Clara called it

On our first train ride in the Netherlands, Clara looked out the window at the landscape zipping by and called it a water maze.  She was right!  There are channels of water everywhere -- many totally green covered in duck weed.  Some of the channels are blind ends, which are not visible until you start down them, many intersect with larger and smaller waterways and the depths vary greatly.  Today, there was even a marsh area where salty and sweet water mix making for different plants and even crops than I have seen in the last few days.

It has been quite cool in the mornings and the mist over the landscape makes for an awesome view.  I think I could have stopped about every 500 meters for the first hour and taken another 'artsy' photo.

There were 4 different ferry rides today -- everything from a tiny one where 9 bicycles just fit on, to big waterbus service that will take you to Rotterdam.  That city is tomorrow's destination, but not by boat!

Tonight I am in Papendrecht at another modern and well equipped hotel -- even modern on the outside and with an elevator.  (Yesterday they had to drag a yung man out of the kitchen to carry the suitcase up 4 flights of stairs,)  I have had very nice hotels, fairly easy to find, and well equipped.  Thanks Rad und Reisen!

My routine these last few days is fairly consistent.  Breakfast about 8, cycling by 9.  Stop for a coffee and pastry about 11:30.  Finish riding between 3 and 4.  Shower!  Go get some groceries -- bread, cheese, veggies, a sweet and a Radler -- the beer and lemonade mixture that runs about 2% alcohol, in order to rehydrate.  Very civilized and so easy.  

I think this is my favourite kind of vacation -- wake up and have nothing to do but ride in beautiful and interesting countryside.  I hope to keep doing it for many years.

Fruit everywhere

Holland is a great place to cycle, but not perfect.  I managed to make 2 wrong turns today also, but thanks to Ms. Google, no big problem.  About 40 km today.

And what a glorious place to ride.  I am in the delta region of the Rhine which means multiple waterways and floodplains between.  Active waterways and water controls are very evident, so there is constant vigil as to the level of the river and the ground water.

But what a place to grow stuff!  Niagara-on-the-lake is a tiny drop in this sea of orchards and fields of all kinds.  Dwarf trees trained on wires utilize space much more efficiently than we see in Ontario.  This Betuwe region is famous for apples, pears, cherries, walnuts and even (edible) chestnuts.  I can understand why the Dutch need to grow stuff wherever they go.

Leerdam, where I am this evening, is known as the Glass city.  It has the National Glass Museum which consists of a regular type museum and a demonstration glass blowing workshop.  Both are done extremely well and were certainly worth the visit.

Ian's Dad once asked me if I ever got on a plane from one of my vacations and said that I wished I had not gone away.  I answered 'no' at that point and I reiterate that today.  In fact, this is one of those many times that I know that I want to come back and explore more.

Meeting expectations

Satisfaction is directly related to meeting expectations and today was great!

Thanks so much to the Dutch marking system that made following and changing the route very easy.  The prescribed route took several detours away from the river into the woods.  Now, I love forests and don't mind wet, leafy paths covered in acorns, making hairpin turns around trees, but when it means that I can't be beside the river, which is the real reason I am here, I take the other route.

I love cycling on the dyke, despite having to share the road with lots of other vehicles, since there is a real sense of cooperation.  The drivers don't make huge detours for bicycles, but they are at a respectable distance and cyclists are expected to stay in their lanes and obey the lights put there for them.  Cycling has been part of life here forever, so it will, unfortunately, be a long time before we can hope for that kind of coexistence in Canada.

At lunch I took a short ride into the town of Rhenen.  It was market day and lots of people were out getting their cheese, veggies and meats.  There was a lovely cafe overlooking the bustle which boasted home made apple pie -- Dutch style with nuts on top! (and served with whipped cream, of course).  That certainly met expectations.

Cutting some of the detours allowed me to take 2 hours this afternoon and visit Amerongen Castle.  The gardens were fabulous, especially if one noticed that most of the hedges were 2 metre rhodies.  Ducks drew lines in the duckweed of the moat.  There was a tour of the castle in Dutch which I followed.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable, but I mostly just saw the rooms and exquisite details.

