Amsterdam and area - Day 10

We arrived in Amsterdam in the afternoon and took a shuttle to our hotel in Hoofdoorp, planning to get a car to rent for the next day, our last day before returning home.

According to Google, there was a Sixt car rental office not far from the hotel, so we wasted some time riding there and waiting in line, listening to what sounded like a heated argument/negotiation between a customer and the desk clerk. They ended by striking a deal and shaking hands quite amicably, so maybe the conversation was friendlier than it seemed.

When it was our turn, the clerk listened to what we wanted and said, "Oh yes, I have ___" only to find out that he didn't really have it. This happened about 3 times, and we finally gave up, deciding to take the shuttle back to the airport and pick up a car there.

This turned out to be a good idea, and we ended up with a Ford Puma, a small SUV, which had an automatic transmission and lots of room for our bikes, as well as an almost magically good GPS system.

When we told the woman at the rental desk about what we wanted to do, she made some additional suggestions, so we were quite excited to set out the next morning.

First on our agenda was Edam and the last cheese market of the season. This was about 35 minutes east of where we were staying, and there was a large parking lot on the edge of town where we left the car, and then we rode our bikes to the downtown area. 

Being a little early, we had some time to ride around a bit and even stop into an old church, de Grote Kerk. I have learned that almost every town in Holland has one of these churches, and they are all amazing in their own way. This one had some beautiful stained glass windows from the early 1600s. 

"Edam Grote Kerk 05" by Hnapel is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The cheese market was situated in the centre of the town, along a canal, amidst these wonderful old buildings.

There were a lot of people dressed in traditional clothing, and there were speeches, some kind of ceremonial weighing, and then a process of loading the boats with the rounds of cheese.

It's true that it might have been more interesting if we'd been able to understand everything, but we felt like we got the general idea just by observing.

After this, how could we not have lunch in a pub that served a cheese board?

One of the canal bridges

After lunch, we set out again, heading west to Zaanse Schans. This is a very touristy place to see lots of Dutch windmills. I've been to Kinderdijk, which is more natural and less commercialized, and I've also seen lots of one-off windmills in Dutch towns, but this place was also charming. 

The windmills are nicely painted and set just off a street of older homes and shops, many of which are painted green. We started off on the shopping side of the canal and walked to the end. 

Then we went back to get our bikes and rode across the bridge to an area that was more residential. We rode around in this area for about an hour, exploring the nooks and crannies, and then decided it was time to head west again, this time to the beach at Zandvoort. The town was quite busy and it took a bit of time to find a place to park, but we finally found an underground parking spot and then rode our bikes down to the beach.

Holland might not be the first place you think of when you think about beaches, but in my opinion, their beaches are first-rate. 

The sand is fine and clean, and the beach seems to go on forever.

The weather was gorgeous, and we enjoyed swimming and relaxing for a couple of hours. 

One of the highlights of this beach visit was the place we changed afterwards. When we first arrived we didn't know about this service, so we just changed in the public washrooms, but when we were ready to go we noticed people going to a sort of shop/tent/hut type structure. There was a woman selling new-age-type things (crystals, oils, etc.) but she also had changing rooms. For a couple of euro, you could use the washroom and a changing cubicle. It sounds really sketchy, but somehow it wasn't. Everything was clean and nicely maintained and we were very grateful to have found it.

By now it was time for dinner, so I used Google Maps to find this wonderful Indonesian restaurant, "Toko Bintang". The food was delicious, and as we ate, we listened to people, obviously locals, coming in for their takeaways and exchanging conversation.

I noticed that as they left, most of the people said, "Eet smakelijk" ("enjoy your meal"). I recognized this phrase from my Duolingo Dutch lessons, but it also rang another bell somewhere in my mind. Then I remembered that when we watched the Rick Steves video about the Netherlands, he mentioned that it is a common Dutch custom to say this as you leave a restaurant. So, when we were ready to leave, I casually said this to a diner as we passed.

Last day in Europe:

Our flight was scheduled for late afternoon of the next day. We drove to the airport, where we returned the car and checked our large bike bags. It would have been nice to keep the bikes with us, but it was easier to be unencumbered, as we wanted to do a little more sightseeing.

We took a train to Leiden. We had been here before, on New Year's Day in 2019. That day everything was closed and there was debris from fireworks everywhere.

We walked around the town a bit and when we came upon this windmill museum, we decided to go inside. This was interesting, as it showed how the windmill operates and gave some history of the town.

I liked this white goose -- it is real, not a plastic lawn ornament!

