A SEAT + TWO PEDALS...

neighborhood park ~ Amsterdam, Holland ~ June 2005

What blogs do you check every day? Kat's blog, KAT EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD is one of my daily indulgences!

In today's post, Kat was talking about riding her bike... her description about learning to appreciate the "physical-ness" involved in riding a bike & riding with the "guys" brought back --- a flood of memories --- MY times spent riding bikes!

our room ~ middle, 4th window from left

One of my favorite bike riding memories happened during our European trip the summer of 2005. 


JPE & I started a month long European vacation with a brief stay at the Amstel Botel - YES, we stayed in a BOAT hotel for two nights! 

view of Amsterdam from our botel window!

As might be expected, our sleep cycles needed to be adjusted to European time, so we decided to spend our first day in Amsterdam ~ doing what the locals do! 

GOING FOR A BIKE RIDE... 

gingerbread-like home

JPE & I packed our day bags with water, snacks & a light weight shirt... walked a block toward the Amsterdam train station & rented bikes for the day.

no traffic to worry about!

Armed with a map of bike trails, we took a ferry across the channel & headed into the countryside!

IMAGINE... 


riding a bike along narrow roads...
catching a glimpse of life in adorable, gingerbread like homes...
admiring colorful flower boxes which decorated each window...

pontoon crossing

GOSH... we wouldn't been able to cover so many miles if we'd been walking!  


at one point in our journey, we took a small, flat pontoon boat to cross this channel...


AND, the bike trail cut through the pontoon owner's property! but he seemed thrilled to share a section of his farmlands with bike riders! what a treat!

check out the height of the hedge!

On this street, everyone had planted a tree hedge - which we later learned were "privacy hedges" ~ The hedges prevented direct views into the home's bedroom windows! CLEVER idea!


Winters in Amsterdam could be described as dark. long. cold... so during mild weather days, everyone ventures outdoors to enjoy the sun, fresh air & spend time socializing in neighborhood parks, restaurants, & public squares.

typical house along the bike route!

WELL, we had a nice, deep sleep that night! BUT... we made sure to put the sunscreen in our day pack! our sunburns turned into a nice, healthy tan... it took only 2-3 days for the sensitive-ness to go away!

Thanks for the memory jog, Kat!