My room here at the Hotel De Gouden Leeuw (Golden Lion) is modern and very comfortable.  I continue to be pleased with the service I get from Rad und Reisen.  Expectations met again.

Riding south -- day 2

I thought I had it all worked out -- had the map all marked and thought I knew how to use the bicycle signs.  I guessed correctly that there was one right outside Wesel train station and set off brightly having bought an extra inner tube and some chain lube which silenced the incredible squeaking I had developed yesterday afternoon.  But about and hour into the ride, the signage let me down and I ended up doing an extra 10km heading off in a direction that was wrong and then having to double back.  Disgusted, I pulled out my phone and got a direct route to Dusseldorf along bike paths, but right through all the towns.  I didn't see the river till I got to the endpoint and there the bike path finally went along the water for a few kms before I headed into the centre of the city to find the Hauptbahnhof (main train station).  Best guess at distance today is 68 km.  Riding with a phone in one hand is not as hard as I thought it might be, but the battery on the phone can't take the hour and 51 minutes, so when I got onto a stretch where it was fairly straightforward, I turned the phone off to save some battery.

I did make it with time to spare, but it was rush hour and so the train was very full.  I had the bicycle's ticket, but the conductor informed me that he could have made me wait for the next train as riders have precedence over bikes.  But I had been standing on the platform with him and I think he felt sorry for me.  It was about 2 stops before enough people got off and the individuals who has grumbled when asked to give up their seat for the bike space, got to sit down.  I was 'die Dame mit dem Fahrad'  (the lady with the bicycle), for the rest of the trip.

Comments on today.
Some towns were very middle eastern with lots of language that was not german and most restaurants and fast food places proclaiming Turkish, Greek and other cuisines.
Trains and trams and busses are everywhere -- elevated, below ground and at street level.  We could learn from the excellent public transit.
Bicycles and people can coexist very nicely.  Most of the time the bikes were on the sidewalks with the pedestrians --no problems.  A little ring of the bell and even the kids move back onto their section of the walkway.
There is an election coming up this Sunday.  Posters are everywhere.  I think the less said on the poster, the greater the chances for the candidate.

Again today, with the concentration on getting to the endpoint, there was no chance for stopping to smell the roses -- or look at the churches, or explore the gardens, etc.  Next time I will get a better guide so that I can be confident of the route and the length of time it will take.  Having to spend about 3 hours on a train also really cut into the day.  Also, I guess I would like to take a cruise along this part of the river to see what I missed between the beginning of today and the end.  That's for another time.

Always good to have future plans!

Riding south, day 1

The tour that I have booked with the Rad und Reisen people, goes from Anhem north to Rotterdam.  However, that is only a 5 day tour and I took an extra 7 days from when the others left.  This leaves me 2 days to ride to the south of Arnhem and cover some of that part of the river which I have not yet ridden.

So it was a foggy start and I wore the rain jacket and rain pants for most of the trip.  I had bought a Dutch map of the area from here to the German border.  It was amazingly easy to navigate with the sequence of numbered points that I easily got from the map.  Most of this stretch was within view of the river and the barges gliding up and down.  I was delighted to find that I was still able to ride just a little faster than the barges going up river.  The bike is a heavy commuter bike although it has 24 gears.  I ride very upright and quite comfortably.

Much of today's ride was on the dyke system which protects the towns along the river from the periodic floods.  It also affords a lovely view of the surrounding countryside.  It was a great ride beside cows, sheep and some horses; crops of corn, beans, and sugar beets; over cobbles, pavers, acorns, chestnuts avoiding slugs.

Sadly, the German signing of the Rhine path was not nearly as clear as that in the Netherlands.  I took a number of wrong turns, had some backtracks and even had some long detours.  It turned out to be about a 5.5 hour ride and the closest I can come to guessing the distance was 94 km.  But I came into Wesel about 4:30 and picked up the 5:17 train back to Anhem.  The bicycle needed its own ticket -- 3.5 euro.

Unfortunately with so much time on the bike, there was no opportunity to most of the many towns which I passed by or through.  I saw a bit of Emmerich and Wesel, simply because I needed information at the train stations, but there were churches and museums which will have to wait for another time.  Good to know there is always more exploring possible.

