Verle & Peggy
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
April 24 - Waco to Frankfurt, Germany
Thursday
We left home at 8:10 a.m. with David, who took us to the airport. We took one last look at our lovely blooming tulips and gave Cole and Ian an extra hug. (They came over before school to tell us “goodbye” and to eat cinnamon toast with us.)
We had the first surprise of our vacation while waiting in Omaha for our flight to Chicago -- Jerry Fox from Kearney, Verle’s cousin’s son, came over and sat with us for a visit. He is heading to Tokyo to meet parents of students at Kearney State. About 200 Japanese students currently attend Kearney State College.
Although we had a 5 ½ hour wait to board the plane for Frankfurt, the time was comfortable and relaxing and went by quickly. We had a good visit with a young Jewish lady, Miriam from Stockholm, who is returning to Stockholm with her violin after auditioning to do Master’s work at a college in Bloomfield, Indiana. She was accepted and will be returning to live here for her schooling. We had a good discussion about Jews in WW2, and the open air and Vassa museums in Stockholm.
We boarded our Air India flight for Frankfurt without problems. The plane was less than half full. The stewardess suggested that Verle and I take two separate banks of 3 seats (which were great for sleeping.) I had curry and Verle had lamb for supper - clearly India dishes - very ample and tasty meals. I left my things in my row and went back to Verle’s row to eat with him. A lady from India put her son to sleep and laid him in my row of seats. A stewardess came to tell her that she had a whole bank of seats (bulkhead row) for her use. I felt selfish about reclaiming my row of seats, especially when the baby cried from time to time during the night. The plane left Chicago about 8 p.m.
We left home at 8:10 a.m. with David, who took us to the airport. We took one last look at our lovely blooming tulips and gave Cole and Ian an extra hug. (They came over before school to tell us “goodbye” and to eat cinnamon toast with us.)
We had the first surprise of our vacation while waiting in Omaha for our flight to Chicago -- Jerry Fox from Kearney, Verle’s cousin’s son, came over and sat with us for a visit. He is heading to Tokyo to meet parents of students at Kearney State. About 200 Japanese students currently attend Kearney State College.
Although we had a 5 ½ hour wait to board the plane for Frankfurt, the time was comfortable and relaxing and went by quickly. We had a good visit with a young Jewish lady, Miriam from Stockholm, who is returning to Stockholm with her violin after auditioning to do Master’s work at a college in Bloomfield, Indiana. She was accepted and will be returning to live here for her schooling. We had a good discussion about Jews in WW2, and the open air and Vassa museums in Stockholm.
We boarded our Air India flight for Frankfurt without problems. The plane was less than half full. The stewardess suggested that Verle and I take two separate banks of 3 seats (which were great for sleeping.) I had curry and Verle had lamb for supper - clearly India dishes - very ample and tasty meals. I left my things in my row and went back to Verle’s row to eat with him. A lady from India put her son to sleep and laid him in my row of seats. A stewardess came to tell her that she had a whole bank of seats (bulkhead row) for her use. I felt selfish about reclaiming my row of seats, especially when the baby cried from time to time during the night. The plane left Chicago about 8 p.m.
April 25 - Frankfurt to Brussels
Friday
Both Verle and I had trouble getting to sleep last night, but we slept soundly later and were amazed when we woke up about 9:15 a.m. (Frankfurt time) to find the plane cabin full of chatting people and bright sun coming in the windows. We had a good breakfast on the plane and watched a bit of Holland and Germany through the clouds as we came in to land.
We walked within the airport to the train station and validated our Benelux/Germany Eurail pass at the train station. The ICE train left about two hours later for Brussels. As in 2001, Europeans were very helpful when we weren't sure where to go. We could only see about half of the ride to Brussels, because the train was often underground or the sides of the roadway were built up. The countryside that we did see was so green, and the European building style was enjoyable. We rode part of the way with Paul and Chris from Brazil. They are studying in Germany. Their insight into the politics of their country and ours was interesting. They are traveling to many parts of Europe. They shared a chocolate bar with us.
Catching the tram to Dan and Carrie Ritzmans was our first challenge and we had to do it twice. Dan had given us great and detailed instructions, but although we found the right ramp, we forgot to check the number on the front of the tram, and we ended up downtown. We had to ask at a computer shop to find out how to get back to North Station. We successfully reached Dan and Carrie’s home, and only had to walk three or four blocks carrying our backpacks.
