Trip to The Netherlands: Part 2
April 15,2023
Saturday
Checking into The Feniks:
Friday evening as we put our names down to reserve for breakfast at our hotel Minal declared she wanted to sleep in and therefore preferred breakfast after 9 am. We talked her into 8 am reservation. Saturday morning at 5:30 am I got a text from her “ Are you awake? Do you have a knife to cut oranges? “ ( I had carried oranges from the home tree because Atul loved them). Turns out both Minal and Atul were up before 4 am and hungry !!
I was up by 5 am, showered and ready by 6 am. Minal and me decided to take a walk outside to watch sunrise. It was quite cold and windy, much more than the earlier day. Yet we walked together long the shores on the nice walkway. An occasional biker rode past us and a few people were seen walking their dogs. Nice beds of pink and lavender tulips were created alongside the walkway separating the bike paths from the road. The horizon had a clutter of clouds that delayed the sight of the sun. Nevertheless it was a beautiful sunrise. We saw a family of ducks floating by under the first rays of the sun. The row of nearly a dozen tiny ducklings sandwiched between the two parents moving in a straight line was the highlight of the moment. We walked to the end of the road before turning back.
We were soon picking up breakfast from the buffet at the restaurant. It was quite crowded that Saturday morning. We wrapped up from there, brought our bags down and checked out of the hotel before calling Uber for a ride.
Next destination, The Feniks! Our home for the next full week! The boat was docked less than 2 miles from our hotel. The Uber driver was from Pakistan and lived just behind our hotel. He had a Toyota Prius that surprisingly was able to accommodate all our bags and the four of us. He dropped us about 600 meters from our boat.
A row of “barge and bike” tour boats were lined up along the canal. We walked past a few until we arrived at The Feniks. It was deep green and white, looked quite weathered compared to other boats we had passed. We were greeted by Marius who introduced himself as owner, driver, handyman, everything!! There on the boat also were two women who were the chefs. One had just arrived from the last tour and was handing her duties over to Pauline who would be our chef for the week. Besides Pauline we met Raynier who was the support crew for both Marius and Pauline. There was a team of cleaners on the boat who were getting the rooms ready. Marius told us we could leave our bags on the deck and go into the city. We had to be back by 2 pm.
So that’s what we did. Leaving our luggage on the deck we walked two blocks to the nearest tram station and took the tram to Amsterdam Central Station. Across from the station were cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops. Spotted a few Indian restaurants along the road but they were closed. Finally settled on an Italian family owned restaurant that sold focaccia sandwiches. The bread was really fresh and flavorful. The vegetable laden sandwiches were hearty and delicious. The tiny bathroom in the basement had blackboards on its walls and chalk sticks to write with. The narrow curved stairway and tiniest of bathrooms would be what we would get accustomed to in the next several days. After having our fill and some short stops browsing souvenirs we took an Uber back to the Feniks.
The cleaners were still not done. There were two men on the deck sorting out bikes. One was the outgoing bike guide and other one was Hencke who would take over from the former. Henke( who we referred to as Henk, sounding more like Hank) was a tall, lean gentleman whose face looked weathered like the Feniks! We began to estimate his age. While I thought he was in his mid 70s the others thought he was a lot younger but looked older because of smoking. It was not until a few days into our trip when I mustered the courage to quietly ask him and he had no reservations telling me he was 72. He had taken pension at age 65 and this was his very first trip as a bike guide. He had done other jobs on the barges prior to this, including working as a chef. He was married and had a daughter who was 24 and presently touring in Morocco. He talked about his family frequently on during our tour.
Just as we waited on the deck as cleaning was underway two more people arrived. Constance( Connie) and Derek Braid from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Derek, an engineer, was originally from Scotland and had retained his Scottish accent. Connie, a formidable 5’11” tall lean lady, was raised in the south. Both were very pleasant from the beginning and we had no difficulty connecting with them.
Henk and his colleague pulled out bikes suitable for each of us and advised us to take short trial rides on the road along the canal. The four of us had opted for e-bikes which gave a little more power advantage on uphill terrain. But it was all new to me. I had learned to ride a bicycle in my childhood and even commuted to Parle College in the junior college years in Mumbai. But never had bikes with gears or battery. This was a much heavier as well as taller bike and I had a lot of learning to do with use of gears and battery as well as safe landing. I had come with a determination to make it through the tour, not give up, no matter how tough it would get. So I got going. Climbed on the bike and took a few short rides back and forth on that road.
Soon two more people arrived. Bonnie and David Piesners from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. This completed the group of us eight people who would be on the tour for the week. Bonnie and David were both much shorter than the Braids. They both took bikes without batteries.
By the time we had settled on which one was our bike the cleaners were done with their job and we could go into our assigned cabins. These were really tiny cabins with two single beds separated by just enough gap to put one foot between them and barely any space to move around after keeping our bags on the floor. There was a side table at the foot end of one bed with pull out drawers above the shelf. These drawers held our phones at night as we left them to recharge. There was a step that led up to the bathroom in the cabin. It had just enough room to house a toilet, a sink and a curtained shower. Tap water we were told is good to drink in whole of the country.
I was in a saree since morning. First thing Henk pointed out to me was “ you have other clothing for riding the bike, don’t you?” He gave me access to one of the cabins to change before trying out the bike.
We set out on a warm up tour into the city with both the bike guides. One led in the front, the other rode in the back. We were to ride one behind the other in a single line. They took us through some inner roads along wildflower lined routes, and some busy bike paths in the city crowd. We stopped near a statue of Rembrandt and once at a cafe for coffee and tea. We did about 15 km that afternoon. By the end of it the experienced guide made some suggestions to Hank about the order of the riders. Henk would lead from front. Abhay would stay behind him as he needed most supervision. I would follow next and others behind me. Derek who was most experienced amongst us would cover us at the tail end. We stayed true to this order for the rest of our tour.
When we got back to the boat about 5 pm the table was set with gorgeous vases of tulips and other flowers. Pauline had some cheese and crackers at the dining room table to have with tea or wine. She served dinner at 6:30 pm. There was salmon and potatoes for the main course and crème brûlée for dessert. After dinner Henk and Marius gave us updates about the next day’s schedule.
We sailed that night to Ouderkerk which was on a large lake, 1 km wide and 30 km long. The boat rocked until late night due to winds on the water. Yet despite it all we fell asleep as soon as we got into our beds.
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