7 September 2015 - On yer bike!

"Tell me why I don't like Mondays..."!  The latter part of last week and the weekend were somewhat consumed by packing, travelling and settling and now it is time to start school and get into a bit of a "city" routine again.  We have found that living in the countryside with no walkable access to shops demands more car travel and a more planned day than living in a city.  Here, in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, we have struck gold with shops and city only a bike ride away and a truly lovely spot on a farm to live!

A terrific Lego dragon

 The big kids are well into the swing of distance education but understandably stressed at times and Luke needs reminding every day that it is school again!  Surprise!  He is loving the online reading program so that is a good place to start each day when we have a good internet connection.

Carefully locking up our bikes as we hear there is lots of bike theft.

 We were really keen to cycle to Amsterdam and after a bit of convincing, Luke agreed to sit in the toddler seat on the back of the bike I was riding for our excursion.  So, with a rather low bike seat on my "grandma" bike and 30 kgs wriggling around behind me, we set off along the bike path to Central Amsterdam.  We think bikes have the right of way most of the time and the good thing is that most of the car drivers on the roads are bike riders themselves and therefore very aware of bikes.  Still, no helmet does feel a bit odd!

Now THAT is a cool child carrier!

 Holland is a flat country but what I didn't anticipate is that every bridge over every canal has an incline to cycle up in order to cross over.  With my heavy cargo, I found the bridges hard work especially with the notorious headwind.  Luke, at his chatty best, tried use his magic powers to help me over but I'm afraid his magic wasn't working too well!

My bike and cargo!

Tim rode into Amsterdam and zoomed ahead, toured about and cycled home .  Karl, Annika, Luke and I locked our bikes securely on an official bike parking spot.  There are plenty of spots where bikes are not permitted to be parked and I can see why as there are bikes EVERYWHERE.

Classic skinny buildings !

 The sky went from dark grey with a few sprinkles of rain to sunny and bright so it was fine to wander about.  The architecture is so different from neighbouring countries which also have their own style unique to each region.  I have really loved looking at all the quaint old buildings.  This charm is what draws people to foreign cities, however, I do feel that as the world becomes "smaller" and international trade is so easy that less and less is unique.  The big brand names and shops are the same as Melbourne, London, Paris and even Banbury: Hugo Boss, The Body Shop, Apple, Tommy Hilfeger, Ecco and Burger King to name a few.  We reckoned we'd be able to score well on the "Logo Game" by the time we'd walked around a few streets.

One of many cheese shops - with tasting stations!

 However, what makes Amsterdam unique are the cheese shops, the herring stalls, the flower market,
the grand old skinny buildings and narrow cobbled streets AND the canals and the bikes! 

Mellow yellow...

Available to post all around the world!

Hug for a cow

The truffle and nettle cheeses were delicious

And then there tulips and other bulbs for sale - but not importable into Australia

I would LOVE one of these!

We need gumboots but these are more common place here.

We do have big feet in this family but these were a little large.

Really?!

Old watch tower

Wobbly old buildings are a specialty here.

Typical Amsterdam scene

The Nationaal Monument op de Dam commemorates those who died in WWII and subsequent battles.  A national remembrance day is held on 4 May each year. Today, the white travertine monument looked a bit bland against the greyish sky but would be fabulous on a blue sky day.  Dam Square is in the historical centre of Amsterdam.

National Monument, Amsterdam

The Royal Palace

 The Royal Palace was the City Hall until 1808 when it became the royal residence.

Luke on pigeon duty.

In front of the New Church (15th century!)

 

Bubble Bliss!

Love all the bubbles!

 After walking 4 or 5 kms around the city and getting a feel of the place, we found our bikes where we'd left them and cycled home.  Amsterdam is a crowded, grubby city like any other big European city.  People, bikes, trams and the occasional car demand that you keep your wits about you.  There is certainly a slightly seedy feel to some of the back streets.  It was so nice to leave the hustle and bustle behind us as we rode over the motorway to the quiet bike path and rural canals and fields of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel .  Luke was eagerly spotting grey herons and ducks along the way.  We knew we were near home when we saw the goats down the road.  We are delighted to have found this jewel! 

Canal and boats

We had planned earlier to cycle to our shops at the end of the day to buy food for dinner so Annika and I tootled along for a quick shop, loving it all but a bit saddle sore!  What a life!