Carrie had a wonderful three course meal for us -- deep fried cheese balls, salad, and wonderful whole wheat bread, a casserole, and a strawberry/pudding pie for dessert -- plus wonderful Belgian chocolates!. Everything tasted wonderful and her table was so pretty with colorful dishes.
It was very interesting learning about their work with the Iranians in Brussels. They had 25 at Bible study this week. Dan sees God doing a wonderful work in the Iranians. Many have dreams about Jesus and even dream Bible verses that they’ve never heard. They know Islam is not meeting their needs. The Inmans make unreasonable rules and change them on a whim. The Iranians are very open to the teachings of Jesus, and worship meaningfully and wholeheartedly. Their wholehearted, however, tends to promote arguments and problems between the Iranians. They, by their own admission, do not tend to forgive a sin committed against them. This leads to their field of friends becoming narrower and narrower. Faith in Christ is changing this for them. They have a house guest, Ron Frost, a single man, from the Portland area, who also joined us for supper. In his connection with Multnomah, he is a traveling supporter and encourager for missionaries in various parts of the world.
Dan gave us ideas for visiting Brussels tomorrow and took us to a lodging place for traveling missionaries run by Barry & Coreen De Vaal from South Africa. We are staying here for 30 Euros, including breakfast.
Both Verle and I had trouble getting to sleep last night, but we slept soundly later and were amazed when we woke up about 9:15 a.m. (Frankfurt time) to find the plane cabin full of chatting people and bright sun coming in the windows. We had a good breakfast on the plane and watched a bit of Holland and Germany through the clouds as we came in to land.
We walked within the airport to the train station and validated our Benelux/Germany Eurail pass at the train station. The ICE train left about two hours later for Brussels. As in 2001, Europeans were very helpful when we weren't sure where to go. We could only see about half of the ride to Brussels, because the train was often underground or the sides of the roadway were built up. The countryside that we did see was so green, and the European building style was enjoyable. We rode part of the way with Paul and Chris from Brazil. They are studying in Germany. Their insight into the politics of their country and ours was interesting. They are traveling to many parts of Europe. They shared a chocolate bar with us.
Catching the tram to Dan and Carrie Ritzmans was our first challenge and we had to do it twice. Dan had given us great and detailed instructions, but although we found the right ramp, we forgot to check the number on the front of the tram, and we ended up downtown. We had to ask at a computer shop to find out how to get back to North Station. We successfully reached Dan and Carrie’s home, and only had to walk three or four blocks carrying our backpacks.
Carrie had a wonderful three course meal for us -- deep fried cheese balls, salad, and wonderful whole wheat bread, a casserole, and a strawberry/pudding pie for dessert -- plus wonderful Belgian chocolates!. Everything tasted wonderful and her table was so pretty with colorful dishes.
It was very interesting learning about their work with the Iranians in Brussels. They had 25 at Bible study this week. Dan sees God doing a wonderful work in the Iranians. Many have dreams about Jesus and even dream Bible verses that they’ve never heard. They know Islam is not meeting their needs. The Inmans make unreasonable rules and change them on a whim. The Iranians are very open to the teachings of Jesus, and worship meaningfully and wholeheartedly. Their wholehearted, however, tends to promote arguments and problems between the Iranians. They, by their own admission, do not tend to forgive a sin committed against them. This leads to their field of friends becoming narrower and narrower. Faith in Christ is changing this for them. They have a house guest, Ron Frost, a single man, from the Portland area, who also joined us for supper. In his connection with Multnomah, he is a traveling supporter and encourager for missionaries in various parts of the world.
Dan gave us ideas for visiting Brussels tomorrow and took us to a lodging place for traveling missionaries run by Barry & Coreen De Vaal from South Africa. We are staying here for 30 Euros, including breakfast.
April 26 - Brussels to Brugge
Saturday
This day was frustrating in many ways, but it ended really well! Verle felt really bad and his back was sore when we woke up. He had trouble waking up and even in thinking as clearly as usual. After breakfast, he began to feel much better. Barry and Coreen had left breakfast out for us -- it was very good, with cereal, juice, tea and coffee, great bread, jelly, peanut butter, and a special chocolate spread. They also had cheese and cold cuts, which I used to make sandwiches for dinner.
Verle used their Internet hookup and was able to get my journal and some of our photos on the web page. We were relieved that it worked so well. By then, Verle was feeling O.K.
