Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
October 03, 2013
Well what a canny little day its been so far.
It was a bit of a later start than I had hoped for thanks to a very tasty brownie last night from Abraxus coffeeshop! Once sorted and with some breakfast inside us we headed up to central station to rent a bike for the day and then caught a ferry across to Voqbuurt. I suspect not too many people know that if you wander around the back of central station you can catch a free ferry across the water to Amsterdam-Noord and beyond. This area af Amsterdam feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam-Centrum. It’s a much quieter part of town to get to grips with the cycle lanes in Holland (which are fantastic!) before heading out of the town and into the beautiful Dutch countryside. The quaint village of Ransdorp was first and the place doesn’t look like its changed in 60 years, what a beautiful village. Little duck ponds, picket fences, well manicured flower gardens, if Disney did Dutch villages it would look like Ransdorp, and that’s no disrespect to Ransdorpians. From there we meandered off on the narrow little paths between the fields and canals with no real direction in mind, just following our noses and seeing where it brought us. Another hours cycling and we arrived at Holysloot, a village with one road and a ferry smaller than the average toilet! This was all a bit pleasant really. A lazy hour with a coffee in the sun sat watching the ducks and the occasional local turning up on his bike to catch the worlds smallest ferry to his next destination. Before we knew it it was time to pedal back to the ferry through the mesmerizing tranquil scenery and back to city life.
With the bikes dropped off it’s time to hit the brown bars and coffee shops again and grab a bite to eat.
