Wednesday, May 2 - Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Now we hang about Alicante and wait for Tuesday when we drop Jim’s bike off at the shop. On Wednesday we pick it up and get new tires installed on Verna’s bike. When that is completed we head for points north.

Thursday, May 10, 2001                               Top of Page

After the week that seemed to go on forever, we are finally out of Alicante. We have spent too much time in Alicante and the past week has been very difficult. To make it even worse, when we took Jim’s bike in for service and new tires they had forgotten to order the tires so we got to spend an extra day waiting for the tires to arrive.

We left town at noon because we did not get Verna’s bike out of the shop until ten and then it took two hours to get bags back on and everything packed. OK, we’re slow! We then put on about 225 miles on our new tires in some sun, some overcast, some rain, and a lot of cold. The weather in Spain this week has been like winter. We cannot believe that it is the middle of May and we are riding with electric clothing and electric gloves in order to stay warm. This is Spain! It is raining everywhere and the prediction is for more of the same tomorrow.

At one point this afternoon we pulled off the highway and parked in an area that ran under the road to escape the incredibly heavy rain. Granted it was just a shower but this was a heavy rain. Much like the rain we were caught in last week on the way back from France. The same weather system has been sitting over Spain for a week just spinning around. Not good. We hope to travel through the Pyrenees on Saturday but that may not be the prudent thing to do.

So, here we sit in Teruel in the Plaza Hotel watching the Viajar (travel) channel on TV which is featuring Ireland tonight. Been there, done that, got the snap! Teruel is about two hours north, north east of Valencia at about 3500 feet. The road getting here is a great motorcycle road but it is traveled by many, many heavy goods vehicles (semi-tractor trailers).

We also encountered our first radar trap since our arrival in Spain last October. Thought we were in Canada for a minute. The car with the radar was unmarked and about a mile from the police car where they were stopping the cars. They were set up to get the cars going in the opposite direction as us. We think that Spain needs a lot of work on its traffic enforcement and this is typical. This road is in the middle of nowhere with no access roads from farms or anything in the area. The road is in very good condition. The traffic is steady but not heavy. Why a speed trap here? We are mystified because we see people going in excess of 50 MPH in residential neighborhoods in cities with children and animals out and about and the police don’t do a thing.

Friday, May 11, 2001                                  Top of Page

Rained last night but we woke up to partly cloudy and some relatively warm - considering we are at 3500 feet. A very nice day all things considered. When trying to explain, “Why a motorbike?” to those who do not ride I use one of things from today’s ride. Nice day, relatively warm and were just riding along with relatively light traffic on a nice country lane when into the nostrils we get a whiff of newly plowed earth. Ambrosia! Never get this in the car with the windows up and the climate control system running. I like the climate control on the bike more; nature at it’s best or worse as the case may be. Those who do not ride do not understand.

Traveled a little over 300 miles today from Teruel, Spain to Pau, France by way of Zaragoza, Spain and Col du Somport in the Pyrenees. Snow at about 5,000 feet. Stopped for the obligatory photograph, right. We were really surprised at how warm it was in the mountains - 70+ degrees at the summit (5,400 feet). It was much colder this morning at lower elevations. Must be this bizarre weather Spain has been having the last two weeks.

Here in Pau it is very nice and we have secured a room in a small hotel with a telephone connection we can use to update the web site. Also adjacent to a large super store with everything your heart could desire available. This means it’s cheese, bread, apples and a little something to sip for dinner.

We think that we will have to return to Zaragoza, Spain for a closer and better look. A large city with ~600,000 population and the capital of the province of Zaragoza. The town has been described as the, “Senora de las Cuatro Culturas”, literally the “Mistress of four civilizations”. This goes back a couple of years - say 24 BC. Another reminder for Americans that 200 years in nothing when historical conversations take place.

Tomorrow is another day and we will continue our north west migration towards Amsterdam.

Saturday, May 12, 2001                                Top of Page

We left Pau this morning amid blue skies and sunshine! It was our usual midmorning departure, about the last ones to leave. Somehow it doesn’t seem important to rush about trying to get an early start.

