I was shocked when I woke up at 8 am. I was so happy that I got a good sleep! Our first day of cycling.
It took me a bit to get our route in the Fietsknoop app. I paid for the ad-free app since it didn’t seem to want to let me put in my own route and save it. It was only 8 euros so totally worth it rather than fighting it. Although after that I figured out that my e-sim was slow, so Bell wins – $16 a day. Arghh! Thank goodness I got our route in the app before heading out since it makes it very easy to follow. I am sure there are other apps you can get but Fietsknoop app has worked very well.
The walk to the bike shop FietsStation058 was only a 15 minute walk from where we stayed. They agreed to keep our luggage for the week which was great. We packed very little in our panniers for the week. Clothes are over-rated aren’t they? I just made sure I had an underwear for every day. Not sure Bart did. Lol.
We put our route in the Fietsknoop app. We made it to the start – #17. And off we go. Me sporting my red hat for Canada and Bart wearing his Friesland hat.
The weather was not going to be the greatest. The temperature was 9 and it was overcast and rainy. But we came prepared for rain or shine so all good. Well I think I heard Bart grumble once. Haha. It was quite windy sometimes. Actually really windy so we were thankful that we have e-bikes.
Bart didn’t like cycling out of Leeuwarden. I laughed. I cycled out and into Amsterdam 4 years ago with my sisters, and today I found it was 100+ times easier. But if I didn’t have that experience then yes I would have thought the same today. The good thing is that bikes rule the road here so you just keep cycling! And the cars stop. But you do want to know your traffic signs as there are times when you do not have the right away. Here is a good YouTube video that I watched.
I think both of us were a bit stressed this morning – me because my data wasn’t working great and I was having difficulty getting our route together. But then Bart tells me he was calm. Actually, I guess he was – he knew I would get us where we needed to go and he just smiled and followed.
About 10 km outside of the city we came upon this. Wow! A self serve cafe on a farm. Coffee and goodies. This is exactly what we needed! How could it be here on a farm in the country-side, that we would find such a quaint little place with lekker (good) coffee and goodies. They also had homemade jewelry and some souvenirs. I found a magnet with a Friesan saying – something that Bart’s Dad always said – so I bought it. “Buter, brea en griene tsiis, wa’t dat net sizze kin, is gjin oprjochte Fries” which means “Butter bread and green cheese, whoever cannot say that is no true Frisian”
The cycle paths are amazing. So many are concrete, even through the fields. They often run beside canals. I didn’t get lots of pictures as it is difficult to cycle and take pictures at the same time. I used to be able to do it but after a few tumbles I think I am better to refrain from doing them at the same time. Lol. But we enjoyed the views. Their camping is different than I know it in Canada (eg Alginquin Park). They are camping on a farm, beside the canals, and it seems on private properties. We see them fishing and boating on the small canals, and if it gets hot I wonder if they will swim in them.
We went through a very small village Boazum. We stopped at this old church, had a break, walked around checking out the tombstones which surround the church.
We stopped at the only restaurant in town which was lovely. We sat on the patio so we could keep an eye on our bikes and the patio was warmer than riding. The inside was really nice with all the tables covered in their Dutch/Persian table clothes. It seemed to be run by a young Mom and her Mom. She had a little boy who came out and played playmobile with us. I could have sat here all day but we had to keep cycling.
We cycled 30 km the first day and arrived in Sneek. It was easy to find where we were staying. We got settled and walked 30 minutes into the city centre for dinner.
Bart wanted to take an Uber back. If we were home in Hamilton I would have called one. But it was 26 euros to go 2 km so we are walking. We stopped at the Albert Hijn to pick up some vino – better spent money than on an Uber. Haha.
Even with the cold and rain, we had a great first day of cycling. We are on vacation and don’t have to wake up to go to work. Cheers to that!
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