Home Again

Quite a lot has happened since I posted last. We did not always have internet access and so thought I should do a catch up with the rest of the trip.

We left Arnhem and cycled through some stunning forrest on our way to Utrecht.

Through the Forrest

Utrecht is exceptionally beautiful, very students and arty. The streets like many in Holland are paved not with gold but with bricks, many of which are not cemented in making going a bit tough on the road bike. 

This was also my chance to try out a Dutch bike which our host said that we could use to get into town in the evening. It was not a success. There are no brake levers! You have to GENTLY pedal backwards to brake. It was not a skill I mastered on the try out in the local school playground and so it was the bus for us.

In town we spotted the adverts for the Tour de France Grand Depart 2015, Very arty....

Grand Depart 2015

There was also an amount of statues throughout the town centre..

The Thinker

Utrecht however let us down in one small way... We decided to have curry. The one thing about cycling so far is that you really can afford to eat well... Curry it was. The meal itself was not bad but not nearly as good as we get from the local restaurant at home. The service was truly terrible, we were on the point of leaving when our meal eventually arrived. This was the only time throughout our whole week that we had any problem at all...

On the way back to our B and B we spotted these two

The next day saw us leaving Utrecht on the way to Amsterdam. As this was in reality quite a short trip we decided to take an extended route. It was during this that we met up with the Dutch Midgie....

Now I can honestly say that individually the Dutch Midge cannot compete in ferocity with its Scottish counterpart. However if you happen to cycle over a very narrow spit of land between two stretches of water then sheer numbers will make life .... hell. Luckily this lasted only a mile or so and therefore my attempts to keep them at bay did not have to last long. The path will from now on be known as Beastie Lane... Sorry there are no pictures I couldn't stop.....

Amsterdam.. The hoe of canals, Bicycles and Cats....

Bicycle cat

Not sure if the cat belonged to the bike or the bike to the cat....

Before setting off for the ferry and home we decided to have a look around Edam... You've got to keep your cheeses balanced you know. Edam is really pretty but a bit touristy as well ...

Old cheese carriers

We cycled to the end (so to speak) of Edam and reached the Markermeer which although it looks as if it should be part of the sea has been separated by a Dyke ( Houtribdijk) and is actually fresh water...

Yoav testing the water...

Is this a sea I see?

After this it was time to get our skates on and head to Ijmuiden to get the ferry home...

Back to industrial Holland...

In the morning as we were waiting to disembark ( all the right words) we met a really nice French couple who were starting out on a tour around Scotland. We went with them as far as Newcastle and I really hope they have a very long holiday as the lady got off her bike at least 3 times going up the wee slopes into Newcastle.... They were heading for Glen Coe!

In the end WE MADE IT  410 miles. No arguments. A Brilliant Holiday....

And on to Arnhem

We left the city in the brilliant sunshine but ran into a really heavy downpour before coffee time. A couple of lycra'd up old blokes were a bit off declining to share the bit of shelter they' d found and I made their day even better when I got my first puncture just around the corner. Y is pretty quick at fixing such things though, he might even be able to do a team mechanic job and we were soon underway to the nearest coffee stop and bakery. Cake and dry socks cured everything and we were soon on the first ferry of the day....


Later in the day we stopped off at arsenic spot to eat the picnic made from breakfast extras...


Dad would love it,, vista of pig farm. There are loads here but apart from the tell tale slurry smell you would never know as everywhere is extremely neat and tidy..


We made it to Arnhem to stay in a house boat. Above is on of the views from the deck. Lots of ducks which we were told at least twice not to feed.
Otherwise we have spotted heron swans moorhens geese by the thousands and two deer running across our path on the first day.