Amsterdam, the Red Light District and Den Hague

As a passionate cyclist it would be neglectful of me not to visit the cycling mecca of Europe. I had several days of riding through the forests in nature parks in Belgium and western Germany and camping in the city of Aachen. I continued north west finally setting up a two night spot in Amsterdam at the Zeeburg camping ground and only a few minutes east over the river for the tram ride into the city. It was like a crowded youth hostel but outside and I found a few square centimetres for my small tent (pitch in Europe speak). There was a weekend music festival event attracting a lot of young folk from Germany, the UK and Italy.

Occasionally I like to give the bike legs a break and do some walking instead. Amsterdam was certainly a baptism of fire as I left the tram in the centre of the city surrounded by cyclists, motor cyclists, lost tourists and of course some taxis.

Cyclists of of all ages use the incredibly good infrastructure here - women in their business suits commuting to the job with one hand steering and the other holding the mobile phone, senior citizens and young families on a day out. Nobody wears helmets which is a worry.

Bruges church

 

Cyclists appear to have priority in the Netherlands as far as city commuting is concerned as motorists give way to you but cars are kept out of the city centre, except for taxis. So it was quite refreshing to be in a city centre without traffic noise and pollution. It is organises chaos though and you have to really concentrate on your direction, lest you get run over by a cyclist confidently striding at a fast pace. Cities have traffic congestion reports for motorists - I think Amsterdam needs one for cyclists! Cyclists have their own traffic lights too.

Netherlands bicycle path numbering system

 

One of my first tasks in each new country is to organise a mobile phone SIM for making calls and to give me a vital connection to the Internet as my personal assistant for all the information about the place, transport options, accommodation and supermarkets etc.

It was a normal shopping day so I expected to find something quickly but verbal directions were not consistent so you get to do a world discovery tour of the city centre and if you're lucky you'll find the shop. I found myself walking along one of the crowded canals and decide to meander down a side lane. I was so impressed with the Dutch ability to make a female mannequin (shopfront model) move like a real person and wondered why the shop operators had not dressed them yet - on I walked past more of these 'mannequins' with no clothing when it finally dawned on me that these were real women not dummies making exotic movements to me. One glass door opened and the women gestured in Dutch to come in but I graciously declined, blew her a kiss and moved on from what I think was the red light district - so close to the centre of the tourist area. Oh well, a bit naive I suppose?

I would also call Amsterdam the Venice of the north due to its many canals and lovely terrace houses - wonderful cafe culture too.

Of course I had to visit the Van Gough Museum - there was a special exhibition of his life and extraordinary work and that of his Flemish contemporaries. To see his work up so close was wonderful. He had to work hard to develop his craft and sad, like the gifted classical composers Mozart and Schubert, he had a relatively short life.

After three days I Amsterdam I rode south across the flat Netherlands countryside on cycle paths to Den Hague where I stayed with new friends in the inner city terraced suburb and again with a tram around the corner. This part of the Netherlands was such a change of pace and very quiet, and reminded me of inner city areas of Melbourne which I love. It's also the place for Dutch Parliament to do its business and I even found the time sit in on a rather sedate session of the house.

Flanders Poppies

Wonderful Dutch cheese supper

 

My hosts were a young Australian/Dutch family and I stayed for a few days as a 'local' and treated to Dutch and Indonesian cuisine. The tradition of eating raw fish was an interesting experience and as simple as you could get.

The Hague

While I am not an expert on contemporary art, M C Escher's geometrical and monotone style appealed enough for me to visit his gallery in the palace. One of his iconicw works is the hand drawing the hand and the optical illusion of stairs going up and down at the same time. He was actually a graphic artist by trade.

My hosts helped me plan the next stage which would take me south to Bruges in Belgium via the 'hook' of Holland, the delta area with extroadinary dike infrastructure,

some of it was via land bridges and the first hop using a small ferry which looked more like a fishing boat which took me around the western end of the once largest shipping port in the world, Rotterdam. China now has the biggest which zi believe is Shanghai.

 

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Luxembourg in Luxembourg

While riding in New Zealand I met a young couple from Luxembourg on their honeymoon who kindly invited me to stay in their new home in Germany just over the border from eastern Luxembourg.

All I knew about Luxembourg was its relative smallness in size compared to the other EU nations and that it apparently has the worlds highest GDP (gross domestic product) per capita in the world.

My new friends had been living in a Luxembourg city apartment in the country of Luxembourg and recently moved into their new quiet country home just over the border in Germany.

They advised me to stay for the weekend of the National Holiday which includes the usual festive activities and final fireworks

I caught the train to Luxembourg because the weather was turning into winter again and there is nothing worse than arriving with wet everything.

The Porta Nigra (Latin for black gate) - Trier Germany

 

Note where the door is on the right - to stop unwanted visitors in old times

 

While on the train I planned my exit out of Luxembourg city using the airport as a guide to head east to Echternach for about 45 km on a good regional road (the country is that small you can ride across it in a day).

It was also a Friday afternoon so I had another layer of commuting traffic to ride amongst. The city centre is unusual because of the fort-like structure in the centre and river down below passing through some very old Roman sites. There were no dedicated bike lanes but a good wide shoulder on the main road game me a comfortable rding buffer from the busy traffic.

The ride east was quick and easy and only needed some phone assistance for the last 5km to find their home in the small village of Menningen.

A lovely quiet rural setting in an impressive 'rustic' home with an almost Nordic style about it.

