Skip to main content

Stage 17 - The Hague to Breda via (Rotterdam) 62km (30-Jun-2019)


Delft was always on our list of places to visit in The Netherlands and yesterday we did just that on our day off the tour. Also took the opportunity to further explore The Hague on a seriously hot day. Ursi even managed to climb the 300 plus steps up the very narrow staircase to the top of the tower in Delft. Not for me.








Our host, Abhi, had organised a home delivered Indian meal in the evening which went down a treat. Nice change from what we have normally eaten on the tour.
Early start today; after breakie, we left around 8.45am to catch a train to Rotterdam to reduce the riding distance and time to Breda. It was always in the plan to do that. Getting bikes loaded with panniers on the train is not as easy as it sounds when the platform is quite a bit lower than the train doors. Anyway, we managed to get them up and there was a first experience, where the ticket price for the bikes were more expensive than the passengers. The bikes cost Euro 6.90 each (that is the cost, matter where you travel to in The Netherlands). Our tickets to Rotterdam cost Euros 5.10 each.  
As always it was good to be back in the saddle on an agreeable day, not so hot. Rotterdam Central Station and surrounding areas were fairly deserted which made getting out of Rotterdam fairly easy.
Today's ride, as always on good bike paths, was uneventful, mostly through suburbia, along main roads and through some heavy industrial areas - nothing too exciting to look at or photograph. As my mate, Ellwood would say, today was all about riding. For what it's worth here are a few photos taken along the way.




The approach into Breda was nothing special, sums up the day's ride. Nearer to our Airbnb, bumped into a Kiwi, didn't get to talk to home for too long but it's always nice to meet neighbours. After checking in and a quick shower, made our way into Breda; appeared the whole town was either shopping or having refreshments in the town square. I don't know but somehow the people here appear to be different from the people in other parts of Netherlands. That's not being critical, just an observation.




Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant, (with this bike hanging off the wall) pork belly something or another for Ursi and a vege noodle for me. The tucker wasn't bad, all the same, can't wait to get back to Sydney to taste the real thing.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stage 3 - Seeon Seebrook to Salzburg - 60km (03-May-2019)

It’s wet and cold; at home, neither would I go for a ride nor play golf in these conditions but here, I have to soldier on.  And soldier on, I did, on near perfect bike paths most of the way, sometime through the countryside, sometime parallel to the B roads as I made way towards Salzburg. Not many photo taking opportunities until I got to Traunstein, where the town square was alive with market vendors and town folks. There was an orderly queue outside one of the stalls selling fresh Spargle (Asparagus), a seasonal delicacy, which I am partial to as well. I got talking to a lady there as you do; who was kind enough to tell me more about the town’s history and why she believed it was god’s own place for her and offered to take this mug shot of mine for prosperity to remember her beloved town. Got lost trying to get out of town; my Garmin doesn’t acknowledge road works which was blocking my route so ended up asking another young lady on how I could cross...
1 comment
Read more

Rest day in Bruges - Damme

It's called a rest day but in reality it isn't. From time to time we take a day off the tour to discover a town and surroundings and on this occasion, that is exactly what we did. Early breakie of muesli, greek yoghurt and milk and we were good to go by 9.30am on our bikes. Making our way through the town on cobbled stone roads (not the most comfortable way to ride a bike) to the railway station, noticed how deserted the town looked compared to yesterday. Stopped a few times as you do to take these photos. Slowly made our way to the station to buy tickets for tomorrow's 4 hour train ride to Aarlon for the short 36km ride from there to Luxembourg, our final destination where we are planning to spend 3 mights before making our way by public transport to Zurich. To date, we have ridden 1,541km (including today's rides) with one short stage to go from Aarlon to Luxembourg and a planned 70km on one of our rest days in Luxembourg. Back to today, Be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stage 18 - Breda to Antwerp 69km (01-07-2019)

No breakie today, just a quick decaf coffee and hot water with a slice of lemon for me. We were out of there by 8am, planning to have breakie down the road to Antwerp, which is another storey. Will come back to that shortly. Today's route was a lot better than yesterday's; starting in Breda as mums were dropping kids off to school and a few early starters making their way to work as we made our way out of Breda. Soon we were on cycle paths taking us through fields, farms and and along canals where these 2 dudes were fishing, living the dream. There's something to be said about retirement. You know, I miss fishing more than playing golf. Moving along, through beautiful landscapes, listening to  the twittering of the birds and the sound of the wheels (don't let it drive you crazy); this is what bike touring is all about on a beautiful day. What a difference a day makes? Today's route was in complete contrast to yesterday's. ...
Post a Comment
Read more