Sept 8-13 Ft Vuren – Gouda – Warmond
We headed out early from Breda early. Lots of miles to cover, The dry season is definitely over – some wind and rain every day but some beautiful rides and good weather too. We returned to Fort Vuren for another interesting stay although the restaurant is closed for the season. We guided Frank and Michael through the spooky now-deserted quarters, tunnels, counterscarp gallery, tower basement and glamping ridge. Eerily empty after so much activity just a few weeks ago.
Great dinner at marina near our Lake House in Warmond
From there on to Gouda with its lovely canals and classic homes, huge square and its unmatched treasure-trove of stained glass. An interesting stay and long ride to lunch.
The stained glass commeorating Haarlem’s victory
From Gouda it was on toward Warmond north of Leiden – set out in the rain that refused to stop but we found a good lunch spot and after lunch it let up and we had a long but pleasant ride through the polders with some very narrow single-tracks, close cow encounters, and on to our last two-day stay together at the Lake House in Warmond. We had a delightful meal at the Brasserries on the lake just a short walk from our lake house. On our day off we took the Kaag ferry and rode around the lake. We happened on the Warmondse Schippertjesdagen (Warmond Little Skippers Days) with nostalgic tugboats, workboats, and steam engines – and of course a memorable lunch on the water. Chicken soup for dinner and a lovely small campfire to commemorate a great time and shared adventures. Today Frank and Michael are off east to our favorite spot on the Vecht River, while we are heading north. They have a few more weeks but after one last stop near Bloemendaal we are back to Haarlem to wrap up our 2-months in the Netherlands.
too-close encounters with cows – see my red helmet waiting for passage
