August 21, 2018
River ride
The Amstel up close and personal
Our final full day in Amsterdam deserves a final ride around the city. Strava tells me that we were moving for all but 45 minutes of its duration - which must've been our coffee stop (she says hopefully). That would be the case because we were back to our houseboat by lunchtime, giving us time for one more tram trip into the city that afternoon to explore its nooks and crannies on foot.
As an aside, we have made good use of the end-of-the-line tram stop some 15 minutes' walk away from home. When not cycling, we have been into the city for a clutch of cultural experiences: standing before the vast 'Night Watchman' in the Rijksmuseum; visiting the boutique Allard Pierson museum to view an exhibition of COLOUR photos taken between 1905 and the end of the Great War; immersing ourselves in the painter's familiar colours and textures at the Van Gogh museum; enjoying the national youth orchestra playing at the Royal Concert Hall and paying a sombre visit to Anne Frank's canalside house.
Anyway, the ride.
For much of the morning we are cruising along the banks of the Amstel River. This river is at the heart of Amsterdam. It has given its name to the city, not to mention the beer, and is, according to the WikiOracle, the venue for the city's Liberation Day and Gay Pride boat parades.
There are no banners unfurled or flags flying this morning for our farewell ride, but that's OK. We turn right onto the Zwartepad one last time and briefly join the Slotenvaart canal, then the larger Ringvaart van de Haarlemmermeerpolder (phew). There are some navigational issues on this stretch of canal, according to Strava; however, we recover, find the correct turnoff and head east towards the city centre.
Eventually, we reach Amstelpark and loop around it to join the broad and curvaceous Amstel River, quite the contrast to the mostly straight-line canals we've been following so far. Just in time, a picturesque waterfront café rolls up, forcing us to a stop, not long in fact after taking this windmill pic :
After sustenance, we continue along the Amstel as it heads south, parting ways to turn broadly westward along a series of cycle paths until we regain the ring canal we had a fleeting relationship with earlier this morning, thus completing the loop. From here, it is a short run back to Zwartepad ("Black Path", named for the ancient practice of surfacing with coal grit) and our cosy apartment.
And finally - just because I can - here are a couple of shots of the view from our houseboat: morning and evening. So beautiful!
Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 142 km (88 miles)
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