Last night Verna went out to the bike about 9 PM to get the chocolate and found a couple (Ray & Jeanine) leaving a business card on one of the bikes. They couldn’t believe that we were really from Oregon and wanted to know what we were up to. After about an hour, Jim is sitting in the room getting worried and heads out to find her still talking with these folks. Turns out they are from Fairfield, California. They have traveled all over France over the years (Jeanine is French, though she has lived in the US since 1947) and were now heading toward the Basque country. We had lots of stories to exchange about driving, cultural differences and love of travel. 

We traveled only on the “D” roads today and found some beautiful areas. The roads were in generally good condition and there was very little traffic. Being Saturday, we did see our share of motorcycles, though only one lorry and a couple of tractors. Most of the road was over hill and dale, with lots of sweeping curves and few tight turns. The countryside was lush and green, with lots of trees between the farms and fields. Between Auch and Cahors there were many more wheat fields, lush with tall green stalks. Many fields were just being plowed and several large fields had small corn plants, about 2” high.

One of the problems with the D roads is that they intersect often with other D roads and they are not always well marked or have different numbers on them than appear on the map or the GPS. So we had our share of U-turns today (one has to keep in practice). A couple of times we ended up on roads that didn’t appear on the GPS, but since they appeared to be taking us in the direction we wanted to go and they were nice roads, we followed them anyway. Eventually we would get to another road that did appear, so no harm done. 

One of the commonplace sights in France is sections of tree-lined roads. Sometimes they are near a town, other times they appear out in the middle of nowhere. But we really love the sense of these roads and identify them our vision of country lanes in rural France. Somewhere between Pau and Auch we drove through one such section of road and got a picture of Jim passing through. How many years ago did someone plant these trees along the road?

Sunday, May 13, 2001                                 Top of Page

Today started a bit overcast and gray, but still somewhat bright and no serious threat of rain – yet. We headed east out from Cahors along the Lot River in the valley of limestone cliffs. According to the local literature, man has inhabited these cliffs since Cro-Magnon time. Originally the inhabitants lived in caves. Over the years, the caves have had houses built into them.

We stopped in one village west of Cajarc to take the picture at right of one of the many houses built right against the cliff walls. The gentleman who lives there came down the drive to speak with us, but it was a limited conversation as Jim’s ability to speak French is nonexistent and Verna’s French is spartan at best and he spoke no English. He did manage to get across the fact that there is a spring coming out of the rock wall near the house, filling a open cistern with fresh, clean water. He invited us up the drive to have a look and take any pictures we wanted. At left is a shot looking down on the village from the cistern with the bikes parked at the bottom of his drive.

The picture below right of the valley shows how beautifully lush and green it is with fields freshly plowed and small villages dotting the landscape. The road was in good condition and little traffic on a Sunday morning. There was a group of motorbikes headed the other direction, probably a club ride.

As the road left the river, we climbed to the top of the hills and rode along a ridge for a while, looking down on the valley with small farms and villages. When we joined the N122, we climbed even higher, enjoying the views (ultimately reaching 4,100 feet). The road had recently been repaved and was in excellent condition. There are many rest stops with picnic tables (“aire du pique-nique”, according to the signs) where you can stop for a break or snack).

Eventually we came to the A75, a free Autoroute in France, so we took advantage of it for the last few miles to Issoire. Our timing was good (for once) as we had a slight shower on the A75, but the main thunderstorm didn’t hit until we were already ensconced in our hotel room. Just under 200 miles for the day.

Monday, May 14, 2001                                 Top of Page

Today started as yesterday finished - with rain and thunderstorms. We were lucky, however, as our usual mode of delaying the inevitable in the morning worked. By the time we left the hotel the rain stopped and we rode in partly cloudy skies. We were the last ones out of the parking lot at 10:15 AM.

If France has a Midwest like the U.S., we drove through a good portion of it today. Mostly flat and fields of wheat. And fields of wheat. And fields of wheat. Did we mention that there were fields of wheat?

Made a quick U-turn when we passed a restaurant that had lots of trucks parked next door. Nice salad with hot pork, turkey legs with pasta and frites for lunch. Mmmm good. The waitress thought we were a bit strange when we told her we did not want the wine that was included.

