Town Mouse and Country Mouse

A fun town and country adventure in Belgium today. We started with perhaps the largest fair in Belgium, the annual winter market in Sint-Lievens-Houten. In addition to the usual fruits, vegetables, cheeses and sausages, and imported items of every kind (clothing, toys, household furnishings, to name just a few) there were plenty of cows, horses and tractors.

We saw John Deere and Lamborghini tractors, among others

The fair has been designated by UNESCO as part of the "intangible cultural heritage of mankind". Food plays a major role. I was tickled by the menu offerings at the many snack carts:

On the menu: hamburgers, hot dogs and escargots (snails in garlic sauce)

We skipped the escargots and instead enjoyed a grilled sausage slathered with mustard and grilled onions. Our snack was washed down with champagne since the fair's pavilion featured products of that region. The fair was fun, and different from our town's own Saturday market mostly in scale and language. In Sint-Lievens-Houtem we heard both Dutch and French spoken. In Venlo, it's Dutch and German (mostly the latter).

On the way home we stopped at Mechelen, a university town near Antwerp. I read recently that Belgium became a country in 1830 - as a political entity, it's younger than the United States. Mechelen has a much older feeling - we visited the 13th century Gothic cathedral, climbed the 15th century tower, and watched and heard the restored 18th century clockwork chime the hour. As the light began to fade we searched for chocolate pralines (an obligatory stop when in Belgium) and enjoyed an early dinner on the Grote Markt (main square).

Cafes on Mechelen's Grote Markt

I must be a town mouse*. I'm already planning our next visit to Mechelen, sometime in the late spring or summer. I'd love to hear the double carillon played (Mechelen is also home to a world-renowned carillon school) while sitting on the Grote Markt enjoying a Gouden Carolus beer.


*The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse is one of the Aesop's better-known Fables, and maybe my favorite. Unfortunately the Town Mouse doesn't come off so well, at least in the version I am familiar with. But I'm pretty certain that farm life isn't the life for me.

Hooray for Hollywood

I must admit I'm not a big fan of American movies and television. But living in Europe has taught me gratitude for the American entertainment industry. Partly because of the apparently universal appeal of blockbuster action films and reality television, people all over the world are entirely familiar with my language. And that's good, because being American, I am a monoglot. Meaning, if you speak English, we can talk. And if not, not.*

Thanks to the ability and willingness of others to speak my language, I've been able to chat about shoes with an Austrian couple in a monastery beer garden in Salzburg

Bräustübl Tavern in Mülln

and talk about tandem bicycling touring along the Rhine river with a friendly German couple

I was even able to give these folks directions!

and get tips for where to stay in the Moselle river valley from a Belgian beer brewer in one of Limburg's best pubs.

Our semi-local pub, the Hertog Jan brewery tasting room in Arcen

So thank you Warner Brothers, United Artists, and all the other media companies who have enriched my life. Even though I don't want what you're selling, I sure am enjoying the byproduct.

*I'm working on this, but at my age, it's uphill all the way.

Operation Market Garden

Along the Liberation Route

My wanderings the last month or so have led me to ponder the lessons of history. In the last four weeks I've seen the concentration camp at Dachau, the Nazi party rally grounds at Nuremburg, and several Dutch memorials.

Fall weather and a return to a somewhat normal routine allowed me to resume my traverse of the Pieterpad. So I spent a lovely fall day walking from Groesbeek to Millingen aan de Rijn, towns so small I'm surprised they have Wikipedia entries. Readers who happen to be World War II buffs (if there are any) might recognize their names from the airborne expedition known as Operation Market Garden. Yes, Virginia, this post is (mostly) about a military operation.

In a nutshell: Operation Market Garden was an effort by the Allies in September 1944 to use airborne troops to seize a series of bridges across the rivers Meuse and Rhine, to enable a rapid Allied armored advance into the German heartland. Spoiler alert! The plan didn't work; the airborne troops suffered heavy losses, some were evacuated, and the remainder were taken prisoner. Arnhem, the plan's final bridge, wasn't liberated until April 1945.

