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21 - 28 April 2012 Sued Holland tour mit Keukenhof Radgruppe aus Wegberg/Deutschland
Rad-Schiffstour 21.-28. April 2012
Radgruppe aus Wegberg/Deutschland
Am 21.04.2012 kamen wir bei Bart, Leontien und Köchin Carla mit 20 Gästen an, von denen viele schon mehrfach auf der Noorderzon waren, unsere Reiseleiterin Helmi Preis bereits zum siebten Mal.
Von Amsterdam ging es am nächsten Tag (Sonntag) per Schiff nach Nigtevecht, dann mit dem Rad über Breukelen und Maarssen nach Utrecht, dort wieder aufs Schiff bis Vianen. Am Montag fuhren wir erst mit der Noorderzon nach Schoonhoven, radelten dann bis Mittag nach Oudewater und weiter nach Gouda, wo wir aber ohne Anni ankamen, die wir in Oudewater verloren hatten. Später fanden wir sie in Gouda auf dem Marktplatz wieder.
Am Dienstag ging es von Gouda durch die wunderschöne Poldergegend bis Krimpen und Kinderdijk mit seinen 19 Windmühlen, die zum Weltkulturerbe gehören. Früher pumpten die Mühlen das Wasser aus den Poldern, heute machen dies große elektrische Pumpanlagen.
Von Kinderdijk fuhren wir mit dem Schiff durch Rotterdam bis Delft, wo wir abends durch die Stadt bummeln konnten.
Mittwochs radelten wir nach Den Haag bis zum Regierungsgebäude (Binnenhof) und weiter nach Scheveningen. Dann fuhren wir durch die tolle Dünenlandschaft bis Katwijk aan Zee. Hier fing es an zu regnen und wir kamen ziemlich nass nach Leiden, wo wir wegen Baustellen das Schiff erst nach einer kleiner Stadtrundfahrt fanden.
Mit dem Schiff ging es am Donnerstag zuerst bis Sassenheim, dann aufs Rad zum Keukenhof. Nach Mittag radelten wir eine lange Strecke durch blühende Tulpenfelder – das war ein einmaliger Anblick, dabei hatten wir auch noch Rückenwind! Abends waren wir in Haarlem und konnten uns diese schöne Stadt ansehen.
Am Freitag, unserem letzten “Arbeitstag“ fuhren wir bis Sassenheim mit dem Schiff, dann per Rad weiter, mit der Fähre über den Noordzeekanaal, anschließend über Zaandam und Wormerveer nach Zaanse Schans mit dem interessanten Museum. Von dort kamen wir über das Erholungsgebiet Het Twiske am späten Nachmittag in Amsterdam auf der Noorderzon an. Am Abend hatten wir als Abschluss eine Grachten-Rundfahrt mit dem Panoramaboot.
Samstag war Abreisetag, um 10 Uhr ging der Bus nach Hause.
Wir hatten eine wirklich schöne Woche und es war einfach ein Erlebnis, einzigartige holländische Landschaften und Orte zu sehen. Dabei wurden wir von dem Team der Noorderzon, Bart mit Leontien und Carla wieder richtig verwöhnt.
So können wir also sagen: vielen vielen Dank und tot ziens – hoffentlich schon im nächsten Jahr!
27 August - 3 September 2011 Une aimable famille de la France en voyage sur le Noorderzon
Merci pour cet agreeable voyage qui s’est très bien passé. Le bateau était très beau et la cuisine delicieuse, vous avez était très simpa avec nous. Merci beaucoup.
Je vous remercie de tout mon coeur pour cette croisière magnifique! Le paysage était très jolie et les balades en vélo ont été vraiment agreeable. Les chambres sont assez grandes; car même a 4 c’est rigolos. Merci pour cette cuisine délicieuse.
6 - 13 August 2011 Around lake IJsselmeer organized by a Dutch agent
Prima di partire, pensavo che sarebbe stata una bella avventura. É stato molto piú e molto meglio di questo. La vostra simpatia e la vostra professionalitá, la cura dei particolari, la cucina, il confort, si sono aggiunti, alla bellezza dei paesaggi e della cittá e alla piacevolezza dei giri in bici. Penso che ripeteró l'esperienza, sperando in un pó meno vento. Valeria
Had a lovely trip on the Noorderzon. The food was delicious, the cabins comfortable and the cycling trips good. Good to see all the interesting places. Thank you. Thomas and Dawn.
Wir haben so gut gegessen! Wie in einem 5-Sterne Hotel. Lecker, Merci pour tout. Monika und Franz.
Dit was voor ons Fransen een bijzondere vacantie. Leuk gefietst, voortreffelijk gegeten, mooie omgeving, fijn gevaren dankzij het afwindend weer. We hebben genoten en komen zeker terug. Heel erg dank voor de gastvrijheid en voor mijn zoontje was de visite aan het stuurhuis het einde! Heel erg bedankt. Anne Pascal Dimitri.
