Gouda

Rotterdam

After returning the rental bike, I left Amersfoort at about 9:15 and took the train to Rotterdam. For some reason, we stopped on the tracks for about 15 minutes, so the trip took longer than expected, but that was okay, as I was not in a hurry.

When I got to the hotel, I found out that the young man working the desk was the only Dutch person under thirty who doesn’t speak English very well.  We had some miscommunication, which resulted in my having to wait until 2:00 to check into my room.  So I had about 3 hours to explore the city on foot.  I was going to rent a bike, but the guy scared me by asking if I wanted insurance. He added that if I didn’t have insurance and the bike got stolen, I would owe 500 euros — almost $750 Canadian dollars! Or I could pay 2.5 euros for insurance and then only pay 250 euros should the bike be stolen. Maybe it’s just me, but that didn’t seem like a very good deal, especially since the hotel provides the locks. I asked him if any bikes have been stolen and he said yes. A great salesman, that one! Anyway, so I opted to walk.

I walked past Rotterdam's City Hall, a rather imposing building:

I saw this church spire peeking out among the other buildings, and decided I would check it out later.

 

I was in the mood to shop, something that doesn’t happen often, so I walked around the shopping area and even bought some gifts at Bijenkorf, the classy Dutch department store. I spent less than 20 euros on some very nice items, and came out with two packages like this:

The sales clerk was an older lady -- maybe about 75-ish -- and she clearly really likes her job. She asked if my purchases were gifts, and when I said yes, she face lit up. She took about 15 minutes to wrap the items, causing me a few pangs of guilt, since there were people in line behind me. However, another clerk came to wait on them, so I could breathe easy. 

I went into a few other stores, but didn’t come out with anything. Even when I’m in the mood to shop I can’t seem to spend very much! Of course, it doesn’t help that I can only have carry-on luggage.  

I thought it was interesting to see these Dutch travel guides about Canada. Also, notice that there is one whole book about Florida!

And having recently attended sessions on indigenization of ESL curriculum, I found this little girl's top highly questionable!

Between window shopping and looking for a possible place to eat dinner (nothing looked good) I managed to kill 3 hours and went back to the hotel. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the reason I’d have to wait was that all the rooms with a city view were occupied. 

It turns out it was definitely worth the wait. This was the view from my window:

By this time I was getting hungry and since I really wanted to go bike riding, I decided I would live dangerously and rent a bike without insurance. The bikes I rented previously were all 7-speeds, but this time it was a 3-speed, an indication of how much flatter the landscape is in this part of the country. 

The first place I came to was the St. Laurens Church, beautiful inside and out:

Then I came to this big modern square with the famous Cube Houses and other architecturally unique buildings, including the Markthal, where I enjoyed a delicious fish dinner.

 

 After dinner, I rode down to the river to see the Erasmus Bridge. The Erasmus Bridge (white one) is the famous one in Rotterdam, but I also liked the red bridge, below.

I also saw the beautiful and historic "Witte Huis" (white house), which was once the tallest building in Rotterdam, and one of the few buildings in the city centre that survived the WW II bombing. Across from it are old buildings that form Oude Haven (old port).

 

Amersfoort, a tower, and Kasteel de Haar

I had a bit of a rocky start to my stay in Amersfoort. I had used Air Miles to book a room at the Best Western, which was supposed to be a 20-minute walk from the station. I arrived in mid-afternoon, and it was around 32 C, so rather than drag all my luggage, I decided to leave it in a locker and just take my small backpack to the hotel. The locker price was about 3.50 euros for the first 24 hours, but if you leave the stuff longer, the price goes up to 5+ euros per day. Interesting... but I figured I could probably change the locker for the next day, and if not, it was still worth it.

But before going to the hotel, I wanted to procure a bike. I thought I could probably rent one right at the train station, but I was told that the station only had the OV chipcard bikes. To rent a regular bike, I would have to go to a bike shop in the town -- about a 15-minute walk. 

