Countryside Bike Tour

 (Katherine)  Despite the alarm not going off and waking up only 30 minutes before the start of today’s Countryside Bike tour, we still managed to get to the Mike’s Bike’s only a couple of minutes late and still join the group - whew! Good thing that we did, because it was an amazing tour with a totally different perspective from Monday’s ride. We ended up logging 16 miles which took us through the city center all the way into the countryside until we were surrounded by farmland.

Our first stop on the tour was at nearby windmill which is still in use today. Well, it’s mainly there for the tourists, but the mechanics inside are still functional. Our guide explained that the person who lives there gets to live there for free, but they are responsible for making sure that the windmill is always “photo-ready”. Not a bad job!  We then rode to a farmhouse that produces it’s own cheese and clogs. We got a brief explanation of how the cheese (gouda) is made, and learned you can potentially wait up to 10 years to cut through the waxy seal and it would still be edible; though more of a parmesan at that point. Then a very flirty fellow gave a thorough demonstration of how they make clogs with the use of two machines. The second machine allowed him to also offer some pelvic gyrations for the ladies - a performance you could tell he really enjoys! Naturally we had to purchase a tiny pair of collectors clogs, and a small round of cheese, despite how much I complain about putting on cheese-related weight!

The tour also took us through communities of houseboats, dykes, canal systems, and more farmlands. We finally wound our way back into the city by way of some industrial office buildings, and then back through Vondelpark. After dropping off the bikes, we decided to reward ourselves with pancakes, or Pannekoek. We each got a sweet and s

avory, and I have to say that ham & cheese pancakes are decadent. We continued wandering around the lovely system of canals taking photos, window shopping, and stopping for a pint of beet along the water. We also went by the Anne Frank House though we didn’t have tickets for the tour. It was still very powerful just standing in front of the house where she hid for nearly 3 years. Even just reading the brochure was a strong reminder of the impact that book had on me as a teenager. It was such a tragic story, and now I can visualize exactly where she lived.

We raced home to make dinner, and then wandered back out towards the red light district so I could see what it looks like during the last bit of sunlight. Along the way we also found a mini-Castro street lined with rainbow flags which then turned into a mini-Chinatown. As the sun began to set in the land of red lights, you could see the girls starting to open up their windows and get ready for their night shifts. I learned from a local magazine that the windows rent for $100-150 euros a shift, and that a 15-minute “session” would average around $50 euros. I definitely saw a few men coming in and out of doors, so it’s clear that these girls are definitely getting clients each night. Supposedly the city is trying to shut down the windows, and they have already closed about 25%, but the district is definitely a HUGE draw for tourists so it will be interesting to see what happens. We ventured to the edge of the district to enjoy a nightcap at a hostel bar called The Bulldog where we closed the chapter on our Amsterdam adventure.