Biking in Holland

When I studied abroad in San Sebastián, I had a friend whose parent was from the Netherlands, and often some style or habit would make her say, ¨That is so Dutch!¨ I found myself thinking that phrase over and over again last month when we took a long weekend to visit Amsterdam and other lovely Dutch towns by bike.

More on Amsterdam later. The fun part was the Dutch countryside. We left the capital ¨early¨ Saturday morning. I say early in quotes because it was as early as a group of nine adults and two babies could get ready to ride. It seemed like the cast of an episode of  ¨Galegos no estranxeiro¨ a show that films Galicians living abroad. The group was made up of Galicians living in Holland, Belgium, and France as well as some (myself included) who were just on vacation. Anyways, the great thing about the Netherlands is they've got bike lanes all over the place. (I did not appreciate, however, that motorcycles could also use the bike trails. Talk about scary.) At some points we rode on old country roads, rarely encountering cars. One guy waved to me from his window! I was so delighted. That is so Dutch!

Zaanse Schans
About an hour out of Amsterdam was our first stop. It's a little replica village of the 1700s, with museums, shops, and of course, windmills. I really liked the architecture in Holland because it all reminded me of colonial Boston. We had a picnic lunch in front of the Cooper's workshop. Then we visited a clog shop. That is so Dutch.

Purmerend
We spent the night on a boat in this small town. Luckily we ventured further into town, because we then discovered that they were having a town fair (with rides more similar to those at home than the shabbier town fairs in Galicia). I was too pooped from all that bike riding to stay out late though, and took advantage of the excuse to go back early with one of the babies. It was cool to wake up to ducks floating outside our tiny window the next morning.

Edam
This town was so delightful! Again, because of that colonial architecture, I half expected people to come out of shops dressed in revolutionary garb. It had one main canal, with a steep brick bridge. Down a second major canal, people out for a Sunday stroll/boat ride passed us by. We stopped for lunch at a fried food shack next to the canal.

Volendam
Instead of just canals, it opens to the sea (well, an eastern bay). I wish we had had more time to spend here, since the sun was shining, and all the terraces were packed. Looked like such fun! But we had a schedule to keep, so there wasn't time for stopping in this town.

Monnickendam
This town also opens to the bay, but we mostly just saw the main canal with its old-timey sailboats. This was our last stop for some refueling before we had to kick it into high gear and bike back to Amsterdam before the bike rental shop closed. Despite being mostly flat, the last two hours of biking was really a killer. From zero exercise to a two day bike trip is quite a jump. But I survived! Crabby, but alive!