Nijmegen to Amsterdam: by train

May 7, 2012

WEATHER: mostly sunny(!)

It was good to see the sun this morning, and after another tasty breakfast Eva enjoyed her coffee outside on the terrace. Our fellow guests were catching an early train for a daytrip to Bonn, Germany. Nijmegen is very close to the German border, and we wondered how long it had taken for relationships to normalize between the Dutch and German people after all the death, destruction and hatred of WWII. Certainly now, there seem to be numerous German tourists here in the Netherlands, but the commemoration of Liberation Day had demonstrated that memories of WWII are still alive and well.

Enjoying morning coffee during a rare sunny break.

There were several cute gardens behind the B&B.

Our train left at 10:40, so we had plenty of time to pack up and chat with Toine, before taking an indirect route to the station, along the scenic waterfront, and then uphill through the city centre. We were relieved that we would not have to change trains on the 1 1/2 hour trip to Amsterdam. This train was larger than the small regional one we had taken before, with two levels of seating. We bagged up our bikes and panniers and found space in the area between the levels, where there were six seats and some room for luggage. We had this space all to ourselves for the first few stops, and then it filled up with more people, another folding bike, and numerous suitcases. The woman sitting across from us, well into her 70s, asked us where we were from, and when we said Canada, she told us that her village had been liberated by Canadian soldiers, who gave chocolate to the children—an amazing treat. Her memories of the war years were certainly still very vivid.

We arrived at Amsterdam's Centraal Station round noon, and had our first experience of cycling through the busy downtown area of the city. It was a bit disconcerting since there were so many people around, both on bicycles and walking. Several of them were definitely experiencing other realities and were unaware of their surroundings, making it difficult to avoid collisions. We made our way to the Kaisergracht canal and stopped for grilled vegetable paninis at an outdoor table of the Panorama cafe. We wanted to keep an eye on our loaded bikes, and sitting outside in the sunshine felt very pleasant. After lunch we continued slowly along the narrow canal-side streets back to the Hotel Verdi. This time we were given a room on the second floor, so only had to climb two sets of steep stairs. Once again the room was large and bright, and after parking our bikes in the back garden, we quickly settled in. In the afternoon, we shopped for fruit, chocolate and tea in the supermarket under the Museumplein, and we also checked out the nearby Concertbegouw, the celebrated Amsterdam concert hall where a free lunchtime concert was scheduled for Wenesday.

A stop for a pleasant lunch after navigating through the busiest part of central Amsterdam.

Sidewalk tables outside the cafe where we had lunch along Keisergracht.

View along the canal between the train station and our hotel.

For dinner we went back to our favourite local restaurant, Pompa, for lemon-herb chicken and roast potatoes. Afterwards, on this beautiful warm evening we strolled through the Vondelpark, people-watching and enjoying the balmy almost-summer ambiance.

Vondelpark on a warm evening, where people gather to mingle with the birds.

Today's ride: 9 km (6 miles)
Total: 680 km (422 miles)

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