Amsterdam ~ Leaving de Holland (Day 12, Part 1 of 2)

 

We had one final breakfast with our friends on the boat, then it was time to start checking out.  I had reserved a room at a nearby Hampton Inn, we rode right past it the day before, so we knew we could get there very easily.  We rode over and tried to find their bike parking.  I finally went inside and asked.  This would be our first of many interactions with the staff here and each time was extremely pleasant!  

 

 

Naturally, the bike parking was underground and secure, next to the cars.

 

Once our bikes were secure, we walked back to the boat to get our luggage.  From there we took a tram back to the Hampton.  We were way too early to check in, so we left our luggage in storage and found a cafe nearby.  This was a cute place with a small playground next to it.  For the next hour or so we watched families ride in on their bikes, grab a coffee and let their children play.  We each had a sandwich, then split a piece of chocolate cake with our cappuccinos.

 

 

Our room was ready when we made it back to the hotel and we took a much needed nap!  I could finally breathe a huge sigh of relief.  We were done riding for the trip and we made it safely with no mechanical issues, flat tires, or crashes!  Total miles ridden for the total trip, including the ride in Brugge before we met the boat, was 226.75!  That was more miles than I had ridden for the year up to that point.

 

Our next order of business was to the meet the bike company to return our rental bikes... or did we?  Check back tomorrow... 

Breukelen to Amsterdam ~ Victory Dinner and Exploring Amsterdam (Day 11, Part 3 of 3)

After locking our bikes on the boat one final time we got cleaned up and headed back to the ferry.   We just started walking and looking for a place to eat.  Along with being crowded, Amsterdam was definitely dirtier than anywhere we had been.  The abundance of trash on the ground was actually kind of shocking after so many days in the countryside.

It didn't take us long to decide on pizza for dinner.  This was the right decision - it was delicious!

 

 

The pizza was not cut at all, we were a bit puzzled when we saw the scissors they provided!  But they did a great job.  They actually let you cut your slice as large or small as you want.

 

We wandered some more looking for dessert.  But first, a wooden shoe:

 

We found Milky Amsterdam and the young man standing out front did a great job selling us on what they had to offer!  Les got an espresso to pour over ice cream:

 

 

I got an iced coffee:

 

There was a great view of the river:

 

But what really brought us in was this crepe!  No guilt, just pleasure:

 

This was a chocolate crepe (pronounced "creep" in Amsterdam) topped with fruit and a white chocolate drizzle.  It was SO GOOD!!!

 

 

This is the face of a cyclists who rode from Belgium to the Netherlands without any crashes!  I was feeling quite victorious that night!  We wandered a little bit more before riding the ferry back to the boat for our last night on de Holland.

 

Dendermonde to Antwerp ~ New Riding Strategy (Day 8, Part 1 of 3)

On our third day of riding we changed our strategy.  After the near collision on Tuesday, we decided we would be the last riders to get off the boat.  This was a winning strategy!  We arrived at the first suggested coffee stop as everyone else was finishing up.

 

 

From there our day followed a similar pattern.  We would ride along, enjoying the scenery, without the stress of riding close to others in our group.

 

This worked to our advantage when we got to the next stop -  the Wissekerke Castle.  There was a restaurant nearby and everyone was eating lunch there.  The castle wasn't open when we rolled in, but we learned that it would open in about 40 minutes.  We had a light snack, then watched everyone else ride away.  We had a delightful 45 minutes to ourselves.   We have tons of pictures so I'll do a separate post about the castle next.  The grounds were beautiful!

 

To get in to Antwerp we had to go through Saint Anna's Tunnel.  This is a historic pedestrian and bicycle tunnel connecting the city's historic center to the Linkeroever (Left Bank) district under the Scheldt River. Opened in 1933, it is famous for its 31-meter depth (100 foot), tiled 570-meter (about 1/3 of a mile) walkway, and original wooden escalators.  

 

 

We did not actually ride the escalator - there is also an elevator.  This was so crowded and a little crazy!  We didn't take any pictures, I was especially occupied with staying upright on my bike, but I found these pictures on the internet.  It was not this empty when we were there.  This is the tunnel under the river.

