Day Thirteen A day in Amsterdam

This day didn't get off to a very good start. Neither we, nor the hotel, knew there was a party planned in the adjoining building with music permitted until 3am!!!!! What a night! It actually ended about 2am but that was 4 hours too late for us after a day of cycling. The hotel was great though, moving us to a far away suite for tonight so there will be no repeat.

No real blog stuff today. We just walked around central Amsterdam spending a good deal of time in the new Hudsons Bay Store which is quite a bit better than the old stores in Canada.  They even have phone charging lockers!

Here are some other pics from around town including a very wonky arch and some very unusual wooden bikes we saw. 

Tomorrow, England!

Day Twelve Utrecht to Abcoude.

The end of the road. Abcoude is a suburb of Amsterdam and we reached it 20 minutes before the appointed hour of 4pm after a 9 day circuit of the country. 

But let's start in Utrecht this morning. We had a later start, trying to wait out the rain a bit, and by and large it worked - for a while! Our morning coffee was in the town of Brueklen in a cafe that dated back to 1459. That has to make it right up there as one of the oldest coffee shops anywhere. Brueklen is a very beautiful town with perhaps the best collection of homes we have seen anywhere in Holland. 

We cycled on enjoying what seemed like a steadily improving day to a part of the ride that was a narrow artificial strip of land that went right out into the water and looped back several kilometres later. We found a great place for lunch and, being in no rush, enjoyed a leisurely meal. In hindsight maybe we should have kept going. We came out of the restaurant to a sky that looked like - and was indeed - thunder!

We made a run for it but our luck ran out. We got caught riding heavy steel bicycles in a gale and cloudburst with a thunderstorm directly over us, under a line of trees and with water out to either side. What could go wrong? Only finding our escape route blocked by a big slow moving man on a bicycle with 4 dogs who didn't feel like moving aside for us. Of course we all made it but it was an adrenaline rush for a while!

And strangely we started to see crayfish crawling along the bike path. Perhaps the lightning was attracting them in some way. 

Anyway, after a while the rain stopped, the sun poked out from behind the clouds and we cruised the final 5km or so to Abcoude wet, tired, but all a little sad that our adventure was coming to an end. 

Peter from Tulip Cycling was there at the appointed hour and the check in was quick. We cabbed back into Amsterdam and are now happily fed and tucked up in our hotel room for the night. 

One more day in Amsterdam tomorrow to shop and explore. 

Day Eleven Schoonhoven to Utrecht

Remember that thing about the weather? Well, it certainly did change  last night!

We set off this morning in very windy and threatening weather and before long it was raining. We have named portions of our group the Blue Angels and you will see why.

Plans to see more of Schoonhoven were scrapped and we set off through the byways to Utrecht. 

On our way we went through Oudewater where witches were put on trial and I have to say the deck was pretty much stacked against them. If one ever got off that's the lawyer I will call on if ever needed. We also had a great coffee in a cafe with super Rose bottles and a simple, yet effective, way of marking washroom doors.

We had several chances to wish a young couple just getting married good luck with their life together, the last of which was in Montfoort where we stopped for lunch. 

A wild and wet ride in the afternoon brought us to Utrecht and the Maliehotel for the night. Much celebrating was done at a bar in the old city where lamps are strategically positioned by Rubenesque ladies. 

Tomorrow we conclude our ride in Amsterdam. Km well travelled!

Day Ten Gouda to Schoonhoven

Today had similarities to other days - beautiful but similar. 

So we'll concentrate on the differences. One of the highlights today was Kinderdyck, the highest concentration of windmills in the Netherlands. We were fascinated to see how 8 windmills built almost 300 years ago did the work that massive diesel engines do now. They pumped the water out of the lowlands creating fantastic farmlands. Now these diesel engines have replaced them and turn Archimedean screws that lift the water up into the much higher river system. 

Of course, lots of tourists come to this area and we just had to try on some comfy clogs they provide for that true Dutch experience. 

Great farmlands produce great cows and we came upon some beauties just swanning around by the bike path. 

Our destination for today was the Hotel Belvedete and once again we were made welcome by wonderful Dutch hosts. Schoonhoven was the centre of the silver trade in Holland. Dinner here this evening was terrific and the traffic up and down this branch of the Rhine just in front of us was intense. Barges move at a cracking pace and later on a Viking river cruise sailed by. 

Once again we escaped the rain and had great riding conditions. Tomorrow we head for Utrecht, I doubt we can be so lucky again!

.  

Day Nine Delft to Gouda

From pottery to cheese!  

The story of today as we rode back out into the countryside is the astonishing agricultural power in this area.  An article come up on Flipboard tonight - 'The little country that feeds the 

world' and I think it is true. Huge greenhouse agribusinesses everywhere. The article said that one acre under glass can equal 10 outdoors for production - and they use 97% less chemicals to produce the crops. 

The riding today was easy and we made pretty good time. Also, the weather is getting more threatening but once again we finished the day dry. 

There was only one stop this time for coffee and Gouda cane up in time for a late lunch. 

Some pics from the ride. 

Gouda itself is delightful. We are staying close to the old centre of town but in a modern hotel. We wandered the town twice - once for lunch and once at dinner time.  Great shops and restaurants and of course some lovely old buildings. Oddly enough cheese is not front and centre as one might have expected - but it is still there!!

Before dinner we had a show put on by our two waiters at a market square cafe. Olaf nearly died when we asked him to make a reservation for us at another restaurant. He was really funny though and we had so much laughter that dinner had to be postponed slightly. 

We had the standout meal of the trip so far at L'Angolo Divino. A fabulous Italian restaurant run by a couple who have moved here 5 years ago from Emiglia Romagna. Sadly no pictures but we were just all too busy enjoying!!

Tomorrow Schoonhoven. Silver!