On August 28 I began a tour of the
Netherlands run by Cycletours Holland.
It consisted of staying on a boat at
night and riding a bicycle from 1 town
to another during the day. The boat
sailed to the last town of the day, and
we got back on board for the night. We
did this for 6 days, starting and ending
in Amsterdam. A tour guide went with us,
so we didn't have to hunt for places to
go or a hotel to stay in. This was the
best vacation I ever went on. The bikes,
scenery, people, weather, boat, and food
were excellent.
Bikes
We rode an average of 33 miles per day
on Gazelle bikes made in Holland. They
have 21 speeds, and shift perfectly. On
the flat bike paths we went about 16
MPH. We began taking turns being Lance
Armstrong breaking away in Le Tour de
France. We had a total of 3 flat tires,
2 broken spokes, and 1 chain slipping.
All were fixed within 3-15 minutes. The
Dutch do not wear helmets, as their
average speed is 12 MPH, and they don't
go down hills. After thinking about it,
they don't need helmets, but we
do.
Scenery
After walking out of the Amsterdam RR
station, I just stood for 30 minutes
looking at all the different things. My
mind short circuited 12 times due to
visual overload. Buildings, canals,
bicycles, trams, and boats were like
nothing I had ever seen before. The
buildings were built from 1600-1800, and
I was amazed at them. Some of the
buildings have noticeable sags, but the
y are not torn down and replaced. The
entire country has been worked over by
man in the past 400 years. Building ring
dikes, pumping the water out, and
maintaining the water level has been
going on since 1600. The countryside is
very green and the farmers grow crops
with high yields per acre.
People
There were 24 people on the tour, 12
speaking French and 12 English. The tour
guide could speak both. The Dutch speak
English as a second language, so we had
no trouble talking to them. While
their German neighbors make affluent
tourists,
the Dutch prefer to have American,
British, and Canadian tourists visiting
because of the
terrible things that happened during
WW2. Canadians are treated the best, as
the Canadian army fixed the dikes that
the Germans blew open, flooding parts
of the country.
Weather
The temperature was between 60 and 82
degrees, mostly in the 70's. It rained
20 minutes in 6 days.
Boat
It was about 120 feet long, 20 feet
wide, and had 12 cabins. The rooms were
big enough to sleep in and change
clothes. We stayed out of them most of
the time we were awake. The bathrooms
were so small I had to step outside to
turn around. The dining room had a radio
tuned to Station Tingle, announcers
speaking in Dutch and playing Beatles,
Beach Boys, Elvis, etc.
The crew consisted of the captain, his
wife the cook, the first mate (a lady),
the tour guide, and a sitter for the
captain's children. They had a small dog
who inspected everyone getting on board,
and kept any unauthorized animals off
the boat.
Food
The food prepared was excellent,
different casseroles each night. We had
cereal, meat, cheese, bread, butter,
jam, orange juice, coffee, or tea for
breakfast. After breakfast, we got plastic lunch boxes and made
sandwiches to take along and eat for
lunch, plus juice and power bars. We
could also buy any food we wanted when
riding around. The Dutch make pastries,
which add 8 ounces of weight for every
bite you take. I stayed away from
those. There is not much concern over
fat
or cholesterol. A Burger King value meal
costs $4.50, a can of Coke
$1.12.
Cost
$560 air fare Atlanta - Amsterdam
$600 for Cycletour
$400 for 4 days hotel stay in Amsterdam
$150 for 1-use cameras, food, and
souvenirs.
Gasoline costs $4.50 a gallon. I saw a
new Camaro and Thunderbird in Holland,
which would require $100 each to fill
the tanks.
Return? I'm ready right now!
Cycletours (www.cycletours.com) offer 6
different boat and bike routes. I like
the idea of a floating mobile hotel so I
don't have to hunt for a place to stay,
and keep packing and unpacking. A tour
guide to show the
way is also an excellent idea.
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