The Super Tulip Tour Begins! - Tally Gals Bike Adventures - CycleBlaze

April 27, 2019

The Super Tulip Tour Begins!

Today is our first day of the super tulip bike and barge tour! But first we had to get from our hostel to the boat on a route that would lead us directly through an Amsterdam partying for Kings Day. Kings day is a huge national holiday to celebrate the birthday of the king. Everyone wears orange (the royal color) and Amsterdam is consumed with the celebration. 

Ready to go to the docks to find our boat.
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After making our way through crowded Amsterdam (it was really fun riding through the city!) we found our boat the Zwaan (the swan).

Our boat, the Zwaan.
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Jane Ann and Marcias cabin
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Laurie, Mary Ann, and Jane’s cabin
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After settling in on the boat we took off as a group for our first ride with the tour. There are 15 of us on the tour all from the US. Our ride today was cool with a strong wind, luckily it was generally a tailwind pushing us along. We had some rain but it wasn’t too bad. Our guide said that this is Holland’s cow country and we certainly saw lots of fields with cows, and wildflowers. The countryside was completely flat with lots of water all around. We stopped along the way to see this wonderful old windmill.

Our first windmill. The windmill was built in 1792 and now is used to generate electricity.
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Some really nice old homes along our route
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Our bike group stopped to regroup
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We made it to Purmerend, the village where we would meet our boat, before the boat got there. Because we were all cold we stopped at a cafe in Pumerend to have hot chocolate to warm us up while we waited for the boat to get there.

Our hot chocolate stop.
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The wonderful hot chocolate served with cream and lemon cake
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On Kings day everyone wears orange and dresses for the occasion. We saw lots of orange hair glasses etc. Marcia got into the spirit of things!

Really getting into Kings Day!
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Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 1,631 miles (2,625 km)

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Comment on this entry Comment 3
Sandy OsteenCabins look nice, hot chocolate looks yummy! I loved seeing Marcia in the glasses, it looks you are all having fun!
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4 years ago
Meg BatesLet the tours begin!!!!!! How exciting.
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4 years ago
Jane FletcherTo Sandy OsteenWe are having a great time!!! We’ve had lots of new experiences.
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4 years ago