July 8, 2022
Day 7 - Roermond to Papenhoven
Last ride of the trip
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Well accustomed to the morning routine, we were breakfasted and on the road shortly after 9AM. Which was kind of silly, actually, since today’s ride was only 40KM. Some serious dawdling would be required to avoid arriving at the rendezvous spot 3 hours before the boat.
As we crossed the Maas on a nearby bridge, we could look down and see the Sarah and our traveling companions, getting ready to take off.
The first part of the ride threaded along a series of islands in the river. All along the road, there were parks, beaches, and various sporting facilities. It looks like a great place to lead an active life.
We threaded our way through some newer housing developments along the water, and managed to get lost in a very new one that was still under construction. Some backtracking was required, but we sorted ourselves out and escaped via a bright blue old-fashioned drawbridge.
The next point of interest was the “white town” of Thorn. Every building in the town center is painted white. It makes for beautiful streets, even if they’re paved with river rock. We walked the bike through town to save our fillings.
The town was pretty sleepy but we spotted some people having coffee on a terrace. We joined them. It was a beautiful morning to sit, sip, and enjoy the view.
We left town headed for Belgium. On the way out of town, more beautiful White Houses.
After the quiet beauty of Thorn, we entered an area of the Maas that’s a long-time sand and gravel quarry. We saw lots of evidence of the extraction industry. Quite a contrast.
Challenged by roadworks, we wiggled our way into Maaseik for the next part of our stalling tactics: Lunch. Which was somewhat of a challenge, since only one of the 7 cafes on the town square appeared to be open at 12 noon on a Friday in July.
We settled into the Pannekoeken restaurant, where the incredible number of menu choices created a huge challenge for Robin.
Choices made, we enjoyed the uniquely Belgian spectacle of using a medieval town square as a parking lot.
Maaseik’s cafes were waking up by the time we left town. We had a quick 8KM spin out to the meeting point, and the Sarah chugged into view about 30 minutes after our arrival.
The final run to Maastricht was on the boat. We busied ourselves with packing and preparing the tandem for tomorrow’s train trip.
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It was a beautiful day to be on the water.
We were in Maastricht in time for dinner to be served. After dinner, we went out exploring. We bought tickets for tomorrow’s trip back to Amsterdam, and then wandered around the busy city. A nice place.
After a couple of hours, we were ready to be done for the day. Back to the boat to relax and sleep for our last night.
Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 337 km (209 miles)
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1 year ago
1 year ago
The story we were told was that, way back when Curacao was a Dutch possession, the colonial Governor asked everyone to paint their houses anything but white, because the glare from all the whitewashed buildings hurt his eyes and gave him bad headaches.
After he died it was revealed he had a major financial interest in the local paint factory...
1 year ago
1 year ago