The good life

Lunch break with Jonathan, Katie, Cathleen and Garrett. Little cafe ('Vertigo'), outside film museum in Vondelpark.

Fries so-so, company excellent!

FRITES REPORT

Friday night in Amsterdam!

Internet connections from our boat (the Wending) have been sketchy at best, non-existent more common, so I haven't been keeping up this blog for a couple days.

Here we are back in Amsterdam, after riding 63 kilometers today, 68 yesterday if I remember correctly, and about 2 the day before... but more on that later.

It's Friday night in the definitive party town of the western hemisphere -- pretty much any vice you'd like, just pick your pleasure --gambling? dancing? private party with consenting adults of your preference? bio-engineered killer weed? bicycles? And I headed to the library to get on-line! Can you say nerd?

Quick run-down on the cycling...

Tuesday rode from Einkhuzen in morning, took the boat across to Texel in afternoon. About 3 hours under way, water a bit rough but not bad. Got into Texel late afternoon, went for a short ride to stretch legs and see some sights. Highlight: the spring from which ships bound for the East Indies filled their water casks, before heading out into the North Sea and catching a current south towards Africa. Island water was purer than Amsterdam / Hoorn / etc water, and kept longer... so a fill-up on Texel was the last stop on their way out. Next stop: area of Cape of Good Hope, Africa. (Yes, that was the highlight. I already explained about the nerd thing.)

Conditions Wednesday morning were hideous. Cold, driving rain. Group rode out from Wending around 9:00. Mutinied within minutes. About half of us said "hey, it's been swell, ride on if you want... but we'll see you later" and headed back to the boat. One important stop on the way: Katie and I stopped in at a wool processing factory with a tiny retail showroom, and I got a pair of fleecy wool slippers. Rode the last tiny bit back to boat, and spent next few hours focusing on exploring the potential of the slippers, and enjoying warm feet for a change.

We sailed back across to Den Helder, did some walking around town in the afternoon. The hard-core riders who had continued on the Texel Icy Death Ride joined us around 6:00 pm (after taking a ferry over from Texel). Said they had a wonderful time, but from details that emerged over next day or two... I'm just as happy that Katie and I skipped that particular ride!

Den Helder was not my favorite town. Basically a military base, and one that has fallen on rough times. Town has a hard-bitten feel. Nothing specifically wrong, just not generally nice.

Next morning (Thursday) set out for long day of riding, Den Helder to Alkmaar. Rode down the North Sea coast, in part along the world's widest bike path -- you really could land a 747 on it -- between the water and the main dike structure. After a while, cut inland and rode through beautiful dunes and parkland, until we reached Almaar. A long ride, made a bit longer by 3 of us doubling back at one point in search of a cell phone lost by one of the riders. Found it! A nice day overall weather-wise... very cold in the morning, a tiny bit of rain, but clearing and warming steadily through the day... and by evening in Alkmaar, really beautiful.

Today, from Alkmaar to Amsterdam, great weather and great riding. One comical situation: about 5 kilometers from the ship, the chain broke on one of the bicycles, ridden by the same rider who had the flat earlier in the week, and a minor accident (no damage) just a few minutes earlier. Now, a broken chain is no big deal. There is a tiny tool called a chain-breaker, about the size of a Bic lighter, and we could have made an emergency repair... if we had had one. But we didn't. So we went with Plan B: 10 foot piece of rope, tieing the chain-less bike to a working bike to tow it home! The lady whose bike it was truly was not a happy camper, and the idea of trying to cope with being towed was stressing her badly, so we re-arranged a bit: Katie took my bike, the lady took Katie's bike, a strong pedaler took the tow bike, and I rode the towed bike. Same basic technique I remember from young adult car towing events, and we made it work... despite language barriers. But the kicker was... that we were riding into 5:00 pm Friday Amsterdam bike traffic, at Centraal Station, and it was packed! That we made it through will amaze me always.

Beautiful evening. Had a great dinner on the boat, an Indonesian-style rijstaffel. And here I am living it up at the Amsterdam Public Library ;-)

Hoorn to Enkuizen, lovely day for cycling

Hoorn is a beautiful old port. Now a bedroom community, but once a very busy working port. A great feeling, a lovely spot.

Left Hoorn about 9:00. Day started out cold with a few drops of rain, but with breaks in the clouds. By mid-day, was still cold -- but sunny, and stayed sunny for the rest of the afternoon.

