Another lovely May evening ride, albeit with a brisk northerly wind 💨
Inland to Vogelenzang, including part of the Leidsevaart with its daisies, then back along the coast & past the beaches, then to Noordwijk & its new Ferris wheel, before the riding home through dunes to Wassenaar in the dusk 🎡
Lovely weather for this evening’s 60km ride: some warmth left over from the sunny day, but cool enough to be comfortable, & only a slight breeze 🌞🌬️🙇♂️
Honestly, our two-day stopover in Patmos was a lucky coincidence that came about through a name mix-up 😂 patmos, piraeus... 🧏♀️ I don't know... thanks to my legastenic brain and the stressy situation at the ferry ticket office 🤷♀️
The ferry crossing was already amazing 🤩, but when we arrived in Patmos and were warmly welcomed at the vegan restaurant 'Pernera' with our loaded bicycles, we were very happy about this confusion 🥰 !
Sidenote: The neighboring shop initially wanted to send us away and said we should park our bikes in the parking lot at the harbor... yea of course... not!
In the beautiful 'Pernera', we enjoyed a vegan and gluten-free menu, prepared with love from organic and local ingredients 🫠. And besides the delicious food, our souls were nourished by the inspiring and motivating conversations we had with the people there 🫶
The search for a campground in the picturesque small bays was a bit challenging. Either the beach was too narrow for a tent or private. Fortunately, it was still off-season, and we were able to set up our inner tent in the bay 'Kampos Beach' next to the beach bar, as the beach taverns and sunbed rentals were not yet active.
Sunny & warm during the day for dragonflies, so of course it clouded over & was cold & windy by the time I went out for my 47km evening ride around the Vlietland 🥶💨
Not very photogenic, so here’s a picture taken #OTD six years ago – sunset over the North Sea as seen from the Buitensluis in Katwijk.
Nightingales in the dunes close to the beach at Wassenaar.
This is just a brief placeholder; I'll try to get some better nightingale audio in the next couple of weeks. There are many of them between Katwijk & Wassenaar, & I love hearing them every spring.
From today's rather lovely 77km ride up the Leidsevaart & back through the coastal dunes.
It may lack the mighty rock formations of Yosemite, but you have to think that Ansel Adams would nevertheless have enjoyed photographing the wide open landscape of The Netherlands & the endlessly changing skies above it 🤷♂️🙂
Our campsite in the middle of Rhodes...
When we found this place in 'Rodini Park', there was not a single person visiting this deep green park. So we thought we could go to bed early and spend a quiet night. However, we did not expect a group of teenagers who had come to play 'hide and seek'. As soon as they spotted us, they started throwing stones in our direction. So we got out of the tent to show them who we are and to talk to them. Finally, they understood that we are travelers who just want to spend a peaceful night here. After exchanging some famous football players and some curse words in different languages, they finally ran away.
Drier than yesterday, but very windy & cooling rapidly under clear skies around sunset, so chilly too 🥶 Not that the lambs in the Noord Aa seemed bothered 🐑
Still, another 43km added to the total & no punctures, which is always a bonus 🤷♂️🙂
We left Çıralı with its beautiful beach and the ancient site of 'Olympos' behind us and enjoyed a great day of cycling off the main road. Several kilometers before reaching the coastal town of Finike, we battled against the very strong headwind. It was no longer fun to ride, so we decided to look for a campsite. The weather forecast indicated that a terrible rain and thunderstorm will approach the next morning. Therefore, we searched for a sheltered campsite to avoid getting soaked... Yes, we found a roof under which we could set up the tent. The night was peaceful, the wind even stopped. And in the morning when we woke up, we thought the weather forecast had been overly dramatic... But suddenly it started to rain and then the storm began... coming directly from the sea, straight towards our small tent! OMG! The roof was no longer helping, the rain was coming horizontally. We feared that the storm would damage the tent, so we took it down while the rain soaked us...
After about two hours enduring the storm, the wind suddenly shifted and 10 minutes later the dark rain clouds were swept away. The sky was once again bright blue, the sun was shining as if nothing had happened. Only the wind continued to blow like crazy. We took our time, dried the tent, sleeping mat and the wet stuff on the deserted playground...
Antalya... time to take a hot shower, time to chill, time to make laundry, time to chat with other travelers in the backyard of the hostel, time to stroll without bicycle through the old town and time to realize a little bit how fast we've traveled since we are in Turkey...