Recalling these facts is one thing; stumbling across a sign marking the "Airbornepad" [a walking path which according to its website follows "the footsteps of the liberators"] during the anniversary week of Operation Market Garden is something else. As it happens, I also drove to Arnhem this week, and as I crossed the John Frost Bridge, I remembered its predecessor's role in history. Places so often evoke feelings ... which brings me to this post's destination.

The very necessary Pieterpad route book (which is unfortunately only available in Dutch) mentioned a Canadian Cemetery not too far off the path, near Groesbeek. Walking a 500 kilometer path mostly alone does allow a certain amount of contemplation. This day, I chose to go a little farther in order to contemplate war, sacrifice, and the meaning of history. Let me take you there ...

Just inside this entrance is a memorial stating THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE. It's true:

Most of these fallen warriors were in their twenties. All were too young.

Each headstone tells a different story; the common theme is that of life cut short.

Each grave has its own garden, carefully tended by a local, grateful Nederlander

Will we ever learn?

For those of you who aren't WWII buffs, the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far does a great job of telling the story of Operation Market Garden from every side - British, American, German, Polish and Dutch. Back in 1977 war was definitely not "in". The DVD is available at my hometown library, and might be at yours too.

My apologies to readers who were hoping to see pictures of delectable European produce. For you, I present this shot, taken at a self-serve pumpkin stand just outside the Canadian Cemetery (seen in the background):

Road Trip

Vineyard near Husseren-les-Châteaux

My parents are volunteering in the Black Forest for a few weeks, giving me a good excuse for a spontaneous road trip.

Splashing in the fountain, Eguisheim

I drove south through Germany on the A61 motorway, aka autobahn. The one thing everyone seems to know about the autobahn is that there is no speed limit. It can be a bit startling to be passing a truck that's going 80 km/hour (about 50 mph), only to be passed on the other side by a car going close to 100 mph. Add in rain and construction diversions, and it turned out to be a fairly stressful drive. Luckily the weather was partly clear and I was able to enjoy the spectacular scenery just south of Koblenz, aka the Romantic Rhine, an area I hope to revisit soon.

Despite weather and traffic I arrived safe and sound, and in time to enjoy a good German meal with my folks. It was great to see them again, and we had good travel stories to swap as they had recently been in Tanzania and we had just returned from Greece. It's pretty obvious who I got my travel bug from!

Cobblestones and 16th century residences in Equisheim

We spent Saturday exploring the Alsace region, my first visit to that part of France. It's a beautiful area, a hilly patchwork of vineyards spread nearly up to the forested tops, ornamented with charmingly historic villages. Although now part of France, it is historically tied to Germany as well, as shown by place names like Kaysersberg, Obermorschwihr, and Steinbach.

We shopped for fruit at the Saturday market in Rouffach, enjoyed a delicious lunch of French and German specialties (the onion tart was especially yummy) in Eguisheim, tasted Riesling and Pinot Noir wines in Ammerschwihr, and listened to an impromptu organ concert at the Romanesque church in Kaysersberg. I was surprised at the good wine values, and it was interesting to see how the French spend a sunny afternoon - eating good food, then shopping for wine to accompany future meals. I could get used to that!

Marché du samedi in Rouffach

For the trip home, I chose a route through France, partly to avoid some of the construction diversions that helped slow me down on Friday, and partly just to see some different scenery. The French motorway was definitely different - the pavement was rougher and there were no rest stops. But with a speed limit of 130 km/hour, at least I wasn't startled by cars zooming by.

The most interesting sight I saw on the return trip was the disused, seemingly abandoned border checkpoint near Lauterbourg, France. Seeing those rusty, dusty buildings helped me better understand what Europe gained by unifying. I imagined a world of abandoned checkpoints, where instead of wasting time and energy fearing and distrusting each other, we enjoy a good meal together and then shop for wine. I could get used to that, too.

