Gouda

Crossing a narrow canal

The group is traveling well together; for the most part we are on bike paths traveling between small towns. Last year when we were in France there was a constant warning from the riders in the rear, yelling, “ Car!!” Not his year, the warning is generally, “Bike!!” as someone in spandex powers by us. The other day as we traveled to Antwerp, men who were easily in there seventies, dressed in typical biking garb, traveling at about 40 MPH, consistently passed us. These guys all wore helmets! If you are going that fast there seems to be a code to wear a helmet, on the other hand, traveling at our speed, the use of helmets is almost mocked.

Life on the barge is very pleasant; the rooms are large and comfortable. The meals, much like last year, wholesome, healthy and well prepared. The cook is most unusual, I think his name is Minah, he speaks in broken English, and our guide says his command of Dutch, Italian, French and other dialects is equally limited! He hangs with the passengers and seems to enjoy telling his story, even if we do not understand him.

Today at breakfast he turned to Deborah and said,” lady you looked better last night with the wine.” What the hell did that mean, last night he was drinking and she looked better? She looks better when she is drinking? She looked crappy this morning?

Who knows but a topic of conversation!

At the end of each day we are usually in town by 4 pm, I then try to find an Internet site to post the blog and catch up with my Internet glucose monitoring duties. It has gone quite well except for the last 3 days.

In Antwerp, the 2 closest cafes seemed to have no knowledge of WiFi, or it’s location, yet just around the corner was a nice café with a great connection. Last night I was in a very accommodating bar that had internet but my machine would not connect. The staff even went to the trouble to link one of the bartender’s iphones to my computer; the gesture was much appreciated but unfortunately the speed horrible. After consulting a nearby music store an adequate connection was successfully used. This evening a similar phenomenon, I was assured of an adequate connection and bought a beer, in spite of all parameters being met, no connection! At the next café I documented a connection before buying a beer!

Windmills as far as you can see

How the damn things work

Today was a theme of ferries and windmills. We visited Kinderdyke, a community of 19 windmills. The pictures tell the story, it is now a UN heritage site and quite remarkable to see these formidable machines still operational.

The fleet of bikes at the 19 windmills

We are now in Gouda ( pronounced how-da ), the obligatory cheeses have been purchased , we will have extra time in the morning for touring the city.

Reflecting on this trip, I would like to be cycling more miles with fewer breaks, to arrive at our destination for lunch so there would be time for touring our destination and perhaps more dinners on our own. The concept of a self-guided tour is taking on more traction as I become more familiar with the trail system in the Netherlands, which is really quite sophisticated. The only worrisome times are in the towns, traffic can be congested, but I must say the drivers are consistently polite, providing bikers with the right of way.

We have been extremely lucky. We have had exactly 5 mins of spitting rain, the hot weather has abated and it is perfect cycling weather. The forecast for the rest of the trip is stellar.