Changed cycling route slightly, improvising to cycle through some tulip fields. By this time of May, most fields have been cut... but Martin (our guide) ran into some friends while we were walking last night, and they told him about an area near here were tulips were still in bloom. So we winged it, headed in that direction, and found beautiful fields! Yellow, purple, red, white... pick your color. Farmer took a break to talk with us, told us we really were lucky: last year, he had finished harvest by May 3. Don't know why he's later this year, he didn't say.

Then rode back into Hoorn, had a coffee in the central square, and rode north generally along the main dike to Einkhuzen. Forty kilometers total ride. Hung around the boat for a while, then went out for a walk through huge open-air museum.

One minor mishap, but turned out fine. One of our party had a flat tire. Decision was taken not to fix the flat, but simply to ride the last few kilometers. I think perhaps people were simply uncomfortable with the idea of changing tube in the field? Or perhaps, right tools weren't available. Anyway, I swapped front wheels with the rider who had the flat and rode the last while on the flat. Worked better than I would have thought... just kept my weight well back on bike, rode relatively slowly, and avoided potholes. Tire made a loud chirping sound like a squawking chicken with every revolution, but other than that bit of bizarreness, rest of ride went fine.

Wonderful day of riding!

Amsterdam > Amsterdam East > Marken > Monickendam > Volendam (by bike) > Hoorn (by boat). More or less 44 kilometers cycling, another 10 by boat across bay to Hoorn.

Wonderful cycling. Day started cold and cloudy, stayed that way until late afternoon. By 6:00 or so was cold and clear; now 9:30, and it is a gorgeous evening. Went out for a walk around Hoorn, which was once upon a time the major port for the Netherlands trade between Baltics and southern Europe.

Interesting sight as we left Amsterdam: a hotel, at eastern terminus of what became the Holland-America line, that was the final European-side stop of a stream of US-bound immigrants. Their next stop: Ellis Island.

Beautiful riding through the countryside. One minor mishap... we were cycling down a barely one-lane dirt road, when a nitwit in a Mercedes SUV decided he couldn't wait 30 seconds and had to pass. He knocked over one of the cyclists. Just tapped her I think, but it was enough. No major damage, but she was pretty shaken.

SO nice to have the skies clear and the sun shine, even if it is still ridiculously cold! Hope this weather holds for tomorrow.

Gazelle is a nice bike. Easy rider!

To the boat, day in Haarlem, first ride with tour mates

Dropped off our stuff this morning at the boat -- the Wending, a canal boat built in 1913, worked for 80 years hauling cargo, converted to present life about 20 years ago. Nice solid boat, roomy, great common room and private cabin. Cabin surprisingly deluxe... two beds (not bunks), private bathroom, heater, even a writing desk... though compact.

Then went to Haarlem for the day. Visited Frans Hals museum: terrific! When you get close enough to see the brushwork on those big gloomy formal portraits, they are actually astonishingly cool. My painting never got much beyond house-painting or finger-painting, so I'm not the most informed critic, but enjoyed them nonetheless.

Had frites with Katie. We checked out a few stands, but at K's suggestion went back to the same place I tried last week -- it looked best to her. K had frites with tomato ketchup, I tried the garlic sauce. Katie's review as I remember it: "excellent fries, crispy, very genuine, even have the skin left on them."

Returned to the boat around 4:00. Good mix of people -- 4 crew (captain, cook, engineer, bike guide), plus 14 riders. Riders are from all over. About half are German or Austrian; 2 are Canadian; one other American, married to one of the Canadians; 3 Italians (two sisters plus one's best friend). Good chemistry. Wish I spoke German.

Went for first 'shakedown' ride, basically so guide can figure out who is likely to fall off, who are the wild cards, etc. Nice ride, maybe 10k, through redeveloped old warehouse district along the Ij.

Nice bikes: Gazelle Medeo's. Easy riders for touring I think, a bit less responsive (twitchy if you prefer) than the Tikit, which is staying at C&G's this week. Thought about bringing it for ride, but I'll take a break and ride something new. Per tour guide "Gazelle is kind of Mercedes of Dutch tour bikes... no shakes, brakes well, solid and reliable". We'll see.

No connectivity from the boat, so I walked over to public library. Tried to piggy-back onto wireless, but no go... so using public terminal.

Will post again, with pix, next time I find a public hot-spot.

Weather promising for tomorrow. Should be a nice day, and a nice ride.

Packing up, heading to 'the barge'

K and I had a nice risjtaffel dinner at Blauwe Amsterdam on Amstellwayveenveg (chances I got that spelling right are near zero!).

