With the ultimate goal of getting as far north as possible into Scandinavia before winter truly begins, we only spent two days driving though the Netherlands. Unfortunately, that didn’t give us time to do much sightseeing. With the limited time we had, we decided to go climbing at Bjoeks climbing center.
They have a great indoor climbing facility there, but most impressively, they boast having a giant, freestanding climbing tower called Excalibur! The tower is 37 meters (121 feet) tall with 11 meters (36 feet) of overhang. It is even possible to sleep overnight on top of the tower in a most unique bivouacing experience! Needless to say, that was way too terrifying for us! It was scary enough just climbing a route to the top. But, what an exhilarating feeling, plus a wonderful view, once up there!
Looking out on the river De Lek from our campsite near the little Dutch village of Tienhoven
The Excaliber climbing tower was set in a peaceful garden on the outskirts of Groningen, which sits on the north coast of the Netherlands
Looking down at the Klimcentrum Bjoeks climbing gym
The overhang is quite evident
There were also many bouldering walls around the garden
You want me to climb that?!
A White Stork nesting at our campsite just outside Groningen
This young stork had just learned to fly
Looking over the crowd at Internationaal Weekend
The annual Bull Terrier dog show is held in the city of Leiden, which is located just southwest of Amsterdam
With over 20 countries participating, Internationaal Weekend is the largest Bull Terrier show in the World
Here's one of over 200 bullies that converged on the EEC Leiden event center
It was an extremely entertaining way to spend a weekend, to say the least!
❤️. Wow, you are so brave.
Chris was brave! I was a bit shaky! 🫨
Too much altitude for me !!
Yeah, it was almost too much for me! I had to bail on my first attempt at climbing to the top. Finally made it all the way on the second route I climbed, though. 😮💨
OMG!!!! That climb must have been quite a thrill!!! Instead of a six story building at school street plaza wouldn’t it be fun having one of those here in Fairfax. Trail bikes and climbing tower would really make us famous. Second thought, no, we have enough traffic. Also, got the package message. Tried to check the “no signature needed “ box and who knows if I did it right. I’m planning on being here all day Monday just to make sure it’s left on the porch.
A massive climbing wall at School St Plaza would be amazing! Probably not as lucrative to the city of Fairfax as the housing thing tho ; p
& thanks for collecting our mail again!! We really appreciate it!
Please text or email me about the box coming on Monday. Got an email from DHL saying I will owe them a lot of money 💰.
Done! Thanks again Mom!!