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....