I had a route plan which was the Elfstedentocht route, but it was over 60 km and Bart wanted a shorter one. I love the Fietsknoop App but this time…..I didn’t find it great when you want to find your own unique route. I was just so overwhelmed, so I just went to bed.
When I woke up, I was overwhelmed again. I finally found a Fietsknoop route from someone local that shared a route that was 45 kms. I figured out how to save it in the app and open it in Fietsknoop app, and start it and off we went!! Phew!
We came across a very beautiful spot on a small canal. We took a wrong turn and went along a stretch of about 20 homes along the canal only to come to a dead end. We missed our turn.
There were 2 men sitting in a little hutje (little hut) that took across the canal on a ferry. It was just 2 minutes across. There used to be a bridge a long time ago. One of the men was a farmer who lived right there. He actually donated a piece of his land for the ferry. They have 60 volunteers who work the Keimpetille ferry in 2 different shifts every day. It cost 1.50 EU each. They also had drinks – coffe/tea in the hutje if we wanted. When we came across to the other side he shared a plaque there with a QR code. It was a spot where Canadian troops built a bridge across in 1945 as part of the Canadian liberation.
The little bike ferry is called the Veerpont Jacob Petra’s and the locals also call it the Fietspont Keimpetille. It crosses the Van Harinxmakanaal. The name comes from: tille is Frisian word for bridge (historically there used to be a bridge here before ferries replaced it after the canal widened in 1946).
There was a large hotel as we came into the City. It was 12 noon. They were very kind and let us put our bikes in their bike locker. The restaurant on the 11th floor was just opening. We were able to plan the second half of our cycle to Dokkum. Once again I found someone’s saved route on Fietsknoop. It took us a different route from the Elfstedentocht route which was great as we will save that one for tomorrow when we cycle back from Dokkum to Leeuwarden.
We say so many cows and sheep and horses on our cycle trip. But this was the first time we had to cycle right with the cows. We stopped as there were cows right in the path. There was a girl behind us so we watched what she did. She cycled right through. Okay the , that is what we will do too. But then 2 cows walked right in the path in front of me. I have Bart yelling behind me to stop as he wanted to get a picture. I had visions of hitting a cow or being chased by one. lol and so I was yelling “toe maar” at the cows, which means “get going”, and the 2 cows got off the path.
Bartleheim is one of the most famous tiny hamlets in Friesland cause of the Elfstedentocht skating race. He wooden bridge here is iconic because skaters pass under it twice during the route.
We stopped in Burdaard by the De Olifant windmill or a break. It was a nice spot it’s a lift bridge and we were able to watch some boats come through.
Our name Altena is well known in Netherlands. I thought it was cool that the end of our cycle to Dokkum led us to Altenastreek (Altena Street). I looked it up and found out that there was an old inn here centuries ago called Herberg De Altena. The name Al te na means “right next to” so it referred to the in. Being very close to the city gate. The inn was a popular stopping spot for travellers and though it disappeared the street name stayed.
We stayed in 5 Friends Op de Fiets places and they were all good, but this one was the nicest of them all.
Thea recommended Grand Cafe De Waugh for dinner. Great choice. We sat on the patio with a heater. It was still chilly. But I hear hot weather is coming.
Bart and I were in Dokkum before in 2012. We stayed for one night but didn’t get to see much of it as we came in late, slept, and back out the next day. At that time we stayed in the Poosthoorn Hotel, also right on the canal. I always said, I want to go back to Dokkum, and here we are. Lovely!
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