Amsterdam: Cycling to Edam

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I had this whole amazing country route planned for Sunday. We’d rent bikes, head out of the city through the farm lands, see a windmill, relax in the cheese town of Edam, then follow the coast to the island of Marken, see the light house, then follow the fishing villages back to Amsterdam.

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It didn’t really pan out like that. For one, Dutch bikes weigh like 100 pounds. You pretty much have to dismount these things if you need to go the opposite direction.

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I also did a mediocre job directing us through the fields. I’m positive we took the most meandering route possible. Not so good for the master plan, but excellent for the viewing of sheep and cows.

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It really was extremely idyllic. The bike paths takes you over lots of cute little draw bridges that go over the small canals that irrigate the fields. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the quaint village roads we occasionally cycled through made me want to quit my job, buy a Dutch cottage, and leave it all behind.

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We made the smart choice to stop off in a cute harbor village called Monnikendam. It had a very medieval feel to it and a food market was happening when we arrived. We took the chance to buy lots of delicious cheeses.

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Eventually we left the farmland for a more coastal route. For a section of the route, the bike path actually has water on either side. It was pretty luxurious.

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By the time we made it to the windmill south of Volendam, we were really starting to feel it. Our intended 2 hour trip had turned into 5 hours and our butt’s were disturbingly sore. Still, we were happy to have made it to a very Dutch looking landmark, so we celebrated our small victory.

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Instead of Edam being the mid-part of our journey, it ended up being the very end. We arrived with approximately 15 minutes to spare before we had to high-tail it home by the fasted route in order to make our train. It’s a shame we didn’t have a little more time, but I’m happy we made good use of our 15 minutes. We had some delicious frites, visited “the cheese museum shop”, and walked around the charming little streets. Edam was an adorable place.