Later in the afternoon we caught up with the rain that had passed us by in the night and morning. Lots of lightning and thunder. We were looking for a place to pull over and stop. We got some very heavy rain for about 20 miles but the light and noise show was well south of us as the road turned north.

Jim finally managed to diagnose the problem he has been having with hearing the radio and radar detector. Turns out the female jack that the connector from his ear plugs goes into has an intermittent open inside the connector. As luck would have it, we found a hotel right next to a super market and an electronics store. Replaced the connector on the helmet and bought some fruit, cheese and bread for dinner. Just got back to the hotel and all of the lightning, thunder and rain arrived. We have always maintained that we’d rather be lucky than good! About 225 miles and we find ourselves in beautiful Dole, France - just south east of Dijon.

Tuesday, May 15, 2001                                 Top of Page

Today the weather Gods got their revenge. It was raining when we got on the road, and it rained most of the day. We were fortunate enough that it stopped raining just before we found a hotel for the night. A nice hotel just north of Bastogne, Belgium.

Not much else to report today unless anyone is interested in how much fun it can be to ride a motorbike if varying volumes of rain. The weather certainly did not contribute to the sight seeing experience today.

Wednesday, May 16, 2001                             Top of Page

Today began with overcast skies, but dry. We made our first stop at an automated teller machine in order to obtain some Belgium Francs. We will be so happy when the Eurro becomes the official currency for the European Union at the first of the year.

We spent the majority of the day in and around Bastonge, Belgium today. Most will probably remember this town for the famous battle fought here during W.W.II. Jim really enjoys the historical aspects of an area like this. Much like he enjoyed the stop we made last fall as we drove across the UK and stumbled upon an aircraft museum with operational planes; mostly of W.W.II vintage.

Not much to show for our stay other than memories. There is the odd Sherman and Panzer tank on display but most of the information is found in historic sites and museums. This means no pictures today.

We also discovered that one does not want to be anywhere near Eindhoven, Netherlands during the commute hour. We have been through this are on several occasions in the past few years and the traffic has always been quite heavy but today we made the mistake of riding through in the middle of the evening commute hour. The nice thing about being on a motor bike in this part of the world is that the majority of the motoring world is quite civilized and will move over in their lanes in order to create room for the motorbikes to pass between the lanes of traffic with ample room. This reduced the time we spent in the bad traffic by two thirds or more. Too bad people in the U.S. are not quite so nice.

Thursday, May 17, 2001                                Top of Page

Today was a lazy day. After a day on the motorway in traffic, it was time for a break. So today we headed east about 45 minutes to the De Hoge Veluwe, the largest national park in the Netherlands. It is located just north of the town of Arnhem. This park was once the private property of the Kroller-Muller family and covers over 5500 ha. It is comprised of woodlands, grassy plains, moors, and some small areas of shifting sand dunes. At right is a picture taken from one of the dunes as it melts into the grassland. In the distance you can just make out the profile of the woods. Below, Jim stands with the bikes closer to the woods.

There is an excellent visitors’ center that provides a detailed view of the diversity of the park and explains the delicate balance of the sands, grasses and woodlands. The shifting sands are not natural to the area, but are a result of human intervention. Left to nature, the sands would revert to grasslands and eventually woodlands, so the park management is taking an active role in preserving this unique terrain.  In mild, wet winters, lichen and moss will cover the sands, allowing grass seed to germinate later in the season. The areas they wish to keep as shifting sand are stripped of this lichen. Also in the visitors’ center is the Museonder, the world’s first underground museum. It’s purpose is to allow you to explore all that lives ( or has lived) under the surface level. The skylight of the building shows a complete root system of a 135 year old beech tree.

At the north end of the park there is a hunting lodge (pictured below) built for the Kroller-Muller family that is quite interesting to visit. The architect who built the lodge (H. P. Berlage) also designed the furniture and flooring for the rooms as well as invited famous artists to create stained glass and sculptures specifically for the house. For its time, it was quite modern. It was built between 1914 and 1920 and has electric lighting (they had their own generator), central heating, a built-in vacuum system, and an exhaust fan in the smoking room/library. The theme of the lodge is of the legend of St. Hubert. As such, the entry hall has a stained-glass window depicting his vision of the stag with the cross. The cross is repeated throughout the house in the brickwork of the tower, the carvings in the woodwork, and the upholstery in the chairs. Brick is the main building medium both inside and out, although colored, glazed bricks are used extensively within. Mr. Kroller was fascinated by trains and as a result had the windows designed so they opened by sliding down as did a train window in those days. In addition, many of the external doors are made of riveted metal.

