Distance: 95km
Ride Quality: good*
Accomodations: Logeerboot Visithor (it's a houseboat!)
After an excellent sleep last night at Hotel Central, we enjoyed a lovely buffet breakfast with our first taste of gouda cheese on native soil. Yum yum! Then we hopped onto the bikes and were off on the LF-2 headed for Rotterdam. Normally, it would take us some time to find the LF route again but Hotel Central is located literally right on the LF-2, so we had a pretty speedy getaway this morning. Astonishingly, the hotel staff were completely unaware of this, in fact most of the locals we've stopped to ask directions from haven't known what the LF routes are. Instead, everyone here uses local 'node' maps, where every intersection is assigned a number and you plan your route by following the nodes along the way. Penguin and I have yet to get our hands on one of these precious documents. Not that it would do us a lot of good since we'd need the local maps for a dozen municipalities a day... but if the Dutch authorities are reading this blog, it would be totally awesome if you could upload the maps along with the LF routes online! :)
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| It doesn't get more convenient than this: the hotel patio is basically the LF route! |
*Today, the LF route was well paved with long stretches of cobblestones and laid brick. Thankfully there was no dirt tract today. The route however was very meandering. I'm sure that the creators of the LF routes wanted to make sure that you get the full scenic experience but at a certain point, the riders of the LF routes would also like to just arrive at their destination, too.
Signage on this part of the LF route was more sparse and we lost our way a few times. First of all, LF signs with a u-turn do not mean that you're going the wrong way and should turn around. They mean 'go over this bridge then turn immediately afterwards and follow the new path in another direction'. Also, the sign posting people occasionally mixed up the LF a and b signs, which caused us some confusion until we learned to ignore them. Apparently, in the Netherlands, the LF routes are marked 'a' when going in one direction (North to South or East to west) and 'b' when going in the other direction (South to North or west to east). This is particularly handy in preventing you from going back the way you came after you've done a few loops around during the same traffic circle looking for your exit... except that they occasionally mix up the signs and then you feel like you've gone down the rabbit hole after so much circling.
Lastly, the signage at the 2 ferry crossings we took today was also less than ideal (read: non-existant). The first ferry takes you from Dordretch to Papendrecht, which is the port you can see just across the river (node 98 on the local map) and the first of 2 Papendrecht landing options. From this terminal, you can also catch 3 other ferries, one of which goes directly to Rotterdam (sorry legs, no shortcut for you!). It was unclear to us if you needed to pay for this ferry (the ones in Belgium had been free and we didn't see anywhere to buy a ticket). Fortunately, no one kicked us off the boat and made us swim for it. The second ferry crossing was in Kinderdijk - we took the ferry straight across the river again (to Krimpen aan de Lek), which at the time had looked like our only option. This, however, was a mistake. You are definitely supposed to take the ferry going to Slekkerveer, which uses the same dock and presumably runs along a similar schedule. Either way, this ferry definitely has a toll (albeit a cheap one at 1.75 euros for 2 people) and someone comes around to collect it, so have some change ready. If you do take the wrong ferry it's no big deal. We navigated our own route to Rotterdam along some quiet roads and eventually found the LF2 again without having to recross the river.
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| And here we thought we'd chosen a luxury vacation with no carnivorous animals to worry about! |
On the bright side, the weather was even better today and it was finally warm enough for Penguin and I to wear t-shirts! Hooray! We are both now sporting impressive cycling tan lines that I look forward to flaunting when I get home. Haha.
We had lunch today at a little cafe that appeared mysteriously at the edge of a forest along the route and it really did just appear out of nowhere. There were no signs and it was located in the middle of a long stretch of fietspad (bike path in Dutch). The food was decent and definitely kept us going for the afternoon. Also, the opportunity to use the washroom was great. During much of France, pee breaks were a side-of-the-road-off-in-the-bushes affair but ever since entering Belgium and the Blue Banana, these opportunities have been infrequent. And trust me, cycling over cobblestones with a full bladder is no fun!
The other great highlight today was seeing all the windmills in Kinderdijk. The LF2 takes you right down the center of the UNESCO heritage site where nineteen 17th century windmills line both sides of the canal. It really is quite beautiful. And popular! Sundays in Holland, it seems, are the national everybody-go-ride-your-bike day and the fietspad was full of people all on our route! In fact, sometimes we found it easier to cycle on the road because there was less traffic! Despite this, it was really great to see so many people, of all ages and sizes, getting outside and getting some exercise. My favorites were the tiny kids who were all suited up in their spandex shorts and tops and pedaling like mad to keep up with mom and dad.
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| So many windmills! So sunburnt! |
Tonight, Penguin and I are staying on a houseboat in the center of Rotterdam. It is AWESOME. Definitely a little more money than our other accomodations but way too cool to pass up the opportunity. Our boat is moored next to another boat that is a floating restaurant (Gravy Daveys) - and they make some darn tasty British food! I had a goat cheese and sweet pea tart with minted potatoes for dinner and a lemon tart for dessert, all rounded off by a Pimm's Cup. It was delicious! And now I'm sipping tea and writing this blog post from the deck of our boat next door while Penguin is down below singing this song.
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| Dinner was delicious on-board Gravy Daveys' |
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| Followed by lounging on a beautiful, warm evening aboard our houseboat right next door! |
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| Soon to be followed by sleeping on said houseboat... Mmm sleep! |
Tomorrow will likely be our last day in the saddle since our goal is to arrive in Amsterdam. We're both a little sad to be done biking, despite the saddle sores and aching legs. I think it's the prospect of not being able to eat as much of- and anything we want without guilt that makes us the most sad. Haha.
We'll be arriving in Amsterdam a few days early (Penguin keeps muttering to himself about me being militant and if we'd just taken more rest days/done shorter distances blah blah blah)... which means that we'll get one full day to just lounge and 3 additional days to explore the city. Any suggestions for what to do?
Cheers!
Saroja
PS: Happy Birthday, Mom! :)
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