Tulips and beaches

85 degrees, cloudless beautiful day at Zandvoort on the North Sea

We are a little sunburned but enjoying the warm, dry weather of the past three days.

Wading in the water

Loading and sorting tulip bulbs

Digging up tulip bulbs

Today we rode past the tulip fields. Unfortunately, the tulips bloomed a couple of months ago, so there were no tulip flowers to be seen, and scarcely a tulip plant either. As soon as the foliage dies down, they mow down the foliage and dig up and divide the bulbs, which is what they were doing today as we rode past. The small new bulbs they save to be planted next year. The larger parent bulbs are set aside to be sold. Tulips aren't the only flower grown here, however. We saw dahlias, peonies, sunflowers and many others as well.

After we passed the tulip fields we rode through the dunes and along the North Sea coast to Zaandvoort, a beach resort popular with both Dutch and German folks, and then on into Haarlem. Since William and I saw Haarlem last week, I've nothing to add about this city, where we'll spend tonight.

I thought you might be interested in how a day usually goes for us. We eat breakfast between 8 and 8:30 or so. It's usually a buffet, with bread, cheese, sliced meats, various condiments for the bread, muesli and granola, yogurt and fresh fruit. We can have anything and as much as we want. During breakfast we also pack up our lunches for the day, which are sandwiches made from the bread, cheese and/or meat on the breakfast table, fruit and juice. We also have a water bottle which we fill each morning and several times on biking stops during the day. At 9 a.m. we start off biking. There are two groups -- well, actually three if you count the folks who elect not to barge but to stay on the barge all day as it changes cities. The other two groups are the short and the long group, or as the folks in the short group have taken to calling them, the long and the very long groups. (I think they want to boost their egos by thinking they are riding far and doing well.) The short group rides 35-40 km. per day (21-24 miles), while the long group rides 50-60 km/day (30-36 miles). Actual mileage varies, f course, n the day's plans. We usually stop for coffee around 11 a.m. The Dutch folks like to have apple pie with their coffee, but we usually just get coffee, tea or iced tea. We break again at around 1 for lunch and then bike til we get to the barge, usually around 5 or 5:30 p.m. Dinner is served at 6:30. Simon and Paddy are fabulous cooks. Each night's dinner is from a different country and includes appetizer, main course, salad and/or pasta and dessert. So far we've had Indian, Mexican, British, Italian and Japanese food. We never know til it's served what's coming. In addition to cooking for 28 guests plus crew in a very tiny kitchen, they also make allowances for people on board who are gluten intolerant, have celiac disease, are vegetarian and don't take any alcohol, even in food. And everything is delicious! After dinner at around 8 we get a short talk from one of our two guides telling us what's up for the next day and what differences the short and long (long and extra long??) itineraries will have, so that folks have overnight to decide which of the two rides to take. Then at around 9 there's a guided city walk through the place where we're docked so that we get a better idea of the history and significance of the place. We don't have to participate in the walk, depending on how tired we are. There's a lounge on the barge where we can watch a soccer match on TV, read a book, play games or just sit and talk. They have a fridge bar stocked with various things to drink at good prices which we can buy if we want to. All in all, it's a fabulous way to vacation. Wm. and I have been doing the long route most days (all days for me, all but 1 for Wm.) and having no trouble keeping up. The one day William rode with the short group he told me he'd have to take a gun and shoot himself if he ever rode with them again, as they're too slow and stop too often for photo stops and bathroom breaks.