, that was bigger and now weighs down the back of the van

Some to be gifted but mostly for our continuing travels

 Leaving Germany behind with very thick heads next day we re-enter Holland on the last leg of this trip and visit the university town of Groningen

We'd parked out of town and caught the bus in to discover they were preparing for the visit next day of Sinterklaas

There is much debate here in the Netherlands over the traditional celebrations involving "Black Peter" with expected protests the next day here in Groningen as he arrives

Expected large crowds and protestors meant we'd picked the right day today

Sort of sums it all up really…..

Girlie shops are in abundance

Clever - dumb balance restored….

Bikes…

After a full day dodging the thousands of cyclists you sort of lose your affection for the riders

OK its standard practise here and great to see them in preference to cars but….

There are no rules in the pedestrian areas with riders coming at you from all directions and I got quite fed up with being continually yanked back from probable collisions because I was merely looking around 'tourist style'

Good prep I suppose for our visit to Amsterdam

Home made pasta stand which provided our tasty dinner later

First view of an old favourite we quite miss but we passed on it ultimately...

In favour of this..

At least they obey the traffic signals..