The next weekend I decide to take on the next leg of the Lingepad.
Crossing the Rhine on one of these floating bridges - on a summer day it always feels like the start of a holiday - even if it's just a day trip. My car had been parked under a cherry tree for a week and was covered in blossom which flew off in different directions with every gust of wind - as if I had just been to a wedding.
And the sun brings out some wonderful blossoms - this one simultaneoulsy demonstrating two great Dutch passions - for bikes and gardens 
It was hot (I mean hot) leaving town, so I packed sunscreen and 2 litres of water. But two hours into the walk the sky became cloudy and hazy and the wind got up - but these guys still seemed to enjoy themselves, the more so with a force 6-7 wind.
And here a little house that looked so dilapidated, with cracks in the plaster, a decaying thatched roof and blistered paintwork work that I had to pinch myself to realise I wasn't in France or somewhere in Southern Europe
The Dutch love their livestock - even if cutenesss is it's only redeeming factor
All day long there is a a parade of hyper-modern and extremely ancient farm machinery along the dyke. I suspect that there must be a local show planned somewhere. Here are 15 children in a gypsy caravan being towed by what I guess is a 10 hp tractor.
Lest we forget the church has always been strong here - for good or for ill. Here on a sunny day one sees the positive side.
Five and a half hours - 24K - not bad going for my first serious walk of the year (at least for a fifty year old chain smoker ). The last four k hurt a bit but this year I plan to get out to the mountains much more and a bit of flat level walking is useful training.
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