These Feet Can Take Us Anywhere

July 15, 2008.  We arrived in Broekhuizenvorst, Netherlands, about ten days before our housesitting hosts needed us to be there.  Via email I had asked Kim if she knew of a cheap place to rent (or even buy) two bicycles as Jon and I have long wanted to take a cycle tour across the famously flat and beautiful Netherlands.  Her kindness surprised me once again as she and Wim went out of their way to arrange for two beautiful bicycles ready for us to ride into the sunset.  We arrive on Tuesday night and by Thursday morning here we are….loose plan intact and bicycles packed up with a change of clothes, our tent, sleeping bags, food and water.

We had places to stay (former campers we’d met at La Fargassa) in Utrecht and Amsterdam, but there’s a good deal of land between Broekhuizenvorst and Utrecht.  We had a loose plan in mind, and below you can see our basic journey.

We started out from Kim and Wim’s house riding northwest until we found ourselves in Venray where, luckily, our first turn landed us directly in front of a bio grocery store (this was our first mission), where we bought general staples and specific goodies for lunch (our second mission). We found a bench in the town center upon which we built really yummy sandwiches with sprouts, tomatoes, hummus and leftover potato scramble we’d brought from the previous night’s dinner with Kim and Wim.

After a happy lunch al fresco we stopped at the VVV store (every town has one, it’s akin to tourist office where you can buy maps and travel books).  The maps were either too detailed and small scale or too general and large scaled.  We settled on an inexpensive long-distance trail map showing the whole picture of the Netherlands and hoped we could stop along the way at other VVV locations to peek at their map of the area without actually having to buy one.

We didn’t need to be concerned as we soon found out that the cycle networks in the Netherlands are very easy to use “on the fly.” We had a compass (thanks to Mamma Bear) and a big cheap map, but the trails all lead to waypoints which have beautiful, large, colorful maps so you can see where you are and where you’re going

I don’t know who this lady is but she’s demonstrating how easy it is to use the lovely waypoint signs.  The Netherlands also made clear our path with the following frequently seen visual aides:

In order they are: cycles allowed here; you’re about to reach cycle network number 19; do not take your motorbike or bicycle down this way buddy; and the everwelcoming word “fietspad” which means “cycle path”.   With help like this we would have few problems navigating through the whole country and the cycle networks ease of use resulted in the kind of cycle tour where direct routes are traded for scenic views (i.e. not on the main roads thank god!).

Moving on past Venray we found the cutest miniature glam-rock horse.  Here is a little known fact about The Netherlands, and one that most especially applies to the people living on the outskirts of the cities and in the countryside: they love miniature animals!  Love them!  Can’t get enough of them!  Midget horses, small goats, tiny chickens, mini deer and even a kangaroo (which I think was regular size but still cool to see).  This farmer was nice and laid back about Christine’s obvious enthusiasm for a horse small in stature but big in hair.  These horses are all over and they all share the same exquisite feature: hair that a glam rocker would kill for.  We call them My Little Glam Rock Pony.

They also like miniature goats (these aren’t baby goats….they’re minis).  All throughout the Netherlands we have been delighted (and a little sad) to see the miniature animals, and the occassional exotic – kangaroo, llamas, reindeer – caged up. That doesn’t mean I could resist a picture, they’re so damn cute!

The day was soon half done as we felt the skies darkening and figured it was time for a break. Next to the info-map kiosk in a small village called De Rips, a pub with outdoor seating was beckoning us for a beer. Christine had just come out with the tasty and refreshing beverages as the first rain of the day started to come down. Jonathan moved the bikes underneath our patio awning and we marveled at our good timing while we settled in to watch the storm and drink an excellent beer. The weather continued to rain off and on and at times the wind blew against our cheerful faces as we pressed on.  After an hour or two of really rainy riding it felt providential to stumble upon this old chapel quite literally in the middle of nowhere. The small and careful structure, built at a fork in the road, seemed to have a tremendous history and dramatic story line associated with it judging by the postcards and books available for sale and the life sized porcelain statue of Jesus laid out as if from the tomb with altars all around.  It seemed like it would have been interesting if we’d been able to understand a word of it.  Oh well, we were grateful for the beauty of it, the surprise in finding it and the time to have shelter and shake off a little water before putting on the rain gear.

All day long we’d ridden through lovely field expenses and quaint shrouds of woods, but as evening arrived we puzzled to find ourselves getting closer and closer to high-density dwellings and highways. We’d lost the trail because the main road looked prohibitive to bikes, but we were going in the right direction when we decided to stop for dinner at a snackshop (which seem to be ubiquitous in urban environs). This one was situated at the end of a large new residential development with million euro homes and nice condos down the street. The snackshop, Jopie’s, stood amidst a few vacant lots next to the highway soundwall. At some point during our meal (of their fries and our sandwiches) a man came out for a cigarette and upon seeing our bikes and all the signs of us clearly being on a cycle trip he struck up a conversation with us.  We eventually got around to our current ponderance which was, as Christine explained, our situation of not knowing a nearby sleeping spot. The owner surprised us with his generosity and frankness and said we could pitch our tent for the night “over there”.  The picture below was taken from the snack shop and if you look closely you’ll see the tiny yellow blob of our tent dwarfed by enormous houses.  Which begs the question of course, how much space does a person really need?!

