Day Trip To Gouda Pt 3.

(This is the canal where I took a little dip looking for a lost bicycle key)

An older gentlemen wandered over to us, as I was wiping my legs clean of muck. One of the girls told him what had happened and how I tried retrieving the key. It turns out he was an artist of some sort, with his studio right next door to us. Maybe he could help he suggested and off he and Poppy went to come up with something while Maren, Molly and I just stood there all defeated looking down into the canal. Poppy came back a few minutes later with a piece of string with a large circular doughnut magnet on the end. Looks like we are fishing.

Plop.

This time the plop was the sound of the magnet hitting the murky water below as Poppy starting fishing and while the rest of us simply crossed out fingers. No luck. Plop......Plop...... Plop. This isn't working. Maybe the magnet isn't strong enough. Maybe the key doesn't have enough metal. Most likely the key has sunk well below the mud where we can reach. I decided to give Poppy a break and give it a try.

Plop. Plop. Plop......

I tossed the magnet into the water a little off to the side where the bike was above, thinking that sometimes objects don't always sink straight down, but sway back and forth in the water. I felt a little tug on the key and I though I had snagged it on something, for as I began reeling the string back in the line was heavier. When the magnet breached the water, I saw what appeared to be decaying leaves on the end (yuck) and I grabbed the magnet to clean it off.

"Oh My GOD!!!!" Poppy screamed. I then realized that I had just reeled the key up over the railing, onto the sidewalk. It actually work and we had the key! We all roared with laughter and utter delight, hugging and jumping all around. Tears of joy, relief, and laughter abound. I think it is say to say that none of us could believe that this actually worked, but that didn't matter anyhow. What mattered is that we had the key.

Poppy took the key, cleaned it off and after the bike was unlocked, we set off on our ride back to Rotterdam....but the story doesn't end there.

Day Trip To Gouda Pt 2.

Plop. That is not the sound you want to hear when you are standing over or next to a body of water and you are holding valuables. Plop.
Plop.

Maren, Molly, Poppy and I all just stood there and stared at the ripples in the water, not believing what had just happened, looking over the railing into the water that is 5 feet below us, water that is stagnant and putrid.

A rush of emotions all at once hit us. We went from jolly to panicked in seconds. What were we going to do??? Poppy's bike can not be moved, we are far from home, and we don't have a spare key.

Poppy said she would go into the canal and fetch the key. Gross. Who knows how deep the water was, what was actually in there, and also we weren't really even sure where the key had sunk to. I told her I would go in. There was no way I would let Poppy or anyone else go in there. If it had to be someone, then it had to be me.

Off came my shoes. Then my socks. Up rolled my pants and I climbed over the rail and put my toes into the sludge. This was going to be awful. I held my breathe and stepped down.

The water was cold and all I felt was mud and rotting leaves. I put my feet a little deeper but I was not hitting the bottom. I had mud up to my knees and I was still sinking. Air bubbles engulfed my body and I had to find a way to stop sinking. I held onto the railing for dear life. This was going to be trickier than I thought. I needed some sort of plan.

There appeared to be a stone or concrete piling in the mud below Poppy's bike. I thought maybe I could stand on that because obviously what I was doing wasn't working. Maybe I could use that to plant myself on and then use one foot to feel around the muck. What seemed like a good plan really wasn't. I stepped onto the stone and then gradually placed my weight down and as I did this the stone just started sinking and never stopped. Here I am, hanging on for dear life and my legs covered in mud...what a sight to behold.

A middle aged woman walking by noticed us and asked in good English what happened and what was I doing in the disgusting canal. When we told her the a bike key had fallen into the canal below and the bike was still locked and I was trying to fetch it she simply chuckled. "If I was younger I would just pick the lock for you" she said, giving us the impression that A) this isn't the first time she had lost her own key and B) she is too old to steal bikes and C) we are on our own. We asked about local bikes shops but it being almost 5pm now they were all closed. She went on her way. "What about the police?" we asked her but she said they wouldn't be able to do much. We were out of ideas but I knew I at least needed to get out of this muck.