We walked with our bags to Central Station, but there was no ticket window, and we didn't know where to stowe our bags, so we took the tram to North Station and put our bags in a locker there. Then we took the tram to Boerche/Bears (wrong spelling) to see some of the sights Dan had suggested to us. However, we just had such a hard time finding where to go. We finally found a map and walked toward a neat old structure. However, we were quite confused about where to go, so we came across a city tour and took that atop an open bus. It was a gorgeous day. The driver gave us ear plugs to keep. We could set the channel to hear the English narration. It was very interesting to see the many old buildings, the World's Fair area, and the buildings that house the European Union, which are new and mirrored and modern. Some highlights were a very old church with statues and ornate decorations everywhere you looked.
Another similar building had been partially restore to it's white surface, while the rest showed that it is 700 or so years old. The Atomia, which was Belgium's exhibit in the Worlds Fair looked like a huge model of an atom made out of metal. Japanese and Chinese buildings in the same area were built by Napoleon or other early rulers. Lovely parks and spring blooming trees were very beautiful.
We bought train tickets to Brugge (4 Euros total!) and took a lovely ride with a chance to see many farms and the lovely countryside.
Here comes the mighty frustrating part. We got to Brugge about 3 and immediately went to the information center to try to find a Friends of Bicyclers home to spend the night (from our catalog). Many were listed, but we didn't know how to make phone connections to see if any of them had a room available. One information center didn't have a phone connection, another sent us to Park Hotel, which we couldn't find. All this while we were carrying our heavy bags. We finally went back to the train station to try to find someone to help us there. Nothing worked, the phone card we bought didn't work for us, and the directions weren't in English. By 6, we still hadn't been able to get through, and when we finally got the phone to work, one after another home was already full. (You are supposed to call 24 hours in advance.)
Thankfully, we finally found a home that had a room, and what a wonderful experience that turned out to be. Our hosts are Ann and Paul Neutens.
They told us which bus to take and where we should ask the driver to let us off. Ann came out to meet us there. They took us into their kitchen, served us cokes, and helped us plan our day for tomorrow. We decided to try to ride bikes with a tour in Brugge tomorrow morning and to stay in Middleburg, Holland tomorrow evening so we can start riding on Monday. Ann and Paul got everything lined up for us. They called a family for us to stay with tomorrow night in Middleburg and found out from that family that the best way to get to their home was by bus and ferry. The got all the directions and made our reservations for the bike tour tomorrow morning. They also are taking care of mailing our fee for being part of the Friends of Biking program.
They took us out to their lovely garden area, which stretches over 100 meters back behind there house. We took photos there. It was such a pleasant evening after a day that had several stressful moments in it.
This day was frustrating in many ways, but it ended really well! Verle felt really bad and his back was sore when we woke up. He had trouble waking up and even in thinking as clearly as usual. After breakfast, he began to feel much better. Barry and Coreen had left breakfast out for us -- it was very good, with cereal, juice, tea and coffee, great bread, jelly, peanut butter, and a special chocolate spread. They also had cheese and cold cuts, which I used to make sandwiches for dinner.
Verle used their Internet hookup and was able to get my journal and some of our photos on the web page. We were relieved that it worked so well. By then, Verle was feeling O.K.
We walked with our bags to Central Station, but there was no ticket window, and we didn't know where to stowe our bags, so we took the tram to North Station and put our bags in a locker there. Then we took the tram to Boerche/Bears (wrong spelling) to see some of the sights Dan had suggested to us. However, we just had such a hard time finding where to go. We finally found a map and walked toward a neat old structure. However, we were quite confused about where to go, so we came across a city tour and took that atop an open bus. It was a gorgeous day. The driver gave us ear plugs to keep. We could set the channel to hear the English narration. It was very interesting to see the many old buildings, the World's Fair area, and the buildings that house the European Union, which are new and mirrored and modern. Some highlights were a very old church with statues and ornate decorations everywhere you looked.
Another similar building had been partially restore to it's white surface, while the rest showed that it is 700 or so years old. The Atomia, which was Belgium's exhibit in the Worlds Fair looked like a huge model of an atom made out of metal. Japanese and Chinese buildings in the same area were built by Napoleon or other early rulers. Lovely parks and spring blooming trees were very beautiful.
We bought train tickets to Brugge (4 Euros total!) and took a lovely ride with a chance to see many farms and the lovely countryside.
