The tour goes abroad…

After visiting friends and taking advantage of their kind hospitality I departed last week.
I decided to go around London exploring the home counties North of London.  This area is interesting in the busy traffic whizzing through the small roads (the b-roads that I was on) which were surrounded by the countryside that could’ve been anywhere in England. It really did feel like a green belt as I avoided big towns like Dunstable and Stevenage without getting too close to the Greater London areas.
I made it to Harwich port on Tuesday getting the last ticket on the boat for the overnight crossing.

So on Wednesday morning I got to Europe to a new expanse to explore.

I can’t state this enough that this is an amazing place to cycle.  There are cycle routes everywhere.  They are nearly always separate from the road traffic which makes it much less stressful.  The only problem is the wind that can be swift and constant in a land where the relief is so uniform. 
I set my sights to get to Amsterdam for the day. Quite a distance at 80km but surely attainable here. I thus went  through and stopped off in Leiden which was a busy small city with so many bikes.  The feeling of being in the minority that I feel in Britain faded away which is interesting as I quite like the comraderie that there is in the UK. 

I made it to the Lucky Lake hostel which is near Abcoude around 15km from Amsterdam.  This hostel is lovely and quirky.  I like the slightly out of town feel too.  The accommodation here is all in cabins and caravans which is great in the sunshine not sure if it’d work so well in the wet. 

I’ve managed to get myself a green caravan to myself which is very peaceful.

Today has been a quiet day to recover from the last week. Tomorrow I plan to head into Amsterdam to be a proper tourist.