Amsterdam had something of a New York vibe - crowded, high energy, filled with funky people.When my family went to Europe in 1974 (our one big family vacation) we were advised not to wear jeans, since we'd stand out like a sore thumb - only American wore jeans. How different things are a mere, um, half century later. Amsterdam was full of people dressed in t-shirts and jeans. A victory for American slovenly style! I would say that no one I saw in Amsterdam would individually have stood out on an American street, but overall the people there were a little more dressed up than what you'd see on an American street. Certainly there were more outfits including artfully draped scarves - on both women and men.
So, if Amsterdam felt like New York, The Hague felt more like DC. More staid, more formal, a seat of government power. When I went to the museum on Tuesday I felt almost underdressed. And just as we got the hang of The Hague, it was time to move on to Belgium.
Wednesday 5/17 (30 mi)
After breakfast we loaded into vans for a two hour shuttle, followed by a fifteen minute ferry ride, which took us to the start of our ride for the day. When we got off the ferry in Breskens we were still in The Netherlands. Our morning ride was yet more lovely pastoral and small town scenery. Lunch found us in the medieval town of Sluis, where we were on our own for lunch. Sluis is an interesting town - historic architecture but a thriving, modern town, including a surprising number of sex shops. I asked the tour guides about this and they explained that Sluis is right on the border, and I guess it must be easier to open an erotic shop in The Netherlands than Belgium, so the border towns on the Dutch side are rich with such shops.
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| Along the bike trail |
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| One of the many sex shops in Sluis |
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| Sluis food market |
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| Sluis |
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| Everyone's favorite picture from the trip - outside a clothing store in Sluis |
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| Windmills again |
The afternoon ride was pretty uneventful, and we wound up at our hotel in the fairytale perfect town of Bruges. Prior to the trip the only thing I knew about Bruges was that Dr. Evil from Austin Powers
was raised there. It is another picture perfect medieval-yet-modern city, sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the North" for its canals. We finished riding early so that we'd have time before dinner for a boat tour through the canals.
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| Boat tour |
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| Snacks on the boat tour included an enormous box of Belgian chocolates |
Our hotel in Bruges for these last two nights of the trip was the Hotel de Tuilerieën, another fine old hotel. Dinner was at a place which specialized in mussels, a local delicacy, but fortunately they also offered a vegetarian option.
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| Bruges at night |
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| Typical breakfast buffet |
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| Dining room in Bruges |
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| Yet another nicer-than-I-needed hotel room |
My hotel room in Bruges had a big freestanding bathtub, which for some reason immediately put me in mind of the painting
The Death of Marat (which, for the record, is in a museum in Brussels)
. So I had to do it ...
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