Google can't seem to get its act together, so there is only one picture for today.

This adventure -- Part III

This adventure started almost 2 weeks ago when I flew to Amsterdam and then to France to visit my friend Rhonda who lives just outside of Basel, Switzerland.  I met her 31 years ago when she moved onto our street in Millgrove and I was canvassing for the kidney foundation one fall.  We have been friends ever since.  Since she moved away about 20 years ago, our time together has been much reduced, but we do skype a couple times a month and when we visit, we just pick up where we left off.  Both of us have 2 children who are now married and have grandkids in each family.  We talk a lot, go shopping and garden but mostly we laugh.  She has taken up golf and played 9 holes while I was there.  I have never golfed in my life and just went through the woods next to the fairways and picked up lost balls -- a dozen, good result for a few hours strolling.  She hates cycling, but there was plenty to do, so no problem.  She is allegic to gluten, lactose and fructose -- I love bread, fruit and cheese.  It's a strange match, but it works.  I miss her being down the street and hanging out, but am lucky enough to be able to travel and she comes to Canada too.  A good friend is truly a treasure!

Part II of this trip was in Rotterdam with Joanna and family as she got ready for and then competed in the World Triathlon Championships.  Those of you with Facebook already know that she came 9th in her age category--amazing result!  So while she was readying self and equipment, the rest of us visited windmills, took boat rides, explored the Markethal, travelled out to the North Sea beach, toured the SS Rotterdam and generally watched the city from the fabulous vantage of our 40th floor apartment.  She was able to join us for the pancake boat and the Madurodam miniature village -- some time off training was possible.

And so this morning, JJ and family left for the airport to return to Canada, and I started this final phase of the adventure.  I took a train to Arnhem through Utrecht.  I have a hotel right beside the central station and from here I will be cycling for the next 3 days (hopefully).  Tuesday and Wednesday I plan to go south into Germany along the Rhine and then on Thursday I start northwest to return to Rotterdam by Sunday night.

I was tempted to ride today as the bike was already here when I checked in at noon, but then it started to rain, so I took to exploring the city.  My history is not very good so I did not realize that a significant battle happened here in Sept. 1944 concerning the bridge.  I visited a church which was burned in that battle, and has been restored which and eye to the past and the future.  Every September there are reenactments of the British airborne attack and subsequent surrender when the reinforcements did not arrive.  The past is still very alive.

But the city is also focused on the future.  The central library is an award winning building with historic displays and archives, but also auditorium, music lessons, art studios and cafes all in a beautifully designed user friendly space. Every place has something fascinating to be discovered.  Hurray!

Different kind of farming

My Dad loved being a farmer -- in fact he moved family and started a new life at 39 so that he could be a farmer.  That didn't happen for another 8 years, but he finally got his farm and stayed there for the rest of his life.

Yesterday we took a bus to the north-east corner of the island -- Nordeste.  It was the local bus, so it carried school children, ladies going from their country homes into the towns for their shopping and tourist like us, just along for the ride.  We went up and down mountains and in and out of gorges that make up the coastline where rivers meet the ocean.  There were numerous little towns with streets so narrow that the full sized bus had less than a metre on each side from the houses.  We were navigated over one lane bridges where cars had to stop and back up so that we could pass.  I truly admire the drivers!  The 80 km trip took 2.5 hours.

And we travelled through farm country -- very different from home.  Besides being very green at this time of year, the fields are usually quite small and since there are hills and slopes everywhere, angles quite ridiculously sometimes.  I can't image tractors on most of those inclines, nor on the dropoffs to the ocean.  The fences are of stones or bamboo hedges, but often just a terrace and a drop off to a lower lever.  Most of the fields were planted in grass -- don't know if it was going to be wheat or a grain crop, but now it just looked like grass.

Lots of cows -- milking cows were usually free moving in a fenced field while younger animals were tethered by a leg or chain around the neck and allowed to eat in a circle -- then moved up the slope when they had cropped the area.

Some market vegetables -- usually cabbage.  Orange trees were fully of lovely ripe fruit.  There were a few small potato fields.  And there were lots of banana fields tucked away in protected areas (like the gorges).

Always interesting to see how farming is done in different places!