Schoonhoven to Dordrecht -- Sunday, July 28

Last night, shortly after we docked at Schoonhaven (and after we had passed through the large lock), it started to rain. This didn't bother us as we had a delicious salmon dinner on board. After dinner it had stopped raining, and we took a walk through the town of Schoonhaven, which seemed extremely quiet for a Saturday evening.

Watching the water rise in the lock

Entering the lock

We woke up this morning  to a very overcast day, had a hearty breakfast on board and set off for today's 33 mile ride. This is still agricultural land, with lots of small farms and many beautiful homes along the waterways. First stop was Gouda, with an extremely interesting town hall, dating back to 1603. Absolutely no sun, so the pictures are kind of flat. 

Gouda town hall

Detail of lower entrance

Inside the cheese museum

As I left the town of Gouda, it started to rain gently, I ignored it for a while, but it got to be just steady enough that I pulled out my rain jacket which I kept up for the rest of the ride. We continued on through some wetlands and saw lots of interesting water birds. The day was a mix of bike paths and narrow country lanes. Perhaps because it is Sunday there was very little motor vehicle traffic, although I saw lots of cyclists, including some club rides that were moving at a very good pace. Contrast this with the family four, dressed in their Sunday best, biking together to church.  I later learned that this region of Holland is known as the "Bible Belt," a term that I thought was unique to the U.S.

Shortly before our next stop of interest, Kinderdijk, I caught up with Bert who was marking our ride with chalk arrows. He had stopped marking for a while so that the rain would not wash out the arrows to quickly. We cycled together into Kinderdijk, taking a ferry at one point to cross the Lek river.. The rain stopped just before we got to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 19 majestic windmills. I stopped for a hot dog (not very good) and several pictures, while Bert continued on marking the route.

After leaving Kinderdijk, I continued on to our destination, Dordrecht. along the way, I met up with Bert again, waiting for out second ferry of the day. We took the ferry across the Beneden Merwede River and pedaled together to the boat.

As I type this blog, several of the group are heading to the Jacuzzi at the back of the boar. I had not expected that amenity and did not bring a bathing suit. (Of course, I can improvise as I did in Cuba when we snorkeled the Bay of Pigs -- bike shorts can have more than one purpose._

I'll close out today's post with a link to the video of today's ride: https://www.relive.cc/view/g38096838055

Saturday -- July 27 2019 -- Amsterdam to Breukelen

After a half hour of typing, my draft of today's blog disappeared. I think that it might be because the WiFi on board our barge is not consistent. So, I will start again with link to the video of today's ride.
https://www.relive.cc/view/g38050322993.

It looks like WiFi is going to be spotty on the boat, so I will be briefer than usual. Today was a great ride. Since it was Saturday, there was very little traffic in Amsterdam, and we were quickly in the beautiful countryside. We travelled along the Hollandic Waterline, and old defense system, with several forts along the way (unfortunately not close enough for photos.) we saw more windmills than I could count.  Here is the first one.

We are now on the barge, about to go through the first lock, so I am going to take a break and some photos. Very interesting experience. We probably gained about five feet in the lock and are now exiting. But I am getting ahead of the story.

As we cycled, we saw lots of cattle and sheep (think cheese), as well as a few goats, horses, and several cornfields and apple orchards. The small towns that we passed through were very pleasant, and immaculately kept.

We had intended to cycle to Utrecht today, but because of congestion, we stopped at Breukelen (from which Brooklyn, NY gets its name) and had a pleasant lunch in the town square before boarding the Magnifique, the barge which will be our home for the next several days.

We will have breakfast and dinner aboard each day, and cycle during the day as the barge moves. It will not be moving at night.

I am very pleased with the bicycle. It is a titanium frame with 1x11 gearing (one 40 tooth chain ring in the front, and 11 cogs in the rear, including a huge one which will give me a much lower gear than I will ever need in this flat country).

My cabin is very pleasant, with two beds, a bathroom with a shower and lots of room to unpack. I am looking forward to the idea of cycling in a new place every day without having to pack each morning and transfer luggage. 

The weather today was much more pleasant -- cool with a slight breeze. Looking forward to a great rest of the trip.

