I have never been soooo hot in all my life. Add to that the decision to find accommodation close to Amsterdam in nearly 40 degree heat and you have a whole lot of very deep breathing.
Yesterday we toured the Windmills of Kinderdijk. We bought our tickets online for the museum and the boat trip because apparently it’s cheaper that way. We parked on the road down to Kinderdijk which was free and an easy walk to the Windmills. On the way to the Windmills the local pub had bike hire, no we didn’t stop for a drink, and on a whim we decided to hire bikes. Best decision ever.
It’s totally the way to see the Windmills and wished that I hadn’t been such a spendthrift and waited until I got to Kinderdijk because I would have forfeited the boat trip. We still did the boat trip BUT with no commentary it was fairly boring. (Don’t tell Doug I said that because I never agree with him).
After leaving the Windmills we headed towards Delft and found ourselves, (that is after we took a bike trail instead of a road and were chased by a concerned person on a motorbike), a lovely spot just back from a lake with an artificial beach, where we spent a lazy evening on our deck chairs. Kind of.
After a couple of hours we decided that we were close to Delft so we took a little drive. After rounding the town a few times and ending up in the “tram only lane”, we expressed a few excellent words at each other and went back to our campsite.
Obviously after an unsuccessful trip to Delft the previous evening we had decided to give up on it entirely and head for Amsterdam afterall if we couldnt make it in a small place, why not go big?
So my lovely google lady set us for Amsterdam, we rounded the corner and BOOM…. Delft.
After spending the morning in Delft which is famous for its blue and white pottery. It’s everywhere. Probably more importantly though it was the lifetime home to Vermeer so a great stop to view the museum dedicated to his life and works. We didn’t go because sadly our beer budget comes first in this heat.
Delft is full of canals with its narrow streets edged in water. Being cafe people it was nice to finally find really nice places to have good coffee so we treated ourselves and had 2 coffees each and shared a breakfast at a lovely coffee shop called Kek.
We had a fabulous morning wandering around the town, taking photos, browsing the shops, tasting cheese and looking at bikes. Yes we are on the hunt for 2 bikes because when in Rome….
Even though here in The Netherlands we don’t require electric bikes due to the flatness, back home it will be a different story so we have decided to go electric. There are so many quality bikes here.
Anyway to cut a long story short we are now in Haarlem, 26 kms away from Amsterdam underneath a Windmill in Spaarnwoude eating roast, drinking Rose and laughing at our adventures. Tomorrow we may try for Amsterdam again.
Downunder Wanderings 