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Published: November 8th 2010
Bicycle
Packed and ready to leave on a European adventureThe way we travel by a RV (Caravan), the Dutch travel with boats through the canals of Europe.
Europe by Bicycle: Part I
The Netherlands
On Sunday July 18, 2010 I rode my bicycle to the Toronto International airport and flew with Air Transat to Amsterdam.
Prologue:
It's the same airline I flew with 9 years ago on my last bicycle tour of Europe.
The airline was memorable because
less than a month before I was returning, Air Transat Flight 236 on August 24, 2001, ran out of fuel while flying over the Atlantic. This was portrayed in "Air Disasters" TV show.
Also this was just after September 11, 2001 and because of all the pandemonium among the airlines the flight was canceled.
They put us up at a first class hotel with meal tickets. I could have stayed indefinitely but most passengers were complaining
that they had to get home for "work that Monday" or that their "holiday to Canada would be cut short". Sun July 18, 2010: I rode my bicycle to the airport, checked in for my flight in the afternoon, took a
July 18, 2010
Leaving Toronto nap and returned to catch my 11 pm flight. The good thing about Air Transat is that they only charge $30 for a bike.
(Lufthansa charges $250!!!)
They also allow only 23 kg baggage, then you pay $12.50 per kilo. My check-in weighed 22.8 kg.
There is no more free liquor and they even charge for the earphones. It seems that they turn the a/c up a notch just before coming around to
sell blankets and socks.
At Schiphol Airport I was the last person from my flight to leave the baggage claim area because of putting together my bike and luggage. I've got to get better organized. see photo.
Schiphol (translation: "ship's hell") is 15 feet below sea level. The duty-free airport sells everything from fresh caviar
to tax-free BMWs.
There's a bike path from Schipol airport to Central Station in Amsterdam. Last time here, I rode my bike from the airport to city centre. There's also a train going from the airport to Central Station. This time I took the train.
In Amsterdam:
You get a menu in the "
coffee shops"(see photo). It includes a description of the mood produced
by your
choice of "coffee". Also, it is strictly forbidden to smoke any cigarettes in the joint.
The tobacco laws have caught up with Holland.
Library:
Sounds like the last place you'd go to in smokey, sinful Amsterdam. But they've got good bicycle route books and maps here.
All you have to do is
find them. Someone should introduce the Dewey-Decimal System for filing books. Here there's a hundred books with the same identification number and that's just the books in this library.
The new Amsterdam library has a little too much space. Probably, because Amsterdam is so crowded they wanted to provide a spacious environment. Also, like everywhere in Amsterdam, you have to pay to use the washroom and there's no drinking fountain.
The large area seems to make the books secondary. Mac computers and Windows computers are available. The suppliers of the Mac try to be avant garde by using lounge pads instead of desk chairs. Most of the Macs don't connect well to the internet. If Jobs is reading this... Bad P.R.
Another annoying thing about the library. They have a piano in the lobby. The people who play it are quite good but
loud.
There is no
quiet library atmosphere. The other day was a bluegrass group which was good but really distracting.
General:
The Dutch people here are really tall! It's as if through natural selection they've evolved to produce tall people in case the dikes break.
There's lots of slim, good looking six foot ladies in high heels riding bicycles .
They seem very comfortable with themselves.
Unfortunately, the bicycles have too much right-of-way.
Crossing or straying onto a bicycle path is at your peril.
The only way to deal with the Euro is consider it to be 1:1 in value to the dollar. Then a lot of things seem reasonable.
Some things are actually cheap! A Monet wine from Chile for 2.99; 125gm of Danish Blue Cheese for 0.99;
Beer for 0.40 and up.
But a taxi costs almost $11 to put the flag down and over $3 per km. Not cheap.
You can see why the people here are slim when you look at the grocery shelves. Only one or two breakfast
cereals are of the colourfully sugar-coated kind that appeals to North American kids and formulates life-long eating habits.
Not many processed foods.
The drinks are mainly yogurt-based,
Bicycles are more used than cars
It seems only beautiful women are allowed to ride bikes in Amsterdam.
