Windmills

July 31, 2013

Distance: 53.4 miles Climbing: 1184.4 ft

Considering we were in Holland, we wanted to not only see windmills, but to go inside one. Leonie had made the suggestion that we head North to Zaans Schans to check out the windmills. So, after saying goodbye to her outside her apartment, we headed North. Thank you again Leonie for letting us stay at your place. We had a wonderful time and it was so nice to see you again. I hope we can return your kindness sometime in the future.

It took some time to meander our way out of the city. The wind conspired against us and the scenery was primarily industrial, and not real photogenic. We were passing through a chemical plant of some sort, wondering if we were going the right way when we suddenly saw a windmill right in the middle of the industrial area. We rounded the corner and took a bridge over the river we had been shadowing.

There were half dozen windmills lining the riverbank, all in working order and in use. Each cost 3€ each to visit, so we decided to choose between a peanut oil mill, a sawmill, a spice mill and a mill that makes pigments for paint. We went with the peanut oil mill because it sounded interesting, smelled nice and there weren’t a lot of other tourists in it. The mill was originally built in 1676, but with the increased use of steam powered machines, it became obsolete and no longer used. In 1925, it was severely damaged during a storm. However, in the 1940s, volunteers repaired the damages and the windmill has been in use since the 1950s.

Windmill

The De Zaansche molen (“molen” means mill in Dutch) was pretty incredible and surprisingly complicated. In the most basic terms, the sails, driven by the wind, turn two massive stones. These millstones, weighing over 5500 pounds each, are attached to an axle and roll over the peanuts, crushing them. There are wooden guides attached somewhere in there, which keep the peanuts from spilling off the edge, and direct them back under the stones. Because the millstones are constantly moving, the stones are painted blue and white so they are more visible in poor light.

Millstones and wooden guides

When the peanuts are sufficiently smooshed, the peanut meal is cooked on a stove. This stove also conveniently keeps coffee or soup warm.

Heating the meal

The cooked peanut meal is then put into woolen bags and placed in a little slot which has a pan below it to collect the oil. There is a cam somewhere up in the gears on the second story which catches, raises then releases a large wood ram over and over, creating a very loud sound as it pounds a wedge which squeezes the oil out of the peanut meal.

Block used to pound the meal

Pounded cakes

The process is then repeated once more to each batch of peanuts. The left over cakes can then be feed to cattle. We were also allowed upstairs to get a look at how the spinning sails spun the millstones. It was a crazy scene of massive spinning wooden shafts and gears. Chan had to watch his head as one of the 6 foot diameters gears was spinning at about eye level for him. It wasn’t even that windy but it was a little scary in there. We walked out on the deck and watched the sails fly by at an alarming speed.

Sails

The device to move the cap of the windmill

After our windmill adventure, we booked it to a free campsite. Chandler read about a network of free campsite around Holland. All are off the road system and can only be accessed on foot or bike. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we hoped it would be more interesting than the generic pay campsites we had been frequenting. On the way, we took what seemed like the smallest ferry ever. It was only for bikes and pedestrians, but we were a little cramped with three people and three bikes.

Tiny ferry

Our free campsite ended up being in a pasture full of sheep. It was minimally signed, and we certainly wouldn’t have found it without the GPS coordinates. We read that there was usually a water pump that you had to camp within 10 meters of, but there wasn’t one. Just a sign an a stick lean-too thing someone had made. We made friends with our fellow campers. From our experience, sheep are easily frightened. We were both surprised to have the sheep walk right up to us and even allowed me to pet one. It was very soft as it had a nice layer of fleece. One even laid down next to our tent at one point, maybe they just wanted to cuddle. There were some cows in an adjoining field, but they kept their distance.

Our free campsite mates

Chan and cows

Around Amsterdam

Oct14

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 Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël

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.

The big city

Oct7

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.

Raining like crazy

Oct7

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.

Where are all the tulips?

Oct6

July 26, 2013

Distance: 38.6 miles Climbing: 1063.0 ft

We woke up and realized we were very visible from the road. Nobody seemed to mind though, we even got a couple waves from people cycling by. We packed up quickly and hit the road. We had about an hour of driving left before we got to Kleve and were we would drop off the car. Again, everything went smoothly.

It took a little while to reassemble and pack up the bikes, but we had a huge parking lot to work in and took our time. After a quick lunch and some very dark clouds rolling in, it was time to hit the road. The moment our rears hit our seats, rain began to fall. We had purchased a large roll of garbage bags to keep the inside of the rental car clean of bike grease and pulled out a few to keep our legs dry. Chandler slit the bags open and we wore them like skirts. Good timing too, because it started pouring hard as we were putting them on.

Rain skirt in action

We looked like such dorks, but were dry and had a good laugh over the situation. The rain eased up a bit and we found ourselves in Holland very suddenly. There was no border and little indication except a tiny little sign we almost missed. We stopped at a small grocery store for a snack, to wait out another strong rain burst and do a little route finding on the GPS.

Nederland

Chan’s snack pie

In the corner of Holland we were enjoying, there was an extensive trail network off the roads. It was a little muddy, but nice to be away from the traffic. We were surprised by the number of people out walking and biking on such a drizzly day. We had a feeling we were going to enjoy Holland.

Bike path in the trees

The area we were riding through was the setting of an ill fated offensive by Allied forces during WWII. The goal of Operation Market Garden was to quickly hit the reeling German forces retreating east after the successful Allied landings at Normandy, and bring the war to a quick end, before Christmas 1944. Paratroopers and gliders full of British, Canadian, American and Polish soldiers landed in fields around the region then concentrated in order to seize strategic bridges with the help of the Dutch resistance before German forces could destroy them. As the bridges were being captured, a column of tanks would travel quickly through the Netherlands and strike Germany on its own soil. Ultimately, the airborne forces were spread too thin, and were met with much fiercer opposition than expected. The Germans retained or retook control of the route and stalled the advance of allied tanks.

Some damaged buildings were left as a reminder of the destruction. We also randomly came across and visited the moving Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. Interestingly, many of the soldiers buried here were brought from where they fell during battle in Germany as Canadian soldiers were not permitted to be buried in German soil.

Bombed building

WWII Canadian Cemetery

After the cemetery, there was suddenly a lot of exciting things to see. Canals and ponies. Ponies were everywhere and it appeared that babies had just been born.

Canal

Fat ponies

The campground that we found was amazing. A man with a large pasture and a B&B allowed people to tent in the pasture. There were cherry, pear and plum trees everywhere. After setting up the tent, we were feeling a little restless and decided to go for a walk around the neighbor. The area was beautiful and we ended up walking for several hours. The campground was located near one of the dikes and we able to walk along the top and enjoy the views.

Fluffy sheep

A dike

A Few Days Off

the things that we do

Author Archives: cjengel