A very good souvenir/memory, with a magical guide (Jan) and a team very nice. Always smiles and humor. Every night we ate very good food (that is important for frenchies) The boat is nice and the rooms are comfortable. The trip is in wonderfull landscapes, with tipical things. I hope that I can return in Holland again. That was a very good week with you. Lucas
Dees week hebbe wij verekkes genote! Wij wisse heel nie da ge buiten Brabant ok nog leuk kunt fietsen. En wa we al hélemaal nie verwacht hàn, dè is dè ut ete ok mirakeles lekker was. Mèr ja, da we de lesten dag Bart zo’n heerlijk pinteke van Brouwerij ’t IJ zagen preuven en dat ie dè ons het onthouen, dè is wa minder. Mèr goed, we zullen ’t ullie geen euvel duien. Al met al hebben we ’t goe naar ons zin gehad en enorm genoten. Doen we vast nog ’s unne keer. Houdoe en bedankt.
Bert & Mieke, Toon en Thea, Piet en Ine, Bert en Liesbeth
30 July - 6 August 2011 John Howden and friends and members of the Beech Holme tandem club from Hull
A thank you for another excellent trip from friends and members of the Beech Holme tandem Club, Hull.
23 - 30 July 2011 Around lake IJsselmeer organized by Dutch agent
We sailed with guests from U.K. Germany, USA, Belgium and Canada. In spite of the rainy days with lot of wind the guests had a lot of fun.
2 - 9 July 2011 Joke en Feiko Kalsbeek uit Denemarken met hun kinderen, kleinkinderen en achterkleinkind
Det var en fantastisk ferie med “Noorderzon”. Bäde for landskabet og de gamle hollandske byer, of for sammenhot det i Kalsbeek klanen. Tusind tak!
28 May - 4 June 2011 Willi und Christel Feldkamp mit Freunde vom Niederrhein
Liebe Leontien, lieber Bart
Herzlichen Dank fuer Eure nette und humorvolle Art.
Wir waren jetzt zum 3. bzw 4. Mal hier und trinken immer noch gern Skipperbitter und Heineken Bier.
Wir sagen Euch "Auf Wiedersehen" es war auf der Noorderzon und in Nord-Holland wunderschoen.
Die Gruppe aus Niederrehein.
30 April - 7 May 2011 Roel et Marianne ten Dam en voyage sur le Noorderzon avec des amis
23 - 30 April 2011 South-Holland tour and visit to the Keukenhof with Thomas & Jodell Brookes with friends from the USA
We loved bicycling along the beautiful canals, coming back to our comfy bunks, hot showers, and wunderfull dinners.
We loved seeing tulips at the Keukenhof, visiting the fine museums and the historic buildings of Utrecht, Delft, Leiden and Haarlem. We loved this beautiful country of yours. THANK YOU!
From Cactus to Tulips; Tom and Karol’s most excellent adventure…..
Tucson to Holland! We are REALLY doing this! Today is actually Saturday and we are packing up to start the Bike/Barge part of the trip so I’d best try and recap the “ I Amsterdam” part before it fades…
April 19, 2011…. Tuesday
Up at 4 AM Tucson time, drive to Phoenix, hop to Philly, sail to Amsterdam and arrive 8:20 AM NEXT day! First class upgrade across the Atlantic took the sting out of a very long “day”. A 9 hour time change jumped us ahead to a sunny morning when actually our bodies said 11 PM and “hey, I’m ready for bed.”….But, nooooo! We hit the ground (hotel) running, not only seeing the city BUT also carrying on conversations with the group (not sure those were coherent). There is method to this madness and that is to stay awake to reset the best we can our biological clocks to Netherland time. I must admit most of the day is fuzzy at best and all I really was looking forward to was sleep and a relaxed morning cup of coffee. People on bikes everywhere in fact, bikes are the definite king over cars and pedestrians. I had to learn fast which is the sidewalk and which is the bike lane, those damn bikers were always ringing their bells in my left ear. Had a lovely pancake dinner (Dutch cuisine) with Tom and Jodell and hit the sack,YAY! By the way the Eden Amsterdam Hotel is cool, wonderful old architecture, great balcony that overlooks a hubbub intersection, quite comfortable.
