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In Which I Am Back Where I Started To Finish
July 30, 2007 by Mike
Bergen aan Zee
Route: Brighton - Folkestone - (Chunnel) - Calais - Antwerp - Utrecht - Amsterdam a couple of times - Bergen - Bergen aan Zee
I left here on 17 December expecting to come back after Christmas.
This *is* after Christmas, but you know what I mean.
I'm surprised at how much I remember: the lay-out of this small coastal town, the state of the roads, where the little grocery shop sits and the way the flags have seen better days. A gap in the woods that presents a postcard-perfect picture of fields, cows and a little windmill. The road here from the larger town of Bergen, which winds through the plushest of suburbs, where prosperity gives way to wealth and then garish opulence. These are some of the biggest (and trashiest) homes I've seen outside of Florida.
In December, Bergen aan Zee was moribund. I was the first paying guest in the little B&B on Paulineweg since September. Restaurants were closed. Blinds were drawn.
Now it's high-season and.. it's still quiet and withdrawn. Sure there are tourists here, both Dutch and German, but those who are outside shuffle past you on the sand-swept pavement apologetically. The restaurants are open - but nobody's sitting in them. My B&B is closed. The town has an air of having been passed by. The wind is fierce.
I wander in to the Hotel Victoria, where I ate my last supper in December. This is where everyone is, for some reason. (No offence, but it can't be the food.) And then.. and then.. the waiter who served me 226 days ago looks up and says, in perfect English and with studied nonchalance, "Hello again. Mike, isn't it? Couldn't keep away, I see. Anyway, it's nice to see you and.. yes.. I think your table is free."
Now I *know* I just made the point that this town is empty, but that was quite something. I was so chuffed that I ended up blowing my budget for the month* on a room in the Hotel as well as a meal. I reckon I deserve it after the ride here today. I got curried potato cakes as, I think, an extra special treat. But apart from that all is good.
*Luckily the month ends in a couple of days and I can start spending again.
--
This morning, the ride from Brighton to Folkestone was a dream. Slowed down by the A-road traffic I could really smell the roses. Britain seems to have dropped off my itinerary but after this I'm tempted.. very tempted..
--
On the EuroTunnel train to Calais. Two other bikes on the crossing and that natural affinity between bikers comes through straightway, even though one bike is from Yorkshire and the other from Lancashire. I don't even have a chance to wind them up about the fact that they're both riding BMWs. Am slightly bemused (should I be honoured?) that one of them looked at the bike, looked at my old-fashioned jacket and wondered if I might be Austin Vince. (This is an in-joke for a small sub-section of overland bikers. but it made me chortle.)
--
And then 260 miles from Calais to Bergen an Zee, all in one go barring petrol stops and the inevitable moment outside Amsterdam when I passed a road-sign announcing: "London 525km". In a shock move, having guessed the way this far, I was now heading in exactly the wrong direction. The Dutch motorway system is just Spaghetti Junction on a national scale, so although I was hideously lost and wrong the way only male navigators can be, someone put me on the right road and got me here in doublequick time.
Knackered.
--
Thanks for reading this far, by the way. Especially if you were following my trip last year and have somehow wandered back. It's good to see you again. Let's not leave it so long next time?
Comments
By Rachel | August 3, 2007 11:01 AM
Goed geluk en het gelukkige rijden - bouw een zandkasteel voor me
By Laura | August 3, 2007 4:05 PM
I am so glad you are back on the road again and am looking forward to reading the adventures that I am sure are in store for you.
By mandy | August 3, 2007 5:28 PM
just wandered back having discovered one of your Norwegian videos some time ago -- good to see you on the move again.
I'm going nowhere so must travel on the backs of other blogger - I'm sure you'll bear my weight.
By Kathy | August 5, 2007 6:08 PM
Hurrah! He's back. Right then, we want narrative and pictures and make it snappy.
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By Anne | August 2, 2007 12:11 PM
Great to see you two riding again! Even better that your parents are doing good.
Now the Moomin world is open, Kalle might heat up the sauna any day and you are heading up north again?? Couldn't be better... (: Only problem is I don't work for museum any more. But you'll surely find your way, where ever you are riding to!