On our way to Amsterdam

April 20, 2024

We had a great flight from Mazatlan… the flight is only 4 1/2 hrs and in the same time zone….no jet lag! However, it is a shock to the system to emerge from the plane and no longer be in the tropics. But one can’t complain as tomorrow, we will be off to Europe to revisit friends and our tandem (5 year lapse due to COVID) and have a great cycling adventure.

We are staying at the Quality Hotel in Richmond. This unassuming hotel ticks all the boxes for us…in the very expensive hotel market near the airport, this hotel is reasonably priced, very quiet, includes breakfast and best of all, it backs on to a beautiful community park.

The park by the hotel is quite lovely and full of interesting birds who make it their home/resting area. Fun watching this heron catch a wee fish and with great deliberation crane its neck to enjoy its catch.

His catch of the day might be tiny (just discernible at the tip of his beak) but he certainly enjoyed it.

As always, there were several of the ever present Canada geese on hand. For many, it is a bit of a love/hate relationship with these geese as they do take over an area. But hey, they need to live somewhere!

Ready to go…our free shuttle to the airport awaits.

Not to sound biased, but we do love Vancouver airport. Such beautiful displays of art, nature (for example, an incredible oversized wall aquarium), First Nations art and beautiful jade sculpture. This time, we were impressed by the displays celebrating the spring season.

We love the Wrapping station…it protects our panniers and it also protects other luggage from the metal hardware on the back of the panniers.

We say farewell to our luggage…the trailer and our panniers which in their wrapped state, we have named a dinosaur egg.

We haven’t flown KLM for a while, but it is one of our favourite airlines…great service, staff are personable and efficient. Tonya is designated to our section and as we were seated by the emergency exit, we had good visits with her. She introduced herself as “Tonya… but I promise not to strike you with a metal bar! (reference..Tonya Harding).

Wow, what a small world it is. We were seated next to this young man from the Netherlands. I enquired about his journey and he said he had been in Canada for 9 months attending high school on an International Exchange program. When I enquired where…he said Saltspring Island. I might have scared him with my reaction as I was so excited and surprised as we live on this small island as well. The next surprise is that he lived on Maliview Rd, very close to where our friend and personal trainer lives. Oh, what a small world. What are the odd that we would be seated together?

The flight was good but neither of us slept. The dreaded restless legs for me and a sore back for Barry. Nonetheless, we were buoyed up by the reality that we are now in Holland. Yeah! Good to see the lovely Albert Heijn grocery store in the airport. The oversized Dutch wooden shoe is a nice touch.

KLM has a small museum/display of their airline in the airport.

Another flight attendant, Janine, came to visit with us as we had given her a big smile. She asked about our plans for Europe, so we shared with her our cycling plans. She was so pleased to hear of our enthusiasm for touring in Europe and her home country. She also shared that she is training for a 245 km ride in Holland on May 20. To our surprise, she and the crew gave us a small gift to wish us well. We were touched by their generosity and support of our plans.

If you read her note, you will see the reference to the ride Janine will be doing in May. We wish her well. The interactions we so enjoy while travelling, make us wish that in one’s daily life we could slow down, take the time and appreciate the strangers we may meet in a typical day.

Steigenberger Hotel in Schiphol is a wonderful place to stay. Free shuttle both ways….many of the hotels close to the airport offered free shuttle only one way and the cost was usually 20 euros one way. It is super quiet, well appointed and has a free pool and spa for guests.

We have arrived to the train station and are on our way to Limburg. We have 4 trains to connect with before we arrive.

ICE trains are fabulous…so fast, quiet (we reserved in 1st class) and efficient.

The day is tiring and long, yet it is exciting to be near our destination.

We have arrived in Limburg an der Lahn and Cora has been awaiting our arrival. It is so good to see her again. Soon we will also be reunited with Seavo. Tomorrow morning we will ride about 30 km to a bike shop for Seavo to be inspected and prepared for our travels.

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