Day 2 (or is it 3?)….April 21, Thursday
Tom and I up early and on our own today hit the Museums. First stop Rijks museum…. It is a huge building full of masterpieces, the most famous being The Night Watch”, my favorite “The Milkmaid”. Next we went to Van Gogh…WOW, which also included Monet etc and a traveling exhibit of Picasso. At lunch had to pay .50 EU to use the restroom, but clean! We tried the Anne Frank museum but there was a long line (actually, as it turned out shorter than the line we ended up in the next day). We walked to the Historical museum with 15 minutes to closing, ran through it….not that impressive (maybe =)). Exhausted headed back to the hotel. I really need to study up on the art and history etc and spend more time at each place but like that we covered a lot of ground. Good thing I have taken photos because I can not adequately describe the centuries old feel of this place and their brick streets and canals, truly jaw dropping wonder, ( although, lots of trash…Ladybird Johnson where are you?). That evening we ate at a little pub on “Café boulevard “and ended our day sitting on a bench by the canal …..Lovely!
April 22, Friday
We are off to see city sites again. Went to Anne Frank straight off and waited in line about 1 hour. It was so moving to go through the actual house that she wrote her thoughts and diary, such a powerful voice for the Holocaust. On a personal parent/child note, Otto’s last video on his daughter’s diary was very poignant to hear. As close as he was to his child he still had no idea of her innermost thoughts revealed to him through her writing. After Anne Frank we meandered up to the “Teacher” statue (LOVED IT) and over to the Red Light district….OMG, right in the window strutting their stuff! “Live and let live” …as the Dutch say! On to the Dam which was hosting a carnival with “Roxanne’ type rides and a peak at the Palace before dinner and bed.
April 23, Saturday
Leaving the hotel at noon we board the train to the port and meet the Noorderson, our barge for the week, ship shape cute accommodations and charming owners; Bart and Leontien. We motor out of Amsterdam to spend the night in Weesp, getting there about 4, hop on our bikes and ride through the gorgeous countryside, ahhhhhh. Although I loved the big international city, to be in the country is heaven, so peaceful with lambs and fields and bike lanes with NO CARS!!! Rode to an amazing castle just at closing but got to go in anyway. Whoa! We’re talking real CASTLE with moot and towers! Once again I could have spent more time but had to ride back for dinner. The ride is SO cool; flat, scenic all the way, fields, or canals with boats, small towns with sweet Dutch houses… I wanted to take photos but had to keep up with the crew, didn’t have a map! Happy Easter Eve!
April 24, Easter Sunday
Off on our first long ride and it was AMAZING!!! The entire ride was on bike paths with very few interaction with cars. Gorgeous countryside and houses and my butt is doing fine although the biker tan lines have got to go! The weather here is apparently unusually hot and no wind, really good riding weather. We found our way from the map pretty good, only went rogue a few times =). The last couple miles were a “lost slog” through the city. Visited De Haar, and next time need to budget time for a guided tour through this castle. Met the Noorderson at Utrecht but motored on down to Vianen for the night. Lovely quiet little town, walked through that evening and had ice cream, yum!
April 25, Monday
Wake up to the generator at 7, breakfast at 8, pack our lunch and off on the bikes by 9 is the normal routine. Another lovely day biking through countryside; Ljsselstein, Montfoort and lunch at Oudewater. Some 500,000 witches killed during that sad chapter in history and this town could certify you were not a witch by weighing you. Of course Tom and I got certified but I think they stamped we were witches! Uff Dah! On to Gouda for the night but arrived around noon so plenty of time to visit a museum (cool room with old medical instruments that looked more like torture equipment), our doctor barge buddies would have loved this room. Also went through “John the Baptist” church, a girl was doing a sound check for an upcoming concert and her voice in there was stunning. Saw my first coo coo clock in the town square, so cute! And I had my first 12% beer with Tommy at a corner pub, whoa, that be STRONG! We mounted our bikes and despite being a little tipsy found our moorage…..lovely sunset!
April 26, Tuesday
Up again and out to tilt at windmills! We crossed the river Lek by ferry and rode through pastureland. I saw my first Stork nest on top a house with the adult feeding the chick! I need to look up all these new European birds when I get home. Had a minor mishap with my bike, seems my left brake was not up to snuff (country is so flat who needs brakes, right?). Well, going down a bridge and a sharp turn to the right later is why you need brakes! My reading glasses went flying into the field as my knee took the brunt of the crash into the fence. No major harm done and gave me bragging rights to the only accident of the trip. Spent some time walking around Schoonhoven (known for their silversmiths) and on to Kinderdijk home of not a few windmills here and there but 12 to 14 clustered together and enough wind today a few were actually turning. We got there on a bit of an “off road” way (thanks Jim!) but what a cool marshy area with lots of bird action! Rushed to catch the ferry back across the Lek and board the barge. Motored into Rotterdam, a HUGE port city. We didn’t want to go on the port tour so we just walked across the city to the moorage site. Had a chat and beer at Le machinist, an old building that used to be an apprentice school for the machine trade. Bart decided after dinner to motor to Delft for the night. This might be a nice time to mention the fabulous theme dinners that Leontien prepares for us. Each night is a food from a different country….France, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, and of course the Netherlands…..Yum. My favorite was the French dish but Tom’s was a traditional Dutch casserole. I wrote it down so we can try and recreate it back in the States! Besides good eats we also have a interesting and congenial group on board. Tom and Jodell our heralded thoughtful leaders, Anna Marie and Jim (Jim we like your off the beaten paths!), Anna’s brother Michael and Susie (an infectious laugh and European way about you are you sure you live in Texas?), and Rick and Sydney ( more energy then the sun….what are you sewing today?)….very enjoyable crew!!
