"In My Opinion . . ."
August 9, 2000
(part 1: The Netherlands)
2000 marked the 30th anniversary of my marriage and the 50th year of my life. These seemed like good reasons for a celebratory vacation. Bill and I planned early (a unique experience in and of itself), and signed up for a wonderful Bike and Barge Holland tour. We figured as long as we were traveling all the way to Europe we might as well extend our trip to 3 weeks and include visits to all our friends in Denmark. Fortunately, they accepted us. Our vacation began in Amsterdam where we boarded the Lisa Marleen, ready for two weeks of biking and barging.
I must stress that Bill biked. I barged. The tour is designed for all levels of bicyclists, but I don't bike. I do sit well, however, and like Cleopatra I sat in the wheelhouse and trusted our captain to navigate the myriad canals of the Netherlands. Peter was a font of information, and I learned more than I ever expected about boats, polders, bridges, and the Dutch. Everyone left the barge at 9 AM each morning and pedaled 40 to 60 kilometers through the beautiful countryside. I waved good-bye and then joined Peter, the captain, his wife Helen, one of the cooks, their son Alex, a total charmer of 17 months, and Rena, the other fabulous cook for the leisurely trip to our next port.
The barge was our floating hotel and restaurant. Helen and Rena prepared scrumptious dinners, and no one ever complained of being hungry. Our cabins were adequate, but rather cramped (a different boat next year will eliminate the bunk beds and teeny space). Our bathroom had the added challenge of a shower that required stepping up two feet to get into it with no handholds to help. We managed, and for two weeks we traveled from one historic Dutch town to another without ever having to pack and unpack our bags. It was fabulous.
What made this vacation particularly special were the guides. Saskia and Miranda devoted all their time to us, and their genuine enjoyment of biking through their country and telling us all about it made all of us excited about our travels. Saskia and Miranda extended their services into the evenings, leading city walking tours almost every night after each day's wrap-up session. They poked gentle fun at our American ways and had us rolling in the aisles with their colorful "Sheep in Distress" story.
Bill and I came away from our trip with a strong desire to revisit the Netherlands and continue exploring its remarkable regions. Since Bike and Barge Holland has several different routes, that shouldn't be hard to do, and perhaps the next time we go, we'll actually see someone perform "Sheep-PR."
(to be continued)