Okay, no problem. I strapped on my backpack and set off. I found the bike shop and arranged for the bike, but when I pulled out my Visa card, the clerk told me she could not accept credit cards, only "Pinnen" (debit cards) or cash. When I asked about a bank machine, she said I'd have to go back to the station. I was a little peeved about this, but then a customer said there was a closer ATM and she gave me some semi-comprehensible directions. However, this is one of those medieval towns with passages and stairways and narrow winding streets, so I wandered around for awhile before I finally stumbled on the machine, which would only give me 50 euros. This was the right amount for the deposit, but I still needed 20 euros for two days' rental. Now I was really getting frustrated, because I had deliberately dumped a lot of money into my Visa so I could take out cash. I had no idea what was wrong, but I went back to the bike shop and shamelessly begged her to let me take the bike and come back later with the 20 euros.

She was NOT happy about this idea, seeing that I was hot and tired and frustrated, she finally agreed, and at last I was on my way up the hill to the hotel. 

When I got there, I saw that they had rental bikes parked outside. It would have saved a lot of hassle to rent from the hotel -- I could have used the Visa -- but I didn't allow myself to even think about that. And when I rode back down the hill, coasting all the way, I was glad I had been able to ride up instead of walking. It's not a really long distance, but on a hot day, when you don't really know where you are going, distances seem much longer than they really are.

I went to another bank machine, and again my Visa didn't work, so I used the other credit card to get money, went back to the bike shop to pay off my debt, and then rode around the town for awhile. This was another town I visited in 2016. It has a totally charming walled medieval old city, so it is a pleasure to just be there.

Finally, I bought some stuff for dinner at the grocery store and rode back up to the hotel.

The next morning, this deluxe breakfast spread was waiting for me -- the perfect start to a day of cycling and walking! 

As I ate,  I sat next to a window and watched people cycling to work. There were also some very obnoxious American guys at the next table; fortunately they left at around 7:30 to board this bus so I was able to at least finish my breakfast in peace.

I had to wait until 9:00 to take the off-peak train, so I started by riding my bike into the city to the grocery store for a bottle of water and a knife to cut my peach and nectarine. 

Then I bought a ticket for myself and for the bike to travel to Utrecht Central Station.  The bike ticket is 6.90 euros, and it’s good for the whole day, even if you take a few train rides (as long as they are during off-peak hours).

I got off at Utrecht Centraal and began riding to Kasteel de Haar, This was another nice ride, past this windmill, along a canal and then past several different types of residential areas. I rode on Glenn Miller Path and crossed Louis Armstrong Path. Afterwards, looking at the map, I saw that there are also streets in that area named after Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Benny Goodwin, Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, and many more. 

Once again, I ran into some trouble with Google Maps. In the area next to the castle, there is a little community called Haarzuilens. Charmed by the red-and-white-shuttered cottages and shops, I turned in to take a look, but then when I asked GM for directions to the castle, it took me in a very roundabout way, culminating in a road marked "Private Road. No Entry". In English. As if it was there just for me.



So I turned around. I was a little annoyed and decided maybe it wouldn't matter if I missed the castle. But I rode on for a few hundred meters and there was a sign "Kasteel de Haar -->"

I took the road indicated and after another few hundred meters, there it was. That was easy!

And this castle actually made me catch my breath! It's big, it has a moat, it's in fairy-tale like grounds with a huge rose garden... in short, it is truly wonderful.

The interior is impressive as well. This castle was actually lived in until 2005, according to one of the guides, and the family who owned it still lives there for a month each year. Or  something like that. I found the explanations about these things a bit confusing, but definitely it was lived in until recently and used to entertain many famous people such as Roger Moore, Bridget Bardot, Gregory Peck, and others.

  

 

After touring the castle, I rode back to the station and took the train back to Amersfoort.

There I decided to join the tour of the Onze Lievevrouwe Toren -- the Tower of Our Dear Lady. There were a few other people on the tour -- an older couple from Germany, a young couple from France, a Dutch family, and a young Colombian girl. The tour was supposed to be in Dutch, but I think the guide, who spoke decent English, realized how silly that was, because she ended up giving explanations in English, too. It was quite interesting. The tower is a "Madonna and Child" tower -- the taller bit on the right represents Mary, while the smaller one on the left is the Baby Jesus. We climbed a total of 346 steps, the last part in the "baby" tower, and came out onto the deck just below the clock. 

The houses that form the curved lines were built with stones from the original city wall and follow the line of the wall.

After the tower tour, I just enjoyed myself riding around the town a bit more, exploring some shops and feasting my eyes on the wonderful old buildings.