July 21st, 2019, 11th day of trip, A visit to Zager in Groningen

After breakfast and doing a load of laundry, I went with Mariette to take Jack for a walk. Jack is an Australian cattle dog. The walk was through the woods and through some fields. At one spot Jack got to jump in the water of the stream after his ball. Near the end we walked around the old cloister house.

Then we drove in her Toyota Rava about an hour to Groningen. On the way we saw a statue of a molecule which represented gas and another of a huge, cracked brick representing the houses falling apart. Apparently due to all the drilling for gas, they are experiencing earthquakes here and buildings are cracking. They are now pushing people to use electricity. We found a spot in underground parking and since we were early we walked around for a while. She pointed out the signs by the windows that indicate student housing. We walked by many bouncy castles. She pointed out the frat house that has been found to  be full of mould. The bicycles with blue tires are those that the students rent for the year. If they break down or get flats they just call and another is given to them. Zager has grown very tall and handsome. He is getting ready to move to London, England to start his Master's degree in International Relations concentrating on China and Africa. He is going to vacation in Greece with his girlfriend first. Lunch was in a place where you cut your own bread. The plate had little cups on the edge with pesto, cheese, pine nuts and butter. There was arugala in the middle with our meat. As we ate we had a very nice conversation together. Zager has traveled a lot since I was last here- Africa-Kenya, Beijing, and many places in Europe. I wish him well in his studies. We said goodbye and drove home another way where I could see all the towns in one straight line of houses along each canal. That is because many years ago they dug the canals to get peat and then used them to transport peat for fuel.

When we got home, I took down my laundry, filled Silver's tires with air and lubricated my chain. Inside I kept busy with requests for places to stay. Supper was delicious. Noodles, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese pieces ,fresh basil and ham with yogurt and granola for dessert. The evening was spent on requests, watching Tour de France results and I also had a shower. It was another good day.