(Note the winch rack on the peak of buildings
to haul things to the top floor.) fruit drinks, or vla (which
is really delicious although I'm not sure what it is). They have a whole walk-in cold section for these products.
The Tourist Information Kiosk functions mainly around making a commission.
Take a number and wait your turn.
Don't plan on using Traveller's Cheques unless you're willing to pay at least $5 for each $100 cheque.
What a rip-off! And its worse in other European countries.
The "coffee shops" are found easily (see photo). It's the main reason Amsterdam is a destination for many.
You get a menu with the price per gram and a brief mention of the effects.
At restaurants, Amsterdam is one of the few places on earth where you have to pay for a glass of water
with your meal.
Also, be careful where you step. No one picks up after their dogs. They pay an annual tax for their
dogs and seem to assume this is an entitlement.
I stayed at a campground in Amsterdam for 12 days then headed south.
Amsterdam is a comfortable city.
The campgrounds
and hotels are very energy-conversation minded. For example, the showers last about 20 seconds before
you have to re-press the tap button.
The lights go on and off by motion detectors and its
rare to find an electrical outlet for public use.
The Canta (mini car) is a frugal invention. (see photo)
The basic model is the
Canta LX, and it goes for 12,000. No drivers license required.
And it can legally be used on bicycle paths. Manufactured in the Netherlands.
World's smallest production car???
Bicycles have the right of way over cars and pedestrians.
Bicycle paths are everywhere. There's actually too many
and a lot of the bikers drive very aggressively especially
w.r.t. pedestrians who may stroll onto the path.
After leaving Amsterdam:
Because of all the canals I often ended up on a ferry to cross from one side to other.
Many ferries are free.
On my first day out, the pedal on my bike stripped from the crank arm. There I was with one pedal and no bicycle
shop nearby. Everything closes early Saturday night until Monday afternoon. I found a garage.
He couldn't fix it but I suggested a bolt that would at least give me a grip. It sort of works.
But when the
bicycle shops opened they couldn't fix it either because it was old and foreign.
Holland is a crowded country but it seems to have everything, at least, in miniature. Even the forests
where you try to "free-camp". ( I like that word). This is the country of tolerance and I never did have much of a problem.
Sometimes a person may say, "Oh, the police will fine and arrest you" but after you talk to them
awhile they say, "Aw, the police never come around here".
But to find a spot away from people can be difficult. I often had people jogging or walking their dogs
or their dogs sniffing at my tent in the early morning hours.
I followed
LF7 Oeverlandroute through central Holland (Utrecht/Endoven/Maastricht) but many other routes are available.
For example, LF2 goes from Amsterdam to Brussels.
Others are listed: http://www.landelijkefietsroutes.nl/routes. (You need to translate this web page from Dutch).
The weather had changed from extremely hot to unusually cool and wet when I arrived in Europe.
Each night I camped, it rained. Most days I wished I had a warmer water-proof jacket.
Then I left Amsterdam.
tents
Cozy neighbours....but not the "camping" I'm used to. For seven days I "free-camped".
Then in Maastricht my tent got so wet that I needed to dry it out. The next day I went to a Youth Hostel. On August 8, 2010, I went to the Stayokay International Youth Hostel.
A bed in the 6-bed-dormitory was 30 Euros, that's $40 Canadian! Fortunately the girl at the reception changed my
room from one with 5 swarthy guys to a room where I had no other room mates. This
hostel usually caters to families. The hostel was brand new and spick and span with quilts and a
breakfast buffet that even included little chocolate bars for desert. First class.
My tent support had broken when I had gotten everything wet. It had to be fixed before my next camp,
so I had to wait until noon (everything closes Sunday and opens
late Monday) to find a hardware store and improvise a support.
I decided to go through Belgium rather than Germany. Surely, the bicycle paths couldn't be too much different
from Holland's. There's not even a noticeable border.
Bad Mistake.
Scroll through Photos below. Then look at next blog entry
Europe Part II: Belgium
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Grace
non-member comment
Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. I like your good sense of humour. 2. Very interesting and useful tips. 3. Handsome traveller.