Here comes the mighty frustrating part. We got to Brugge about 3 and immediately went to the information center to try to find a Friends of Bicyclers home to spend the night (from our catalog). Many were listed, but we didn't know how to make phone connections to see if any of them had a room available. One information center didn't have a phone connection, another sent us to Park Hotel, which we couldn't find. All this while we were carrying our heavy bags. We finally went back to the train station to try to find someone to help us there. Nothing worked, the phone card we bought didn't work for us, and the directions weren't in English. By 6, we still hadn't been able to get through, and when we finally got the phone to work, one after another home was already full. (You are supposed to call 24 hours in advance.)
Thankfully, we finally found a home that had a room, and what a wonderful experience that turned out to be. Our hosts are Ann and Paul Neutens.
They told us which bus to take and where we should ask the driver to let us off. Ann came out to meet us there. They took us into their kitchen, served us cokes, and helped us plan our day for tomorrow. We decided to try to ride bikes with a tour in Brugge tomorrow morning and to stay in Middleburg, Holland tomorrow evening so we can start riding on Monday. Ann and Paul got everything lined up for us. They called a family for us to stay with tomorrow night in Middleburg and found out from that family that the best way to get to their home was by bus and ferry. The got all the directions and made our reservations for the bike tour tomorrow morning. They also are taking care of mailing our fee for being part of the Friends of Biking program.
They took us out to their lovely garden area, which stretches over 100 meters back behind there house. We took photos there. It was such a pleasant evening after a day that had several stressful moments in it.
April 27 - Brugge to Middleburg, Netherlands
Sunday
Some cultural observations from the last couple of days:
1. We were interested in watching the people from India on India air when we flew from Chicago to Frankfurt. Most of the passengers were from India. We don't know if the families we were watching near us were representative of their country or not, but this is what we observed: The mothers were extremely loving and relaxed with their children. They were cuddling them, telling them how much they liked them, playing little number and alphabet games with them, and in general really enjoying their children. The fathers (whichever men they were) paid no attention to the women or to the children.
2. Brussels is full of Arab women in their burkas and boring long "dresses" -- more like black nondescript sacks. Most of them looked sad -- or maybe vacant. Their men also seemed uninvolved with them. The best word to describe their appearance from our point of view was "boring."
3. The eyes of most of the local people in the trams seemed sad, and these folks often seemed to personify to us "sheep without a shepherd."
4. The traveling young people seem always to be having the time of their lives. They are using a lot of electronic equipment and are enjoying each other (and they are loud!)
After a wonderful breakfast with Ann and Paul (fresh egg from their own chicken, rolls, sweet rolls, coffee and tea, cheese) Ann walked us to the spot where we were to meet the bus. Paul came running with new water bottles for us! We all stood and waited for quite a long time for a bus that just didn't come -- probably because it is Sunday, so Ann took us back to the Brugge train station in their family car. We put our things in the locker, rode the bus to the Brugge market area, and found our bike tour. Our guide, Dan (I think) got our bikes out for us - newly purchased bikes this year. There were only 6 in our group, and almost no tourist traffic throughout the morning, so we really got a great tour. We zigzagged through the old buildings,
rode out to parks, a working Jesuit training castle, parts of the old wall, -- it was the best way we could have possibly spent our time in Brugge! We rode for almost 3 hours on the cobblestones.
We got our bus ticket to the ferry on the way to Middleburg, got our bags from the locker, and bussed across northern Belgium and southern Netherlands, Verle sat by a man who has traveled all over the world, including China, north and south Africa, etc., but he has not been to America. The countryside changes from Belgium to the Netherlands. The area has farming and dairy cows. We rode the ferry and then the bus again to get to Middleburg and Franz's home. Franz is retired and only moved into this place a couple of years ago. It's a lovely home.
Franz was extremely helpful in helping us plan our route and calling the next place at Brielle. It is about 42 miles -- very rideable if we don't have a headwind. Unfortunately, there is rain predicted for tomorrow. We met Truus and their daughter, Flemi. Flemi is a midwife and was just leaving for work. About half of her patients deliver their babies at home. Most of the city people go to the hospital where she also works. Her information about her work was fascinating. She said that Dutch women are embarrassed about nursing their babies, and few do it.
We showered and Franz walked us to some of the restaurants in the market area. We split a meal of a local flat fish, salad, and French Fries with mayonnaise. It was very good. We came back to the house and laid out our things for riding the first leg of our journey (to Brielle) tomorrow.