Photo credit drw25

Greece

If my major - Liberal Studies - had been a Girl Scout badge,
it would sport an image of the Parthenon

No posts the past two weeks because we were in warm and sunny Greece. While this adventure was definitely outside Limburg, it is a typically Dutch vacation destination. People here tend to take their holidays in sunny places like the Canary islands, Turkey, Spain and Griekenland.

We decided on our vacation destination just two weeks before departure, after considering Ireland, Barcelona and a driving trip through Germany and Austria. I'm still excited about visiting those places; maybe next year.

Gaudi's Church of the Sagrada Famila (Sacred Family), Barcelona
Photo credit Roy Stead

Normally I make pretty elaborate vacation plans, but the kids were hoping for some relaxing beach time, so we kept our itinerary simple: a three-day bus tour to some out-of-the-way ancient sites; a few days at the mainland beach town Nafplio; a couple of days in Athens; and four days on non-motorized Hydra island.

This was the first time we've tried a bus tour, so we didn't know what to expect. It was great! Not only did we have a great guide and driver, there were only 13 people on the tour (on a full size tour bus) and we were the only Americans. The only other kid in the group was the same age as our younger daughter, and they got along great (she's from New Zealand, so language wasn't a problem). Five members of our group were from Brazil, and the other was a Aussie traveling on her own.  I can't imagine a better group; we had a great time together visiting the ancient theatre at Epidaurus, the site of the original Olympic Games, and Delphi.

At the starting line of the 200m "stadia" run at the original Olympic stadium

It was hard to say goodbye to our new friends, but we were ready for a little beach time, so we boarded the Greek equivalent of Greyhound bus to Nafplio. In this seaport town and original capital of independent Greece, we found ourselves surrounded by Greeks; relatively close to Athens, Nafplio is a popular weekend getaway for Athenians (about one third of all Greek residents live in the Athens metro area). We enjoyed hiking to the hilltop fortifications, swimming in the warm and salty water of the Aegean, watching beautiful sunsets and eating tasty Greek food. If you ever get a chance to visit Nafplio, be sure to stay at the Pension Rigas and say hi to Lena for us.

View of Arvanitia beach from the hilltop fortification

Rested after our beachy sojourn, we returned to Athens to see the sights. Climbing the Acropolis was a peak experience for me, but I think the rest of the family preferred viewing it from the air-conditioned comfort of the Acropolis Museum restaurant. We really appreciated that many of the ancient sites stay open until 8 pm, since the middle of the day felt really warm to us, with temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s (high 30's Celsius). We chose to visit several wonderful museums (such as the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum) when it was hottest, saving the sites for the early morning or evening. We even had time to ride the funicular to the top of Lycavittos Hill for a great view of Athens and the Acropolis. That was on one of the hottest days, so we followed up with some liquid refreshment, including my new favorite coffee drink, Cappuccino Freddo.

Iced espresso, lightly sweetened, topped with frothed milk foam. Yum!

Before we left for this trip, several friends (who must have been watching the news earlier this year) asked us if it's safe to visit Greece. We felt very safe, even when surrounded by camping protesters when walking through Constitution Square. Greeks are proud of their ancient democratic heritage as well as more modern democratic practices such as free and spirited public debate, and rightfully so.

Photo credit Tilemahos Efthimiadis

Athens was great, but we were ready for a break from the noise of the big city. Fortunately we had saved the most relaxing part of our trip for last. We boarded a high-speed FlyingCat catamaran to the non-motorized island of Hydra, and saw this when we disembarked:

Hydra Island is officially non-motorized

Admittedly donkeys aren't silent, but there is something relaxing about listening to them clop-clopping up the cobblestone paths. The best time of the day for donkey-watching is early in the morning, when the pack trains queue up at the waterfront to load up cases of tomatoes, bottled water and sacks of hay for deliveries all over Hydra town. We spent four very relaxing days swimming, playing cards, napping and celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary, which was a great excuse for eating more delicious Greek food (including grilled octopus, stuffed grape leaves, gyros, and the very yummy vegan giant beans).

Does anyone have a recipe? These are so good!