April 27, Wednesday
It is colder today so I wore all of Bird’s borrowed bike clothes and it all came in quite handy. We are on a long ride today so couldn’t hang around Delft as long as I would have liked. It is a lovely town and I can see hours of shopping potential but off to the North Sea!!! How cool is that!! It reminds me so much of Oregon riding through the Dune area except their dunes are more vegetated. Oops, forgot to mention we went through Den Haag before the dune ride. It is a cool big building city and home to the World Court so lots of international diplomatic intrigue there. Each one of these places one could spend more time visiting the sites, museums, etc but it is nice to see so much of South Holland. Each day is a new treat and today’s is the North Sea! Wow, a difficult ride leg-wise because the hilly nature of the dunes and then throw in the stiff head winds and OMG…carb burn! But we got there and Tommy and I got to touch the Sea!!! It was warmer than the Pacific, duh, the Gulf Stream and N Atlantic current to blame for that. I really LIKED the ride today, made me homesick for Oregon. In Leiden for the night resting our weary butts.
April 28, Thursday
You snooze you lose around here! Thinking we had extra time in the morning because we were going to boat during breakfast I saved myself extra coffee time but we were to eat and leave even EARLIER! Anyway we left earlier for some clandestine operation of “parking” the barge under a bridge while we disembarked (an illegal maneuver, but quite fun). Biked to a park, Keukenhof, open only two months out of the year with outstanding tulips and other flowers in various ASTOUNDING garden settings. SO glad we went early because the tour busses hit about 10 AM and it was wall to wall people! Biking to Haarlem we went past full FIELDS of tulips in every conceivable color. When ready to harvest they cut the tops off which promptly fall off into the spaces between the rows (Tom called them canals of color, how clever!) A very nice ride and shorter than yesterday so plenty of time to bike around the city, have a beer and people watch. Weather –wise it was a fairly nice day, colder than the first part of this adventure but rained mostly last night and only spit on us a few times today, We are lucking out weather-wise for spring time in Holland.
April29, Friday
Our last bike day = ( …..Started out barging through the bridges to a drop off point(by the statue of the boy with his finger in the dike) and then on to Zaanstreek a charming town, wooden style, instead of brick and a historically important industrial site. Saw how they make wooden shoes here! They are much lighter than I thought and many are works of art. Tom and Jodell went to a distillery (dang, next time going there!) and purchased a newly minted concoction that they shared with us all, YUM!! On the way back to Amsterdam we biked through a beautiful large park with a lake, a nice farewell to the peaceful countryside before back to big city life. Turned in our bikes and spent our last barge night at the Noorderson’s home base by NEMO. Tommy and I had a beer and checked out the library for Cody….beer served right by the library entrance, nice idea! We had a friendly dinner and warm farewell by Bart and Leontien. Tommy and I ended our night with a stroll to a port bench and witnessed an absolutely gorgeous sunset over the water, boats and buildings. Off to bed because tomorrow is “Queen’s Day”, a HUGE party of the Netherlands and we need to be off the boat by 9 AM and drag our suitcases to the hotel before it becomes a impenetrable sea of orange.
April 30, Saturday
Last day of this virgin (for me) European trip and it is a CRAZY time in Amsterdam. For once the pedestrian is King (or should I say Queen) …. Music, dancing, drinking, (and other =) things), plus the most outlandish orange get-ups!!! … a people watching day for sure. The streets have become one big yard sale and the techno music is everywhere, the base is so loud it can reset your heart rhythms! And the crowds, WILD, at one point we were completely stopped WALKING because the crowd was so dense!! Fun crowd, not mean or angry, Tommy was massaging my back when three guys dressed in “Delft suits” came up and asked for massages too! Ha! The party ended for the most part by 8 PM, how civilized, made for a much nicer sleep.
May 1, Sunday
A few random observations before catching the bus to the airport and the LONG travel day home….. The Dutch have extremely long legs! (I feel like my head starts at their waist). I LOVE the clothes here, the way they dress in layers and leggings and soft ankle high shoes and scarves…so European!! And everyone does everything on a bike, parents with three kids on one bike, a gal carrying a bag of fertilizer on a bike, office people all dressed up riding. It IS possible to have a bike world….my dream. We had a blast in Holland. Bicycles and barges are the perfect way to experience this beautiful country. I feel very blessed to have gone on this most wonderful vacation with my Tommy!!!
