When I first came to the Netherlands, it was a while before I found out that Amstel was not only a beer, but a river, and even longer to discover that ‘Amsterdam’ meant ‘dam on the Amstel’. Maybe I’m just a slow learner.
Now I know the Amstel River very well. My cycling routes south of Amsterdam often begin with a few kilometres riding alongside it. My correspondent and fellow blogger Laura contacted me this morning and recommended a ride along the length of the Amstel from Amsterdam to where the Drecht River joins with a canal to become the Amstel at a village called De Kwakel. It’s about a 60km round trip, all flat.
Good idea, thanks Laura! I went straight out and did it. Continue reading