Amsterdam -- Friday, July 26, 2019

After a nice breakfast in the hotel, I set off for the VanGogh museum (having bought my ticket on line last night). I got to the museum using public transport. I had purchased a 24 hour pass last evening. The system is very efficient, and easy to navigate. I started at the Central Rail Station, a couple of blocks from my hotel, and used one of the kiosks to get specific routing instructions to the museum. The kiosk even printed them out for me. I took the subway and then switched to a tram, and there I was.

My ticket was for 9:45 am, but there was no problem entering earlier as the museum was not yet very crowded. I chose this museum (over, for example, the Rembrandt museum) because Van Gogh has always been one of my favorite painters. Unfortunately, my very favorite, Starry Night is in a different museum. But his famous Sunflowers is here on special exhibition, and hundreds of his other works. It was a very worthwhile morning.

The sculpture has nothing to do with the Van Gogh museum behind it, but it seemed to make a more interesting photo. The building behind is the special exhibit hall (Sunflowers), while the main museum is in a separate four story building off to the right.

The Van Gogh museum is behind me; the Rembrandt museum is across the pool.

This afternoon we had our first meeting, a safety briefing, followed by bike fitting and a (very) short test ride. It was still hot enough to work up a sweat. I am trying something new this year -- incorporating very short videos (prepared with an app called Relive) to each day's blog. Here is the video of today's ride. https://www.relive.cc/view/g38005294381.  With the possible exception of Copenhagen, I don't think I have ever ridden amidst so many cyclists. You really have to have greatly heightened awareness. Even though there are dedicated bike paths, you have to watch for crossing bicycle and motor vehicle traffic and lots of cyclists in front of and behind you.

We will get together this evening for more formally introducing ourselves and then having a group dinner. I think that there are sixteen of us on the first part of the tour (maybe even a couple of last minute additions -- I will have to check tonight.

Amsterdam -- July 25, 2019

I had a really good trip over, flying on KLM airlines. As I check my bag in San Francisco, I asked the gate agent why I did not have TSA pre-check on my boarding pass. She was able to do her magic, and get me a new boarding pass with pre-check. That turned out to be a great move because the regular security line was very long, and there was only one person ahead of me in the pre-check line.

After a short delay on the taxiway because of a "technical issue" we were underway and had a smooth flight and I managed to get a few hours of sleep.  I breezed through passport control and grabbed a taxi. The driver was very pleasant, but I noticed that as soon as we left the airport and got on the motorway, he took off his seat belt. Strange, but he got me to the hotel quickly and safely.

My Hotel

Not surprisingly, my room was not ready at 10AM, so I checked my bags and set off on a walking tour using the Rick Steves audio guide for the "Amsterdam City Walk" that I had previously downloaded to my iPhone. Since the audio on my phone streams directly to my hearing aids, this worked perfectly. I walked as far as the famous flower market. There were lots of tulip bulbs for sale, but the only tulips at this time of year are plastic -- and there were plenty of those. 

The temperature was already in the nineties (and I had long pants and a long-sleeved shirt on), so I stopped for some hydration and people-watching.

Along the way back I had my "lunch" of the very popular pommes frites with mayonnaise. 

Two years ago when I was in Copenhagen, I learned that that city had overtaken Amsterdam as the most bicycle friendly city in the world. That may be true, but there are still cyclists everywhere in 

Amsterdam, with lots of bicycle parking and dedicated bike lanes everywhere. Below is a picture of one of several bike parking facilities near the Central train station. It is not obvious to me how you get the bikes up to the top tier.

Tomorrow afternoon I meet up with the rest of the group and we will have a very short test bike ride here in the City. The heat wave (96 degrees right now, heading to 99) is supposed to continue through tomorrow, but should then ease up as we begin our tour.

Sept 19 -- Pisa, and the end of the tour

Today was a proper finale to a wonderful eleven days in Italy. We went to Pisa in absolutely gorgeous weather. Along the way, Alain and I stopped at the Nozzano Castle, most recently renovated in 1395! While walking around the small hilltop town, we ran into a villager who invited us to join him for the view from his back yard and small garden. He then opened his garage and showed us his sculptures, the wine that he was making, and finally, a "family tree" like representation of Mussolini's top military officers in 1942, among whom was his father. He also had a photo of his father, dressed in the gear of the alpine command in which he served. Only with Alain's help translating would this visit have been possible.

Nozzano Castle

Pat and Natalie at Nozzano Castle

View from Nozzano Castle

Very slow WiFi ton Wednesday, so I am adding the pictures and posting this on Thursday from Pisa Airport.