21 - 28 April 2012 Sued Holland tour mit Keukenhof Radgruppe aus Wegberg/Deutschland
Rad-Schiffstour 21.-28. April 2012
Radgruppe aus Wegberg/Deutschland
Am 21.04.2012 kamen wir bei Bart, Leontien und Köchin Carla mit 20 Gästen an, von denen viele schon mehrfach auf der Noorderzon waren, unsere Reiseleiterin Helmi Preis bereits zum siebten Mal.
Von Amsterdam ging es am nächsten Tag (Sonntag) per Schiff nach Nigtevecht, dann mit dem Rad über Breukelen und Maarssen nach Utrecht, dort wieder aufs Schiff bis Vianen. Am Montag fuhren wir erst mit der Noorderzon nach Schoonhoven, radelten dann bis Mittag nach Oudewater und weiter nach Gouda, wo wir aber ohne Anni ankamen, die wir in Oudewater verloren hatten. Später fanden wir sie in Gouda auf dem Marktplatz wieder.
Am Dienstag ging es von Gouda durch die wunderschöne Poldergegend bis Krimpen und Kinderdijk mit seinen 19 Windmühlen, die zum Weltkulturerbe gehören. Früher pumpten die Mühlen das Wasser aus den Poldern, heute machen dies große elektrische Pumpanlagen.
Von Kinderdijk fuhren wir mit dem Schiff durch Rotterdam bis Delft, wo wir abends durch die Stadt bummeln konnten.
Mittwochs radelten wir nach Den Haag bis zum Regierungsgebäude (Binnenhof) und weiter nach Scheveningen. Dann fuhren wir durch die tolle Dünenlandschaft bis Katwijk aan Zee. Hier fing es an zu regnen und wir kamen ziemlich nass nach Leiden, wo wir wegen Baustellen das Schiff erst nach einer kleiner Stadtrundfahrt fanden.
Mit dem Schiff ging es am Donnerstag zuerst bis Sassenheim, dann aufs Rad zum Keukenhof. Nach Mittag radelten wir eine lange Strecke durch blühende Tulpenfelder – das war ein einmaliger Anblick, dabei hatten wir auch noch Rückenwind! Abends waren wir in Haarlem und konnten uns diese schöne Stadt ansehen.
Am Freitag, unserem letzten “Arbeitstag“ fuhren wir bis Sassenheim mit dem Schiff, dann per Rad weiter, mit der Fähre über den Noordzeekanaal, anschließend über Zaandam und Wormerveer nach Zaanse Schans mit dem interessanten Museum. Von dort kamen wir über das Erholungsgebiet Het Twiske am späten Nachmittag in Amsterdam auf der Noorderzon an. Am Abend hatten wir als Abschluss eine Grachten-Rundfahrt mit dem Panoramaboot.
Samstag war Abreisetag, um 10 Uhr ging der Bus nach Hause.
Wir hatten eine wirklich schöne Woche und es war einfach ein Erlebnis, einzigartige holländische Landschaften und Orte zu sehen. Dabei wurden wir von dem Team der Noorderzon, Bart mit Leontien und Carla wieder richtig verwöhnt.
So können wir also sagen: vielen vielen Dank und tot ziens – hoffentlich schon im nächsten Jahr!
27 August - 3 September 2011 Une aimable famille de la France en voyage sur le Noorderzon
Merci pour cet agreeable voyage qui s’est très bien passé. Le bateau était très beau et la cuisine delicieuse, vous avez était très simpa avec nous. Merci beaucoup.
Je vous remercie de tout mon coeur pour cette croisière magnifique! Le paysage était très jolie et les balades en vélo ont été vraiment agreeable. Les chambres sont assez grandes; car même a 4 c’est rigolos. Merci pour cette cuisine délicieuse.
6 - 13 August 2011 Around lake IJsselmeer organized by a Dutch agent
Prima di partire, pensavo che sarebbe stata una bella avventura. É stato molto piú e molto meglio di questo. La vostra simpatia e la vostra professionalitá, la cura dei particolari, la cucina, il confort, si sono aggiunti, alla bellezza dei paesaggi e della cittá e alla piacevolezza dei giri in bici. Penso che ripeteró l'esperienza, sperando in un pó meno vento. Valeria
Had a lovely trip on the Noorderzon. The food was delicious, the cabins comfortable and the cycling trips good. Good to see all the interesting places. Thank you. Thomas and Dawn.
Wir haben so gut gegessen! Wie in einem 5-Sterne Hotel. Lecker, Merci pour tout. Monika und Franz.
Dit was voor ons Fransen een bijzondere vacantie. Leuk gefietst, voortreffelijk gegeten, mooie omgeving, fijn gevaren dankzij het afwindend weer. We hebben genoten en komen zeker terug. Heel erg dank voor de gastvrijheid en voor mijn zoontje was de visite aan het stuurhuis het einde! Heel erg bedankt. Anne Pascal Dimitri.
