When the North Sea floods your country, killing 1836 people, destroying 9% of farm land and damaging over 47,000 properties – as it did in 1953 in the Netherlands – then you’re going to do whatever you can to stop it happening again. The response of the Dutch government to the 1953 flood was to begin the Delta Works Programme; building dams, sluices, locks, dikes, levees, and storm surge barriers to cut off the North Sea from the large Dutch water inlets. The constructions are huge and mighty impressive and as this is the Netherlands, they also form part of a fantastic cycle route that goes right across the top of them. Fortunately, the sun shone and the wind blew us along most of the way (I wouldn’t be so keen cycling on then in a headwind or rain) so we got to Rotterdam in good time to be greeted by our Warm Showers hosts Emmy and Robert.