What a difference a night of sleep can make! After a delicious meal at an Italian restaurant the la Passione last night, the sleep came instantly.
Today we met our trip leaders onboard the Barge Lena Maria. We cruised out of Amsterdam, sailing along the Noordhollands. It is the waterway that connects Amsterdam to the North Sea. We docked just shy of Zaanse Schans where we received our rental bikes and took a three mile “warm up” ride to adjust to the bikes and learn some of the local signage. It is going to take some time for me to adjust to the hybrid bike with handle bars that I am not used to and riding without clip-in pedals. After the short ride, we had a chance to tour a local outdoor museum and then had a delicious dinner on board the barge. The meal was made by our very own chef. After dinner we had a rider meeting to learn about tomorrow’s ride and meet one another. When I talked about my expectations for the trip I said that I hoped to not eat my words for all the times I have said “I would rather have a headwind than hills (or mountains). Today when we rode the winds were a consistent 17mph with 32 mph gusts. Our guide Lia said “there’s a reason there are so many windmills in Holland.” There are 14 riders in our “group” and another ten riders in a “second group.” It is amazing how once cyclists meet each other on a ride at some time in their life, they continue to plan trips together. The two groups on this trip are excellent examples.
A “traditional” Netherlands home on display within the outdoor museum.
Group dinner from Friday night.
After the shuttle into Amsterdam, we had a brief overview from our guide Walter.
Skyline view from atop the OBA Oosterdok Public Library in Amsterdam.
The barge we are traveling on, The Lena Maria, docked in Zaanse Schans. The rooms that we stay in each night are below deck.
Ellen, Gayle and I toasting during the crew introductions upon boarding the barge.
Fred (left), Sue (middle) and Maggie (right) pulling into a stop. The guide stopped a few times along our warm up ride today to explain street signs.
These windmills are part of Bezienswaardigheden van de Zaan region - basically a free outdoor museum open to the public.
Also part of the museum was the chance to see a wooden shoe being made at the Klompenmakerij Wooden Shoe Workshop. In the past they shoes were carved by hand. Today a machine holds one shoe as a model, and a piece of wet wood is attached to a second section and is molded/carved to duplicate the model. In this photo, the inside of the shoe is being carved away.
There are many types of wooden shoes, including: Sunday clogs, regional clogs, work clogs (including ones for horses), unique clogs, and wedding clogs (the white ones in this photo).
I found an antique mailbox while walking through the outdoor museum.
Maggie and I demonstrating how cheese wheels are carried - we had a light load.
Photo courtesy of Sherry Hawk.
Fred, Gayle and I on the deck of the barge.
The end of the day, just before dinner. Wish you were here Alan!
