July walkabout

It has been a very busy summer, with a trip to Miami to give a talk at a conference and do a lot of science related things in mid-July, two friends staying in my apartment during visits to Amsterdam, lots of students to work with, many bootcamp and spin classes, an intense (4.5 hours every day) Dutch class that I'm currently enrolled in, etc. I took a break to decompress by doing one of my favorite things just before my trip to Miami: walk around Amsterdam with my camera and take some pictures of Amsterdam.

It's been a remarkably warm and dry summer, at least by the standards set by my first two summers here. These pictures were taken during one of the first nights of our sustained summer weather, and people were out in droves to enjoy the late sunshine and lingering warmth.

"Brug" is bridge, so this is the Dirk Van Nimwegen bridge

A view of the Oudekerk (old church), which is in what is now the Red Light District, and which hosts the World Press Photo exhibit annually.

Coronas are popular in Amsterdam. This was not mine; someone left an empty on a dock on the Amstel.

The sun setting over the "skinny bridge" on the Amstel

A police boat on the Amstel

Sunset over the Amstel

Bike path along the Amstel, on the way from my apartment into the center of Amsterdam

Cafe bordering the above pictured bike path

One of my favorite views of Amsterdam: the Zuidekerk (south church) from the south

A surprisingly quite street on the way to the center of Amsterdam

The Westekerk (west church) at dusk

Houseboat museum at night

Den Haag to Haarlem

High temperatures have hovered in the mid-80’s – about as high as they get around here – for the past week. A few stray summer thunderstorms have passed quickly over Amsterdam, but skies have largely been clear. It looks like we’re in the middle of the elusive, unpredictable Dutch summer.

My friend Yoel, who lives in Utrecht and works in Tilburg (both cities in the Netherlands), suggested that we take a bike ride on Thursday, when the winds were forecast to be calm and the skies were forecast to be sunny. Since I’d taken a Northern route in my past few rides, I suggested that we take the train south to Den Haag and ride back north toward Amsterdam from there, along the North Sea coast.

So, after biking to Amsterdam Zuid (train station) and buying my train ticket– as well as the “supplement” for taking my bike on the train – I took the 40 minute trip from Amsterdam to Den Haag and met Yoel (who was coming from Utrecht) in Den Haag Central Station. After a bit of wandering through Den Haag, we found the correct bike path and were on our way north.

The path snaked from a few kilometers inland, where we were surrounded by grassy sand dunes, to roads that passed between the beach and seaside restaurants and hotels. The number of hotels and restaurants along the beach was remarkable; I’m guessing that there are no more than 30 days out of the year when the weather is sunny and warm enough to want to spend much time on the beach, yet apparently there is enough demand to keep business going.

The sun was indeed unusually warm and bright for the Netherlands, and, although I didn’t get a noticeable sun burn (in terms of red skin and pain), I have experienced some peeling since Thursday. Yoel and I stopped at the Jopen (one of the more famous Dutch craft breweries) brewery and restaurant for lunch and a beer in Haarlem and, after 55km in the saddle, we decided to take the train from Haarlem to Amsterdam rather than biking the addition 20km alongside the car filled highway.

Volendam and more

I bought a new road bike ("racefiets" or racing bike, as it's called here) in April, since the one I purchased when I moved to Amsterdam two years ago wasn't quite working for me. Our spring and early summer weather was terrible, in terms of temperature and precipitation. But it has warmed up and dried out a bit in recent weeks. I tried to bike from Amsterdam to Volendam, a small "traditional" town north of Amsterdam, on Wednesday, but I misinterpreted the sign posts that direct cyclists, and I ended up going in a rather unsatisfying loop through dairy land on a cloudy, windy day.

Temperatures were supposed to be in the upper 60's on Saturday, and the skies were forecast to be mostly clear, so I set out for another attempt, with two modifications: 1) I researched the route a bit more, and 2) I decided to try strapping my camera around my back so that, unlike the ride on Wednesday, I could take some photos of the countryside. This was the route that I ended up taking (which was pretty close to what I'd initially planned).

After crossing the IJ river, the city quickly dissolves into countryside. My route took me along the western bank of the IJmeer, which is an artificial lake created by damning the sea. The water is brackish, and it is bordered by lands that used to be regularly flooded during high tides and heavy rainfall. Much of the path is located on a dike, and it is wide enough for an elevated bike path and a road for cars below. I alternated between taking the lower car road (as most of the road bikes did) and the elevated path, which allowed for some cool views of the IJmeer and the surrounding countryside.  

A group of adolescent girls rode toward me, and I stepped off the path to allow them to pass. A group of men cycling were coming up from behind the girls, and they decided to pass as this point. The horses remained calm throughout.

After riding the dike, I turned to the east and then to the north. I managed to use the sign posts correctly this time, and I passed through Monnickendam before heading north to Edam and then back down through Volendam before taking a ferry to Marken and then cycling back to Amsterdam.

Animal friendly meat does not exist

Street in Monnickendam

A scene in Edam

Houses along a canal in Volendam

Houses in Marken

Cheese shop in Edam

Sign advertising the weekly (Wednesday) cheese market in Edam

Canal in Edam

One of several Volendam shops in which you can take a picture in traditional Dutch clothing

Outdoor restaurant in Edam

Street in Edam

Departing Volendam on the ferry

Beer break after 20 miles

Apart from the obvious beauty of the scenery, I noticed a few other things during the ride. First (and this is not exactly surprising or new for me), the landscape is remarkably flat. The winds were calm, and there was little resistance from incline. It made for excellent riding. Second, most of the trip was spent on paths that were only for bikes, and driver behavior was exemplary during the few times I shared a road with cars. Third, there were a lot of cyclists on the paths, and at least half of them were not on road bikes; they were simply, leisurely, riding around on their "city bikes," which are the big, clunky, heavy bikes that typically don't go much faster than ten miles per hour. And, finally, as a summary of these observations, I reflected upon what a biking utopia this country is. Where else on earth could you have such an experience?