Some cultural observations from the last couple of days:
1. We were interested in watching the people from India on India air when we flew from Chicago to Frankfurt. Most of the passengers were from India. We don't know if the families we were watching near us were representative of their country or not, but this is what we observed: The mothers were extremely loving and relaxed with their children. They were cuddling them, telling them how much they liked them, playing little number and alphabet games with them, and in general really enjoying their children. The fathers (whichever men they were) paid no attention to the women or to the children.
2. Brussels is full of Arab women in their burkas and boring long "dresses" -- more like black nondescript sacks. Most of them looked sad -- or maybe vacant. Their men also seemed uninvolved with them. The best word to describe their appearance from our point of view was "boring."
3. The eyes of most of the local people in the trams seemed sad, and these folks often seemed to personify to us "sheep without a shepherd."
4. The traveling young people seem always to be having the time of their lives. They are using a lot of electronic equipment and are enjoying each other (and they are loud!)
After a wonderful breakfast with Ann and Paul (fresh egg from their own chicken, rolls, sweet rolls, coffee and tea, cheese) Ann walked us to the spot where we were to meet the bus. Paul came running with new water bottles for us! We all stood and waited for quite a long time for a bus that just didn't come -- probably because it is Sunday, so Ann took us back to the Brugge train station in their family car. We put our things in the locker, rode the bus to the Brugge market area, and found our bike tour. Our guide, Dan (I think) got our bikes out for us - newly purchased bikes this year. There were only 6 in our group, and almost no tourist traffic throughout the morning, so we really got a great tour. We zigzagged through the old buildings,
rode out to parks, a working Jesuit training castle, parts of the old wall, -- it was the best way we could have possibly spent our time in Brugge! We rode for almost 3 hours on the cobblestones.
We got our bus ticket to the ferry on the way to Middleburg, got our bags from the locker, and bussed across northern Belgium and southern Netherlands, Verle sat by a man who has traveled all over the world, including China, north and south Africa, etc., but he has not been to America. The countryside changes from Belgium to the Netherlands. The area has farming and dairy cows. We rode the ferry and then the bus again to get to Middleburg and Franz's home. Franz is retired and only moved into this place a couple of years ago. It's a lovely home.
Franz was extremely helpful in helping us plan our route and calling the next place at Brielle. It is about 42 miles -- very rideable if we don't have a headwind. Unfortunately, there is rain predicted for tomorrow. We met Truus and their daughter, Flemi. Flemi is a midwife and was just leaving for work. About half of her patients deliver their babies at home. Most of the city people go to the hospital where she also works. Her information about her work was fascinating. She said that Dutch women are embarrassed about nursing their babies, and few do it.
We showered and Franz walked us to some of the restaurants in the market area. We split a meal of a local flat fish, salad, and French Fries with mayonnaise. It was very good. We came back to the house and laid out our things for riding the first leg of our journey (to Brielle) tomorrow.
April 28 - Biking Middleburg to Brielle, Netherlands
Monday
We slept very well with the window open for half the night (no screens needed) When I got up to shut the window, I heard something light hit the floor, but I couldn't reach it. When we got up, Verle was missing his glasses. I remembered the sound, and we found the glasses on the floor between the two twin beds. Franz served us a wonderful and elegant breakfast of boiled egg, bread broiled with soft cheese on top, WONDERFUL breads of all sorts (I especially enjoyed the raisin bread), cheeses, and two kinds of meat, coffee and tea. His house is new inside, very nice, and comfortable.
We had worried about finding the train station since we had arrived at Franz's house following a circuitous route. Franz volunteered to walk us to the station. We left our bags at his house and he helped us rent the bikes. We got each bike for a week for 42.50 Euros. If we have them longer, we will pay the extra charge when we return them to Middleburg. When we arrived back at Franz's house, Truus had ridden in about 20 minutes by bike to tell us good-bye. They sent along candy, and I took sandwiches I'd made from the breakfast bread, cheese, and meat. We got our bags strapped onto our bikes and were on our way at about 10 a.m. Franz rode with us to show us the LF1 trail. What wonderful service these "Friends of Bikers" give us. I wish there were some way to repay them.
We had been worried about rain, but it didn't rain all day. We were also worried about the winds that usually blow off the North Sea. They were blowing, but were behinds us, so we sailed right along, especially as we went across the 6-, 3-, and 1-mile dikes. What fun! It appears that the knowledge that the prevailing winds are from the southwest worked for us this time. Verle had wanted to ride south from Amsterdam.
It was a real joy to ride through the villages and many farming areas
and to see the Delta project, which consisted of big concrete structures with movable gates that can be adjusted to keep the sea out when necessary.