My wonderful hosts directed me to the spacious guest room and proudly took me on a tour of their new home in stages of renovation.

Now about Luxembourg - it borders with France , Germany and Belgium. So what is Luxembourgish language? - considering its location it sounds like a high German-Franco - Roman mix and probably some Belgie thrown in to complete the sentence. And with any complex European nation there will be a number of local dialects.

Luxembourg is a democracy with a constitutional monarch. Although a secular state, the dominant religion is Roman Catholic. In 1957, the year I was born, Luxembourg joined five other countries to form the European Economic Community later to be known as the EU (European Union). My hosts worked in the banking/finance sectors which is no surprise given that these are the main industries in Luxembourg and no doubt contributes as a factor for its high GDP output and after the USA is the second largest investment fund centre in the world. I could sense this city had plenty of quiet money.

So here I was in another country for the first time quickly absorbing the environment and culture as my hosts and I planned the next few days itinerary for the festive weekend and trip to the oldest German city, Trier, in the Mosel wine region and founded around 16 BC.

After the full day in Luxembourg we stayed for the fireworks which I have to say were the most impressive and longest I have ever seen. Must be plenty of monetary resources for this national display. The following day we travelled to Trier in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and visited some impressive buildings and monuments.

It was the birth place of Karl Marx, Roman emperors ruled from here and the only grave of an apostle north of the alps.

So it was a short but culturally intense long weekend in Luxembourg/Germany with my new friends who also took me to some impressive cheese-food stores and made sure I did not get lost in the large festive crowd on saturday night. I also made a favourite barbecue prawn meal for them.

 

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West Germany, Freiburg and first entry into France - Strasbourg

I enjoyed Freiburg so much that I stayed for an extra day, especially now that Summer had presented me with more outdoor venues and the need to treat myself with hot showers, laundry duties and the occasional bakery treat.

Nice to have drinking water along the way in the German villages

Even Germany has bush fires - this one in north Black Forest

Oldest hotel in Germany - circa 1120 AD

I camped in a lovely shaded and clean campsite in the forest - only a short 15 minute ride east from downtown Freiburg, with camper vans and some tents already setup.

Tunnel for bicycles

Freiburg is just west of the Black Forest in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg in south west Germany.

Wonderful to see old German roses in Germany! ...and the perfume is stunning!

With the Black Forest right there on your doorstep you have access to numerous hiking and mountain bike trails.

Freiburg is also one of the university cities of Germany and home for the oldest hotel in Germany predating the founding of the city in 1120. It has a very easy going atmosphere and beautiful old architecture.

Wind power and pedal power

I found an English-speaking cinema not far from the central train station which was wonderful after two months of movie drought for me. I usually see at least one or two every week in Australia.

The Rhine in Strasbourg - Germany on the left while standing on French soil

After a few days rest in leisure time I rode north for Strasbourg and my first time in France. arriving at a youth hostel in Kehl on the German side of the Rhine river.

Looming storm on return from train station - got completely soaked!

It was a very easy day flat ride with enough time for tea and lunch stops with perfect riding weather and a cool westerly breeze.
I rode without the panniers into Strasbourg to note the route to the train station because I was leaving at 6am the next morning and wanted to avoid and unnecessary diversions in the wrong direction.

After booking the ticket for me and the bicycle I wandered around its beautiful historical centre known as the Grande Île which was the first city centre to be classified entirely as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The city existed for more than 2,000 years and it has become the home of the official seat of the European Parliament with some formal activity also in Brussels.

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The Black Forest

I left the north east of Lake Constance ready for some serious kilometres not around but over and cross the top of the Black Forest. Local cyclists told me to expect some hard long climbs if I was to choose the route across the middle. This would take me directly to Freiberg, one of the university cities of Germany.

Some parts of the Black (which is also called Schwarzwald Naturpark) rise up to only fifteen hundred metres which is reasonable for me as long as it's not raining - that adds another dimension altogether. Also it's a chance to camp in the forests again away from the crowds of Lake Constance.

The Black Forest is located in the south west German state of Baden-Wurttemberg and about 60km across east-west and 160km long north-south.

It apparently derives its name due to the dense growth of the trees not letting much light in to the forest floor.

As I entered the forest trails I knew that some of the fir trees were not native because I had seen these before when hiking in Canada and remember the Douglas Fir. There would have been mass logging here over the centuries for home construction, firewood and probably bridges, therefore a lot of the native forest trees would be gone in some areas and I suspect these others were introduced.

I filled all my water bottles and stocked up with food from the closest village to the start of the forest then started my ascent. A bit cloudy but no rain or headwind to slow my progress so I made good time, stopping for tea breaks and fresh cherries and strawberries. I managed to negotiate a mix of both at the local roadside stall and explained to the young frau I was not able to load up with a lot of fruit - she smiled and let me take a handful of each. They were so sweet, unlike ours in Australia that seem to come from cold storage with no flavour at all.

I found a clearing in the forest later that afternoon and setup my tent on a bed of wildflowers surrounded by tall fir trees. Ah my little paradise for the night and even a half crescent moon appeared in the southern sky to complete the scenery as I cooked my evening meal and listened to the Bach Brandenburg concertos.

My following morning wake up call was the sight of several, and I mean several jet trails across the sky. Zurich to the far south must be very busy on a Saturday morning.

And yes I decided I had earned a piece of Black Forest cake for morning tea later at Lake Titisee. I was then packed full of rich local ingredients for the final ascent and descent into Freiberg on a sunny afternoon.

 

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