Alternatieve Elfstedentocht - Day 6

Leeuwarden: truly delightful town. Quite unexpected combination of style, gritty back alleys, cafe-lined canals, historic houses and urban renewal. By night the canal tunnels are illuminated purple. I'm sitting by the Waag, the old weighing house, with a broad cobble-stoned plaza in front. I'm finding it difficult to tear myself away. Maybe one more coffee.

Nieuwestad, Leeuwarden

Not surprisingly, it's a bit more diverse than the rest of Friesland. I've seen North Africans and blacks on the streets. No one seems to work on a Monday except for those in the clothing shops. Here in the Nieuwestad, middle aged women and their daughters gawk at the windows of V&D, Vodaphone, H&M, Pearle Opticians and Hema, while a continuous flow of cyclists ride happily along the broad paths that flank the canal: a young man in jeans jacket and jeans, a pair of black youths, a teenage girl in jeans and tank top does a 180, a shaved headed man in his 60s rides with his grandson in the back seat behind the saddle. No cars. My macchiato arrives with a pair of small almond cookies and a glass of water. Sporadic sunshine. Perfect people-watching locale. Can't tear myself away.

Alternatieve Elfstedentocht - Day 5

Café t' Hoekje, Ferwerd

At the Café t' Hoekje, in the town of Ferwerd, actually the starting point for the Day 5 route, though I didn't stay there because all the vrienden were booked for last night. Instead, I stayed in Hallum, about an hour ride from here against a stiff headwind.

Coffee and apple pie with whipped cream, mmm. A quaint "brown café" with a hint of its past grunge in the form of rugs for tablecloths, plank floors (now polished), heavy paisley curtains and oompah music on the radio. A kern (county seat, I guess), Ferwerd is about the size of Hallum, a village of maybe 1000 people yet, like other communities around here, it seems dead.

Alternatieve Elfstedentocht - Day 4

Harlingen harbor

Day 4 of my Friesland trek looks to be a beauty. The town of Harlingen is quite picturesque - long canal/marina chock full of yachts. The town is the departure point for ferries to the isle of Terschelling and on this Saturday morning the terminal was packed with families, which made me glad I'm going along the remote northern coast of Friesland.

Last night stayed in the fabulous home of Tinake (the "ke" being an affectionate suffix, just like the Spanish "ito"), with a deck built out over a canal. My room was a dormer at the top of the house approached by steep narrow steps.

Alternatieve Elfstedentocht - Day 3

At northern edge of cute harbor Stavoren, where I ate some herring and bought a lensatic compass. Many sailing craft on the waters here, very busy at the marina. The greenish waters have a gentle chop. I have 50 km to go and it's noon. The day is outstanding.

Idyllic spot en route to Bolsward.

By a lazily moving canal, eolic windmills in the background. I just had my lunch in a village called Parregea (Parrega in Dutch), but this spot, en route to point 5 and Bolsward, is better - a solitary bench alongside the canal, shaded by gnarly trees, a thin thread of pavement for a fietspad, a little drawbridge down the way. A few pleasure craft pass by occasionally, the random cyclist. 

I feel a bit of pressure to cover all those kilometers before dusk: more than 50, actually, since I started at Laaxum, about 6 km before Stavoren, the day's official starting point.

Alternatieve Elfstedendtocht - Day 2

I spent most of the morning shopping in Sneek: got my front tire's tube replaced, got a sweater (needed one this morning, no longer), some dried fruits, nuts and chocolate.

Now I am at a picnic table southeast of Sneek at or near a place called Twellingea (or in Dutch, Uitwellingerga). The fietspad was paralleling the highway for a while and momentarily deviated from it here. Altje, my vriend last night, told me this bit of the road was not too interesting but I'm just enjoying the ride.

"11 Cities Route" -  Day 2 (ANWB map)

Alternatieve Elfstedentocht - Day 1

The landscape west of Leeuwarden

From the train, truth be told, all of Holland looks pretty similar - at least what I've seen so far. Flat fields, cows, insignificant attached pale brick houses, lakes and marinas, little old churches with black spires, rows of identical elders lining canals, the scent of cow dung. It's only when I'm out on the bike that I can appreciate the rustic beauty of the place.