Day Trip To Gouda Pt 1.

Maren, Poppy, Molly, and I headed off on a bike adventure that will be forever embedded in my mind. Our destination was the town of Gouda (How-da) the place where some of the tastiest cheese is made.

After a good breakfast and quick bike check/map check, we left the Hotel Baan in the morning full of smiles. To get to Gouda from Rotterdam, we would be winding our way through small towns along bikes paths and canals. It is about 15 kilometers away with the sun on our backs the whole way there.

Getting there was no problem. What I love about riding bikes in the Netherlands is that you just figure it out as you go. There are so many bike routes so you just choose one, ride to the end of it, then jump on another. All you have to do is follow the signs. Easy right? Maybe not. But we did make it there, passing swans and old bicycle lovers along the way.

The town of Gouda is a very small town medieval town, with St. Jans Kerk Cathedral (built 16th C) in the middle. This cathedral is the longest crossed shaped church in the Netherlands and also houses the beautiful and tall Gouda stained glass windows depicting famous Biblical stories. We parked our bicycles along a canal and we out for a bite, in dire need of some beer and cheese.

The famous cheese market is still held each Thursday, but since we were there on a weekend we missed it. Instead, we went cheese shopping in the local markets, sampling cheeses that we 30 or even 50 years old and unbelievably delicious. I could write and write about the cheeses, but I'll spare you the details of that. All I will say is that I have never in my life had such amazing cheese and that the Gouda cheese in the US is awful compared to real Gouda cheese from Gouda.

Of all the places to run into people, we ran into Pei and Sue and joined them for lunch. They had taken the train there, about a 25 minute ride over our 90 minute bike ride.

After filling our bellies and saying goodbye, we went to the Cathedral and after giving a donation, took a self guided tour of the inside. I am still blown away by the beauty of these windows, windows that survived WWII because the townspeople hid them from the Nazis after they were invaded.

After an amazing day spent in Gouda it was time to head back to Rotterdam for we had a group activity planned that evening where we were going to share our travel experiences from the weekend previous (where Maren, Poppy and I went to Utrecht [another story soon to come]). Checking our bags, and after rolling up our pant legs we were almost ready when I hear a PLOP.

Hummm? Plop. I glance over the railing into the canal and see ripples in the water. I look over at Poppy and she is pale white. She just dropped her only bike lock key into the murky, stank, canal. It is gone and her bike is still locked, unrideable.

De Pannenkoekenboot

09/05/10 Sunday

The Pancake Boat Ride and John Baan Private Boat Tour

Upon filling our belling with several Dutch style pancakes with various toppings, we were walking back to the Hotel Baan with me as the leader. I decided to dip down closer to the canal locks to see if there were any boats going through. Peering over the edge right in front of me was John Baan and his family: Gabriela, his wife, and his two youngest boys Dominque and Fabian. Let’s not forget Chet, the dog too. I don’t think anyone even knew he had a boat. We said hello and the next thing you know is that he asked if I wanted to go on a cruise in the harbor! This was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. Mariah joined me and we met John at the end of the dock.

This weekend happens to be the annual Harbor Days Festival. All different boats were in the bay as well as various demonstrations from the rescue helicopters and naval ships. Along the boardwalks were booths set up for games and food. A huge fireworks display started the festival, similar to our first night in Amsterdam with the Tall Boat Festival.

John is an excellent tour guide, who has so much to say about the city of Rotterdam and its history. He is also very knowledgeable about the buildings histories, pointing out various aspects about their design and architecture.

John took our tour away from the bay and back into the canals of Rotterdam where he handed me a Schulten Brau and we cheers to the beautiful weather and wonderful boat ride. Prost. The boys did their part too, handing me massive amounts of candies, some black licorice-like kinds that we made figures out of before consuming.

