From Cairo to the Connemara: A Sojournal

 Pt3 - 6 THE NETHERLANDS 13 th – 15 th July   It began happily enough, but our time in the Netherlands was cut short by a rookie lapse in concentration with consequences which would ripple through the rest of the trip. We crossed the border on the A1. From here it was all of two and a half hours to Amsterdam, during which we didn’t see a single wild windmill. What we did see were miles of flat, featureless green pastures and soggy looking waterways. It was love at first sight with Dutch road signs: Let Op  Drempels looks endearingly like it was tapped out blindly by a kid pretending to be a really fast typist. The weather was warm and pleasant enough for camping so we dedicated ourselves to finding somewhere on the public transport network not too far from the city. We signed in to Gaasperplas, a campground just off the A9 on the south-east fringe of Amsterdam. Night would reveal the rich ironies of the name, but in the meantime we pitched the tent and got our...