Zuid-Holland

Zuid-Holland 

Saturday 16th - Wednesday 20th June 2018

Sunday 17th June

 I had only been cycling for about two minutes when I witnessed  my first cycling accident on this trip. I left my room in Lekkerkerk heading for the river Lek to get a ferry across when a Lycra clad cyclist came racing towards me on the cycle path and just fell off. He landed in the road and luckily the car managed to stop without hitting him. If he had fallen the other way he would have brought me off as well. He was lying unconscious in the road, still attached to his pedals. The car driver called an ambulance and asked me to direct the  traffic down a side road. The ambulance and police arrived and I had to give a statement. Luckily the car driver corroborated my statement, so they thanked me and said I wouldn’t be needed again. 

 

Sorry there is an error on this sketch map, the top orangey-red Province should be Nord-Holland

Kinderdijk

So, feeling very shaken, I continued on my way to get the ferry over the river to visit  Kinderdijk. This is the site of nineteen 18th century windmills that are still in working order. The name Kinderdijk is said to derive from the St Elizabeth’s Day Flood of 1421 when the storm washed a baby in a crib with a cat up onto the dyke. Windmills, dykes, reservoirs and pumping stations in this area have been important in water management for centuries and have kept 40% of the Netherlands from being under water and 60% from the threat of flooding. 

Back to Delft

I had planned to cycle from Kinderdijk that afternoon and stay in Rotterdam, but it started to rain and the forecast was bad for the next couple of days, so I decided that I would carry to Delft. If I was going to get wet I might as well get it all done in one day, rather than have two wet days in the saddle. I contacted the hotel where I started my adventure 5 weeks ago and they had a vacancy for three nights, so I snapped it up. I decided that I could go back to Rotterdam to see it properly by train from Delft. So I cycled through the city and continued on my way. It drizzled all afternoon accompanied by a few torrential thunderstorms. I was lucky to be able to shelter from the worst one at a bus stop. I was joined by an elderly woman who pedalled up dripping wet wearing her Sunday best. Although neither of us spoke each other’s language, we managed to communicate and babbled away to each other for about half an hour. Eventually I arrived late in the evening, settled in and dried out. 

Monday 18th June - A day in Gouda

Lucy found some clogs in Gouda

It was still drizzling when I woke up, so I decided to get the train to Gouda. I had cycled through the town a few days ago, but didn’t have time to see it properly. After lunch huddled under an umbrella in the Markt I visited the cheese museum housed in the Waag, the former cheese-weighing house built in 1668 where I learnt about the history of the Dutch cheese trade. 

The sun had come out when I left the museum, so I strolled around the town and visited Sint Janskerk, the longest church in the country. I couldn’t believe it when I entered, it has the best stained glass windows that I have ever seen. There are 72 wonderful 16th century windows and the sunlight was streaming through them. As it was Ann’s birthday, I lit a candle for her and sat looking at the windows. Magical. 

An added bonus was the exhibition of large paintings of the Stations of the Cross by Willem Hesseling,  I really liked these.

Two of Willem Hesseling’s Stations of the Cross

 


I bought a mixed platter of Gouda cheese, some grapes and a mini jar of chutney to take back to my room and settled down with a bottle of wine to watch England beat Tunisia in the World Cup. Lucy was upset that Holland hadn’t qualified as she had been practicing set pieces, and was all ready to represent them. 

 

As there was a fridge in my room the cheese,which was delicious, lasted for two nights.

Tuesday 19th June - A day in Delft

International Space Studies banner

Instead of catching the train to Rotterdam I decided to go there when I return in the Autumn and spent my last full day in Delft. The posters in the Markt were advertising the International Space Studies Programme  to be held at the Delft University of Technology and Leiden University. A nine-week graduate-level programme held in a different country every year. 

I had been warned about midges near the lakes in Friesland, but wasn’t troubled by them mainly because it was too windy. But an insect must have got into my cycling glove on Sunday and my hand was very swollen and painful for 3 days from about 6 or 7 bites. I had to get some lotion from the pharmacy to treat them. 



Lucy had her final bottle of local beer in the Markt before going back to the room to finish the cheese and pack ready to cycle to the ferry in the morning.

Wednesday 19th June - A Day of Lasts

Instead of taking the most direct route I decided to cycle back via Den Haag and spend the day by the sea, before cycling along the coastal path to Hoek van Holland to get the overnight ferry back to Harwich. The sun came out and the wind dropped so I was able to cycle along the path next to the sea. Last year it was too windy to ride on this path.

As I said a day of lasts, Lucy’s last look at the sea, last drink of Dutch coffee and apple cake and last ride in the traffic free cycle paths.

I arrived early and had a tray of kibling (small pieces of lightly battered fish) and chatted to a Dutch cyclist, a retired teacher, who was also travelling on the ferry. He was planning to get a train to Penzance and cycle back. I hope he did it and coped with the narrow lanes, traffic and hills. 

A final photograph of the sea, before I wheeled my bike on board

They let us onto the ferry about 2 hours early so I went on board, had a shower and settled in the luxury cabin, while Lucy sampled the complementary wine, wore her clogs for the last time  and took her usual port hole seat. 

But she will be back, See the next post for details and a summary of distance etc for this trip.