DAY 23
MONDAY MAY 23 2005
Goodness! It is amazing the power of a good meal and a good nights sleep. I wake up refreshed, believe it or not! Sorry about the depressing journal entries. Looking back over that day, nothing really bad happened. I am not grievously injured or harmed. I obviously, was bonking.
I think I need to take the time here and explain the term bonking. My definition of it anyway. Once used as a euphuism for sex it is now used in the exercise world for a condition that is brought on by intense exercise.
Bonking: riding the waves of emotional and physical exhaustion without fuel. Specifically the lack of fuel brings on that type of ride.
Having my first meal of the day at 7 pm was stupid, but with all that was going on I just didn't have time to eat and when I did, the places were closed because it was Sunday. So it just kept being pushed back.
At any rate, I leave my hotel in Cleve and get in the large taxi I had ordered the day before. It will hold my bike and all my gear. I have a deadline I need to make it to the police station by. This taxi guy turns out to be great. We eventually work out a price to take me all the way to the hotel in Arnhem for 70.00 Euro.
This turns out to be a great decision, as the taxi guy, Jingo, speaks great English. He gives me a running history of all that we see on the way to Arnhem. Wow, my own personal tour guide. Things are looking up. I promise I will send him a postcard from Alaska as he has a collection of postcards mailed to him from all over the world. This leads us into becoming pen pals. He will write in German and I will write in English. In this way we can increase our knowledge of other languages.
In Arnhem I go through all the steps again to see if my passport has turned up. It has not. So this time I go have lunch in the city center. Three minutes away from the cafe is the police station. Gosh, I chose the right cafe, didn't I? It was a good pizza, too.
I lock my bike up and go in. They fill out a report detailing that my whole money belt is lost. Passport, money, and other miscellaneous documents. Within 15 minutes I am out of there and headed to the train station. Wow. That's efficiency!
Arnhem
On the way back to the train station I meet two girls who did some touring in the past themselves. They tell me that I am not on the popular portion of the Rhine, yet. That happens after Cologne. I really liked talking to them. They said they had so much fun doing cycling the Danube and that I shouldn't get "de-motivated". Mmm... I wonder how they knew.
Arnhem
Haarlem
Back to Haarlem I go. Of course, I will gravitate to the one city I know well and feel as comfortable in as Anchorage, and Paris. Besides I received an email from the US consulate saying I need to go to Amsterdam to get a new passport not Den Hag after all. Haarlem is 15 minutes away by train to Amsterdam Central and then from there I take a five minute tram ride on tram #5. Easy.
As soon as I hit Haarlem I ride my bike to Hotel Caruso and take a room. I wasn't going to show up unannounced at the B&B as I was embarrassed about doing that the first time and did not want to repeat it. Also, I new that when I left last time they were coming into their busy season and were fully booked.
The owner of the hotel recognized me from last time I was here, as I ate a lot at his restaurant. He gave me a huge room. I mean HUGE! I felt like little Elvis again. I didn't know a room like this could exist in such a small hotel. The room is bigger than my living room at home and has three separate beds. Floor to ceiling windows let in all the wonderful sunlight I want. The bathroom even has a great shower head. One of the best I've used. Beds are hard as a rock, though. Yeah, I know I'm Goldilocks. :-)
When I look at hotel Caruso I see unused potential. Truly unused potential. I wish I could buy it, gut it, save the frescos, the stained glass windows and the dark lovely wood and refurbish it with sound proofing and all the latest conveniences like internet. There are vast spaces behind the public spaces that are not even being used, not even remotely. Tour groups would love this place, if it had soundproofing. As it is I have the entire floor all to myself, which is a little spooky at times.
I do stop by the B&B to pick up a book I left there by Rick Steves called Amsterdam. I will need that tomorrow when I go to the consulate. It is 8:15 at night by this time and unbeknownst to me Marjet had just finished reading my last journal entry and was thinking "I wish there was something I could do to help her". I then ring here door bell. How's that for timing? :-)
She gives me a much needed hug and I cry a little. Good Lord! I am more stable than this, what's the matter with me. Between Hans and Marjet they give me some good much needed advice, the book, and a map to Amsterdam. Their motto for their B&B is "a home away form home" and that's sure what it is for me today!
After I leave there I call Jeff. There was no response from my emails and I ask him about it. He says "I know you, bumps, you freak out. Just relax." I tell him to ignore my emails as I am going to tough it out and see what happens. His parting advice to me is to "just relax". I end the conversation, as I do so many times, with "Yeah, I know your right."
I go back to my hotel and call it a night.
Least favorite moment of the last two days: Bonking and the whole passport thing.
Favorite Moment of the last two days: Going back to Arnhem and Haarlem a second time and riding my bicycle through the cities. If I hadn't of done that I might not have realized just how much my bike handling skills have improved. Streets that I refused to ride my bike on before, I was riding on easily. With crowds that I always walked my bike through, I was weaving like an eel through the water, all on my bike. Gosh! I actually impressed myself. :-)