Just Back from Holland

...And boy are my tulips tired!

We are freshly back in Dublin after a holiday weekend trip to Haarlem, Amsterdam, and the surrounding countryside of the Netherlands. When we first booked the trip, we weren't really thinking flowers, although we should have made the connection right away: Holland, spring, tulips. If the super-Dutch communities we knew in Iowa (the city of Pella and most of Sioux County) went crazy about tulips – and heavy censorship, xenophobia, racism, and Dutch Reform religious bigotry – then what might we expect to see in the home of...actual Dutch people?

Flowers

More Flowers

Few More Flowers

Yes, lots of flowers. We took a long bicycle ride through the many commercial-scale bulb flower fields and visited a popular (read: crowded) garden packed with artfully-arranged displays of Holland's most famous export. The gardens were amazing, even with the crowds. It happened to be family weekend, so I was privileged to watch part of a live performance of Sesame Street (Sesame Straat) characters singing and dancing in Dutch. Elmo gave a particularly touching performance of I'd Like to Visit the Moon. No translation needed for such a classic.

We also spent some time in Haarlem and Amsterdam, the former of which is famous for its namesake neighborhood in New York, the latter is most well known for...things the hardline Dutch Reform folks in Iowa might find...improper. Especially given that they famously edited the title of a certain Johnny Knoxville sequel to read, "Jackbutt 2" on their public movie marquee.

Non-Sleazy Amsterdam

Our visit to Amsterdam was just a day trip, the perfect time for the tourist not wishing to partake in some of the city's more infamous entertainment or pay a stiff entrance fee for the art museums and the Anne Frank House. We spent the day walking through the various neighborhoods with our favorite (non-sponsored plug) Rick Steves book and audio guides. The canals and streets were full of bicycles, beautiful gabled building fronts, trees, cruise boats, and things that might have made the "Jackbutt 2" Dutch in Iowa pass out and fall into the water in shock.

Our last day was spent taking a similar stroll through Haarlem. It has its own charm and its own interesting history, but with fewer canals and much smaller crowds.

Haarlem Street

Grotekerk Church

Old and New Building Fronts

Finally! A Windmill!

I'm writing a series of articles over on Five Suitcases with less personal accounts of our Dutch holiday. The first article covers the details of a day of cycling through the flower fields and visiting Keukenhof, the famous flower garden. More articles about Haarlem and Amsterdam to come.

A Ride on the Grand Canal

It's rare in Ireland to have a dry, warm day in December. Whenever I've tried to get out and about, it's been clear, cold, and windy--or warm, wet, and dark.

Not so at the end of last week as the sun came out and pushed Dublin to a tolerable temperature. I decided to get out and make the most of it--exploring farther west along the Grand Canal than I've ever gone before. Sadly, the wind was still a-blowin' this day, limiting my western progress a bit.

Just had a great ride on a sunny-but-crisp day on the Grand Canal in #Dublin pic.twitter.com/59Cu5T2oQa
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) December 19, 2014

From the Suir Luas stop, I hopped on the canal towpath--formerly used to pull heavy barges but now a nice canalside walking trail. The low sun should be evident from the photos, it was almost exactly midday as I pedaled through the long shadows.

Grand Canal from Suir Luas Stop

I kept running into not-very-cycle-friendly gates. I never actually saw a NO CYCLES sign, but I had to navigate through a number of narrow gates designed to keep either bicycles or motor vehicles off the trail.

I ran into another one at the Blackhorse Luas stop, where I saw the following sign:

Lansdowne Nature Park Trailhead

I wanted to check out this little suburban park. It seemed to have everything I needed: a small creek (called a river here), trees, and a trail winding through it all.

Sadly, after fighting through a tricky traffic-and-Luas intersection, I ran into a closed gate, keeping me and my bicycle out. I had to settle for a photo through the iron gate.

Well, That Would have been Fun!

Sticking to the canal, I noticed that the water has finally returned to normal levels. After a very dry November, we've finally had some rain to refill the rivers, lakes, and canals.

Water Flowing over a Lock

Going farther along the canal, I knew that I was getting out of the city when I rode past a grazing horse.

Chillin' on the Canal

I was in the Bluebell village, and saw the following sign with canal fishing tips.

Bluebell Angling Club Fishing Tips

Just like the Portobello Angling Club closer to the city, this club seems to maintain a stretch of the canal for recreational angling. The waters of the canal seemed to be (just a little bit) cleaner and more accessible out here in the suburbs. Maybe there could be fishing potential out here, less than an hour's ride away on a windy day.

Once I reached Ballyfermot, near Dublin's round-town motorway M50, I decided to turn around. I was faced with more annoying gates and tricky intersections, and the wind was just a bit chilly in my face as I pushed up the hill into west Co. Dublin. Looking at the map, it seems I was very close to entering farm fields and pasture rural Ireland territory. Good to know that the country is closer than I had thought.

That does it: next summer, I'm going to try a bike trip on the canal to the Dublin/Kildare county line and back. Maybe I'll take my fishing pole with me.