More university for Michelle and Lisa today and another bike ride for me. I’ll cut to the chase, I had another great bike ride, this one being the most ambitious of the three I have done here in the Netherlands.
I left the abode at about 11am and headed out to Noordwijk, a small town on the Atlantic, southwest of Amsterdam. I wanted to see the coast and had read that there was some interesting sand dune stuff out there, hence my decision to go. See the following map for an idea of where I went. Some of the towns I passed through: Rijsenhout; Burgerveen; Noordwijk; Zandvoort; Overveen, and Haarlem. Click here to view my bike ride route and GPS data on the Garmin website.
My bike ride route out to Noordwijk and Zandvoort, returning through Haarlem.
At the end of my ride today, while navigating the busy streets of Amsterdam, I found myself thinking that the traffic here is hilarious, although somewhat scary at first. I know there are more scary and hilarious places in the world as far as traffic goes, but this is what I am experiencing at the moment. On the surface it is somewhat chaotic, but it really does just sort of flow for everyone: cars, bike, scooters, and foot traffic, even without the things we are used to like stop signs, pedestrian rights of way, etc.
The following pictures appear in the order they were taken today. I may add food pictures later if we find something interesting to eat.
More cool euro-architecture out near the airport.
Yep that's a boat up there. As near as I can tell that might be a demonstration launch ramp for these fancy aluminum boats. I spotted this along the canal that starts on the east side of the airport and heads southwest.
A lovely view of the canal near Rijsenhout taken while heading southwest.
Some excellent bike riding road near Lisse.
As I was getting closer to the coast I noticed more flower-oriented businesses, including this patch of sad looking vegetation. This was not far from Lisse if I recall correctly.
The start of my journey through the dunes, or barrens if you will, near Noordwijk on the west coast of the Netherlands.
Incase you weren't sure if there was any sand in the previous picture, this should convince you. The fietspad (bike path) was actually inland from the beach almost all the way. I assume this was done to keep it out of the wind a bit. The fietspad surface varied along its length: asphalt, brick, and dense gravel with shells.
A few beach-oriented shops about halfway between Noordwijk and Zandvoort. Not sure what this spot is called, but the following couple pictures were taken here as well.
A beach access about halfway between Noordwijk and Zandvoort. Looking southwest.
The beach about halfway between Noordwijk and Zandvoort on the west coast. Looking northwest.
Back on the fietspad (bike path) after the beach photo session. Sorry about the non-horizontal horizon.
Arrival at the south end of Zandvoort after passing through the barrens.
The beach at the south end of Zandvoort. Looking southwest.
Heading north into Zandvoort. It looks like this might be a popular summer spot; there is lots of parking near the beach.
Zandvoort residential architecture.
Heading into Overveen, just west of Haarlem. The ride from Zandvoort to here was short, but really nice.
I should probably try to smile more, but in all fairness I was concentrating on riding my bike with no hands while I took this. I suppose I could genuinely be grumpy; see next photo for possible cause.
Damn teenagers! If we were in Canada I could yell at you and demand that you ride single file. I wouldn't really do that, even if we were in Canada.
Hmmmm, another church. This one was spotted on the way into Haarlem.
Not just another church it seems. This one is pretty freakin big. Apparently this is the St. Bavo church. It is definitely located in Haarlem.
A statue of some dude in the St. Bavo church square.
A stealth windmill for your viewing pleasure. It's stealth because it's black.
An interesting building in Haarlem.
An interesting building on the way back into Amsterdam. I think this is where the Jetsons live.
I'm pretty happy with this photo. I wish I could remember where I took it.
That's a big dog. Viewed somewhere in the south of Amsterdam.
Yep, there are three kids on that bike along with the woman. I think the kids on the back were playing poker or something. Shortly, after this was taken, she fearlessly made a left turn off of one of the busier streets in the city.
Almost back at the abode after about 110km on the bike.
Well, I can say that I saw no beach bunnies, clam diggers or Hans Brinker on the sand waving as you swept into view. What about seafood snacks? This place so caters to the cyclists. What an argument for the commuter! You have demonstrated a fine display of new(cool) and old(great by age)architecture in this day’s outing. Click on!
The aluminium boat on what appears to be a death dealing launching device created by the Frankenstein boatworks looks like a coastal lifeboat. They travel in all seas. Can be rolled or flipped over end to end without damage. The right themselves automatically. Built to save boaters and others in some very rough North Sea waters.
Diji
Hello, Kris. I just thought I’d let you know that due to some strange virtual-dimensional space travel thing you have returned to work. You may have been in Holland for a bit and in Spain in your anticipatory imagination for another bit, but I have it on unimpeachable authority that you are back at work. I thought you should know. I for my part have tomorrow off, so I won’t see you until Tuesday.
Another thing: As you know, I am a luddite and as a result do not trust fogs — even if I thought you were actually writing yoursfrom Holland or wherever. So I look forward to seeing your slide show when you get back. (But seriously, the beaches made me want to run about on them, and the black Coca-Cola sign made me want to pop a cold one.)
You’ll also be interested to know that baseball is played in Holland. Too bad you’re not there anymore.
OK, enough. See you at work and enjoy the pie-ay-yuh!