We got up early and rode on the next day, the rain let up mostly but we still had occassional winds. We rode through really lovely countryside and beautiful forests. Here’s Jonathan in his rain gear.

This was an “upside down” bridge.

Our intrepid stunt-bike-photographer, Christine took this action shot on the dijk near Empel- as you can see, I was quite impressed by her agility and feat of coordination – and with a smile to boot!

At this point towards midday, we were not on schedule to make it to Utrecht by dinnertime unless we high-tailed it on the main roads. Since being rushed didn’t appeal to either of us we decided to turn around and head south to s’Hertogenbosch which, we knew from our map, was a train hub. This was our first bike-riding experience in a Dutch city and it was really cool to see all the signals and lanes that were for bikes only, many of them two laners for feitsers (cyclists) going either way. The plaza in front of the train station was really impressive with an ornate gold-plated statue. Being hungry for lunch, we didn’t dally too long in the center of this old well-preserved city before boarding one of the many frequent trains north.  They make it easy for you to figure out which compartments have special space for your bike (which you’ve bought a ticket for at 6.50 each) and if you’re lucky like we were you basically have a whole compartment to yourself.  Half for your bikes and the other half for you to sit and look out the window and eat lunch!

Utrecht is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands, with a population of 288,535 – all of whom seemed to be riding their bicycles en masse when we walked out of the train station on to the street.  After being in the south of France for so long, and then arriving in a very sleepy village in the Netherlands, it was the first time we were in a city environment and we needed a minute to just sit on a sidewalk bench and simply watch and absorb the huge amount of people we were seeing (it also didn’t help that the train station itself was also a big shopping mall).  After a brief payphone call to our host Sylvana we discovered that the train station was very close to her flat so she gave us directions and we were there in no time!  We were greeted at the door by her friend Mark, also visiting, who was expecting us and in no time whipped up a multi-course Middle Eastern type meal that was so delicious we almost cried. As the Dutch would say, “it was like an angel pissing on my toungue”.  The following day, Sylvana, Mark and his daughter took us on a walking tour downtown.  Here’s Jon looking at a beautiful sculpture outside the church, and it’s interesting to note that the white domed cathedral behind the statue is actually a trompe l’oeil painting hanging on the side of the building.  It makes a nice effect!

After walking through the city center and around the mazes of canals we stopped by the central market for some fresh stroopwafels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel) and then got a tour of Utrecht’s new mega-mall (for the construction of which an old castle was torn down  🙁  boooo).  After this our host graciously, and surreptitiously, paid our entrance into a fabulous theater and arts festival called Parade where we took in live sketch action theater, local food treats and – of course – great beer.

Later on we split off to explore on our own and, while I waited for Jonathan to join me, I was treated to a visual delight of a storm rolling in through the center of town, the dark clouds obscuring the daylight and giving me time to run for an awning before getting wet.  Jonathan, who was riding to meet me, was delayed in his timing and by the time he joined me under the awning he was a bit damp but super happy to see Christine. 

We watched the hard rain for a while and then we ducked into a coffeeshop where Jon met (drum roll……) the best chess player EVER!

Jon says: It was fun playing chess with this really laid-back guy from Poland. He crushed me in the first game as White, but he was nice enough to show me my mistakes and help me along towards my inevitable defeat (I tried to resign twice but he said it was good practice to continue the game). The second game was more interesting with him helping me again and then claiming I won by stalemate – really nice guy.

The skies of the Netherlands are very expressive and exspansive, thanks to the low, flat horizon. We were frequently treated to visual spectacles during storms and during sunsets.  Jonathan went for a walk one night and came back with beautiful pictures.

The photos were taken near our host’s neighborhood at sunset, and along the central canal around midnight. The landing docks on either side of the canal are, in some spots, being converted into patio seating and terraces for cafes and residents – but they are also still public right-of-ways (like sidewalks). The entrances used to lead into warehouse cellars some of which are being converted into cafes and restaurants. There is an indoor smoking ban in the Netherlands so the old docks are now used as smoking areas for the bars. Fortunately there aren’t that many of those.

We were sad when our last night in Utrecht came. Sylvana was kind enough to let us stay an extra night when the weather on our proposed cycle day from Utrecht to Amsterdam was too windy and rainy. That night we made a nice dinner of eggplant parmigiana and snapped a photo for good old times sake.

Our lovely hostess Sylvana.

We left on Tuesday morning for the ride to Amsterdam. We were on the road by 8:15 on schedule to meet our American friends at Oosterpark at 1pm. We had decided to take a more straight shot approach but our trails were still scenic enough.  Along the way we saw our first castle…complete with moats and a drawbridge (the keep is just to the left).  It was being used for something now, maybe a school or some think-tank foundation, but we weren’t certain (It was well-protected against intrusion).  It was really cool to stop and admire it and we were rewarded with a little 15-minute bell song from the clock tower.  This castle was near Breukelen, a seemingly wealthy enclave.

