The day had finally dawned, almost. It is still dark outside when the time comes to ‘rise and shine’. The door to breakfast at the Bicycle Hotel doesn’t get unlocked until 8am. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast again, while catching up with communications, sipping coffee, chatting to other travelers and watching the day break out through the windows of the Bicycle Hotel.
It was promising to be another sunny day as we departed Amsterdam. By the time we had packed our bike bags, managed to struggle down the steep (almost vertical) double set of stairs from our 2nd story room, and manage to secure away Julie’s suitcase filled with everything we didn’t need for this part of the journey, we rolled away from the Bicycle Hotel at 9:45am.
We headed east to the edge of the Amstel River, and then turned south out of Amsterdam. We had a novel problem today – blinding sun in our eyes. We would never complain though because there will not be too many sunny days like this one. We have beaten the odds already for weather. The locals cannot believe our good fortune.
For the first 9k we retraced our journey of yesterday, along the western bank of the Amstel. At the 9k mark there was a bridge. We had a choice, but we decided in favour of crossing the bridge which took us through a lovely village, another crossing over a quaint canal, which eventually took us to the Rijnkanal which we more or less followed all the way to Utrecht. Having said that, it was still yet another 40k, and many puzzles to perplex us along the way.
The scenery was simply amazing all the way. We were now tracking back over the journey that I made on my way in to Amsterdam several days ago, but only some parts of it were familiar to me. I did pass however the ‘row yourself’ ferry across one of the canals leading towards Abcoude. The bike signs pointed us into it, but we took 60 seconds to think about it, but decided to take our chances and stay on the ‘non-bike route’ of the right side, hoping that it would also lead us to Abcoude (pronounced ‘abcowda’).
We were tentative for several kilometers, but eventually we could see Abcoude in the distance. We stopped a pedestrian a few kilometers from the village who assured us if we keep to the path, it takes us to the town square. Why then, we asked, would the path make us use a hand driven punt to cross the river just to lead us to the same point.
We passed through Abcoude, enjoying the ancient village centre, crossing another canal, and headed due south then through a string of lovely villages – Baambrugge, Loenersloot, Kerklaan,Broukelen – all of which I recall coming through on my ride to Amsterdam, before eventually picking up signs that Utrecht was not far away.
We stopped frequently for photos – the scenery was just stunning, passing through farms, villages, hamlets and stretches of lovely forest with magnificent mansions being the common feature for most of the day. Even the farmhouses are mansions compared to Australia. What we notice particularly is the cleanliness – no rubbish is ever visible anywhere, not even cigarette butts. The farms are clean of old machinery and rusting cars that seem so prevalent in our own country.
We loved the sights of boats on the Rijnkanal, and with the lovely bronzed elm and oak trees along the river, it always made a very pretty sight for Aussie cycle tourists.
We were getting close to Utrecht by about 2pm. It had been a great day. Utrecht is a most attractive small city, with a beautiful canal running right through the centre, and a number of other canals as well, that make the views quite stunning. It was good to arrive. The next biggest problem is always to find the Hotel. I had my GPS all ready in my pocket just in case, but also a simple hand-drawn map in my pocket. We didn’t need the GPS. The ‘right’ street was easy to find. We were now near the centre of town. It was alive with cyclists all absolutely flying this way and that. For Aussies whose brains are still slow to think which way the traffic is coming from, it was a bit overwhelming.
We rode our bikes through most of this, but decided to walk the final few hundred meters while we searched for street numbers. The ‘Stone Hotel’ is perhaps one kilometer from the centre of town, but is basically just a front door between other doors. The door leads to a staircase which goes to the first level reception, the hotel then spreads across several buildings. The front door is locked of course, so Julie stood in the street standing guard over our bikes while I booked in.
The ‘Stone’ has vertical stairs again, and we are again on the 2nd floor! It is all nice though, and we are cosy. The manager on duty cannot be more hospitable and helpful. We showered, walked in to the centre just as it was getting cold and dark, and walked for an hour or two just enjoying the pretty sights, the canals, the Christmas lights, and the most magnificent Cathedral in the centre of everything. We finished off a great day with a local pizza (never had a smoked duck pizza before with raspberry sauce) from the new pizza shop next to the ‘Stone’, and it wasn’t long before we were sound asleep.
Tomorrow we move on to the cheese centre of Holland – Gouda – pronounced more like ‘kowda’ but only the Dutch can pronounce it properly. It promises to be another sunny day. We are feeling very blessed, but sunny days always begin very cold. It looks like a minus 2 start tomorrow!
From our 2nd floor room at the lovely Stone Hotel in Utrecht, we send our love.
A great start for you both perhaps Julie will bring good sunny days for the week. I imagine the legs are not keen on the stairs after a long day riding. Praying for more sunshine for you. blessings Tara C
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