03-29-2024 Ride

This time, I logged both rides on Strava. I got up a little before 7, slept pretty well and was able to get back to sleep after waking up in the night. I updated my blog entries in detail for the previous two days, read a little bit, had some breakfast. Ann was still sleeping, so I had a short morning nap, and we both woke up around 10:45.  We ended up eating brunch, then decided to go to Haarlem for the day. I mapped out a route from Halfweg, so we rode our bikes over to the train station about two miles away. The ride over was wind-aided. Got to the station, and Ann bought the tickets for the train. I also helped a Russian-speaking guy buy a round-trip ticket to go to Amsterdam Centraal. Then we got on the train and rode two stops to the Haarlem central station. All went well, and we got off the train and started walking toward where the Haarlem market was located. We found it okay and played typical tourists. On the way there, it was like the open mall scene we experienced in Amsterdam, lots of popular stores. There was a church on the way, but we didn't pay the entrance fee to go in. Through the market area, then we found something like a small farmer's market and bought a couple of chocolate pastries. Ann mapped out how to get to the cathedral, and we walked over there. We bought tour tickets which told about the building and stained glass. It also allowed us to go up the stairs to the ring at the base of the dome, where we were able to walk around. That was cool. A small choir was practicing below while we were up there. When we walked down, a Good Friday service was beginning. Fortunately, we were near the end of our audio tour, so we finished up and left. Walked back the way we came to the central square, then we decided to walk over to the windmill. The wind was strong enough when we got to it that it was spinning. On the way back, we stopped at a little bar and had a drink. They were setting up a going-away party for some neighbors while we were there. Then we walked back to the train station and caught the train back to Halfweg. The bike ride back, also captured on Strava, was winder and slower, although I don't think the wind was as strong as on the previous afternoon. Quiet evening in the Airbnb flat, where we had dinner using the supplies we bought at the market the previous evening.