Packing up now to head off to our boat. Change of scene -- coming week will be day biking trips, based from floating hotel... an old canal boat converted to passenger use.

Staying at Cathleen and Garrett's has been really nice. Cozy and comfortable.

Trying to repack is always amazing: HOW did all this STUFF fit into THAT???

May be keeping up this blog offline for coming week. Depends on internet connectivity. Connectivity is more and more ubiquitous, but on a boat moving from place to place, who knows.

Off to Leiden by foot, tram, train...

K and I walked down street to bakery off Hoffdorpplein, crossed street to take the #15 bus to Amsterdam Zuid station, then the train to Leiden Centraal. Dead easy trip. Took maybe an hour door-to-door.

Cold, blustery day with sprinkles of rain. Not bad, but kind of day that chills you down over time.

Visited De Lakenhal museum in Leiden. Was originally the guild hall for cloth trade, which was huge in Netherlands in 1600s -- and Leiden was the second biggest town in Netherlands. Eclectic collection! Lot's of dark and gloomy paintings in the old Dutch Master style, really pretty depressed stuff, sort of thing that makes you understand why painters here lose an ear from time to time.

Excellent room with old armor though, including one steel vest with a great big dent like right over the heart! Dude had been shot with a cross-bow, or huge musket ball, or somesuch. Because of the lighting we couldn't tell whether it was just a really, really deep dent, or whether there was an actual hole that went through at the bottom of the dent. The guy who wore that armor originally either had a really lucky day, or a really crappy one. I felt strongly that the museum should have had some kind of information on a label -- so what happened to the guy??????? Did he live another 50 happy years, or were his buddies divvying up his stuff later that night?

Disappointing on the Fries front. Katie (what a traveler) landed yesterday and said pretty much verbatim "Hey, great to see you, let's go to Leiden tomorrow, and I want to get some frites for lunch when we get there." Well, Leiden is a nice town but strangely light on options for fries -- didn't really see any. What gives? So we had curry at a little Thai take-away joint.

Start bike/boat trip tomorrow. Weather forecast is improving over next few days -- zero rain forecast (yeah, right), with gradually warming temperatures.

Hurt my ankle a bit, too much walking on Wednesday. Need to get back on bike, give it a rest.

In window of toy store: world's smallest bike? They start 'em young here.

Katie's here!

A great dinner

Realized that after a couple days of constant on-the-go, fueled basically by snacks (frites, granola, cold sandwiches), I was feeling a bit run down. Not bad, just... depeleted.

So I went out for a nice dinner, at a place down the street recommended by C&G: restaurant called Gent, located by the foot/bicycle bridge over local canal, on street leading to Vondelpark.

Terrific meal:
-- Warm brown bread with butter
-- Salad of fresh greens with pancetta and carmelized pears
-- Organic chicken breast stuffed with cheese, more pancetta, and fresh asparagus

I'm topped up on vitamins, calories and flavor! Feeling good.

Recommendations for this place if you are in the neighborhood.

Good walk, sore feet, one photo.

Gave the bike a rest today. Stayed in Amsterdam, and walked... and walked... and walked.

About 20 kilometers, but some of it was on the #2 tramline. Started out this morning with short walk to local bakery for breakfast of croissant, an orange, coffee. Then longer walk to grocery store to pick up some milk, juice etc. Then an extended amble around the neighborhood to check it out post jet-lag. Then a failed attempt to find a tiny mouse for this netbook (trackpad works but not my favorite). Then a hike in Vondelpark. Then back to apartment at 3:00, to touch base with Katie -- who will be here tomorrow! Then a really big walk from Old South / Olde Zuit (this neighborhood) to downtown. Downtown too crowded and touristy (look who's complaining -- a guy recognizable at 100 paces as a tourist from California). Then a walk part way back, and a decision midway to be kind to feet and hop on tram!

Travelled light, did not even take camera. Just clothes, cash, passport, and a plastic shopping bag. Bag is handy for lots of stuff, and gave me the appearance of actually having a purpose in my wandering.

Laundry last night successful, but -- why on earth do graphic / industrial designers think that the little glyphs they put on appliances are any help at all? Luckily Cathleen had left me a couple post-it notes with meanings of the symbols. Very grateful... otherwise, I would have been staring at the machine all night, like a caveman who just discovered a space ship.

Time to put up feet, then think about dinner.

Photo taken from C&G's kitchen balcony, just after 6:00 pm.