Tuesday
Here's the houseboat/hotel I'm staying at. The cabin is small but nice, clean, cheap and great location. It turn out to be a great option to a hotel. 2014
This boat is near my boat and it is a Barge and Bike Tour boat. 2014
Here's my rental bike, it's single speed, 2 locks, lights, fenders, full chain guard and carrying rack. I put my suitcase on their to get it to my boat. It has a triple band bungle cord that works well. The bike costs 9 Euros (12 dollars) for the first day then 6 Euros (8 dollars) for each additional day. They rent faster bikes, but you are just asking for trouble, If you are not from Amsterdam, You are just an amateur, and I am in no way kidding about this! The locals ride bikes 7 days a week, and to and from work in bicycle rush hour. 2014
Bikers may have priority over cars and walkers but NOT over streetcars, they will win everytime. 2014
This was early in the morning near my boatel, and the train station. 2014
I took this from the dock next to my botel. My botel is on the Amstel River so we see the tour boats go bye all day. 2014
Wednesday
The red light district early in the morning, very quiet here. 2014
They still have some houseboats in the city but far fewer than they use to. 2014
Some nice houses on the Amstel River. 2014
Crossing the turn around bridge on the bike route and it looks like a little rain coming soon. 2014
A windmill on the Amstel River ride Wed morning. 2014
I passed the Rijksmuseum on the way to Vondal Park. 2014
A mid day ride in my favorite park in the world. Vondal Park. I took a picnic lunch of pastries, Gouda cheese, a tuna wrap and a quart of the best whole milk (it tastes like half and half). I also went to the flea market and had the best Belgium waffle drizzled with white and dark chocolate (very messy but great. 2014
I had my picnic on a bench by the dog designated park area. And I was enjoying these brown labs play catch with their owner. One of them brought me the ball, but I let the owner call him since I was eating and the ball was a little slobbery. 2014
A night shot from my boat dock facing the city. 2014
Thursday
I headed out to the countryside, it's sunny with a high today of 15c (60F), I picked up pastiries, milk, orange juice, water and a couple apples. I started with a head wind, but it died down and turned up to be a great day! 2014
When you get out in the countryside you see road bikers in full gear. Even helmets! 2014
These two little lambs got all excited when they noticed me. They were playing up a storm. 2014
I did not have a map, I just used the sun and the road signs helped a little too. 2014
Even the little towns have a bike shop. 2014
I've tried not to take a picture of every windmill, but the photo is tempting. 2014
One of the small towns had a farmers market and the cheese shop is always worth a look. 2014
The price of gas is 1.66 euros a liter (which equals US$ 8.55 per gal)
and diesel was 1.39 euros per liter (which equals US$ 7.15 per gal). Very expensive. 2014
I found an ALDI's and went inside, they are not fancy here either. Beer is about 2 US dollars a 6 pack.
I saw these cute little tour boats as I was crossing a bridge into a village. 2014
Just about every town you enter has a Welcome sign with the town name. I passed by many of these. I took a photo of each town sign so I could later track my route. My iPhone is at home. The red road is the bike road and the car lane has two way traffic but only one lane with passing pull offs for the cars. Car traffic out here is very light on these narrow roads. 2014
I passed this castle and it had a moat, but it did not look like it was a tourist attraction. 2014
In passed trips I had thought that the thatched roof houses were not common, but in the old villages and the countryside, I had seen quite a few of them. Some of the houses in the small towns date back to the late 1600's. It is amazing that these houses have been lived in long before the United States existed. 2014
Some of the farms and houses have their own draw bridges. 2014
I passed by this cool entrance and I could not wait to see what it was for... 2014
I was not disappointed. It was a very prestigious university of some kind. There were hundreds of school age kids passing bye on there way home. No school buses seen in any of my trips, come to think of it.. They ride bikes rain or shine. I was glad the sun was shinning. 2014
I had been on the road for about 3 hours and I thought I had arrived at Utrecht, but I was not quite there, but I decided that I had gone far enough. The round trip ended up being 50 miles at about 10-12 miles per hour. It was a great day and the wind was behind me on the way back. 2014
I saw a River Cruise boat headed towards Germany as I was headed towards Amsterdam on the river trail. 2014
Friday
An early morning view down a narrow canal. 2014
I decided to stay in town today and I went to the Albert Heins (their version of Publix) and bought lunch to take to the best park on earth (imo) Vondal Park. I also hit a pastry shop. 2014
Ok now where did I park my bike?
I think it was the red and white one. There are two more levels above this one. 2014
Just in case you thought that, that was a lot of bikes, here is another group near by. 2014
At the train station bike parking lot there is a vending machine that sells bike lights for 4 Euros a set. That was a deal so I tried to buy a set, but the machine was not working. 2014
They seem to sell a lot of coffee here, but it has a funny smell. 2014
Not to far from my hotel/boat are the Rhine River Cruise boats, getting ready to set sail on a tour of Germany I'm guessing. I will do one of these cruises one day, the average age of these passengers is at least 70, so I still have plenty of time. 2014
This is the dept of Justice building. They have some crazy architecture in Holland and this one is mild. 2014
Rush hour is a breeze, if you have a bike, scooter, or mini electric car.
But a nightmare by regular car in the city. 2014
A double seater bucket bike, great for small kids or shopping. 2014
A covered double seater baby carriage. 2014
A dutch pick-up truck. 2014
The sign means "I love Amsterdam" and it is correct I do love Amsterdam/Holland! 2014
The sun was out again and another beautiful day. 2014
I had an hour to kill before heading to the station so I cruised around and took a few more. 2014
Monica runs a tight ship and this is the place she serves breakfast to a hungry crowd. 2014
Well it's time to go turn in the bike and head to the airport for Part 2 of the trip. 2014