A very good souvenir/memory, with a magical guide (Jan) and a team very nice. Always smiles and humor. Every night we ate very good food (that is important for frenchies) The boat is nice and the rooms are comfortable. The trip is in wonderfull landscapes, with tipical things. I hope that I can return in Holland again. That was a very good week with you. Lucas
Dees week hebbe wij verekkes genote! Wij wisse heel nie da ge buiten Brabant ok nog leuk kunt fietsen. En wa we al hélemaal nie verwacht hàn, dè is dè ut ete ok mirakeles lekker was. Mèr ja, da we de lesten dag Bart zo’n heerlijk pinteke van Brouwerij ’t IJ zagen preuven en dat ie dè ons het onthouen, dè is wa minder. Mèr goed, we zullen ’t ullie geen euvel duien. Al met al hebben we ’t goe naar ons zin gehad en enorm genoten. Doen we vast nog ’s unne keer. Houdoe en bedankt.
Bert & Mieke, Toon en Thea, Piet en Ine, Bert en Liesbeth
30 July - 6 August 2011 John Howden and friends and members of the Beech Holme tandem club from Hull
A thank you for another excellent trip from friends and members of the Beech Holme tandem Club, Hull.
23 - 30 July 2011 Around lake IJsselmeer organized by Dutch agent
We sailed with guests from U.K. Germany, USA, Belgium and Canada. In spite of the rainy days with lot of wind the guests had a lot of fun.
2 - 9 July 2011 Joke en Feiko Kalsbeek uit Denemarken met hun kinderen, kleinkinderen en achterkleinkind
Det var en fantastisk ferie med “Noorderzon”. Bäde for landskabet og de gamle hollandske byer, of for sammenhot det i Kalsbeek klanen. Tusind tak!
28 May - 4 June 2011 Willi und Christel Feldkamp mit Freunde vom Niederrhein
Liebe Leontien, lieber Bart
Herzlichen Dank fuer Eure nette und humorvolle Art.
Wir waren jetzt zum 3. bzw 4. Mal hier und trinken immer noch gern Skipperbitter und Heineken Bier.
Wir sagen Euch "Auf Wiedersehen" es war auf der Noorderzon und in Nord-Holland wunderschoen.
Die Gruppe aus Niederrehein.
30 April - 7 May 2011 Roel et Marianne ten Dam en voyage sur le Noorderzon avec des amis
23 - 30 April 2011 South-Holland tour and visit to the Keukenhof with Thomas & Jodell Brookes with friends from the USA
We loved bicycling along the beautiful canals, coming back to our comfy bunks, hot showers, and wunderfull dinners.
We loved seeing tulips at the Keukenhof, visiting the fine museums and the historic buildings of Utrecht, Delft, Leiden and Haarlem. We loved this beautiful country of yours. THANK YOU!
From Cactus to Tulips; Tom and Karol’s most excellent adventure…..
Tucson to Holland! We are REALLY doing this! Today is actually Saturday and we are packing up to start the Bike/Barge part of the trip so I’d best try and recap the “ I Amsterdam” part before it fades…
April 19, 2011…. Tuesday
Up at 4 AM Tucson time, drive to Phoenix, hop to Philly, sail to Amsterdam and arrive 8:20 AM NEXT day! First class upgrade across the Atlantic took the sting out of a very long “day”. A 9 hour time change jumped us ahead to a sunny morning when actually our bodies said 11 PM and “hey, I’m ready for bed.”….But, nooooo! We hit the ground (hotel) running, not only seeing the city BUT also carrying on conversations with the group (not sure those were coherent). There is method to this madness and that is to stay awake to reset the best we can our biological clocks to Netherland time. I must admit most of the day is fuzzy at best and all I really was looking forward to was sleep and a relaxed morning cup of coffee. People on bikes everywhere in fact, bikes are the definite king over cars and pedestrians. I had to learn fast which is the sidewalk and which is the bike lane, those damn bikers were always ringing their bells in my left ear. Had a lovely pancake dinner (Dutch cuisine) with Tom and Jodell and hit the sack,YAY! By the way the Eden Amsterdam Hotel is cool, wonderful old architecture, great balcony that overlooks a hubbub intersection, quite comfortable.
