Saturday 21st April

Today was the day to visit Keukenhof garden and had required elaborate planning. Even the garden's web site had warned people off visiting today because many of the roads around the garden would be closed to accommodate the annual flower parade from lunchtime.

Not to be deterred we set off at 07:30 to be there for the garden opening at 08:00 and this was an inspired move. Not only did we arrive before 08:00 but we were in the garden by then and for the first 90 minutes or so it was relatively quiet.

As you can see from the photos the garden was stunning and the LLW was in her element. We spent just over three hours there and walked the whole garden but by the time we were ready to leave it was absolutely heaving with visitors.

We were concerned about exiting the car park, which by now was overflowing, but Dutch organisation meant that a very efficient one way system allowed us out in no time.

Our plan was to head east through Lisse and thereby avoid all of the roads closed for the parade. This proved successful and whilst the traffic in the other direction was horrendous, we made steady progress to our destination of Buitenkaag where we planned a cycle ride along canals and meres. This was lovely and whilst we were slightly disappointed that the greatly anticipated Fietspont (bicycle ferry) was not in operation until May, we had a great ride although the LLW did complain that the 15 miles we had covered was longer than she had expected.

Friday 20th April

Sunny and hot again today but the LLW had to pay her other men some attention (not sure how many there are of them but it seems to be at least as many as in a Rugby Union team!) so Ray was unceremoniously sent off to cycle to Leiden with orders not to return until lunchtime!

This was a lovely ride and shortly after I left Noordwijk, I saw a stork in the field to my right but unfortunately it saw me at the same time so by the time I had found the camera, it had flown off and sadly my photo only shows the storks nest plus another stork flying into the middle distance!

Leiden was soon reached and I pottered around the old town stopping briefly for a coffee in the main square. Very lovely and relatively quiet.

Coming back I had decided  to cycle due west to Katwijk aan Zee and then cycle north along the dunes route to Noordwijk. the section through the dunes was fantastic and as you can see was very busy!

After around 19.5 miles I arrived back at our hotel and persuaded the LLW that she must forget her other men for a while and come with me to see the dunes. We cycled via an inland route to Katwijk which was lovely and there were plenty of bulb fields for the LLW to enjoy.

However there were a few complaints that some of the dunes were too high resulting in rather too many ups and downs for the LLW's liking. After just over 9 miles we were back at our hotel and after a short rest we walked across the road to lets Anders, our venue for dinner. It was excellent and the LLW that the slowed cooked belly of pork in her duo of pork was the best ever. Ray also declared his steak the best for some time so all in all a very enjoyable meal.

Thursday 19th April

The ship docked at 08:00 and we were soon on our way to Noordwijk aan Zee which is only around 33 miles but the route passes through Den Haag and a number of other heavily populated areas. The traffic was not light but we made slow but steady progress and soon had arrived at our hotel in Noordwijk. We quickly realised that the flower season is now a huge tourist attraction and Noordwijk was packed. Being a very popular summer seaside resort it has lots of hotels whilst the smaller towns closer to the bulb fields have very few.  This must have become a major money earner for Noordwijk.

We parked the car in the hotel garage and set off on our first cycle ride. The LLW had a very early complaint as we cycled along a beautiful track through the Dunes. Apparently she had been promised tulip fields and none were visible for the first 30 minutes or so. An International incident was avoided shortly after we turned inland and encountered numerous of said bulb fields and luckily they were everywhere during the net few days.

The ride took us to The Keukenhof garden, the outskirts of Lisse and through some lovely typically dutch countryside back to Noordwijk. 18 miles in total and the LLW was very pleased with herself.

Now I know that many of our readers have expressed concern about the LLW getting her quota of Dutch Apple Pies (with cream) but I can assure you that she is made of stern stuff and has a built in SatNav which can locate said apple pies within a 10 mile radius. A disused railway station a mile from Keukenhof has been converted into a cafe and had a plentiful supply of this Dutch delicacy. The LLW was very happy; phew!

From the flower perspective, we have come at just the right time. Lots of daffodils still out, tulips opening up almost as we watched and the added bonus of fabulous hyacinths. The perfume was quite amazing and along with the views never to be forgotten. Cycling is a brilliant way to see the bulb fields and we were not alone in recognising that.

It had been a very hot day, around 26C and our only concern was sunburn and the lack of shade. However all was fine and we avoided too much exposure and after a rest at the hotel we had an excellent Indian meal at Sunand Anglo-Indian Restaurant, one of the very local restaurants. The best Indian meal for some time!

At the restaurant we had a table by the window and were entertained by the comings and goings at a shop opposite. Whilst at the restaurant dozens of ladies arrived at the shop, all on bicycles, and seemed to be having a whale of a time inside. As we left we discovered that there was a fashion show taking place which was clearly very popular with the locals.

Wednesday 18th April 2018

Our cycling holiday to the Netherlands and Belgium began with the drive via the M25 and Dartford Tunnel to the Stena Line ferry terminal at Harwich. The BMW was loaded and the bikes firmly attached to the bike carrier and we were ready to go.

Those of you who know the M25 and the Dartford tunnel will appreciate that this is not an enjoyable journey during rush hour so plenty of time was allowed to complete the trip. We were amazed to have a smooth run through to the M25 and in spite of Radio Two's Sally Traffic warning of queues back to J3 we were through the Dartford Tunnel with no delays whatsoever. Is is so long since I have used the Thames crossing that I had never experienced the new online charging system using number plate recognition. What an incredible difference this makes; no queues at toll booths and we paid the toll online as soon as we reached Harwich.