 

We rode a little further until we got to the city of Antwerp, one of the largest cities in Belgium with a population of over 550,000.  It was warm that day, but not as hot as the previous two days.  That didn't stop us from getting gelato!

 

Our boat hadn't arrived yet, so we leisurely wandered around Antwerp.  I bought this blouse.  It is so comfortable, I wish they'd had it in a couple more colors.

 

We found the Antwerp Grote Markt (Dutch for "Big Market" or "Great Market Square".)

 

 

We got a text message from Franklin that a particular chocolate shop was having a sale - buy one, get one free.  So of course we had to check it out.  Obviously, we did more than check it out...

 

We had a free evening in Antwerp and I'll share about that in a later post.

Our Only Hiccup and Some Time In Ghent (Day 6, Part 2 of 2)

 

As I previously wrote, Les left his backpack at the coffee shop earlier this day.  Our guide, Franklin, just happened to be riding with us when Les discovered this.  We were probably only about 12 miles from the coffee shop, but not knowing how the day would play out, we pedaled on to Ghent.

Arriving in Ghent was a little scary.  The population of Brugge is about 120,000, while the population of Ghent is about 274,000.  Our directions took us directly to a bike garage.  We used the restrooms, then decided to split my PBJ since Les' was lost.

 

 

Unfortunately, without a lock, we couldn't leave our bikes in the garage.  So after eating our sandwich we found a little cafe and parked our bikes next to our table.  We ordered iced coffees and the dessert of the day.  It was about 90 degrees that day, so iced coffee hit the spot!

 

I was red-faced from the heat but I did not get sunburned the entire trip!

 

 

They also gave us each a small piece of chocolate.

 

 

Our champion, Franklin, found a HEMA store - a local department store (more like an ABC store) and bought a lock for us.  Les was wearing clip-in cycling shoes, so without his sandals, we couldn't do any exploring.   We could at least secure our bikes, but Les still couldn't do much walking.

 

We ended up staying put for several hours and visited with Franklin for at least an hour.  He has worked in the cruising industry for decades!  He's worked on the large ships and now he's working on Boat and Bike tours.  He is such a great people person.  Les finally went to HEMA, but the only shoes they had were some slip on rubber sandals.  They were good enough for a little bit of walking, but not great.

 

 

 

We waited about four hours in Ghent until we received word of where our boat was docked.   This was about a five mile ride.  We were happy to get back to our room and get showered!

 

Total miles for the day:  36.96 

Solo in Brugge ~ Church of Our Lady, Shopping & Chocolate (Day 4, Part 1 of 2)

 

I'll give more details about Les' day tomorrow, but for now just know we didn't have a fight!  We knew we would be spending one day apart and we were both excited for our solo adventures. 

 

 

As with most big European cities, there was a large cathedral in Brugge.  The Church of Our Lady was built starting around 1270.  I've seen my share of churches, but this one has a sculpture created by Michelangelo.  The white marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child was created around 1504.  While Michelangelo was alive, the Madonna was the only sculpture to be taken out of Italy.  The sculpture was twice recovered after being looted by foreign occupiers—French revolutionaries around 1794 and Nazi Germans in 1944. 

 

 

As with all large cathedrals there are so many things to look at.  Painted graves:

 

 

 

 

Statues and artwork:

 

 

The Calling of Matthew, painted around 1604:

 

 

The Pulpit:

 

 

 

 

A crucifix.  I'm glad Jesus didn't stay on the cross!

 

 

 

 

I spent about an hour wandering the cathedral then took some shots outside as well.  The 379 foot tower remains the tallest structure in the city and the third tallest brickwork church tower in the world.

 

I then spent a few hours walking about Brugge.  SO MANY CHOCOLATE SHOPS!!

 

My plan was to do a little shopping.  We really didn't have room in our luggage for much, so I only bought socks for each of us!

 

Les had seen a hat the previous day that he really liked but didn't buy.  He said he would probably buy a cycling jersey, so it was either the hat or the jersey.  Later that day he sent me a text, "Can you go ahead and buy that cap for me? Don't know why it's OR."  Ha! 

 

I had lunch at some point, followed by...

 

 All in all, a delightful solo day!