After waiting for the morning rain to stop we headed out for a grand scenic tour of the around Maassluis on the bikes with Jen and Kylie.
With about three kilometres to go to our destination Nellie’s bike had a flat tire. A teenie tiny piece of glass had been picked up somewhere along the way and embedded itself into the tire and punctured the tube. Luckily, Jen had a spare tube and the tools with her, as any good Dutch gal would have. However, it had been quite some time since she last had to change a flat on the go. We pulled out of the way into a driveway to tackle the problem. It was difficult to get the tire off the wheel frame but with Jen’s skill and patience . . . and a little help from Kylie . . . we got the job done and were again on our way.
Touring by bike allows you to really get a view of the countryside and have a look at the local housing. We marvelled at how well kept, neat and tidy all the yards are . . . even the farm yards and many greenhouse businesses. You’d think they all have gardeners and raked their driveways daily. As well, how large the windows are in most homes. I guess with all the gloomy days you’d want all the light inside that you could get.
We ended our trip at the Friday market in Maassluis where Jen did some of her shopping. In one of the squares we came across a motorized street organ. The operator was kind enough to remove most of the protective rain cover for our photos and we had a chance to see the feeding of the paper music sheets being fed into the workings at the back.
At the market we enjoyed a giant, warm stroopewafel . . . hmmm. At the fish stall one of the offerings was oysters in the half shell accompanied by a glass of wine. Instead we chose some pre-lunch snacking on kibbling (battered white fish bits).
Later after lunch and Kylie’s nap we returned to the town centre and enjoyed a cappuccino and biscuit at an outside café along the canal. A little more wandering along the canal and we saw some interesting heritage buildings. They are readily identifiable by the blue triangular symbol seen here and usually have a plaque stating when the first stone was set, which for many was in the 16th or 17th century.
With about three kilometres to go to our destination Nellie’s bike had a flat tire. A teenie tiny piece of glass had been picked up somewhere along the way and embedded itself into the tire and punctured the tube. Luckily, Jen had a spare tube and the tools with her, as any good Dutch gal would have. However, it had been quite some time since she last had to change a flat on the go. We pulled out of the way into a driveway to tackle the problem. It was difficult to get the tire off the wheel frame but with Jen’s skill and patience . . . and a little help from Kylie . . . we got the job done and were again on our way.
Touring by bike allows you to really get a view of the countryside and have a look at the local housing. We marvelled at how well kept, neat and tidy all the yards are . . . even the farm yards and many greenhouse businesses. You’d think they all have gardeners and raked their driveways daily. As well, how large the windows are in most homes. I guess with all the gloomy days you’d want all the light inside that you could get.
We ended our trip at the Friday market in Maassluis where Jen did some of her shopping. In one of the squares we came across a motorized street organ. The operator was kind enough to remove most of the protective rain cover for our photos and we had a chance to see the feeding of the paper music sheets being fed into the workings at the back.
At the market we enjoyed a giant, warm stroopewafel . . . hmmm. At the fish stall one of the offerings was oysters in the half shell accompanied by a glass of wine. Instead we chose some pre-lunch snacking on kibbling (battered white fish bits).
Later after lunch and Kylie’s nap we returned to the town centre and enjoyed a cappuccino and biscuit at an outside café along the canal. A little more wandering along the canal and we saw some interesting heritage buildings. They are readily identifiable by the blue triangular symbol seen here and usually have a plaque stating when the first stone was set, which for many was in the 16th or 17th century.
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