Biking in the Netherlands

I know this has nothing to do with Oxford or Englishness but this blog has become, in part, my pensieve -- a Harry Potter term meaning an object or place where you put your memories for safe keeping. This is a precious memory that I want in safe keeping so I'm placing it in my pensieve, despite the fact it has nothing to do with Oxford.  

I had the greatest good fortune to join some dear friends and wonderful women on a 4 day bike trip through the western part of the Netherlands.  It was April and the tulip fields were in bloom.  

I took the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam and met up my friends.  The first morning there we visited the Rijksmuseum and I was so impressed with both the architecture and the collections  

It had been over 30 years since I had been to Amsterdam.  What a beautiful city! I was enchanted with the canals, the architecture, the food, the people, the museums, the bike paths, the parks, and the general vibrancy and buzz of the city.  It is such a unique and charming city.    

It took two days for nine of us to gather from our various parts of the world. These are amazing women who I became friends with living in the Boston area.  We raised our kids together, played tennis together, celebrated holidays and family victories together, and helped each other through harder times and sorrow. Even though I left Boston 11 years ago now, I have still been included in the circle of their friendship -- a treasured blessing for which I am deeply grateful for. 

By day 2 we had all arrived and were ready to see Amsterdam properly.  We took a canal trip, had rijsttafel (my favorite!) at an Indonesian Restaurant, then toured the Anne Frank house. 

The Anne Frank house was so moving.  It is such a tragedy that after spending nearly 3 years in hiding in an annex in this house, and only months before the war ended, the Franks were captured -- someone turned them in. Only Otto Frank survived and went on to publish his daughter's diary and work on peace and reconciliation for the rest of his life.

After all that Anne witnessed and endured she wrote, "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death." 

Day 3:  We took an early morning train to Haarlam and met Peter from Tulip Cycling.  He fitted us with wonderful bikes and, most important, a GPS programed with a lovely scenic route along the coast, through tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth fields, farmland, windmills, and beautiful countryside.

Starting off in Haarlam:  Judianne Peterson, Jenny Carter, Margaret Lazenby, Kimberly Carlisle, Robin Baker, Kristiina Sorensen, Mary-lu Nelson, Lisa Dane, and me.

The first day of biking was memorable: the old city of Haarlam, coastal path and dunes, fields of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth, having a flat tire, and loosing (and eventually finding) my backpack.  We stayed the first night in Noordewujk. This was a biking trip where our luggage was waiting for us at the designated hotel at the end of a long day of biking.  It's a delightful way to bike tour!

Day 4:  We spent the morning at Keukenhof Tulip Gardens.  I've never seen such amazing garden beds of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and more. There were indoor exhibits of cut flowers with paintings, orchids, and tulip beds. Keukenhof is only open for 8 weeks in the spring. Each year 40 employees hand-plant 7 million bulbs to create beautiful garden beds in this park-like setting. It's truly a site to behold. 

For the most part we had good weather. Clouds and sunshine, warm enough but never too hot.  An occasional bit of rain but nothing that dampened the ride. 

We rode on to Leiden, a lovely old medieval university town that is a sister city to Oxford (Yeah --here's the connection of this blog to Oxford!) Leiden University is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War.  We stayed in a small hotel off this canal and had amazing pancakes for dinner. 

Day 5:  We started by exploring the castle at Leiden then rode through beautiful farmlands and countryside.  Holland has 16 million people, 18 million bikes, and 35,000 miles of dedicated bike paths.  There is no country more bike friendly that the Netherlands. It is a joy to bike there.  Even though it is mostly flat, it can be windy.  Often we rode into the wind which made it feel like it wasn't so flat.   

Much of Holland is up to 7 meters below sea level. An in incredibly innovative and intricate system was developed as early as 1740's with windmills and dikes to keep the ever-rising water from flooding the land. 

That afternoon, we stopped at a farmhouse to learn how the famous local cheese is made.  We had a fascinating tour and cheese making lesson and we where there at just the right time.  A strong hail storm roared through but we were luckily sampling cheese and missed the worst of the storm.  

The calm after the storm

Gouda's Town Hall

Yeah!  We made it to Gouda, a charming city known for its Gouda cheese and its delicious stroopwafels. 

Day 6: In the morning we walked through the Gouda cheese market and watched deals being made at the auction. We then rode through beautiful, lush green countryside following various dikes toward Kinderdijk.

 

Kinderdijk is a UNESCO world heritage site and a beautiful collection of 19 authentic windmills built over 250 years ago to pump the water from the land so that it could be used for farming. Many of the windmills still work today, keeping the sea at bay and the land dry enough for farming and living.   

A guide at Kinderdijk told us about how the windmills were used to hide and aid Jews during World War II. Behind the entrance door into the ground level of the wind mill was another door leading to the lower level. They were able to help local Jews escape and hide under the first floor. The door became known as the "Jew door".

We also learned that the position of the sails on a windmill were used to convey messages like a death in the family, a joyous occasion such as a wedding, a short or a long time of inactivity or even a call to come to the mill as quickly as possible. Sail signals also warned locals against impending Nazi raids during World War II, and signal allied pilots whether it was safe to fly over or not.

We ended our ride in Dordrecht where met Peter at the train station and turned in all the bikes.  It took three trains to get from Dordrecht to Antwerp, to Gent, and finally to Bruges, Belgium where we stayed for 2 nights to "recover" from the bike trip.

Day 7:  Bruges is the capital of West Flanders. It's known for its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings.  It's also know for Belgium waffles and chocolate of which we were delighted to sample.  

We took a walking tour of Bruges and here's what we learned in a nutshell: (Thank you, Mary-lu, for these notes!) Bruges was founded in the 9th century by a group of Danish Vikings. The name Bruges probably comes from the Old Norse word Bryggja, which means 'landing stage', or 'harbor'. 

Baldwin the Iron Arm arrived in the 9th century and became the first ruler of Flanders.

Charles of Bold, the duke of Burgundy and his daughter and heir, Mary of Burgundy both died prematurely under unfortunate circumstances.

Mary's husband, Maximilian, who was from the Habsburg family in Austria was captured in 1488 along with his tax collector, Peter "Longneck". They locked Maximilian in the house “Craenenburg” on the main market square. He had to watch all his friends and other nobility being tortured and killed. He saw his good friend Longneck beheaded at the market square. Once Maximilian was freed and back at power, he put a curse on the city of Bruges for their cruelties, especially with the fate of his good friend in mind. The people of Bruges had to keep swans or “longnecks” on their waters, or Bruges would be flooded. That is why swans are still found in Bruges today

This lovely courtyard called Ten Wijngaerde Beguinage. Beguines were a group of religious women, widows or spinsters who wished to live an independent but committed life outside the recognized orders with their vows of fidelity and poverty. This was, at one time, their village.  

Day 8: We rented a 9-passenger van and drove back to Amsterdam.  The afternoon was spent in the Van Gough museum and then wandering through the streets of the city.  The Van Gough museum is extraordinary.  I was moved to tears several times seeing his work and learning more about this extraordinary artist and man.  

The next morning and all too soon, it was time to day goodbye.  How can I find the words to say "thank you" to this wonderful group of sister/friends. Or for the opportunity to spend a week in thoughtful conversation, in beautiful countryside and interesting cities, learning, stretching myself, soaking up love, friendship, and inspiration.  I wish I had the words that matched my love for these women and my gratitude for the gift of their friendship.

And there are days when life rewards us and seems to make amends by granting us a marvelous gift, the precious gift of Friends.

From the Gift of Friends by Karin Schaefer