we went to the Zandvoort coast today, just outside of Haarlem to see the North Sea. it was a brisk, windy 20 degrees. everyone else wrapped themselves up in their jackets and sweaters. the canadians - me, colin, jeff - stripped down immediately and jumped into the water. the water was fine. ignore my blue lips. i've been in colder water before. i am canadian; we've done polar bear swims when there was still ice frozen on the lake.
then we took a long stroll with my ukulele through Zuid-Kennemerland National Park which featured some pretty incredible dunes, horse poop, and this totally random racetrack. like the dykes, the draining of the swamplands, and the windmills, i will never fully appreciate the dutch habit of taking the wilderness and completely transforming it into something manicured and manageable. it was a pretty good day, except for the part where the sea stole my shoes and i had to wander around Zandvoort barefoot until i could buy another pair of shoes. North Sea: 1, Gloria: 0.
