June 22 - Around Amsterdam

A day off & I have the sniffles.  Nothing terrible, but....  Since I've got tickets booked to the museums I figured I'd take a go at it and buy more drugs as necessary during the day.

A bunch of us bought two day tram passes (good deal!) and headed off to the Dam Square.  It really was a dam (in the 13th century), but is now the central plaza.  

Here's the Royal Palace.  Not lived in (rent's too high?) but still used for official functions.

 A closeup of the detail on top.












The national Monument, erected in 1956 to commemorate the casualties of WW2.   I cut the top of the photo off; it is a rounded top with nothing fancy.











This is the former main Post office and is now the Magna Plaza Shopping Centre.







A shot inside of the lobby.  I did a bit of retail therapy here - bought a great piece of cheese.  All day long, I'd stop and slice off a hunk for a snack.  

Lots of other buildings in the square, but it was time to head toward the Anne Frank House.






On the way there we passed the Westermarkt Church.  It wasn't open today, but I figured I'd better include one church photo.














This is the only photo of the Anne Frank house - the lowest floor (black) has been restored to it's former look.

No photos allowed inside the house / museum.  You enter from around the corner and go through a number of exhibits before you get into their actual hiding place which was the upper 3 floors of the Annex behind this building.

It was a very moving and respectful visit, reminding one of the tragic events surrounding the story.



Afterwards - the canal near the house.  The yellow boat behind the tourist boat is a houseboat, with a rather dour individual looking out at those @#$@# tourists making waves in his front yard.










A couple of bike photos.  I liked this one because the bikes (typical Amsterdam commuter bikes) were named "Stella."  I looked it up - there is a bike manufacturer named Stella.

This one ain't named Stella!  We have one tandem bike on the trip, driven by a lovely couple, Greg & Sue.  I figure we could get them to switch to this one, so I could ride in the third seat sipping Lattes and there is a spare for somebody else to sit in while they carry snacks for us.

(I won't hold my breath)






I met up with another rider and we had lunch.  Afterwards, on my way to the van Gogh Museum I ran into (or rather, saw) this.  Is it what I think it is?  There are drain grates in the sidewalk at each of the "cubicles."

Leave a comment if you know what it is, or if you have used one of this type.













On my way to the Museum Quarter, I passed this magnificent structure, the Rijksmuseum.

And a detail of some of the architectural artwork.

The Van Gogh Museum is a thoroughly modern building a ways past the Rijksmuseum.  This is the special exhibits hall.  The huge awning I'm under belongs to the Museum of Modern Art.

I spent 3 hours between the van Gogh permanent exhibit and the special exhibit (van Gogh and Japan) and suffered serious cultural overload.  Definitely get the audio tour if you go as it explains a lot of the background and techniques he used.

No photography inside the museum, but there was a large screen flashing some of his famous works in the lobby. I had to shoot from an odd angle to avoid people getting their selfies into my shots.

The Yellow House

The bedroom in Arles.  

These are two paintings of the house he lived in for a while in Arles, France

After the museum, I used my tram pass for a quick trip down to the Central Station which is the main commuter terminal for buses, trams and railroads.  I have a death wish if I wanted to show up there at evening rush hour!

Look at the bikes!  Huge numbers, all chained up to racks.  I don't know how people remember where their bikes are.  In fact, I saw a couple of glazed eyed people stumbling around, either looking for their bike or a place to lock it up.

Last shots.  Some of the facade of the main station.

A rather pretty building I noticed on my way back from the Central Station.

Another rest day tomorrow, but don't now what I'm doing yet.  Depends on my developing cold and also what's available, since it's Saturday and I haven't booked ahead.

June 21 - Breda to Amsterdam

We were warned about headwinds today and they sure happened.  Our route was basically going north from Breda to Amsterdam and we had northwest headwinds all day.  At times we were pedaling hard enough top be going 30 km/h, but were only doing 20.  

One of our first stops was at this windmill.  There were a number of this style. 











A close up from the back side, showing the stairs to the top, which are fixed to the windmill and swing around as the upper part is turned into the wind.  The red & white wheel has a chain tied to anchor blocks - the operator rotates this wheel to change the direction the windmill faces. 
Below the stairs you can see the paddle wheel  





The other style of windmill.  We didn't see any of these operating in today's wind - they are likely replaced by pumps  installed nearby.













A stop in a pretty little village for coffee and apple pie.  Their apple pie is excellent!  






Some of our group enjoying the stop.  We debated whether we should avoid the headwind by turning around and running downwind back to Breda, and then putting our bikes on the train to Amsterdam.  Probably not a bad idea.









Here we are riding along the top of one of the large dikes.  The land on the right side is significantly higher than the left.  There are houses both sides.  I'm not sure about this - is the dike protecting only the land on one side?










A little further along we saw this large barge in the canal with a pusher tug propelling it.












Then a short ferry ride across a large canal on this rather sleek looking vessel.  

One of two ferry rides on the day.  The other ferry (sorry, no pix), was much smaller and was propelled by 'crawling' along a cable strung tightly across the river, about 3 feet above the water.  When we asked how boats would get by, we were told that the ferry would dock on one side and then loosen the cable so it was deep enough under the water for the boat to pass.



 Just past the ferry we saw this side channel with all these boats.  The wooden sailboat in front was particularly pretty and in good shape.















Further along, this drawbridge with a date of 1883 on the top - we assume this is when it was built.







 And we got just got over the drawbridge when it was raised for a cabin cruiser to pass.  The process took less than 10 minutes.