Day 2 (or is it 3?)….April 21, Thursday
Tom and I up early and on our own today hit the Museums. First stop Rijks museum…. It is a huge building full of masterpieces, the most famous being The Night Watch”, my favorite “The Milkmaid”. Next we went to Van Gogh…WOW, which also included Monet etc and a traveling exhibit of Picasso. At lunch had to pay .50 EU to use the restroom, but clean! We tried the Anne Frank museum but there was a long line (actually, as it turned out shorter than the line we ended up in the next day). We walked to the Historical museum with 15 minutes to closing, ran through it….not that impressive (maybe =)). Exhausted headed back to the hotel. I really need to study up on the art and history etc and spend more time at each place but like that we covered a lot of ground. Good thing I have taken photos because I can not adequately describe the centuries old feel of this place and their brick streets and canals, truly jaw dropping wonder, ( although, lots of trash…Ladybird Johnson where are you?). That evening we ate at a little pub on “Café boulevard “and ended our day sitting on a bench by the canal …..Lovely!
April 22, Friday
We are off to see city sites again. Went to Anne Frank straight off and waited in line about 1 hour. It was so moving to go through the actual house that she wrote her thoughts and diary, such a powerful voice for the Holocaust. On a personal parent/child note, Otto’s last video on his daughter’s diary was very poignant to hear. As close as he was to his child he still had no idea of her innermost thoughts revealed to him through her writing. After Anne Frank we meandered up to the “Teacher” statue (LOVED IT) and over to the Red Light district….OMG, right in the window strutting their stuff! “Live and let live” …as the Dutch say! On to the Dam which was hosting a carnival with “Roxanne’ type rides and a peak at the Palace before dinner and bed.
April 23, Saturday
Leaving the hotel at noon we board the train to the port and meet the Noorderson, our barge for the week, ship shape cute accommodations and charming owners; Bart and Leontien. We motor out of Amsterdam to spend the night in Weesp, getting there about 4, hop on our bikes and ride through the gorgeous countryside, ahhhhhh. Although I loved the big international city, to be in the country is heaven, so peaceful with lambs and fields and bike lanes with NO CARS!!! Rode to an amazing castle just at closing but got to go in anyway. Whoa! We’re talking real CASTLE with moot and towers! Once again I could have spent more time but had to ride back for dinner. The ride is SO cool; flat, scenic all the way, fields, or canals with boats, small towns with sweet Dutch houses… I wanted to take photos but had to keep up with the crew, didn’t have a map! Happy Easter Eve!
April 24, Easter Sunday
Off on our first long ride and it was AMAZING!!! The entire ride was on bike paths with very few interaction with cars. Gorgeous countryside and houses and my butt is doing fine although the biker tan lines have got to go! The weather here is apparently unusually hot and no wind, really good riding weather. We found our way from the map pretty good, only went rogue a few times =). The last couple miles were a “lost slog” through the city. Visited De Haar, and next time need to budget time for a guided tour through this castle. Met the Noorderson at Utrecht but motored on down to Vianen for the night. Lovely quiet little town, walked through that evening and had ice cream, yum!
April 25, Monday
Wake up to the generator at 7, breakfast at 8, pack our lunch and off on the bikes by 9 is the normal routine. Another lovely day biking through countryside; Ljsselstein, Montfoort and lunch at Oudewater. Some 500,000 witches killed during that sad chapter in history and this town could certify you were not a witch by weighing you. Of course Tom and I got certified but I think they stamped we were witches! Uff Dah! On to Gouda for the night but arrived around noon so plenty of time to visit a museum (cool room with old medical instruments that looked more like torture equipment), our doctor barge buddies would have loved this room. Also went through “John the Baptist” church, a girl was doing a sound check for an upcoming concert and her voice in there was stunning. Saw my first coo coo clock in the town square, so cute! And I had my first 12% beer with Tommy at a corner pub, whoa, that be STRONG! We mounted our bikes and despite being a little tipsy found our moorage…..lovely sunset!
April 26, Tuesday
Up again and out to tilt at windmills! We crossed the river Lek by ferry and rode through pastureland. I saw my first Stork nest on top a house with the adult feeding the chick! I need to look up all these new European birds when I get home. Had a minor mishap with my bike, seems my left brake was not up to snuff (country is so flat who needs brakes, right?). Well, going down a bridge and a sharp turn to the right later is why you need brakes! My reading glasses went flying into the field as my knee took the brunt of the crash into the fence. No major harm done and gave me bragging rights to the only accident of the trip. Spent some time walking around Schoonhoven (known for their silversmiths) and on to Kinderdijk home of not a few windmills here and there but 12 to 14 clustered together and enough wind today a few were actually turning. We got there on a bit of an “off road” way (thanks Jim!) but what a cool marshy area with lots of bird action! Rushed to catch the ferry back across the Lek and board the barge. Motored into Rotterdam, a HUGE port city. We didn’t want to go on the port tour so we just walked across the city to the moorage site. Had a chat and beer at Le machinist, an old building that used to be an apprentice school for the machine trade. Bart decided after dinner to motor to Delft for the night. This might be a nice time to mention the fabulous theme dinners that Leontien prepares for us. Each night is a food from a different country….France, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, and of course the Netherlands…..Yum. My favorite was the French dish but Tom’s was a traditional Dutch casserole. I wrote it down so we can try and recreate it back in the States! Besides good eats we also have a interesting and congenial group on board. Tom and Jodell our heralded thoughtful leaders, Anna Marie and Jim (Jim we like your off the beaten paths!), Anna’s brother Michael and Susie (an infectious laugh and European way about you are you sure you live in Texas?), and Rick and Sydney ( more energy then the sun….what are you sewing today?)….very enjoyable crew!!
