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Best of Holland TripAugust 2007by Malc
Skating through pretty Dutch villages on the Island of Texel The "Best of Holland 2007" tour was run by Lex at Skate-a-Round. The trip began with an Easyjet flight to Amsterdam, and next morning I caught the train to the little harbour at Enkhuizen - it's a small town on the edge of the Ijsselmeer (formerly called the Zuidersee, but now tamed by the huge dike which cuts it off from the North Sea). I was with 16 other skaters (13 from Spain, 2 from Holland and 1 from Germany) - they all arrived laden with bags and huge smiles - I was a bit relieved to see no-one had speed-skates or serious lycra gear - everyone had recreational skates - some with 90mm wheels, though! Our skate leaders were Martijn and his wife Tarja, and they gave us a real friendly welcome onboard. Last of all, a beaming character appeared on the quay, spread his arms wide and announced, "I am Carlos, pleased to meet you!". He then proceeded to unfurl his red skate school flag and fly it from the top of the mast - so the ship was officially commandeered. Carlos was to prove his value many times on the trip ......... Martijn gathered us for a quick welcome talk, and gave us each a printout of the day's skating map with detailed directions in case we wanted to split from the group or take a short-cut. Martijn & Tarja always skated along at the rear of the pack, to help anyone if they were tired or lost - which didn't really happen at all - everyone kept together very well, including little Sarah from Madrid who was only 10 years old!
After a quick lunch of wholemeal bread with huge goops of chocolate spread, we put on our skates, and shot off along the top of the dike on the first 26km skate to the next town of Medemblik, while the skipper Klaas-Jan and first-mate Justin sailed the boat after us. The first Spanish word I learned was "VAMOS!" Actually, "shot-off" is not really correct - the wind was pretty strong against us, and we soon noticed that if you stopped skating you were liable to get blown backwards! Christine was really thoughtful in looking-out for those of us finding the wind too strong, and handing-out energy-boosting sweets. Anyway, we made it there in about 2.5 hours, which was good going against the wind - and the boat had beaten us there! After a shower, we had dinner at a pretty restaurant in the harbour, and fell into our bunks. My Spanish room-mate jokingly warned me there would be an "Inquisition" if I snored in the bunk below him. I was surprised to waken in the night and hear that HE was the one doing the snoring!
Day 2 we sailed through the dike out into the sea - everyone had a go at hauling on the sails, great fun. We soon arrived at the island of Texel, and clambered ashore for the 40km skate around the island - super-smooth cycle tracks most of the way, and then a short stretch through a wooded nature reserve on lovely smooth tarmac - we did it easily in 4 hours, even with a couple of stops at cafes in the wood. There were lots of Dutch locals of all ages from 1 to 101, cycling merrily along, the older ones wearing wooden clogs - they all smiled and waved - especially when they heard all the Spanish voices! Carlos befriended a Dutch sheep. Near the end, Carlos was a real hero pulling some of the others along when they got a bit tired.
Day 3 we skated along the top of the dike from one side of the Ijsselmeer to the other - the wind was pushing us along so strongly that we did 13km in 30 minutes. The next 10km we decided, "Why bother skating when we can sail on skates?" - so we held up our jackets, and the wind just pushed us along! For the last 5km the route changed direction into the wind, which was nasty - fortunately, Carlos skated to the front, and was a perfect wind-shield, as well as pulling 2 girls along behind him. I skated behind them, and when I got tired and dropped back, Carlos was quick to notice, and slowed to let me back into their slipstream. He sure earned his beer that day! Skated exhausted into the seaside town of Makkum, where the sun was streaming down, and everyone sat and drank iced-tea at a cafe - whew! Later, Carlos gave us a free skate-dancing lesson by moonlight on the quayside, while the locals watched in awe.
Day 4 was unfortunately drizzling with rain, and the boat had a broken wooden spar on the mast, so we waited for a replacement to arrive, and played card games ....... if you have ever played "Uno", this was the Spanish way - they call it "Uno Super-Novas" - great fun - especially when they try to persuade you that the Spanish for "blue" is actually "yellow" ........ now why did the skipper run away to his cabin after 1 round of Uno, I wonder? In the end, the ship set sail and we just had a day's break from skating as it was too wet. A welcome rest, actually!
Friday found us at the harbour of Stavoren, and Martijn decided that as rain was threatening, we would skate a 20km circular route, instead of the planned 25km trip to the next place - we stopped at mid-point for coffee, and then had a lazy race back to the ship, past fields of curious cows and the last of the summer flowers. Skated into the harbour for the last sail home. Further delights awaited us at the Friday Night Skate in Amsterdam, which was 26km long - it sounds a lot, but it is almost all on super-smooth cycle tracks, so the distance soon glides past beneath the wheels. I really enjoyed it - everyone was exhausted but happy!
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