Back to the Netherlands



I wrote this post last week and thought I had published it, but when I checked this morning it seems to have disappeared. Probably because the WiFi where I was staying was very temperamental. I lost some emails as well.) it was quite a long, detailed post, but I am o my going to rewrite a summary of my first week away so that I can bring the blog up to date.

Lucy Goes Back to The Netherlands 
May & June 2018



This year Lucy has decided to go back to places and countries that she fell in love with last year and learn more about them. First she spent a week in January going back to Iceland to see it in the snow and ice. (See previous post.) Then, when she got home, she booked a ferry to The Netherlands, the fabulous country of the bicycle, made herself an orange jumper, painted her clogs orange and spent a couple of months pouring over travel books and learning Dutch. 


I hope that this will be a fairly leisurely five-week cycle ride around The Netherlands, with lots of stops to see things and chat to people.


 To the Ferry - 15th & 16th May 2018




Dave, with Little Annie, drove me to Manningtree and, after we had eaten lunch, they set off home and I loaded up the bike. Lucy was already waiting in her pannier, getting very excited about the start of her new adventures.The sun was shining and the Stour estuary looked beautiful as I headed to Mistley where I treated myself to a night in the fabulous Mistley Thorn Hotel and ate a meal in their award winning restaurant, I would definitely recommend it. 




While I was eating Lucy discovered that Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General, was based in Mistley, between 1645 and 1647, when 112 people were hanged for witchcraft. She wouldn’t have stood a chance. 



It was grey, dull and windy the following day when I cycled to the port and along with about 50 other cyclists I got very cold waiting for 2 hours to board the delayed ferry. Luckily it wasn’t raining , it was last year. They were on a three-day work’s bonding trip and were going to cycle about 110 miles each day. I felt quite sorry for them the next morning as a lot of them had been sick during the rough crossing and was glad I had an easy 30 mile ride ahead of me. 



I had a good night’s sleep in my large cabin with no sea-sickness, while Lucy took her customary position looking out of the port hole. 






It was a delight to be back in a cycle-friendly country. I was straight onto a cycle path, well away from traffic and slowly made my way to Delft. It always takes a day or so to get used to having priority at junctions and cycle lanes around roundabouts etc. 



Straight off the ferry onto a cycle path


It must be such a culture shock for Dutch cyclists arriving in Harwich having to ride out of the port onto the busy A120. At one point they were relaying a new cycle path and the traffic was stopped to allow us to ride safely on the road. You have priority at junctions, your own path around roundabouts and cycle lights which quickly change if you have to cross a main road. Why have we got it so wrong? Everyone seems to cycle here, babies strapped to handlebars, children in box carriers at the front of the bike, young and old. Everyone. And no Lycra and not a helmet to be seen. No wonder Lucy couldn’t wait to get back.




I arrived in Delft and checked into Hotel Leeuwenbrug (Lion Bridge Hotel). I always try to find somewhere nice for my first stop in a new country. This was my base for the next three days and I loved staying there. 


I am going to write shorter posts and hopefully once I catch up I will be able to post more frequently. Also there will be less to retype if I lose a post again. 


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