Our first full day of bicycling we rode from Kudelstaart to Gouda. While the previous day took us through outskirts of Amsterdam, today we were in farming areas between small towns. We soon turned off the road and followed what had been a tow path along a canal.
I hadn’t yet figured out a good way to keep my camera handy, so I missed a photo of riding right past napping sheep, some of them practically on the narrow paved strip of the tow path.
Our first rest break.
It slowly sunk in that The Netherlands spends proportionally far more than the U.S. on infrastructure for bicycles and pedestrians than for automobile infrastructure. This small drawbridge for bikes and walkers is a good example.
Small mill.
We passed one stretch of canal with a bunch of kids and men fishing with long poles with fixed-length string.
The tower in the distance was a water tower, now no longer used – I guess the pressure is now provided by pumps. Locals call it the “Broken Pencil”.
After a short while we had our first “coffee break” at a cafe in Meije where we had our first opportunity to sample apple cake/tart.
Another architectural feature I haven’t seen elsewhere was hay sheds with adjustable-height roofs (this one now being used to store “stuff”).
We ate the lunches we had prepared at breakfast at a man-made beach on a lake. After lunch we rode a thin strip through the middle of Lake Reeuwijkse, which was created largely as a result of (mostly illegal) peat mining. Swans seem fairly common in The Netherlands, and many had cygnets that were either still gray or had just turned white like this one.
Eventually we arrived in Gouda, which is a name you will recognize from the style of cheese which originated here. If you view the full-size image below you’ll see cheese wheels strung across the main road to the town center.
We made a quick stop in the town center to see the town hall.
Then we rode a short distance to the barge, which was moored on the IJssel River. The Dutch language treats “ij” as a vowel that sounds a bit like an English short “a” with a bit of “y” or “e” mixed in. When a name starts with “ij”, both “I” and “J” are capitalized. Look, we’re parked next to a windmill!
Near the mooring spot was an old lock and a small harbor reserved for historic ships. The Dutch seem almost as attached to old ships as they are to windmills – later we would see many more old ships.
On our after-dinner city walk we saw some interesting buildings, and we learned how to identify from the little monument markers which buildings are actually old (versus those that just look old). We also saw a memorial for Jews killed by the Nazis.
Gouda is also the home of two companies both claiming to have invented stroopwaffles. Unfortunately the stroopwaffle shop/cafe was closed for the evening.
Interesting doorway featuring the Gouda coat of arms.
Looking through the front window of a liquor store I found that Rogue’s Voodoo Doughnut beer has far wider distribution than I would have guessed.
Apparently this beer label says something like “real men love their beer body”