April 27, Wednesday
It is colder today so I wore all of Bird’s borrowed bike clothes and it all came in quite handy. We are on a long ride today so couldn’t hang around Delft as long as I would have liked. It is a lovely town and I can see hours of shopping potential but off to the North Sea!!! How cool is that!! It reminds me so much of Oregon riding through the Dune area except their dunes are more vegetated. Oops, forgot to mention we went through Den Haag before the dune ride. It is a cool big building city and home to the World Court so lots of international diplomatic intrigue there. Each one of these places one could spend more time visiting the sites, museums, etc but it is nice to see so much of South Holland. Each day is a new treat and today’s is the North Sea! Wow, a difficult ride leg-wise because the hilly nature of the dunes and then throw in the stiff head winds and OMG…carb burn! But we got there and Tommy and I got to touch the Sea!!! It was warmer than the Pacific, duh, the Gulf Stream and N Atlantic current to blame for that. I really LIKED the ride today, made me homesick for Oregon. In Leiden for the night resting our weary butts.
April 28, Thursday
You snooze you lose around here! Thinking we had extra time in the morning because we were going to boat during breakfast I saved myself extra coffee time but we were to eat and leave even EARLIER! Anyway we left earlier for some clandestine operation of “parking” the barge under a bridge while we disembarked (an illegal maneuver, but quite fun). Biked to a park, Keukenhof, open only two months out of the year with outstanding tulips and other flowers in various ASTOUNDING garden settings. SO glad we went early because the tour busses hit about 10 AM and it was wall to wall people! Biking to Haarlem we went past full FIELDS of tulips in every conceivable color. When ready to harvest they cut the tops off which promptly fall off into the spaces between the rows (Tom called them canals of color, how clever!) A very nice ride and shorter than yesterday so plenty of time to bike around the city, have a beer and people watch. Weather –wise it was a fairly nice day, colder than the first part of this adventure but rained mostly last night and only spit on us a few times today, We are lucking out weather-wise for spring time in Holland.
April29, Friday
Our last bike day = ( …..Started out barging through the bridges to a drop off point(by the statue of the boy with his finger in the dike) and then on to Zaanstreek a charming town, wooden style, instead of brick and a historically important industrial site. Saw how they make wooden shoes here! They are much lighter than I thought and many are works of art. Tom and Jodell went to a distillery (dang, next time going there!) and purchased a newly minted concoction that they shared with us all, YUM!! On the way back to Amsterdam we biked through a beautiful large park with a lake, a nice farewell to the peaceful countryside before back to big city life. Turned in our bikes and spent our last barge night at the Noorderson’s home base by NEMO. Tommy and I had a beer and checked out the library for Cody….beer served right by the library entrance, nice idea! We had a friendly dinner and warm farewell by Bart and Leontien. Tommy and I ended our night with a stroll to a port bench and witnessed an absolutely gorgeous sunset over the water, boats and buildings. Off to bed because tomorrow is “Queen’s Day”, a HUGE party of the Netherlands and we need to be off the boat by 9 AM and drag our suitcases to the hotel before it becomes a impenetrable sea of orange.
April 30, Saturday
Last day of this virgin (for me) European trip and it is a CRAZY time in Amsterdam. For once the pedestrian is King (or should I say Queen) …. Music, dancing, drinking, (and other =) things), plus the most outlandish orange get-ups!!! … a people watching day for sure. The streets have become one big yard sale and the techno music is everywhere, the base is so loud it can reset your heart rhythms! And the crowds, WILD, at one point we were completely stopped WALKING because the crowd was so dense!! Fun crowd, not mean or angry, Tommy was massaging my back when three guys dressed in “Delft suits” came up and asked for massages too! Ha! The party ended for the most part by 8 PM, how civilized, made for a much nicer sleep.
May 1, Sunday
A few random observations before catching the bus to the airport and the LONG travel day home….. The Dutch have extremely long legs! (I feel like my head starts at their waist). I LOVE the clothes here, the way they dress in layers and leggings and soft ankle high shoes and scarves…so European!! And everyone does everything on a bike, parents with three kids on one bike, a gal carrying a bag of fertilizer on a bike, office people all dressed up riding. It IS possible to have a bike world….my dream. We had a blast in Holland. Bicycles and barges are the perfect way to experience this beautiful country. I feel very blessed to have gone on this most wonderful vacation with my Tommy!!!
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