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July 13, 2013 - Netherlands
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What a great day. Woke up to church bells and an amazing variety of birds sitting along the canal just below our window. A heron, a swan, various ducks, and things that looked like coots. Had a beautiful huge buffet breakfast at the Hotel de Fortuna. Evan got his hot chocolate, spread Nutella on a roll and then put chocolate sprinkles on it. Croissants, sliced meat and cheese and a hard boiled egg for me, with coffee and juice. Headed out down the cobbled road along the canal to the IJsselmeer with a hazy sky, warm temps and a light wind from the north. Perfect cycling weather. Rode along the dike lining the IJsselmeer. Lots of other cyclists on the road, both tourists on upright bikes and serious road riders in packs. Occasionally there'd be a set of stairs to climb the dike to the foot path on the top. They have these funny gates that are slanted, so they fall shut and don't require a latch. Clever these Dutch. Sheep and goats are allowed to roam fenced off sections of the dike. Thus the gates. The bird life here is pretty extraordinary, what with all the marshes and canals. I really love the Dutch countryside. Their houses are truly interesting. Besides many being leaned over and sinking into the muck below, they have fascinating roofs made of tile, or thatch, or combinations of both. Beautiful stepped and ornamental gables. Very tidy too, unlike the French countryside where I've heard "everything needs a new coat of paint and a drop of oil".
Breakfast for Evan. A roll with Nutella topped with chocolate sprinkles.
Breakfast for me. Yum!
Us the morning we left the Hotel de Fortuna in Edam.
On top of a dike separating the IJsselmeer from the road.
An interesting livestock gate. No latch necessary.
Sheep and windmills.
Boats lining a canal.
Canal and lock on the way to Hoorn.
Birds with the town of Hoorn across the bay.
A dog training course.
Roof with thatch over tile.
We rode north to the town of Hoorn, which isn't a tourist destination really. Yet it's beautiful downtown. Some kind of market day was going on with lots of stalls. We walked our bikes through the crowds for a while but then found our way out of town and headed west. We're routinely amused by Dutch names. At one point we had to turn right on Klompemaeckerspad. Simply trying to pronounce these road names is amusement. The Dutch take their bike trails seriously. If there's not a dedicated bike/moped only road, then they clearly mark the bike lanes. It's a very safe place to ride bikes, and very peaceful. Our mileage for the day to reach our hotel was 51 km, or about 30 miles. We got there at about 2:15, so we did well today. We're staying at the Hof van Schoorl in the town of Schoorldam. We're at a combination restaurant-hotel. I read reviews of the restaurant, and it seems that people like it a lot. It's across the road from a canal, and is pretty cheap. We got delicious filling dinners, beers for me, breakfast tomorrow plus the room for 104 euros.
Entering Hoorn.
Google translate says this means 'big bear'. I'm guessing they're wrong.
I love Dutch names.
Sheep and houses canal-side.
The bike trail leading west from Hoorn.
Evan crossing a canal.
Heading west to Schoorldam.
Well marked bike trails.
The Hof van Schoorl. Restaurant and hotel.
Canal by Hof van Schoorl.
Hof van Schoorl street front.
After checking in to our room, we packed a small pack with discs, bottles of water and our picnic knife and towel, and headed into the small town of Schoorl to find lunch. The hotel proprietor told us where a grocery store was so we cycled the km or 2 into the "centrum". What a totally cool town. It's right on the edge of the sand dunes that separate it from the sea. When we first saw the partially forested sand dune rising above the town we couldn't quite understand what we were seeing since we'd been riding on flat ground for so long. At the main intersection of the town there was a huge dune flanked by woods, so it looked like a ski slope made of sand leading down to a town square. Zillions of little kids were playing on the giant dune, with watchful Dutch parents lounging on benches or in the sand. Totally idyllic. The grocery store was at that intersection, so we bought bread, brie, pate, some fruit and what I thought was chocolate milk in a pint size carton. Sat on a bench watching the Dutch families while we ate. When I tried to drink the alleged chocolate milk, it didn't come out of the carton easily, and I realized it was chocolate pudding! What a shock. With lunch finished, we rode west through the town on the most beautiful bike paths and lanes I've ever seen. It's like some utopian land here. All the people are tall, thin, fair haired and riding bicycles. They live in impossibly beautiful houses amongst the forests, dunes and farm fields. Giant wind turbines turn lazily in the distance while trains whisper by.
Schoorl town center with the sand dune.
Downtown Schoorl.
We found the disc golf course. This time in addition to targets, there were signs showing the "natural" tees, distance and direction to target, and par. Unfortunately whoever designed the course was less than skilled. Holes were typically only 30 meters long (too easy), yet some holes required a spotter since they were through long, narrow fairways in the woods with dense shrubs to the sides. Interesting setting though, among the tunes, pines and live oak trees. We found the first tee and played until the 17th hole when our desire to play this lame course faded completely. Oh well.
The location of the disc golf course near Groet.
Typical tee off sign at the course.
Evan on the course.
Tee off sign in foreground, target in the shrubs directly above.
Another hole.
Looking out to the ocen from the top of a dune.
Wind turbines by the coast.
Evan retrieving a disc from a tree.
After playing, we hopped back on our bikes, or rather eased our aching butts back down onto the saddles, and rode the 2 km out to the beach. There it was, the Atlantic Ocean from the east side. A huge dike separated it from the land. The sun was glimmering off the ocean, kites were flying and people were strolling the beach. Very nice. Unfortunately we had dinner reservations at the hotel, so we lingered only a bit before riding back.
The dike by the ocean.
Another view of the dike.
The eastern Atlantic.
It's a nice beach.
Looking north at the dike.
Evan.
The bike trail on the way back to Schoorl.
De Bokkesprong restaurant by the disc golf course.
Bike lanes on the way back to Schoorl.
The trail to Schoorl.
The trail to Schoorl.
The trail to Schoorl.
Thatched roofs on the trail to Schoorl.
They were in some kind of recently built planned community.
Downtown Schoorl again.
The trail between Schoorl and Schoorldam.
A woman with particularly large hair.
Dinner at the hotel was awesome. Evan got spare ribs and I got some "Dutch" dish of pork with mushroom sauce on rice. Lots of veggies, salad and fries with it. We're stuffed now and back in our room.
Stairs leading up to our room at the Hof van Schoorl.
Our room.
A view from the rooftop terrace at the Hof van Schoorl.
The restaurant at the Hof van Schoorl.
A 'traditional Dutch dish' according to the resaurant proprietor with pork and mushrooms.
Evan had ribs.
Side dishes.
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