Groningen, the Netherlands
A little trip to the Netherlands (August 15 - 20, 1998) - Business called and I answered on my 31st birthday, flying to a college town in Northwest Europe called Groningen to conduct three days of training. The land was as flat as a pancake, but quite green, and people of Holland were very friendly to me, even those I was making them work very hard to understand everything I had to teach in such a short period of time. You may have heard that Holland is full of windmills, and this is true. Though they are not everywhere, flying over the countryside it is impossible not to notice the large white power generators doing their thing in a clean and efficient fashion. The other thing that struck me about the Dutch was the large percentage of people who relied upon bikes for transportation. I believe in Groningen the bikes outnumbered the cars! For the traveler who looks for a quieter vacation where the pace of life is not so fast, I'd recommend heading to the Netherlands for a week...
My hotel (left) was just down the street from Groningen University (right) You can't tell but those windows on the University building are each a wonderful stained glass which shine brilliantly at night.
Old statues and old buildings are the norm in Groningen
As I said, in Groningen everyone bikes!