Continuing our ride along the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal we saw a lot of big barges and personal watercraft.  Eventually we found ourselves in the suburbs of Amsterdam which quickly turned to dense urban storefronts and apartments in the classic Dutch style seen below. The muted tones are typical all throughout the Netherlands.

As are, of course, the bikes!

Amsterdam has a lot of bikes! Bike parking is everywhere and we learned that the national average is three bikes to one person. We hypothesize that commuters often leave one bike at one train station, one bike at a bus station, etc. We also happily discovered that the bike lanes become more extensive and easily navagatable in the city.  Cars are very used to bikes and vice versa, it seemed such a normal thing to everybody that there would be just as many bikes on the road as cars.  It was great to ride anywhere and feel like you were in a Critical Mass demonstration! 🙂

We arrived at Oosterpark, a lovely park in the southeast of Amsterdam, right on schedule and immediately found Gillian and Theresa our friends from Portland whom we were meeting up with.  They rode this goat all the way there and the dude in the middle didn’t mind one bit!

Gillian and Theresa had scoped out a fantastic play area in the park and we were all excited about jumping on to this: the bouncy fun time big excitement ride!

That night Jon and I were invited to stay at Theresa’s great-aunt’s-daughter’s flat located across the street from Oosterpark, and it was beautiful.  While Theresa and Gillian went out to dinner with family Jon and I biked across town to an awesome vegetarian restaurant (marking the first time on this trip we’ve had dinner out at a restaurant) and then biked back to the flat where we could take advantage of a unique aspect of the apartment: I took a relaxing hot bath while Jon played the piano for me.  What follows is a clothed re-creation of that magical night:

The next day we said goodbye to Gillian and Theresa as they were heading for Utrecht.  We had more Amsterdam to explore and so we dropped our things off at Robert and Stephanie’s house which was close to where we’d spent the previous night.  Robert and Stephanie and their two girls had been campers at La Fargassa whom we had gotten to know and, in the spirit of Dutch hospitality, had offered us to come stay with them when we were in Amsterdam.  We contacted them to let them know when we were coming but, as usual, the universe was one step ahead of us.  When Jon and I rode into Amsterdam city limits that first day wouldn’t you know it but the very first person we saw riding down the crowded street towards us was Robert!  None of us could believe the coincidence as he was just out getting some bread and we were just arriving into the city.  He showed us right then where their house was so the following day we had no problem finding it.

We continued exploring Amsterdam on bike and our next stop was Amsterdam’s answer to Central park: Vondelpark.  It was beautiful and it seemed that everyone was out enjoying the sunshine, playing frisbee or strumming the guitar or just lying out and picnicing.  We joined in the mass relaxation.

After sunning and picnicing and relaxing we began to hear strains of music from faraway.  Being lovers of live music we hopped on our bikes and followed the notes to a different part of Vondelpark where we were delighted to find an open air ampitheater, and a free performance had just begun!  Three ladies: a violin, a piano and a clarinet.  We were in heaven.

They played for a long time to the great enjoyment of the crowd, and when they were through we applauded heartily and then started to gather our things to leave but wait, there’s more!  Next on stage came two ladies and their harps.

They played a few duets, beautiful soaring music, before – surprise – the harpist on the left is also a professional soprano and proceeded to play a harp duet while singing an opera.  WOW!  Experiencing that talent, that harmony, the emotional music while watching the sunset over the warm evening in Amsterdam…it was almost too much.  So wonderful, we were so blessed to be there.

That evening Robert and Stephanie had a surprise for us…museum passes! YAY!  All of the (very expensive) museums in Amsterdam were now open to us free of charge!  It was overwhelming, how would we choose?

We chose our first stop to be the famous and impressive Van Gough Museum…

…and then we went to the Amstelkring Museum (Our Lord in the Attic Chapel) which is a museum housed in a charming canal house with 17th-century period rooms and, the best part, a clandestine church in the attic which was used by the Roman Catholics who were not allowed to worship publicly after 1578.

The outside of the house (the darkest one, third one in from the left) is innocuous, but once you get inside and go up to the attic it’s incredible.  The owner of the house did this himself, with financial help from the church, and it’s really so remarkable.

We tackled those two museums one day, and the next day went to the fascinating Tropenmuseum which is sponsored by the Royal Tropical Institute.  The institute supports non-Western countries in sustainable development and informs the public about the tropics and sub-tropics.  They had exhibits on everything from Palestine to southeast Asia to Africa to…well…pretty much everywhere the Dutch colonized at some point.

It really was a very interesting museum and we hardly had enough time to do it justice as we had to leave to catch our train back to Brokhuizenvorst.

And so we caught that train and, with amazing ease, made it back to the station and rode on back to Kim and Wim’s house where we were happily received.  Two days later Kim and Wim left for their vacation and since then….well, let me just say that we have marked this as our official Relaxation Station.

We had an awesome time on our bike adventure to Amsterdam, and now we’re just adventuring locally in the sleepy country village of Broekhuizenvorst, population just over 1,000.  Ahhhhh……..

Tags: July 2008, Tag Index

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