Following the visit to Nozzano Castle, we went on to Pisa. My first surprise was that there were huge throngs of people from the cruise ships that visit the port of Livorno and then bus the people to Pisa. I did climb to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa which afforded magnificent views from the top. One more item off the bucket list. I also had time for brief visits to the Cathedral and the Cemetary (Camposanto).

We had a great farewell dinner at a restaurant in Lucca. For starters we had three different types of bruschetta -- eggplant, bell peppers and tomato. The latter two were excellent; I skipped the eggplant. Then we had a surprise -- a zucchini flan. I am not normally a fan of zucchini, but with the rich parmesan sauce, it was not to be missed. The pasta course consisted of faro (a grain) in a rich sauce, so that it was almost like a stew. The main course was a mixed plate of fried seafood -- shrimp, calimari, etc. , with a few vegetable thrown in. Delicately fried like tempura, they were delicious. All this was followed by a choice of desserts -- I had creme caramel.

I awoke this morning (Thursday) to see a message from my driver that he will pick me up at 11 am this morning. That will make him 12 hours early. I hope that he sees my message with the correct time.

Getting to the airport this morning was a piece of cake since I had my own personal guide in the person of Lisa who had a plane shortly before me to take her to the next tour that she will be guiding.
I am all checked in a heading for home via London and Los Angeles (there is no direct flight to San Francisco in the afternoon).

I close this year's cycling blog with a sign that I saw in the shop in Pisa where I had lunch yesterday. Several years ago, Thomas and I cycled in Italy with a group whose motto was "Pedale forte, mangia bene." [Pedal Hard, Eat Well.]  Here is a variation on the theme.

Ciao!

September 18 -- Vinci to Lucca

Getting near the end of this journey. We are in Lucca now, for the last two nights.

Don takes the uphill start in stride

First stop today was the Medici villa in Cerrito Guidi, with a great view. The "stairway" up to the villa is not really a stairway, but a sloped and terraced incline designed to let the horses ascend to the villa. Inside was an interesting arms museum. Only a short visit, but very worthwhile.

Next stop was Montecarlo (of Tuscany, not Monaco). This was another pleasant small town with lots of restaurants and shops and some good views. Some had lunch here. Others waited until the arrival in Lucca.

Lucca is a fascinating town, surrounded by an intact defensive wall that is centuries old. We saw most of it from the outside as the van made its way around to the entry portal that would get us to the hotel with the least amount of traffic inside the city center. After settling in, I had a delicious zuppa di pesce for lunch and then explored the city center on foot. Of particular note is the Piazza dell'Anfitetro, site of an ancient Roman amphitheater, hence its shape. It was turned into public housing in the 1830s, but today is the most expensive real estate in the city.

Tomorrow is the last day of cycling, and those still riding will do an out and back ride to Pisa. I will get there in the van, but I will get there, and I have a ticket to climb to the top.

September 17th -- Florince to Vinci

Happy Birthday, Kathleen

We motored out of Florence this morning and drove through more beautiful Tuscan countryside. Along the way we picked up three members of our group as it started to rain, and they opted for the van ride up the long climb of the day. By the time we reached the summit, the roads were dry and they got back on the bikes. Peter and I remain van-bound.

The drive up the climb with the van was quite taxing for poor Alain

We gathered outside the hotel Monna Lisa before checking in. This is a delightful small hotel in the town of Vinci, birthplace of Leonardo.

Once checked in, we were on our own to explore the town, especially the museum, on our own. First, however, was lunch. I had a very nice lunch with sauteed clams and mussels followed by a tagliatelle with wild boar ragu.  Excellent. Just what I need to provide the stamina for walking to the museum and then climbing the tower. The museum, devoted to Leonardo's inventions and anatomical studies had some English signage, but much of it was in Italian only. However there is an app that you can download to your phone that provides a complete English guide. This was a great tool.

There is an exhibit showing "Leonardo's bicycle" based on fairly recently discovered drawings. There is debate as to whether it was done by Leonardo, by one of his assistants, or is a forgery. Nevertheless, here it is.

After visiting the museum proper and the church where Leonardo was baptized, I climbed the tower which offers magnificent vistas of the town of Vinci and the surroundingTuscan countryside.

It is just about time to head out for our group dinner. (By the way, we are a much smaller group now since nine riders ended their tour in Florence, leaving only nine of us.)