We had and interesting ride through the Westensenschouwen Forest, but we were almost too tired to navigate the hills. We stopped twice to take some of our energy food, and it helped a lot. We bought a map for the LF-1 route. It is in a book at cost over $12, and covers only as far as Delft. It wasn't as helpful as we had hoped, and we still had problems staying on the trail when we couldn't find the LF-1 markers along the way. Although we were often worried about whether we were along the trail, we really didn't lose much time getting off. One of the most interesting route questions worked out very well when we were about 9 miles from Brielle. We weren't sure where LF-1 went, and Verle saw a sign for 9 miles to Brielle by bike. It wasn't the LF-1 trail, but because we didn't know which way to go on LF-1, we decided to take it. We got to Brielle very quickly, and the LF-1 rejoined us about four miles from Brielle. We followed it into town and came to our hosts' street (Reede) at the second crossroad in town. Another "Friend of Bicyclers" saw us and we chatted for awhile. She is booked up for most of the summer.
We think we rode about 50 miles, so we were very tired by the time we reached our host's home at about 8 p.m.. My seat was especially sore. We really like the railroad bikes and their 8 speeds. (We're glad we paid $5 more for the extra 5 speeds.) We ride more straight up, so our arms and hands didn't get nearly as tired as on our Treks, but it puts more weight on our seats.
We met Laney and Cor came home right after we put the bikes in their garage. Laney made coffee and we had fun visiting. They phoned and found a place for us in the Leiden Centrum area (easy to find). Their daughter, Linda, and her American husband and Florida-born Keenan and Cory came to meet us. What fun to visit! They lived in the USA until just before 9-11. Linda got very homesick, and they moved to Brielle and lived with Laney and Cor for a year and a half. __ is teaching English at a high school here. He says that the kids are as hard to discipline as in the US. He says that the bad western influences are beginning to affect the Dutch kids.
Cor showed Verle their Internet, I typed this journal so Verle could put in yesterday and today's web info, and we showered and went to bed.
We slept very well with the window open for half the night (no screens needed) When I got up to shut the window, I heard something light hit the floor, but I couldn't reach it. When we got up, Verle was missing his glasses. I remembered the sound, and we found the glasses on the floor between the two twin beds. Franz served us a wonderful and elegant breakfast of boiled egg, bread broiled with soft cheese on top, WONDERFUL breads of all sorts (I especially enjoyed the raisin bread), cheeses, and two kinds of meat, coffee and tea. His house is new inside, very nice, and comfortable.
We had worried about finding the train station since we had arrived at Franz's house following a circuitous route. Franz volunteered to walk us to the station. We left our bags at his house and he helped us rent the bikes. We got each bike for a week for 42.50 Euros. If we have them longer, we will pay the extra charge when we return them to Middleburg. When we arrived back at Franz's house, Truus had ridden in about 20 minutes by bike to tell us good-bye. They sent along candy, and I took sandwiches I'd made from the breakfast bread, cheese, and meat. We got our bags strapped onto our bikes and were on our way at about 10 a.m. Franz rode with us to show us the LF1 trail. What wonderful service these "Friends of Bikers" give us. I wish there were some way to repay them.
We had been worried about rain, but it didn't rain all day. We were also worried about the winds that usually blow off the North Sea. They were blowing, but were behinds us, so we sailed right along, especially as we went across the 6-, 3-, and 1-mile dikes. What fun! It appears that the knowledge that the prevailing winds are from the southwest worked for us this time. Verle had wanted to ride south from Amsterdam.
It was a real joy to ride through the villages and many farming areas
and to see the Delta project, which consisted of big concrete structures with movable gates that can be adjusted to keep the sea out when necessary.
We had and interesting ride through the Westensenschouwen Forest, but we were almost too tired to navigate the hills. We stopped twice to take some of our energy food, and it helped a lot. We bought a map for the LF-1 route. It is in a book at cost over $12, and covers only as far as Delft. It wasn't as helpful as we had hoped, and we still had problems staying on the trail when we couldn't find the LF-1 markers along the way. Although we were often worried about whether we were along the trail, we really didn't lose much time getting off. One of the most interesting route questions worked out very well when we were about 9 miles from Brielle. We weren't sure where LF-1 went, and Verle saw a sign for 9 miles to Brielle by bike. It wasn't the LF-1 trail, but because we didn't know which way to go on LF-1, we decided to take it. We got to Brielle very quickly, and the LF-1 rejoined us about four miles from Brielle. We followed it into town and came to our hosts' street (Reede) at the second crossroad in town. Another "Friend of Bicyclers" saw us and we chatted for awhile. She is booked up for most of the summer.
