There was a change of plans yesterday. The local bike shop, De Vakantiefietser, was closed on Sunday so I didn’t go. Also Dineke wasn’t able to meet me, but she provided a very scenic Google Maps route to her place from Amsterdam.
Before I started my ride to Dineke’s house in Edam, I had to try the Dutch pancakes called poffertjes at The Pancake Bakery. They are small, fluffy pancakes served with powdered sugar and butter and tasted sweet. I liked them, but my favorite Dutch food is still the stroopwafels.
After this breakfast, I cycled to Rijksmuseum to visit the museum and to buy a temporary museum pass. I wasn’t able to purchase the pass on the app before because they only use the Dutch iDEAL payment system and don’t accept credit cards. When I bought the pass in person, I was able to pay with my credit card.
The museum was fantastic! One of the best museums I’ve been to. Not only did I see some great art and artifacts, I was able to learn some Dutch history about its wars, colonial past, slave trade, and their naval history. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of reading too much in the beginning before realizing I had three more floors to see. I rushed through at the end after spending about four hours in the museum.
I didn’t start my ride to Edam until around 4 PM. It took me about two hours to ride 21 miles from Amsterdam following Dineke’s custom route. Along the way, I saw farmlands, canals, cows, sheep, horses, and more houses on the water, not to mention some small towns. It was a great ride because there weren’t many cars and I was on the bike paths most of the time.
When I arrived at Dineke’s house I met my old friend Tom again. I had met both Dineke and Tom on my 2018 bicycle tour across the US. They were riding pedal assisted bicycles across the country. We spent a couple nights together as we cycled in Kentucky staying in churches. That was seven years ago!
Tom looked tired because he wasn’t able to sleep for the past five nights due to his heart condition. Nevertheless, we were able to chat for a while. Dineke was lively and we chatted everything from the history of the canals in The Netherlands to politics.
At dinner time, I had a wonderful meal with Tom and Dineke sitting in the backyard with the canal and the farmland as a backdrop. I must have eaten too much because I had several plates of rice and chicken stir fry. Dineke’s cooking was excellent!
After Tom went to bed, Dineke and I chatted a bit more and I was able to convert my temporary museum pass to a regular museum pass on the Museumkaart app so I can visit more than 500 Dutch museums in a year if I really wanted to.
I didn’t go to sleep until close to 11 PM, one of the latest times. This morning, I got up around 8:45, feeling refreshed. Not sure exactly what I’ll do today, but it’s very nice to be in another paradise.
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| These are poffertjes, aka Dutch pancakes. |
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| The Rijksmuseum |
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| Detailed wooden models of Dutch ships |
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| The holograms are so cool! |
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| Surprisingly, the museum has some Asian art. |
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| One of many interesting paintings in the museum. |
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| A large painting of the battle of Waterloo |
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| Why not display a condom in the museum? LOL! |
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| An early Van Gogh self portrait |
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| The Great Hall inside the museum |
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| Probably the most famous painting in the museum, The Night Watch by Rembrandt |
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| Are you watching them or are they watching us? |
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| The Milkmaid by Vermeer |
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| Must be another very famous painting |
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| The library in the museum |
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| De Stijl chairs |
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| An early Mondrian |
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| A curved wooden chest |
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| On the free ferry to IJplein |
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| On the north side of Amsterdam |
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| Water on both sides of the bike path |
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| Black sheep. My favorite kind of sheep. |
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| The view from my bedroom |
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| Bicycle wine? Sure. |
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| Tom and Dineke's backyard is something out of a painting. |
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The fish in their pond
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| Some special breed of cows roam in the farm that's behind Tom and Dineke's backyard. |
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