Back on the Tour...

Nicely timed with a heatwave across Northern Europe, we are back on the bikes and on tour in Holland. Started off in style though, with a very nice upgrade at the Hotel at the Airport.

It made it a really nice start to an expedition. Sociable flight time, great hotel and fine dining as well. And particularly well timed, on the day where Clare would have ordinarily started back at College! We celebrated in one of the quieter restaurants with some chilled white wine.

The next day, we picked up bikes from the centre of Amsterdam after a big breakfast (including, but not limited to a fresh omelette station!). A bus from the airport had us there in an hour. It was simply a case of fitting our panniers onto the bikes and we were off.



There really is water everywhere. Every road seemed to have a canal next to it and the building were all quirky. Plenty of bridges to navigate too.



And of course, much excitement at seeing our first windmill.



We followed our chosen cycle route out of the city, away from the trams.



And draw bridges...



Then began following the coast northwards. 



We had no Euro cash to buy produce along the way (and didn’t recognise the veggies anyway!).



We had a 60km target to make, so soaked up the sights as we peddled along. Ideally a slightly shorter day would be been a better start, but we had limited accommodation options to choose from, so peddled on!













We followed the coast for much of the day and passed through loads of lovely little towns (including Edam of cheese fame) all made from old houses and cobbled streets (less good for bikes!). We stopped at a few for food, cheese or ice cream, or some just to look. I was pretty tired by the end. We had a final rest with 9km to go. We were both delighted to see the town of Hoorn appear on the horizon.







With the bikes secured, we walked into Hoorn town where we wolfed down some lasagna at a cool little Italian delicatessen. Before collapsing into bed. A big first day! 

Total Ride:

60.01km