Day 7, RailRide Haarlem
27th Sept., 41 miles
Given how much I enjoy my RailRides, it was perhaps inevitable I'd add one to my planned rides for this trip. I toyed briefly with heading up to Amsterdam, but I've been there before, albeit briefly, so instead chose a neighbouring city, Haarlem. It has a significant history, not least through ancestor emigrants giving its name to a district in New York.
Den Haag Centraal Station
I first headed into the city and Den Haag Central transport hub where trains, trams and buses can be caught to a variety of destinations, both near and far. Buying a ticket from a machine is simple, if not expensive. The machine offers instructions in both Dutch and English, dispensing both the travel ticket for me - €9.80, not too bad I guess for a 45 minute journey - and the bike ticket at €7.50. Nearly as much for the bike as for me, although it's for a day's unlimited travel so if you were making a return journey across country, perhaps that wouldn't be too bad. On top of that though, there’s also €1 charge for each ticket. There are of course travel cards which negate the need for that.
The train departed on time, was roomy and comfortable, and stuck to its schedule all the way to Haarlem. Having said how 'clean' I've found the Netherlands on the whole, one area where they do seem to have an even bigger problem than us is in trackside graffiti; near centres of population there can be miles of the stuff!
Haarlem station has an old world charm that the modern hub in Den Haag lacks. Having been around for
nearly two hundred years that's to be expected of course. It's only a short walk or bike ride to the city centre and main square dominated by another of the vast, robust churches that are so common in Dutch cities and towns. Haarlem, like the other places I've visited has its own share of canals, waterways and narrow cobbled streets, but unlike Delft or Leiden, I wasn't feeling the love. I'm not sure why; maybe I felt it lacked the chocolate-boxy charm of those other places or maybe I'm doing it a disservice. As a consequence I didn't linger and was happy to follow the river and shortly be out in the countryside.
For the first half of the journey it seemed to be back and forth between town and country, yet with the cyclepath network tending to thread its way through green spaces, it never felt oppressively busy in the way that towns back home often do. In Bornholm I picked up lunch to enjoy later on a bench back out in the country. There was one lengthy stretch which ran parallel to a motorway and underneath a set of high voltage wires way above. It was a largely straight route and sounds awful, yet the cyclepath was wonderfully smooth, wove back and forth to avoid the monotony, and was amongst seemingly wild heathland.
On returning once more to a town, this time Lisse, as I pedalled down the main street I could see signs and barriers indicating the road ahead was closed. On nearing the barriers it was obvious the whole road had been taken over by a funfair. After negotiating a parallel route down a shopping precinct for some while and trying in vain to return to my original route, it was clear just how extensive this funfair was. The Dutch certainly don't do entertainment by halves!
Tulips from Amsterdam? Nah, Lisse.
From Lisse the homeward leg once more alternated between town and country: Oegstgeest, the edge of Leiden, then Wassenaar. The landscape may not have the topographical variety of back home, but that certainly doesn't make it uninteresting. Once more it was the time of day when young people were leaving school or college for home and I'd often end up absorbed amongst a gaggle. For so many, their way of life on the bike begins early. The bike isn't a 'cool' possession to be paraded in front of friends, it's simply an everyday tool that does a job, like a pencil or paintbrush.
The final stretch picked up the reverse of the outbound leg I took the other day, back along 'mansion' alley. Some of the properties were 'Te koop' (for sale) and when I later checked, there was very little under €3M and plenty well above!
Back on site I managed to exchange some of the shrapnel I've gathered for the 50c coins I can use for hot shower tokens so no more chilly ones for the remainder of the trip. Another pleasant evening typing this up on the 'veranda'. Is it usual to be able to comfortably sit outside in September or have I dropped incredibly lucky?