August 1, 2013

Distance: 34.2 miles                Climbing: 823.5 ft

The sun and sheep were out to greet us in the morning. There were very few clouds in the sky, so we expected a hot day. There had been little bouts of rain almost everyday, so we were looking forward to nice weather.

Curious sheep

The cycling was lovely and stress-free, as usual. While we were always on a bike path, there were times when we were right next to traffic and times when the path would veer away.

Fireweed

One of the interesting aspects of being in Holland, is being aware that we are below sea level most of the time. It is strange to be riding through fields next to a canal and have it be above you, held in by miles of levees. Sometimes, the water level is clearly higher than the roofs of houses. It makes me think about how much possible destruction could occur if a dike broke or overflowed.

Canal

In the middle of the day, we reached a town, decided to go through it and pick up some food. The first thing we noticed was the church. Not because of it’s grandeur, but because it looked like it was about to fall over. I have never seen something leaning that badly. We read later that the Oude Kerk of Delft started to lean during construction in the 13th century due to poor foundation conditions. Today, the top of the bell tower is more than 6 feet off from plumb, but the towers above it were apparently built vertically to straighten things out.

I hope it doesn’t topple over

In the parking lot, I also saw a very amusing bumper sticker. Wish I had a stack to hand out to people sometimes.

New favorite bumper sticker

Once resupplied, we continued on our way. We were heading to Hook van Holland, where Chandler wanted to see the Delta Works. Even though we didn’t have far to go, we didn’t get there until the evening. We scouted out for campgrounds, but all we found was a campground that resembled a dog run surrounded by chain link fence for somewhere in the ballpark of $30. We opted to find a place to free camp. Luckily, there was a large, forested park nearby and found a spot quickly.

Chan leading the way

We began to unpack when we noticed an awful smell. A rabbit had died nearby and I had managed to step in dog poo. Taking both as a bad sign, we left for another spot. Chandler found a much better area, but it required pushing our bikes through a thick patch of pricker bushes. We set up camp as the sun was setting and made dinner in the dark. Thinking we were so clever and well hidden, we were surprised to hear voices coming closer. Apparently, some drunk teenage boys climbed over some barbed wire to go exploring and discovered us. We couldn’t understand any of there Dutch except for the word camping. I think we scared them more than they scared us. Thankfully, they said hello and left us alone for a quiet evening.

Campsite critters

July 29 – 30, 2013

We got super lucky that Leonie happened to have Monday and Tuesday off from work, so we all enjoy her “weekend” together. This started off with a traditional Dutch breakfast: toast with butter and chocolate sprinkles! We were loving Holland more every minute. We then headed over to the tulip market, but unfortunately the flowers were out of season. We enjoyed other sights instead.

Leonie and a breakfast for champions

A ball of cheese!

Clogs

Dancing with the Nightwatch

Due to Leonie’s generosity, our lodging was free and we were able to enjoy a few museums without going over budget. The Van Gogh Museum had a line around the block, so we decides on the Rijks Museum, which had just reopened after years of renovation. There were three Van Gogh’s and a number of Rembrandt paintings. The entire museum was beautiful, and focused on Dutch artists. We also learned quite a bit a history, such as the fact that Napoleon made his brother Louis the king of Holland, which was controversial because Louis championed for the Dutch interests and not Napoleon’s.

Rijks Museum

In the Month of July by Gabriël

The Syndics of the Drapers Guild by Rembrandt

The Milkmaid by Vermeer

Farm in Summer by Van Gogh

Marble bust

On Tuesday, we went to the Anne Frank Museum which included a tour of the secret annex where Anne, her family, the van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer hide for several years from the Nazis. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside the building, but it was nice to finally see something that I had read about and tried to imagine on my own. It was quite a bit bigger than I expected, but I’m sure it would shrink if I were required to remain quiet and not able to leave it day after day.

