June 24, 2018 to June 25, 2018
Day 3 and into day 4 - from Schiphol-Rijk to Noordwijk
Where is momma duck!!!!!?
Some of Dodie's parting words may have included something like, "there is no way you are going to get all that stuff on the bikes!". Now Marvin is somewhat a tetras wiz when it comes to packing so of course, he had to prove Dodie wrong. In true Marvin form, he managed to get everything packed. It took till almost noon but....
While Marvin took care of packing (and repacking) I plotted out the days activity and accommodation for the evening. Both of us are a bit saddle sore so decided on a short day and to find somewhere we could be for two days with the second day being a trip up to Haarlem. I was able to find a very nice hostel just outside of Noordwijkerhout. We had stayed in this area four years ago when we did our first cycle touring in Europe. Steve and Dodie have introduced us to the node system of way finding in the Netherlands (called knooppunten) and, with minimal searching, I found this http://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/online-cycle-route-planner . The site lets you put in where you are and where you want to go, it then lays out a clear set of directions and points to follow.
I wish I could say that was what I used but I only found the site last night after arriving at the hostel, so, for the ride yesterday, I used a map and wrote out the route point by point. It all worked very well until we got to the town of Lisse where, as neither of us ever saw it, we believe there was no sign. We did however have some very nice locals rescue us and get us off into the right direction. I am pleased to say we did not need to go very far off track before I realized that where we were did not fit with what I had seen on the map. So, aside from our detour in Lisse, we successfully used the knooppunter system to find our way to our hostel.
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Steve
5 years ago
The area we rode through was lovely with some very impressive homes along the canals. We cycled pasted the Westeinder Plassen, and enjoyed the homes, nurseries and even watching sailboats out on the water. The homes here are so beautifully maintained that it is a bit of a shock when you see one that is unkept; a case of the exception proving the rule.
As excited tourists we are inclined to smile and say hello to everyone we see on the trail. I think to the Dutch, what we are doing would be similar to someone in a car in north America waving and smiling at everyone who passes them in a car. In short, we may seem a bit odd. Another interesting thing that happened was that one of the people we met assumed we are Canadian because we were wearing helmets. He said it is only the Canadians that routinely wear helmets.
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5 years ago
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so I am standing around in the shower and bathroom area getting the batteries recharged
5 years ago
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While noodling around the town of Lisse we found a Dirk grocery store. There I bravely let Marvin go in and select the provisions. It took quite a while but eventually out he came with his hands full! My first reaction was where do you plan on putting all that stuff! Again, the tetris king fit everything on and even had the salad bungied to the pannier. Marvin is adamant that his shopping was quite appropriate as he got everything eaten by bedtime!
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We arrived at the hostel Stayokay Noordwijk around 3 pm. We were checked in by a very nice young man who, it turned out, is a second-year nursing student. Of course, I told him he had chosen a wonderful career. The hostel is clean and comfortable. The beds come with a pillow and duvet. You are then supplied with a plastic bag sealed set of clean, crisp linens – pillowcase, duvet cover and flat sheet to make up your bed with. The room has two bunk beds in it and we both chose to sleep on lower bunks. Just out our window are two lovely Jacobs sheep enjoying the grass. I did try having a staring contest with one but she was the hands down winner!
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The breakfast this morning (now Monday, day 4) was smorg style and, I think, would have met with Grampy standards. Lots of tasty food to select from with a couple of buns and eggs squirreled away for later.
This area of South Holland is known for its flower production. All the marvelous pictures you see of tulip fields are most likely taken in this area. It is past tulip season but we did see some very impressive fields of calla lilies.
During the evening we chatted on face-time with our children and enjoyed Marvin’s groceries. Marvin then started battle one with getting pictures loaded onto the blog site. It is now 0945 hours in the morning and he is still battling to get photos onto the site. I have used the time to write this up but am now wondering when we will head off to Haarlem. He insists he is on vacation. I state I thought cycling was the vacation and that should take precedence over the blog. Not happy with my comment, he is off to continue the battle where the internet connection is better. Hope his luck improves! And hopefully, soon we will be off to do some exploring of the area. Tuesday morning the plan is to cycle to Leiden and then on to Delft to explore and try camping!
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 137 km (85 miles)
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