We loved Greece! Maybe it's the delicious food, maybe it's the warm and sunny Mediterranean climate, maybe it's the warm and friendly people. It's probably a combination of all the above and more. One thing I'm sure about: we'll be back.

Goodbye, Hydra town

Tour de Limburg

Cows lined up to watch traffic on the cycle path
 ... or perhaps the grass was greener on the other side

Ride Across the Netherlands, the Last Day

Although it wasn't marked as such, this appeared to be the end of LF7

Woke up late, must have needed the rest. Breakfast was much like Belgium - a melange of the best cultural elements of France and the Low Countries - in addition to the usual coffee, boiled egg, ham, jam, and yogurt, there were two kinds of aged cheese including a wedge of deliciously moldy blue, plus baguette, croissant, and my favorite pastry, pain au chocolate. Our breakfast host, who speaks Dutch (the regional language in this part of Belgium) and French but not English, asked me how to say "eet smakelijk" in English. I pondered this for a moment, then pronounced: bon appetit. We shared a bit of a giggle about this linguistic oddity.

The skies were threatening but we rode dry and fast. Found the turnaround point south of Maastricht by about noon and rode back to the station by about one o'clock. A quick stop at the station Albert Heijn for sandwiches and juice, and we were on the train headed north. Enjoyed a conversation with an Amsterdam University student on the train. He was bringing his grandfather's bike back to school, his third bike this year - the first two were both stolen - a common problem in Amsterdam but fortunately something we have yet to experience.

Heading north near the terminus of the LF7 in Kanne

Arrived home by 3 o'clock to a sudden dose of reality: Tim had a business dinner in Nuenen so I drove him to the restaurant and continued into the village to find a cafe where I could reflect about our week on the bike path. 

Our experience was in many ways typical of this lovely country: varied, pleasant, and with adventures to suit the taste of Goldilocks. In a relatively short time we saw a wide array of landscapes and met people from different walks of life; even the weather joined in the display of variety. We cycled through two countries and passed within a few kilometers of a third. It was an idyllic first European touring experience.

Are we planning another cycling adventure? You bet! Where would you go? Suggestions welcome!

Our route to Maastricht and home again.

Ride Across the Netherlands, Day 7

After a breakfast including heerlijk fresh squeezed orange juice, we signed Henk and Reik's guest book. They have been providing accomodation to cyclists for more than 10 years; the book we signed was volume four, but we were their first non-Dutch guests. At Henk's suggestion, we stopped at the scenic National Park of the Great Peel:

Another really hot day, with humidity rising as the day progressed. We chatted with another fietser during a water break. He was meeting his wife in Maastricht, a ride of at least 120km by our calculations. Wish I had taken a picture - he was dressed in slacks and button shirt, and riding a normal (rather heavy) Dutch bike. More than 75 miles on a really hot day - no big deal!

We stopped for ice cream at Thorn, a village very near the Belgian border. The town has an interesting history which led to its nickname, the "white village". In this land of red brick buildings, Thorn has a very different look:

Photo credit Benjamin Rossen

After shopping for picnic supplies we crossed the Belgian border and had lunch by the river Maas. The route signage is a little different in Belgium, and there are fewer cycle paths, but the riding was still pleasant and (mercifully, considering the weather) flat. We found our overnight accommodation easily. It's a small and elegant B&B and horse farm. They were also getting the hay in because rain is expected by tonight. Can't come quickly enough for us, it's so warm and humid that a dip in the Jacuzzi is refreshing!

After cleaning up and rehydrating, we pedaled about 5km into the lovely town of Masseik. After a quick stop at the tourist information office for a map, we collapsed at the nearest cafe for more water and a Belgian beer. This refreshed us enough to find a dinner spot. We found a cafe with sidewalk seating and a friendly waitress. The tables around us filled up with locals, all of whom seemed to know each other, the server, and most of the passersby. All very pleasant and charming ... until the thunder started. I quickly moved our plates to a table inside, while Tim went to get the bike under cover. He returned with news - the tandem has a flat tire, and our spare tires and tool kit are 5 km away at the B&B. Our helpful server offered a pump but the tire would not hold air. She offered us a ride (in an hour, when her boyfriend was to arrive) and finally two umbrellas, which we gratefully accepted.