This is typical of houses for many houses along the canals - very little elevation difference between the water and the house.

Would this be considered waterfront?





No more photos as we got into Amsterdam.  Even with separate bike paths almost all the way it was crazy.  One confounding issue - small motorized bikes & mopeds are allowed on the cycle lanes.  So, on the side of the street you have houses, a pedestrian sidewalk, a 6 foot (or less) wide cycle path, then parked bikes or the roadway.  Cyclists, mopeds and pedestrians are coming in and out of the cycle path, or crossing it. 
You would hear a beep over your left shoulder, then move 8 inches to the right and a moped or cycle passes by with inches of clearance.  I got stuck behind a cyclist carrying a bass fiddle on his back.  Most of us agreed it was hair raising.  I would have liked to have a GoPro on my helmet to record the mayhem - but I might never cycle again if I looked at the movie.


Once into our hotel, I showered and then took my laundry out to the "Wasserette" for cleaning.  Having an hour to kill, I leaned up against a wall to take some photos of life in the Amsterdam streets.  This was a quiet street relative to the one we came in on.

Here you can see a moped crowding by a bicycle.







This is a cute little rig.  It looks like your standard scooter, but note the plate our young driver is standing on.  He pumps this up and down and it propels the scooter forward.










A line of cycles chained up to a railing.  Anywhere a chain can be connected is fair game.







The bicycle signal light has turned green and a group of riders surges forward.  Note the fellow with the case of Amstel beer on his handlebars.   They were carrying anything and everything on their bikes.

This looks like a regular old stairway, right?  Nope.  Cyclists use the ramps on the side to get their cycles up the stairs.

I saw a lady jump off her fast moving bike and run up the stairs two at a time wheeling her bike up the side ramp.  She jumped back on again and continued along without missing a beat.  The whole process took 5 or 6 seconds - you couldn't carry your bike up that quickly.



Last photo today of a building beside the canal.  I just wouldn't feel comfortable having an apartment or office on the lowest floor!

Culture day tomorrow.   I've booked tickets to Anne Frank's house and the Van Gogh museum.

TTFN.  

June 20 - Brussels to Breda

First, an apology - I did not fulfill my duties completely in reporting about Brussels.   I told you about Manneken Pis, the peeing boy and I told you about Het Zinneke, the peeing dog.  But I missed one - Jeanneke Pis - the peeing girl.  I never found her, so I looked her up online and here's a picture.  She is actually in a barred cage to protect her from vandalism.

Onto today - 102 km from Brussels to Breda in the Netherlands.  We crossed the border at about 90 km.  Typical EU border - non-existent.  Nice and sunny today; great cycling weather.


Early on in the ride we are stopped at a canal as the bridge has been lifted, waiting for this barge.  The canal was quite large so the bridge was lifted straight up on 4 concrete pillars.





Still in Belgium we are entering Lier.
Note the flowers on the bridge.













This is our view of the city hall as we stopped for a Cappuccino (and a free waffle!).
We guessed the big screen was for either ''Lier Feest,' which might be a film festival, or for community watching the World Cup (or both).

 Another view across the town square, showing the fancy gables we see on many of the buildings.












We were still in Belgium when we had lunch.  Lunch is a do it yourself affair with sandwich makings, lots of juices and a chance to fill your water bottles.

Just past lunch is this, listed on our notes as the 'Geometric forest.'  Don't know what its purpose is, perhaps somebody had way too much time with a set of hedge clippers.







Netherlands now.  Both Belgium and the Netherlands so far have been very neat and friendly looking.  Check out this bike path beside the road, with trimmed hedges both sides.
A word about the cycling culture here.  It is so strong that bicycles are respected and have the right of way in many circumstances that we would never consider in North America.  For example, in this picture, if a car on the road in front of me wants to turn right onto a side road, he invariably stops & waits for me.  Try to pass on the right in the same situation in North America and you would be road kill.

The towns are very neat and clean, with a large fraction of modern houses.  Farmland in between has a variety of market crops:  potatoes, corn, beans, etc.  We are seeing greenhouses (some large) more frequently.

Almost all roads have bike paths, although one has to be aware in towns because the bike paths and pedestrian sidewalks are often side by side or one and the same.  You have to watch out for pedestrians and other cyclists turning into your path.  


In the Netherlands now, approaching Breda.  This is Kasteel Bouvigne.  It was (is?) a private residence that has had a structure on it as early as 1554.  It was destroyed by a V-1 rocket in 1941 and was rebuilt.










A couple of shots near the centre of town.  Lots of restaurants, bars and coffee houses on the streets.  Lots of people enjoying themselves.  The town had a very nice feel to it.  

I won't bore you with more photos of the local church in the background (although it is pretty).






It would be nice to stay here a while and have coffee and pastries at a different street cafe each morning.












Near the hotel is the Kasteel van Breda (Breda Castle).  It was closed so we couldn't get past the bridge over the moat, but I took a photo of the moat with its lily pads and geese with their goslings.
(Truth be told, we were downtown sampling various 'products' and had to get back for the riders meeting at the hotel).




Valkenburg park, between the castle and our hotel.














Speaking of hotel, we are in the Apollo Hotel.  Very modern and the most striking room to date.

Too bad it gets wasted on cyclists with laundry to do..😀

Tomorrow we are off to Amsterdam, and two (count 'em) rest days!

Any suggestions for what I can do for two days in Amsterdam (after laundry).