We think we rode about 50 miles, so we were very tired by the time we reached our host's home at about 8 p.m.. My seat was especially sore. We really like the railroad bikes and their 8 speeds. (We're glad we paid $5 more for the extra 5 speeds.) We ride more straight up, so our arms and hands didn't get nearly as tired as on our Treks, but it puts more weight on our seats.
We met Laney and Cor came home right after we put the bikes in their garage. Laney made coffee and we had fun visiting. They phoned and found a place for us in the Leiden Centrum area (easy to find). Their daughter, Linda, and her American husband and Florida-born Keenan and Cory came to meet us. What fun to visit! They lived in the USA until just before 9-11. Linda got very homesick, and they moved to Brielle and lived with Laney and Cor for a year and a half. __ is teaching English at a high school here. He says that the kids are as hard to discipline as in the US. He says that the bad western influences are beginning to affect the Dutch kids.
Cor showed Verle their Internet, I typed this journal so Verle could put in yesterday and today's web info, and we showered and went to bed.
April 29 - Biking Brielle to Leiden, Netherlands
Tuesday
During the night, I could tell that I was getting Verle’s cold. This was very sad news. I could tell that it was hard to climb the stairs and I felt rather weak and lightheaded. Lenie and Cor’s daughter, Yvonne, came her sons, Tom and Max. They were a bit shy and played in the upstairs toy room. Lenie served us a very ample breakfast and we again made sandwiches to picnic.
Lenie gave us a computer map of Leiden to help us find our next stop. We packed up and left shortly after 10. Lenie and Yvonne were doing something together for the day. This was a lovely, warm home, and we like the Friends of Bicyclers program more each day!
We pedaled toward the Brielle Centrum, briefly lost our way, and after asking for help, we pedaled through the countryside on a bike trail toward Delft and Leiden. It was a beautiful morning and we really enjoyed the ride. One of the most beautiful sights is the Japanese cherry blossoms. Unlike ours, they are lavendar/pink and large. They are beginning to fall, and the ground is covered with beautiful blossoms. It’s no wonder that the Japanese people like the cherry blossoms so much. I wonder if these cherry trees would grow in Nebraska???
I felt better as we rode along. We crossed the bridge connecting the third island containing Brielle, and took the ferry across the bay below Rotterdam. We saw big ships and a lot of maritime activity.
We may have missed one of the white arrow signs with red letters (that show the bike paths which are the shortest connection between towns.) Thinking we should go to the Centrum, we followed the signs there. Once there, we didn’t know how to get out to resume our journey to Leiden. A man with a map hooked to the handlebars of his bike helped us figure out the general direction toward Pinijaak, and we picked up the red on white arrows for the town in just a few blocks. Unfortunately, it started to rain fairly hard. I put a garbage bag over my backpack (I had set one out for Verle, but he didn’t get his along), and we put on our raincoats. It was chilly and unpleasant. We stopped under a highway bridge to eat the sandwiches and banana that we had brought from Lenie and Cor’s. We rode on in the rain, but I was getting quite cold, shaky, and weak. It became very hard for me to navigate in the traffic. In going around a round-about, I caught the curb with my tire and the weight of my backpack caused me to fall over onto my knee and hands. I got a bloody knee and my knee felt like it might be hurt inside. A lady stopped to help us and told us about a train that takes bikes that goes to The Hague and then to Leiden. She said it was about 24 miles yet to Leiden. We rode on, but since it was already 3:30, we decided that the train was our best option. We had to take our bikes down an elevator to the platform below. There was not a ticket office. A young couple helped Verle purchase tickets from a machine for us and our bikes to The Hague. Verle couldn’t have gotten the tickets without them.
I was cold and shaky by the time we arrived at the Hague. I stayed with the bikes while Verle purchased our tickets to Leiden and a phone card to call our host in Leiden. The tickets for the bikes cost more than the tickets for us to ride the train! We had time before our train, but the only place we could eat and sit down was at a Burger King. How we hated to eat American food when we could have been enjoying Dutch treats. We couldn’t find the outside phone booths where we were supposed to use the phone cards and it was still cold and rainy, so we just got on the train shortly before six. (We’d had to wait until then, because they won’t allow bikes on the trains between 4 and 6.)
