Amsterdam to Weesp. Amstel River / Weespe Trekvaart.


Today's route took us out of the Amstel river and into the Weespe Trekvaart. A lift bridge guarded the turn into the canal. There was a small sign posted on the bridge and lacking superman's vision, we had to juggle up real close to discover the bridge would not open again until 1.30. "We can make it if we drop the tent." Skip declared, so back down it came and all the windows too and we cleared with 20cms to spare.

"We can make it", Skip insisted. And we did.

The next couple of kms took us through scruffy graffiti-land on the city's outskirts until we re-crossed the Amsterdam-Reijn canal. How many times is that? I've lost count. It's become an old friend. 

Here we go again, we said, as we prepared to cross the Amsterdam -Reijn for the umpteenth time.

We waited for this big boy to pass before dashing across. His name, Novamente, summed up our feelings!

Once across things improved rapidly along, no doubt, with the property prices.

Not too shabby.

Waiting for a bridge in Weesp. This will, I promise, be the last picture of a windmill.

We found a good spot to moor in Weesp's binnehaven and after lunch put the bikes ashore for another 30 km ride to the nearby town of Naarden. I had seen pictures of this fortified town and wanted to see it for myself. The cycle route took us through woods, along the meer and across wonderful farmlands. So pretty.

No we didn't hire a helicopter. I pinched this photo off the internet.

Naarden's fortifications are just as impressive close up. Our first stop was the tourist office to pick up a leaflet about the town which excelled in being as uninformative as possible. They made a passing reference to murder and mayhem. What murder, what mayhem, we asked. Anything we learned was on consulting wiki when we got back to the boat! Who writes these things? (The murder and mayhem was a disgraceful event perpetrated by the Spanish in 1572.)

Naarden's moat.

The bike batteries lasted the 30 km ride, I am happy to report. We saw lots of those fat-bottomed cows Sian posted about in her blog. That's how I knew they were Belgian Blues, or maybe they call them Dutch Blues here over the border :). We also spotted a distant Kasteel.

Back on board we struggled with Filmon, Cricfree and even ITV direct, to watch the boks beat the Scots, but gave up before the England/Australia game as we kept losing the signal. Good thing too, by the sound of it.

Tomorrow is our last day on the water as we make our way out of the Vecht and up the Randomeer to our homeport at Strandhorst.