We returned the umbrellas the next day (hanging on the door knob)

Tummies full, rain temporarily stopped, we set off, pushing the bike. I was wearing ballet flats, not designed for a long walk at a fast pace. Fortunately, the thunder was still far away and the rain didn't start in earnest until we were within sight of the B&B. Tim stabled the bike with the horses and brought the wheel with the flat up to our room. There was an enormous hole in the valve stem - fortunately we had two spares.

In the end, Tim was able to replace the tube and pump it up enough to ride on. We went to sleep lulled by the sound of rain on the roof, to rest up for the last day of our adventure.

Map of our ride into Belgium.

Ride Across the Netherlands, Day 6

I could look at little cows like this all day!

Hottest day of our trip, high of about 36 degrees (Celsius, about 96 degrees Farenheit). As we neared our destination we crossed a large dry heath, a sandy plain with sparse, mostly low-lying vegetation, and very few trees. Part of the route followed a cattle track of deep sand, which was very challenging on our bike, weighing more than 350 pounds with us and our gear.

Photo credit David d'O

Because there was really no place to shelter we pushed on, arriving at our host's home at 2:30 - earliest arrival so far. The house we stayed at is on a dairy farm which is part of the Campina cooperative. The cows sleep on water beds, decide when they want to be milked, and looked very happy. The neighbor said they are spoiled!

Our hosts today don't speak much English, and our hosts last night didn't either. It's helping our Dutch! After a nice dinner in town we sat in the garden with coffee. Our hosts Henk and Reik (her name sounds like "Rick") invited an English speaking neighbor, Annamarie, to sit with us and facilitate conversation. Then we went to watch the haying. We watched until 11 pm when they finished for the night. Henk says they will start again at 5am. Rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon so they have to finish snel!

Tot ziens, Henk and Reik!

Map of our very warm ride.

Photos from the Pieterpad

Another beautiful day on the Pieterpad, this time with lovely daughter Robin. We rambled through farm land, heaths and woods. She had the camera and I enjoyed seeing the landscape through her eyes.

In the Quin Nature Reserve

The Pieterpad guide describes the Quin as a "great fen fed by seepage water and rain. Goats and Highland cattle graze. A 30 meters high river dune offers a beautiful overview. Wet heath vegetation, such as sundew, lavender, beak rush, and different kinds of amphibians."

Gennep town square

 Our walk ended in Gennep, where we enjoyed a well earned rest and cold drink.

Thanks, Robin, for a great day!

P.S. I'm behind with details of our cross-country ride but have a great reason: a visit from Bellingham friend Alex, who is on a fabulous adventure of his own. Do check out his blog - many of the photos are taken from a moving bike!

Ride Across the Netherlands, Day 5

Two of these nylon covered figures are rowing the boat

Can't believe we've been on the road for five days! Today was great, the best riding so far. Great breakfast (eggs are good for riding) then we set off at a superfast pace. We lost some time due to a ferry being closed on Sunday but with help from another cycling couple we found our way. Our alternative route was part of a benefit ride for the Dutch Red Cross, and we were treated to some very welcome bananas (we made a donation when we got home, and encourage readers to support their local Red Cross chapter).

Arrived in 's-Hertogenbosch (better known as 'Den Bosch') at 1pm, the earliest finish so far. We were very happy to be able to park our bike in a secure bike parking garage, and the attendant even let us check our panniers (the bike garage has only been open for two months and there are no lockers yet).

