Holland to Germany

2 July
Here we are in the heart of Deutschland, having stayed last night in a Benedictine Community. We joined in with their 'prayer meeting' last night, but it was more like a time of praise and worship, and was very joyful. As we were a mixture of nationalities, we sang the songs in whatever language was familiar to us - mostly either German or English.
The weather over here gets pretty hot in the daytime - yesterday it went up to 30 degrees! It stays light until well after 10 pm and gets light shortly after 4 am, so a couple of nights ago, we were sitting outside in our host's backyard in Venlo, Holland discussing what we'd seen that day until ten o'clock or so, and last night we finished the day with icecream and gelato on a terrace in the centre of Fulda, a lovely German town of 70,000 or so inhabitants, about the same time of evening, and it wasn't in the least bit cold. Sorry to rub it in - I hear you've been having some rather cold, wet weather down in little old NZ!
Each day we have breakfast about 7:45, make our lunches, have a short outline of the day, pray, and then we're off. We visit cathedrals, monuments, museums and other places of historical significance, and hear about the men and women who have been influential in shaping the history of Europe. So far, we've heard about Menno Simens (the man who started the Mennonite Church), Boniface, Thomas a Kempis, Geert Grote, Erasmus, Comenius, Willibrord, Saint Martin (who supposedly cut his coat in two and gave half to clothe a naked leper), Charlemagne and Alcuin.
The cathedrals have been abolutely astonishing in their magnificence and sheer size, but I have also been enjoying the change of scenery as we move through different countries. We've moved on from the flat polderland of Holland, with its ubiquitous windmills and carefully cultivated fields, to the rolling hills of Germany, with the cutest little villages nestled in its folds. The autobahns of Germany allow higher speeds, but there are so many changes in the speed limit as you drive along, you really have to keep your wits about you, as apparently the German police are very strict about sticking to the exact specified speed limit. Yesterday we got up to 150 kph, but there were still cars zipping past us, while other times we had to crawl along at 60 due to road works.
The air is sometimes quite hazy and seems polluted in places, both here and in Holland, then other times it's really clear. Most of the time we've been blessed with fine weather, although we drove through a bit of rain in Holland, and again yesterday. However, we have so far been spared having to walk around in the rain.
We are travelling in a 9-seater van and a Citroen, so there is plently of space for both people and luggage. Jeff's wife Romkje makes sure there is coffee or tea on hand for morning and afternoon tea, so we are very well looked after.
The first three nights were spent at the YWAM base near Epe, Holland, then the next we were billeted out to various homes in Venlo, which is almost on the south east border with Germany. We haven't had to speak any of the native languages of either Holland or Germany, as most people we've met have had at least a little bit of English.
The photos above: Bikes come in many different disguises, a guy in Utrecht wearing marijuana glasses!, and a gorgeous memorial chapel to Boniface - I just loved the open area in the middle.