Day 31, September 23

Day 31, September 23, 2012, Utrecht to Amsterdam, 36 miles, total mileage 947.7

Getting out of town is very easy on a Sunday morning.  The roads were virtually empty.  Good thing because we slept in this morning.  About midnight, the fire alarm went off at the hotel.  It was a false alarm, but it carried on until someone finally came and turned it off.  So we started a little later than usual.....no problem. After crossing the bridge over the Amsterdam-Rhijnkanaal, we had to make our way down to the edge of the canal.  This steep set of steps were no problem.  An excellent grove on the side made the trip simple for Paul. 

We traveled north along the canal for a few miles and then we headed west inland.

 As the day progressed, the sun came out but it did not warm up very much. It was a cool day in the high 50s. However, the scenery was just beautiful.  We continued past farms and through villages.

Soon we were passing the Kasteel de Haar.  It is a castle that dates back to the 1500s.  About a 100 years ago, it was completely restored.  It no longer was a defensive castle, so it became a home with extensive gardens.  Now it is open to the public.

This is the former defensive moat and draw bridge.  We entered the castle here.  Beyond these towers are the former stables and coach house where we had our morning coffee break.

A few weeks ago we were in Hoboken, today it was Breukelen (sounds like Brooklyn).  Breukelen is surrounded by lakes and canals created by the flooded areas used by peat farmers.

This section of the ride was home to many mansions with baroque gates in front and formal gardens in back.

As always, you are never sure what you will see along the water's edge.  Today it was this enormous crayfish-or whatever they call it over here.  This guy was about 4-5 inches long!

So we are pedaling down this freshly paved road along a dike with the wind at our back when the pavement suddenly disappears.  There at the end of the pavement was a self operated ferry.  It required the turning of the crank. In this case, Paul had to hand crank the ferry over to us. 

And once the bike was on the ferry and he took this picture, he got to crank us to the other side.  Thank goodness the chain/cable didn't break.  It was way too cold for a swim!

At last we were back to Amsterdam.  Now we rode along the Amstel River back to our bike suitcases and the hotel.  The bike was quickly reduced to sections that fit in the suitcases.  Once we were all organized, it began to rain, but it didn't matter, we were done cycling.