Netherlands via France and Belgium 18/8/13

We decided to visit our daughter who is living in Tilburg for a few days. We used the Dover ferry and drove slowly to Tilburg - Much to the annoyance of the lorries who kept flashing me to speed up. One observation about Benelux is the effortless flow of the traffic due to variable speed limits and probably lower volumes of cars - taxis appear to be a rare sight as well - we had no hold ups in all 5 days.

The pace of life is much slower out here -  employees are given a lie in on Monday morning,  the population is low - most cities have a population below £500k, there is no free healthcare and green policies like priority to cyclists is promoted. Diesel fuel is also 30% cheaper than petrol. The food is basic, healthy and fresh and people are polite if a little reserved. The bars are relaxed and have a vast selection of beers at reasonable prices. There are many parks and lakes as well as the canals. Farming is basic and fictional with equipment of a vintage nature.

Our most enjoyable time was having a picnic at one of the numerous lakes.