One of the best things about this trip is that the two boys only speak Dutch. Here we are, on a boat drinking beer and eating licorice, and I am trying to communicate with them. Gabriela and John just loved my engagement with them. The boys taught me words in Dutch by pointing to a swan and saying it over and over. I would then repeat it back to them and they would giggle. Mermaid. Swan. Mermaid. Giggle Giggle. The boys were comfortable with me too, even sitting in my laps as John navigated our ways through the various canals. The boys were always touching me, establishing a kind of trust. It was sweet actually and I wish we had this sort of thing back in the states. I think it is because they have seen how I interact with their parents, so the boys are comfortable with me too, as an extension of their parents John and Gabi.

We made our way back to the Hotel Baan several hours later with a wonderful memory of just how hospitable these people really are. I miss them so much.

Bicycle Trip to the North Sea

#6 08/28-29/2010 First Free Weekend

It is about time I went on a bike ride. Maren, Molly, and I set off on our first bicycling adventure this weekend. The destination was the North Sea aka Nord Sea about 20 kilometers (I think) away. After toast with Gouda and salami, a bowl of cereal and several cups of coffee, we set out early morning on what was to become one amazing journey.

Our route out of Amsterdam took us through Vondelpark (where I went running one morning) to the outlaying West Side of Amsterdam. After only 15 minutes on the bicycle I was already in unfamiliar territory, diligently following our fearless leader Molly. I didn’t bring a map figuring if we just head west we would eventually find the sea. Good plan with no apparent flaws in it.

30 minutes or so into the ride a storm crossed our paths and we sought shelter under a roof overhang on the side of a house with no one home. There were no other homes anywhere else along the path for many kilometers so we were lucky to find this one when we did. Shortly thereafter, we were joined by a teenager who was seeking a respite from the pounding rain, which was now showing full force with earth moving, fierce thunder and vibrant lightning.

After light fun conversation with this village local and with the rain abating, we continued our journey westward. We came upon a small Jewish cemetery, with remarkable bone chilling tombstones. The dates on many of the tombstones were dated around the Second World War. I am getting goose bumps just thinking about this as I write because it was truly a remarkable place. Unfortunately, it was the Sabbath so we were not allowed to enter.

We continued our bicycle ride through the town of Haarlem (the original town from which Harlem in the United States got its name from). This town is where the Frans Hals is from and many Dutch Masters are associated with, as well as amazing beer and cheese makers. Riding through this town was wonderful and seeing the Saint Bavo Cathedral (where Mozart played the pipe organ when he was ten) at its town center was truly remarkable. I loved how the Gothic cathedral towers over all the other buildings and how all roads seem to lead directly to it. On our way back we spent time exploring this town in more detail, going to the Frans Hal Museum and Saint Bavo, where I purchased a pint of beer made from the original 15^th century church recipe (which I later tried with friends in Rotterdam and damn right it was good).

To get to the Nord Sea you first have to ride through sand dunes and as we approached the wind was blasting away at us, to an almost crawl on our bicycles. Determined as we were we just pedaled our single speeds and eventually found the sea.

The coastline was ragged and there was a smattering of small seashells covering the white soft sands. It was the softest sand I have ever felt and its color was as beautiful as ivory. Maren, Molly, and I just stood and stared, letting the wind and mist lap our faces as we took in the salty sea breeze on our faces.

I was admittedly very hungry and we made our way to the beach café where we had some delicious lunch and espresso with caramel bits. Once recharge went took a stroll on the beach, wading into the water and feeling the cold, cold sea on my toes. This was the first time I have ever touched the waters of the North Sea and I told myself there and then that it wouldn’t be the last. I then collected some sea shells for my loved ones.

On the way to the sea we pasted the Dutch Honorary Cemetery for the Dutch Resistance, where brave Dutch men fought for their lands in World War 2, using the sand dunes as their protection. We decided that we must see this and pay our respects for the fallen soldiers and I am so glad we did.

Our ride back home was lot easier with the wind on our backs. We spent a lot of time in Haarlem, as I said earlier, and then eventually Maren and I made our way home, leaving Molly in Haarlem to spend some time by herself.

This memory is one of my fondest of my time spent in Amsterdam and I am thankful I had the opportunity to spend it with such good people.

Here is a little slideshow of this day trip. Enjoy.