Mrs. Kroller-Muller was as avid collector of fine art and her collection is exhibited in the museum also within the park. The collection centers on her extensive collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, but contains other famous works as well. The museum also contains a sculpture garden, one of the largest in Europe, covering 21 ha.

All in all, the park is well worth the better part of a day to explore. If you like, they offer the free use of bicycles to explore the park. There are separate bike/footpaths to keep you safe from the motor traffic. While it was certainly lovely and quiet while we were there, we can imagine that in summer, it may get a bit hectic.

At the end of the day, we headed out to find a hotel for the night. We are finding this to be a difficult task in the Netherlands, as we had the same problem last night, as well as the last time we visited. The hotels are not advertised on the motorways, so it is only when you see one you know to get off (though by then you have already gone by the exit). In town, some towns will signpost the hotels, but many do not. Tonight we found several; however, they were all full! It appears there are quite a few seminars going on in the area and everyone was booked. So we had to splurge for the suite, as it was the only room left. Jim says the bathroom was worth it - full tub, large walk-in shower, double sinks, separate toilet room, and warm tile floors from the hot water plumbing under the floor. We think we may be able to suffer through the night!

Friday, May 18 - Monday, May 21, 2001                Top of Page

Amid party cloudy skies (but dry!) we headed out for Amsterdam on Friday. We stay at the Shipol airport as parking is easier and safer than in the city, then just take the train into town. We met our friend Bonnie at the airport and escorted her into the city to her hotel, then headed to a nearby Indonesian restaurant, Bali, for dinner. We enjoyed the “rice table” dinners that each come with about 6 or 7 different dishes (and those were the small ones - some dinners have up to a dozen different dishes!). It was a wonderful meal that lasted several hours while we chatted away about our various travels.

We spent the next couple of days running around Amsterdam, seeing the sights, shopping, and just sitting in street side cafes watching the people go by. What a great town! Walking around town, one notices that most of the buildings have a definite lean to them (they lean out over the street as shown in the picture to the right). This is not an optical illusion, but was actually done on purpose. Because space is a premium, the stairways in Dutch buildings tend to be narrow and steep - not conducive to carrying furniture from floor to floor! So each of the buildings has a beam sticking out toward the street at the top, with a big hook. They then hang a pulley off the hook, and pull the furniture up the outside of the building. The buildings were made with the lean outward so that when the furniture was pulled up, it wouldn’t scrape against the front of the house!

We of course had to show Bonnie the red light district where the ladies display themselves in in windows along the street, which seems a lot more civilized than walking around a cold city at night in next-to-nothing. The picture of the left shows some typical windows (now empty) where the ladies sit with the red lights over the windows. The area of the city is surprisingly upscale and not at all sleazy as one might expect. Of course there are the accompanying sex shops, but we view them as a bit entertaining (they do display some rather interesting apparatus!). 

On Sunday, Verna & Bonnie headed to the Keukenhof for a morning of flower-viewing. As expected, it was gorgeous. We had been there last year a month earlier and found it a bit different at this time - more tulips and all the trees were leafed out. One of the pavilions this time was full of exotic lilies and the scent was overwhelming! Verna has never seen so many lilies in one place and they both truly enjoyed the exhibit. At right is Bonnie with a display of the rubrum lilies and at left was the entry display of mixed lilies. So it appears that arriving at any time of the 8-week show is worth the effort. Several bus tours are available from major hotels in the city, so it quite easy to get to. There was also a stop at a bulb grower where they learned a bit of the history of the tulip - they originally grew wild in China and Russia, but only took on popular appeal once they were brought to Turkey where they were first cultivated. The following excerpt explains how valuable tulips were at the height of the tulip mania:

For more information about the Netherlands, see the Netherlands Section.

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