We boarded around 21:00 and had a really nice spacious cabin with all mod cons and were able to turn in well before the ship left port. I don't think the North Sea has ever been so calm and we had a very pleasant cruise.

Monday 15th

Very sad scenes on the closest beach today as two inflatables vastly overloaded with migrants were washed up on the rocks. Police and ambulances were quickly on the scene but it did appear that at least one person had not made it.  I was out cycling at the time and it was very windy which would have made beaching inflatables very difficult. I assume that the boats have come from Morocco which is about 260 miles away and that must seem an awful long way in an inflatable on the Atlantic Ocean.

It’s difficult to see a short term solution to this crisis as more and more people become aware of the standard of living in the west and are determined to leave behind poverty and often war in their home countries. Bringing peace and prosperity to these countries will not be easy or quick but until this has been achieved people will also want to move for a better life.

Monday 15th January

Yesterday we visited the island of La Graciosa which is just off the North West coast of Lanzarote. There was an easy drive along the east coast to the port of Orzola and we surprised ourselves by arriving in time for the 09:00 ferry to La Graciosa. The first part of the 25 minute journey started badly with strong winds and waves causing much rolling of the catamaran. However, once round the headland we headed south down the strait between the two islands and with the wind on our stern, it was much smoother. The plan was to hire bikes on the island and to cycle around the sandy tracks but both agreed that before any such  strenuous activity was to be considered a coffee was essential. The island is small but quite diverse with a number of extinct volcanoes and only two quite small settlements, the port of Caleta del Sebo being by far the larger. It is an attractive place with low rise whitewashed buildings, a fair size harbour, a sandy beach and several cafes and restaurants dotted around the waterfront.

The bike hire place was close by and the bikes were fine but were well used and showing signs of operating in a very salty atmosphere. Before we even left the lady who produced the bikes reminded  us that the attached small restaurant had good fresh fish for lunch.

Off we set across the island and cycling was not easy, the first section being relentlessly uphill and very sandy making traction hard at times. There was considerable muttering from the LLW but we reached the summit of the track and enjoyed tremendous views along the west coast.

Arriving back in Caleta del Sebo a beer was needed before anything else could be contemplated.

After a short rest we deduced to cycle south to a beach which was not far but the track was even harder, not because it was steep but because it was very sandy. The tracks on La Graciosa are not well market and it took us a while to find the start of this one.

 Wwe returned to Caleta del Sebo and it was time for lunch. Our bike lady had persuaded us that her restaurant was the right place and it turned out to be very good and very popular. Whilst we enjoyed our lunch the restaurant filled and was clearly the busiest on the island. Ray's theory was that they had heard about the visit of the LLW and had turned out to see the celebrity lawyer in person!

We took the 15:30 ferry back to Orzola and heading into the wind to begin with and brought a fair few dramatic pitches of the catamaran but soon we were back in port. Ray had decided to take the long mountainous route back and we stopped first at the famous viewpoint of Mirador del Rio from which we could see the tracks on La Graciosa quite clearly!

Having mentioned the quirky nature of our hire car we though we should treat you to a photo of said vehicle and you can probably see what we mean. The interior is no less quirky and the LLW has spent many happy minutes pressing every button in site in an attempt to get the SatNav to obey her. It had better learn soon or it is really in trouble!

Friday 12th January

Yesterday we left our apartment in southern Tenerife and drove the 70Km or so to Tenerife North airport which handles all of the flights to other parts of Spain and other Canary Islands.

Before I report on the flight and arrival in Lanzarote I must alert our readers to the latest LLW lunchtime innovation. Our regular readers will be well aware that the LLWs favourite holiday lunch is tuna fish salad and very good it always is. However, whether the LLW is embracing austerity or is on some strange new diet, there has been a subtle change recently and on a few occasions we have experienced tuna fish salad without the tuna! Now as you can imagine Ray is somewhat bemused by this but is currently just going with the flow. I will report back later if a plausible reason emerges for this unusual behaviour.

The airport at Tenerife North was relatively quiet compared to its sister in the South and most planes on the tarmac were of the wind up variety. Our Binter (inter Canary Islands) flight was on time and indeed was a 38 seat turbo prop of the wind up variety which made a lot of noise on take off but very soon settled down to a barely audible drone and we had a very pleasant flight to Arricefe.

In contrast to our car hire experience on Tenerife, the lady at the Avis/Budget desk was charming and very helpful. It probably also helped that we arrived at the Domestic terminal so there were no queues. We were soon on our way in a brand new but very quirky Citroen Cactus. As with many other things the French design cars very much their own way!

We quickly arrived at HPB Santa Rosa in the Costa Teguise and we were once again reminded how good HPB is. The two bedroom, ground floor apartment is terrific and we have our own small tropical garden.

Having unpacked we had a quick swim in the pool and headed off for the excellent EuroSpar supermarket which we had used on previous visits. Reprovisioned we enjoyed a leisurely pasta dinner .
Friday dawned sunny and warm and since the LLW had some work to do, Ray decided to go cycling. On previous occasions we have hired bikes from the main reception but on this occasion all the bikes were in some state of disrepair so Ray decided to walk down to the harbour where the highly recommended Evolution Bikes have their emporium. Soon kitted out with a Specialized Hybrid bike, Ray first cycled back to Santa Rosa to check in with the LLW and then headed off to the outskirts of Arricefe. It was a good ride of about 10miles but the strong headwind made the return leg much harder than the outward journey.