The Anne Frank house

We spent more time cycling around town, which was pretty enjoyable, but a little crazy. We wondered how many tourists get run over every year as we each nearly hit a half dozen oblivious jaywalkers. The energy of the movement in the street was reminiscent of the crowded cities in Vietnam, except with the majority being bikes without motors. We thought it was interesting how it contrasted with Munich, which was also very bike “friendly” but managed to be so by keeping everyone segregated. The narrow streets and canal bridges in Amsterdam, crowded with cars, bikes, pedestrians and trams created a completely different atmosphere. Since there are so many cyclists, things got a little congested and there was palpable tension between bikers and pedestrians. It was cool to be in a city where so many people cycled as their primary mode of transportation, but it wasn’t exactly the cycling “utopia” we anticipated. Still it was fun and we’re glad we had the opportunity to experience it.

We spent the evening making plans for the rest of our ride through the Netherlands.

July 28, 2013

Distance: 21.1 miles                  Climbing: 475.7 ft

We had a very easy and flat day ahead of us. Our friend, Leonie, who we meet in Vietnam, generously invited us to stay at her flat for a few days and we were meeting up with her in town. The ride into Amsterdam was uneventful. The clouds were low, but the rain held off. We spotted an interesting shaped feature, like a flower or sun, on our GPS road map and made sure our route took us by it. We were hoping for some sort of castle, but it ended up being a small, crowded village surrounded by a star shaped moat. It was cooler looking on the map…

Tower and Moat

The remainder of the ride was through the usual urban sprawl so we just cruised. Plus, we were eager to see our friend. We meet up with Leonie on the corner of a busy intersection and decided to go back to her flat to drop off our panniers. We had a coffee and caught up on what had been going on since we last saw her, then it was time for a tour of the city by bicycle, of course.

Touring the city

Amsterdam is a charming city. It felt like the first quintessential European city we had encountered. There were old buildings, canals and lots of glamorous people drinking in the sun at small cafés. Many of the buildings were more than 500 years old and because of differential settlement in their foundations, some were tipping precariously or had waves in what had originally been horizontal rows of stone in their facades.

Canal

One of those buildings might be leaning

Chandler and Leonie

Leonie took us around to get oriented and give us an idea of what was to come. She also insisted we try some hot vending machine food. What?? For a Euro each, we got meat and vegetarian croquettes. They were quite tasty, despite coming out of a weird little door.

Vending machine

Leonie had a work BBQ to attend, so we parted ways before dinner. We spent the rest of the night wandering and of course went on a meander through the red light district, but opted to not take pictures. It was definitely an experience, and we’ll leave it at that.

July 27, 2013

Distance: 58.3 miles                Climbing: 4363.5 ft

We slept in, woke to blue skies and had a leisurely breakfast. Our campground had a great play area for kids including a giant trampoline and seesaw. I did enjoy the trampoline, but we were intrigued by a large contraption which looked like it was for older children. Basically, we held onto ropes on opposite side of each other and ran in a circle until we were picked up off the ground. It was ridiculously fun, but quite a workout to hold onto the rope. Good thing we had gloves.

Chandler takes off

We’re flying

After the excitement of the ride, we were on our way. Our route to Amsterdam started with a ferry ride. This ferry was just for pedestrians and bicyclists. While we knew the Netherlands were extremely bicycle friendly, it had seemed almost like a myth and just too good to be true. So far, Holland has exceeded our expectations.

Bicycle ferry

Next, our route brought us on top of the dike. The biking was great because there were few cars and we were able to enjoy the view. However, the view was short lived as large rain clouds rolled in. Soon it was pouring and windy. So windy and rainy in fact that both of us were blown off the road at one point and I had to stop because I could no longer see clearly. When I was finally able to catch up to Chandler again, we got off the dike at the next possible exit. That helped with the wind, but not the rain.

We were both completely soaked, even with our rain jackets and garbage bag skirts. Chandler and I both wear wool clothing while biking, so we plenty warm. Despite everything, we were having a great time. The biking in Holland was so stress-free, flat and interesting. There were animals everywhere and we had our first sighting of a windmill.

Beatrix Molen

Eventually, the sun came out and we were able to dry out. We were feeling really strong and were hoping to reach Amsterdam the next day, so we put our heads down and rode hard. It felt good to put in a long day. We found a reasonably priced campground and set up camp in time for dinner. We ended having the best neighbors. The moment we got off the bikes, the couple camped next to us offered us some extra  chairs and another couple had an extra table we could use. We were hoping for another walk, but it began raining again and forced into the tent for an early night.