A brisk blue sky marked the beginning of this day in Hoek van Holland. In a tourist town before the season on a Sunday and you could hear a pin drop. ( Any Dutch town on a Sunday actually). We rode to the H.v.H, Strand passing WW2- Gernan cement bunkers - remnants of the Atlantic Wall - and reached the vast beach. We waded in the frigid North Sea picking up shells and reflecting on this as the start of GR5 route to the south. If all goes well we would not see the ocean again till Nice / Menton in September.
We continued cycling beside the vast waterway that is the Rhine's entry to the sea and the vast port complex leading to Rotterdam. I had expected this area to be industrial blight but was pleasantly surprised how orderly and clean the area was. We passed the giant Stena catamaran car ferries to England as streams of hard core Dutch cyclists raced pass us in tight peletons.
Eventually we reached a remarkably vast construction. Locals explained these huge curved walls ( each as long as the Eiffel tower is high ) one on each side of the waterway- rotate into the waterway on a gigantic frame and then sink. This protects the port from high tide storm surge damage.
Further on, I noticed 2 gigantic cranes across the waterway which we finally crossed on a car ferry. Stopping for a war drink I inquired about the cranes and was told they are the largest in the world! They are moved around for port infrastructure maintenance.
We cycled an through the rural countryside with port structures receding in the distance. After a couple more hours we were starved and everything was closed on Sunday. Finally after random inquiry we found a fast food place and had shakes, fries and "Chicago" burgers. I asked about the Chicago part and apparently it was the Chicago sauce on them? They had ketchup for the fries but it was spiked with curry. When you are hungry it's all good! We rode on more hours - our longest day of the tour- crossing more vast bridges finally arriving at our town for the night Willemstad. An old small port city surrounded by a moat, it too had old Dutch fortification and the German built bunkers - a couple which obviously once contained massive guns. I explored a bit and noted the steel lined ceiling had explosion damage toward the gun exits which I suspect occurred when the guns were destroyed.
Dinner was at an upscale place called Frescati. Tammy had half a lobster with spaghetti while I had scampi instead. There was a richness of olive oil and garlic but not overbearing. Very nice food and a nice glass of Valpolicella wine to compliment the meal. Dessert was entitled Dame Blanc 2012 which appeared as a ball of hard chocolate surround a rich vanilla ice cream. The server drizzeled hot chocolate over it till the ball began to melt and open. Excellent as you can imagine. I took an after dinner photography stroll while Tammy soaked in the tub. The evening light is on till after 10!
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