July 24-28 Haarlem
Thursday started out right on track. After a way-too-lavish breakfast we caught the 73 bus right outside our door to Beverwijk station and walked (lugging bike gear) a km or 2 to Pr. Beatrixlaan 9 – the address of our friend Ernst V Zijl ‘s new bike shop… or so we thought. But when we got there it was a residence no bike shop in sight! after some panic we called Ernst and were told “right address – wrong town”! the right town was about 15km north! He still has one bikeshop in Beverwijk but he sold the one we usually go to, and the newer, bigger one is in Uitgeest! Go figure… We were lucky Ernst was willing to hop in his van and come rescue us!
After that rocky start, all went smoothly and after picking up our wonderful red bikes, all pollished and charged to go, we had our traditional photo outside the new shop and our magical but slightly longer ride back to Haarlem. A ferry ride across the ship channel, ride through Kennemerland National Park and a lunch stop at Bartje Bloemendaal. perfect!
We spent some lazy days simply enjoying one of our favorite areas of the world. On Friday evening we had a beautiful ride through the Zuid Kennemerland National Park to Ijmuiden – where the ferry departs across the Black Sea to the UK. In Ijmuiden we celebrated Ernst’s birthday with a terrific BBQ and good company at his lovely home with courtyard. On the way home we stopped for a photograph with castle in the park. A perfect day.
We spent some time reorganizing our travel gear, leaving as much as possible with our hosts to pick up on our return. We also got some much needed rest, and pondered the decor of our room. Wondering at the “fusion” of Victorian art and elegance with quanset-hut-inspired motif wall coverings. One night around 3 AM Poltergeists were rattleing the wall the and huge floral painting crashed to the floor. We learned later the art was painted by our host so maybe the ghost was sending a hidden message. Luckily the painting was undamaged, but our restful sleep was interrupted.
Leaving the B&B requires caution due to the fast cycling traffic just off our front doorstep. On Saturday I spent some pleasant time at the market square, stopping by to pay my respects at the Corrie Ten Boom house.
Later spent some less-pleasant time remembering how to do this blog but finally figured it out mostly.
– never step on the red without looking both ways!
On Sunday we pedaled to the beach near Zandfoort and back through the dunes, stopping at our favorite rest stop. In the evening we visited our favorite pizza spot, remembering two years ago with friends Frank and Micahel who joined us and our family on the barge trip around Holland.
Then we strolled around the Grote Markt. Two years ago we said goodbye to our Dutch long-time Friends Willie and Gert at Cafe Colette, our favorite restaurant. (If you follow this blog you will know we met Willie and Gert in the Maldives in 1981.) We planned to meet there last year, but my bike crash at our second home in Michigan interferred. This year Gert’s bike crash near their second home in Provence prevented them from joining us. We substituted a photo with the friendly staff and later drank a toast to our friends, speedy recoveries, and “NO MORE BAD LUCK!”.