All too soon, it was time to get back on the train and return to the airport and real life. I always feel like I am in a dream world when I visit Holland -- where else are bikes given such priority and where else is everything so neat and orderly? 

Tot ziens!

August Trip to the Netherlands & Scandinavia

 Day 1 - arrival in Amsterdam & Train to Den Haag

We arrived in Amsterdam this morning and after dropping off our luggage at the Radisson Blu Hotel, we took the train to Den Haag. We decided not to take the bikes, which we later regretted. Note to self: always take your bikes when in the Netherlands!

Our first plan upon arrival in the Hague was to climb the Groot Kerk tower, but unfortunately we were too late to book a spot for the last climb of the day. Instead, we wandered around the beautiful old city and then started walking towards the beach. It is not a really long walk, but because our time was limited, we wanted to get there as fast as possible. We decided to try to rent bikes. There was a choice of Donkey or Lime, but both failed because we didn't have a phone number (we were using eSIMs). So we continued walking. It was getting hot and we kept seeing the tram whiz past, obviously heading to the beach. 

Finally, I approached a woman who was waiting at the tram stop and asked her if she knew how we could pay for a ride. She said she thought we could use a credit card, so we decided to try. When I got on, I scanned my card using Apple pay and it made a noise and showed a check mark, but nothing appeared my phone as an indication that payment had gone through. We got off at the beach and enjoyed a walk along the shore (we didn't have our bathing suits with us). When it was time to go back, we decided to try the tram again. I scanned my card and got the green check mark, but again nothing happened to show a payment. I had no idea what to do, so we just kept riding. I scanned again as I got off, thinking maybe that was the secret, but still nothing. It makes me wonder what happened when I scanned, as I got a green check mark each time. 

I love the city of Den Haag and I had a very positive visit there in 2019, when I stayed in a hotel and rented a bike from there, but this time I felt slightly annoyed at how unfriendly it seemed to tourists. Of course, if we had brought our own bikes, everything would have been hunky dory.

Melbourne— The Great Ocean Road

I am not usually a tour person. When I read about the Great Ocean Road that runs along the coast just outside of Melbourne, I knew that it was too good to miss, so I looked into my options. 

Renting, or rather hiring, a car was one possibility with two problems. First, I am ashamed to admit it, but I don't know how to drive a standard. Second, I was nervous about driving on the left side of the road. On top of that, photos showed the road as somewhat narrow and winding, adding one more level of discomfort. I liked the idea of being able to stop anywhere I wanted, but I had to admit it didn't sound very realistic.

I wondered if there was public transport of some kind -- a regional bus or train -- but no.

So, it seemed a tour was my best choice, and on my first day in the city, I stopped in at a tourist office on my way back to the hotel and booked a minibus tour: The Great Ocean Road in Reverse. The "in reverse" part means that you drive directly to the farthest point (on an inland highway) first thing in the morning and then slowly return along the coastal road, stopping at points of interest on the way.

We set off from Melbourne at about 7:30 a.m. and a had a brief stop for tea and biscuits at a little picnic ground. Along the way, the tour guide told stories about places we passed. This sounds pretty awful, but it was actually very well done. He didn't talk too much, and when he did he had something significant to say. Just my kind of tour guide!

Our first sight-seeing stop was Loch Ard Gorge, the site of a famous shipwreck. Two survivors found a cave to shelter in and were eventually rescued.

the cave

The Razorback

Next we visited the Twelve Apostles. By this time it was rainy and windy, so not the best time to hang around admiring the view, but it was definitely worth looking at.

The Twelve Apostles

From there we went to a picnic ground in Great Otway National Park, where the rain was really coming down. Our lunch spot was under a canopy, so we were out of the rain, but afterwards we went for a walk into the rainforest. It was wet, but still very beautiful. It reminded me of being on the west coast of Vancouver Island. 

Because we had all been good boys and girls, we were allowed a couple of unscheduled stops -- one in a little beach town where we looked in shops on the main street and walked on the beach. 

And then we stopped in another town, at a lookout point where we could see the road we had come on. Definitely narrow and winding!

We also saw a few sulfur crested cockatoos in the trees and in the parking lot.

Next we stopped at a place called Kennett River, where we went for a stroll along the river and saw koalas. They were not in a good position for photos with a cell phone, but as the young German girl who was on the tour said, "I will remember this always." For about 20 minutes, we were able to watch them climbing and eating leaves, and then it was time to go.

We made one last stop, at the Great Ocean Road memorial arch, and then it was back to Melbourne.