Shallow stairs made the bike garage easy to access

We had a quick picnic then visited the Hieronymus Bosch Art Centre, which was interesting both for the explanation of his art and the setting, a Byzantine-Romanesque church. Then we visited St. John's cathedral which was beautiful. The highlight of our day was the boat parade, an annual summer event, with about 25 floats that follow the Binnendieze, a network of partially covered canals. The floats are all based on the art of Hieronymus Bosch, some literally, others figuratively. Here is a sampling of a few of the floats we saw, courtesy of ronvanzeeland and YouTube:

After the parade we retrieved the bike and rode a few more kilometers to our overnight accommodation, a dairy farm/bed and breakfast in a village dear Den Bosch. The cows were being milked when we arrived. Our hosts at the B&B speak only Dutch but we did okay. I'm beginning to think I would know a lot more Dutch if most people didn't speak English! After settling in at the farm, we pedaled to the village for a massive dinner (we need to keep our strength up).

Up close and personal in the milking parlor

Map of today's excellent ride.

Ride Across the Netherlands, Day 4

Photo by Arthur Chapman

One of the delights of this trip has been the wildlife. We've seen many of these grey herons; I'm not enough of a birder to recognize the other birds we've seen. Squirrels here are mostly red and even the insects are new and interesting!

Rain until 2 pm made today a little less than perfect.We started shortly after breakfast even though the weather radar was predicting clearing by 10. Good thing, because it rained most of the day. Fortunately we are from the Pacific Northwest and are used to riding in the rain. Our hosts last night are experienced bike tourers, and they recommended a rest day or even two after every 3-4 days cycling. Sounds good to us!

One fun experience today was the hand operated ferry we used to cross one of many canals along our route. As we pulled up to the ferry, we saw:

These cyclists were already crossing when we arrived at the pontveer

Tim pulled the ferry back to our side of the bank but generously allowed me the fun of cranking us across. We have been picnicking lunches but went to a bar-cafe for koffie verkeerd, hot soup and tosti sandwiches today. The warm meal really lifted our spirits and the rain cleared up shortly after we resumed riding.

Photo by marie-II

Today we saw crew rowers on the Amstel and the unique Utrecht red-light district, had a hard time finding our way out of Utrecht (the route is not well marked in the big cities), rode really hard to make up for lost time, and took far too long to find our B&B, but arrived in time for an afternoon concert at the Grote Kerk in Vianen. The concert featured a young organist, Satoko Okitsu, and the three young artists of the Augellin Ensemble: a mezzo soprano, a cellist and a young man on recorder. The program featured cantati by Scarlatti, J.S. Bach, Handel and Pepusch. Delightful! After a shower at our homey canal-side bed and breakfast, we walked back to the old town in a cloud of mist for a delicious dinner.

Click on the link to see the map of our rainy ride from Duivendrecht to Vianen. For dessert, here is a YouTube video of a performance by Satoko Okitsu (on harpsichord) playing Bach:

Ride Across the Netherlands, Day 3

The smell at the cheese market was amazing

We woke up to rain in Alkmaar and decided to finish the walking tour we started last night, hoping to avoid a wet ride. As it happened, we were in Alkmaar on the morning of the once-a-week cheese market so we stayed until it opened at 10am. Strong cheese smell!

By the time the cheese market was in full swing the rain had stopped, so we rode dry again. We rode on top of dikes, across polders, and through lots of farmland where we saw many, many windmills. We got lost and ended up back where we started at one point but figured it out in the end. The circle in the middle of the map shows where we got lost.

We crossed this scenic bridge three times

We crossed the Amstel river via pedestrian and bicycle ferry to arrive in Amsterdam. Finding our way through the city was frustrating. The bicycle, tram, pedestrian and automobile traffic in Amsterdam is intense, and the route we were following disappeared. Turns out the LF7 merges with another route, the LF2; cyclists following other routes through Amsterdam are meant to follow the LF2 signs. It took us a while to figure that out, and my backseat driver navigational assistance probably didn't help.

Dinner with our Warm Showers hosts Leo and Annette was delicious and inspiring. They've cycled from Alaska to Mexico along the continental divide route, down South America all the way to Tierra del Fuego, and throughout Indonesia and Southeast Asia. We enjoyed learning how they travel, and they encouraged us to dream big. Getting to sleep will not be difficult; we are tired after a challenging day, and we need to rest up for another 70km ride tomorrow.

