Well, hello there. I've allowed another sizeable gap in my postings to emerge. Sorry about that; I'll do better from now on.
The bee-half and I are just back from an Easter jaunt to the Netherlands. I've posted before about why I love the low countries: they're just so well-run and sensible - a pleasure to be in. Yes, Holland lacks the raw drama of Andalusia or the Amalfi Coast, but I'm a 48-year-old homeowner from south east England, not Peter the Great, tsar of all the Russias.
We didn't take our bikes with us this time as the missus had a squitty tummy in the days before we left and didn't want to spend Good Friday squatting in ditch behind a windmill. This turned out to be an inspired choice. We travelled by train instead and hired town bikes when we got there.
You really get to know a place when you've visited at least half a dozen of its neighbourhoods. Without doing this, you just hang around the middle of town, like a giant pigeon. Utrecht for example, a city we've visited several times previously, opened up its charming hinterland to us once we had put in a few miles. On bike touring trips we generally arrive there having already done 50kms, and all you want to do then is try and get the crease out of your arse before the next day's exertions.
You really get to know a place when you've visited at least half a dozen of its neighbourhoods. Without doing this, you just hang around the middle of town, like a giant pigeon. Utrecht for example, a city we've visited several times previously, opened up its charming hinterland to us once we had put in a few miles. On bike touring trips we generally arrive there having already done 50kms, and all you want to do then is try and get the crease out of your arse before the next day's exertions.
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