We arrived at the Leiden train station, and after asking for help a few times, we found the police station and our host’s home around the corner from it. Her name is Gerda. She helped us park our bikes in a downstairs storage area and served us coffee and snacks. Gerda likes pop music and asked about a Nebraska singer, Bruce Springsteen and a song she thinks he wrote and sang about Nebraska. Gerda made MANY phone calls to find us a place to stay tomorrow.
Since it is a holiday, much of the country had vacation from Wednesday through the weekends, and homes just didn’t seem to available. She fortunately found us a place at last. I took a warm bath to warm up and went right to bed without writing my journal. My cold and my throat are pretty bad. We slept very well in our small bedroom.
During the night, I could tell that I was getting Verle’s cold. This was very sad news. I could tell that it was hard to climb the stairs and I felt rather weak and lightheaded. Lenie and Cor’s daughter, Yvonne, came her sons, Tom and Max. They were a bit shy and played in the upstairs toy room. Lenie served us a very ample breakfast and we again made sandwiches to picnic.
Lenie gave us a computer map of Leiden to help us find our next stop. We packed up and left shortly after 10. Lenie and Yvonne were doing something together for the day. This was a lovely, warm home, and we like the Friends of Bicyclers program more each day!
We pedaled toward the Brielle Centrum, briefly lost our way, and after asking for help, we pedaled through the countryside on a bike trail toward Delft and Leiden. It was a beautiful morning and we really enjoyed the ride. One of the most beautiful sights is the Japanese cherry blossoms. Unlike ours, they are lavendar/pink and large. They are beginning to fall, and the ground is covered with beautiful blossoms. It’s no wonder that the Japanese people like the cherry blossoms so much. I wonder if these cherry trees would grow in Nebraska???
I felt better as we rode along. We crossed the bridge connecting the third island containing Brielle, and took the ferry across the bay below Rotterdam. We saw big ships and a lot of maritime activity.
We may have missed one of the white arrow signs with red letters (that show the bike paths which are the shortest connection between towns.) Thinking we should go to the Centrum, we followed the signs there. Once there, we didn’t know how to get out to resume our journey to Leiden. A man with a map hooked to the handlebars of his bike helped us figure out the general direction toward Pinijaak, and we picked up the red on white arrows for the town in just a few blocks. Unfortunately, it started to rain fairly hard. I put a garbage bag over my backpack (I had set one out for Verle, but he didn’t get his along), and we put on our raincoats. It was chilly and unpleasant. We stopped under a highway bridge to eat the sandwiches and banana that we had brought from Lenie and Cor’s. We rode on in the rain, but I was getting quite cold, shaky, and weak. It became very hard for me to navigate in the traffic. In going around a round-about, I caught the curb with my tire and the weight of my backpack caused me to fall over onto my knee and hands. I got a bloody knee and my knee felt like it might be hurt inside. A lady stopped to help us and told us about a train that takes bikes that goes to The Hague and then to Leiden. She said it was about 24 miles yet to Leiden. We rode on, but since it was already 3:30, we decided that the train was our best option. We had to take our bikes down an elevator to the platform below. There was not a ticket office. A young couple helped Verle purchase tickets from a machine for us and our bikes to The Hague. Verle couldn’t have gotten the tickets without them.
I was cold and shaky by the time we arrived at the Hague. I stayed with the bikes while Verle purchased our tickets to Leiden and a phone card to call our host in Leiden. The tickets for the bikes cost more than the tickets for us to ride the train! We had time before our train, but the only place we could eat and sit down was at a Burger King. How we hated to eat American food when we could have been enjoying Dutch treats. We couldn’t find the outside phone booths where we were supposed to use the phone cards and it was still cold and rainy, so we just got on the train shortly before six. (We’d had to wait until then, because they won’t allow bikes on the trains between 4 and 6.)
We arrived at the Leiden train station, and after asking for help a few times, we found the police station and our host’s home around the corner from it. Her name is Gerda. She helped us park our bikes in a downstairs storage area and served us coffee and snacks. Gerda likes pop music and asked about a Nebraska singer, Bruce Springsteen and a song she thinks he wrote and sang about Nebraska. Gerda made MANY phone calls to find us a place to stay tomorrow.
Since it is a holiday, much of the country had vacation from Wednesday through the weekends, and homes just didn’t seem to available. She fortunately found us a place at last. I took a warm bath to warm up and went right to bed without writing my journal. My cold and my throat are pretty bad. We slept very well in our small bedroom.
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