Want to see our route? Click here for the day 3 map.

Ride Across the Netherlands, Day 2

Bedankt, Mireille, for this wonderful ontbijt!

After an amazing breakfast in our little caravan, we rode to the dunes national park on the west side of Texel, then to the ferry back to the mainland. In Den Helder we visited the Dutch Navy Museum where among other things we toured a cold war era submarine and a 19th century ironclad ship.

Then we had a tough ride along the seawall, about 8km with a very strong headwind. After that the wind was not so bad. We rode through more dunes along the west coast, then turned inland through some beautiful, wild farmland. We saw many houseboats along the canals in that area, several windmills, and lots of thatched houses, including a new house being thatched. Then through some woods until we came to the long-distance route 7, the "Overland Route" which we'll be following the remainder of our trip.

Start of LF7

Our ride for the day ended in Alkmaar. We had time for a quick visit to a beer museum, and a pause for refreshment in the basement pub. Our hosts for the night, courtesy of Vrienden op de Fiets, are a very nice couple with a beautiful home. 

Our Vrienden in Alkmaar had a peaceful view of the canal 

We showered and went out for dinner at a Scottish restaurant, where we enjoyed a new beer, Hielander Porter, custom brewed for the restaurant. More Belgian than British, but still very good. It was a warm evening so we made good use of the late sunset by taking ourselves on a self-guided walking tour of the town. Alkmaar is beautiful, kind of like a little Amsterdam, which we'll cycle through tomorrow.

For the truly curious, here is a link to a map of our route this day (the first real riding day of our birthday trip).

Ride Across the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, bikes travel in style

Since 2007 I've dreamed of cycling across the Netherlands. In 2010, Tim and I decided to celebrate our milestone birthday (this year!) by doing the trip - and then we found out we would be living here, which made it so much easier. Accordingly, we spent the past 7 days cycling more than 500 km from Den Burg on the island of Texel to Maastricht. If you look at a map of the Netherlands, the route bisects the country from the northwest to the southeast.

We acquired a new tandem for the trip, made in the Netherlands by Multicycle. It's a Dutch style bike and very comfortable and easy to ride. I named her Marie Claire, and she's shown riding in the designated bicycle car of the train above.

Our trip began with a four hour train trip to the opposite side of the country. Our journey had a rocky start as the first train (from Venlo to Nijmegen) stopped in between stations, with a long announcement in Dutch. We still don't understand enough of the language to catch the gist of the message, so we asked another passenger. He explained that there was a problem with the tracks and the train would return to the last station where everyone would be bused to Nijmegen. Good for everyone else, but bad for us because bikes are not allowed on buses. We were at least 30km short of Nijmegen but we got out the map to figure a route. No one got off the train, however, and eventually it continued all the way, arriving only 20 minutes late. We saw our connecting train depart from the station but weren't able to wrangle our bike to the platform in time. Luckily, the train to Den Helder leaves every 30 minutes so we were only 30 minutes behind schedule. Just enough time for a kopje koffie (little cup of coffee).

Arriving in Den Helder, we rode a couple kilometers to the ferry dock for the trip to Texel. The ferry to the island takes about 25 minutes, and there were quite a few bicyclists. Rolling off the ferry we opted to ride along the sea wall to the village of Oudeschild and to the Texels Brewery.

Typical Texel view: sheep, sheep and more sheep

After a tasting session on the terrace, rain started to fall so we moved indoors for a snack and a glass of the Best Bock Beer in the Netherlands, for 2010 anyway. We returned to the bike and cycled past quite a few sheep (Texel is famous for lamb) to the main town, Den Burg. Our overnight destination was a sheep farm just outside Den Burg, where Vrienden op de Fiets hosts Mireille and Frank made us feel welcome in their guest "pipowagen" caravan.

This thatched brick barn houses the guest bathroom

We cycled back to town (only 7 minutes away) for a delicious dinner of cockles, minestone soup, lamb and sea bass, with yummy vegetables like turnips. Shower in the barn and then bed, tomorrow is a big day and we anticipate headwinds.