England delivered an exit of epic proportions! Rain was forecast but it held off until we were halfway to Dover. Then it started. Plans for useful stops were abandoned, and all we could do was enjoy a last real ale and hope that we would be allowed onto the earlier ferry, which we were; but sitting the car watching the staff work in hurricane uniform led to little regret at getting out!
France was wet, but less so! We scooted over from the Dunkerque hotel to Poivre Rouge and had the last French meal for ages. It was still raining slightly the next day, but was bitterly cold! Our oracle said that diesel was cheaper in French supermarkets than in Belgium so we made a small detour to fill up only to then decide we couldn't face getting out of the car, so we entered Belgium knowing we would have to stop somewhere. It was all going well - except of course for the road surface conditions - now legendary! There was rain, of course, but only heavy, and we had loads of time for the 200 miles or so, and then we came to a halt. Major roadworks that had started that morning! The slow lane was at a complete standstill with HGVs of every EU nation, running for probably 5 km. We glided past to meet our own hold-up, and sat for half an hour, watching the rain.
We got going again and in due course hit Antwerp. Thank you Via Michelin! Antwerp is a major port. It has a river mouth and a lot of through traffic. It has two tunnels. The westerly one has a toll, the easterly is free. The powers that be do not call these (in any language) West and East or anything sensible. They label them R1 and R2, and our printed directions indicated the one where the rest of the world was not going! At first this was a great relief as the queue before the Kennedy Tunnel was enormous and stationary, so after a summit conference we went with that advised and were zooming round on "the other side". Six euros, twenty excess miles, twenty minutes and two peak anxiety moments later we were back where the directions picked up. We will never know how long we would have taken if we had followed the herd. Once out of Belgium decent road directions and surface resume, and we only had the traditional "Why didn't you print a bigger street plan?" period before we were at the hotel (in the rain!) nearly two hours later than expected.
We chose well for accommodation. With a walk of 15 minutes you reach Overamstel Metro station which is fast into Centraal Station or earlier central stops. Chloe had to work a fair bit during our stay, but she recommended a small cheaper bar near Dam and we met her there. She had worked hard on plans for our time together and found very good restaurants for one dinner and two lunches.
- Moes near the station and part of the Appel gallery (organic, expensive but good!)
- Van der Kerkwijk in the Red Light District (quirky menu, slow service)
- Bazar within the Albert Cuypstraat market (North African, great value)
Next day we met her for a trip down Albert Cuypstraat market. They were selling a lot of umbrellas and sweaters! We had to get the bikes back to the hotel and were very lucky to avoid the rain, but less so later on in getting back in via the Metro! Although we didn't want to eat we went for the first time over the IJ to Noord Amsterdam to a restaurant and bar set in the disused shipyard. We had great trouble finding it, but it was worthwhile as there was a female singer/guitarist in the style of Tracy Chapman, who was good, and we had a chat with her afterwards. All good fun, but we had misread the ferry timetable for return and had a long cold wait, so killed time in another bar also in an old industrial building and showing video of more glorious times. We sent C off on her bike and that was it!
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