The Hague

Before we left Rotterdam there were several pieces of engineering/art that I wanted to seeFirst up was the old lifting railway bridge . Totally unique it was saved from demolition by the locals.Then this beautiful structure, The Erasmus bridge. Named after the Rotterdam scientist Erasmusthe only reason I put his statue in is because a local printing company copied it with 3D printing. Exactly! Except for the colourWe’re pleased to get out of the bicycle traffic jams as we head out of town. Scooters up to 50cc are allowed on the bike lanes ( bloody nuisances) If you want to stop you must quickly get off the cycle route or they’ll start yelling 🤔We’ve decided to bike to the true finish of EV15 at The Hook of Holland. It’s only 30 kms by direct route but EV15 takes us on a tour of some of the pretty villages on the way and it ends up at 36.Lange Haven. If the waters not flowing much it looks like thisYuk.

Now here’s an interesting church. The steel frame is covered in sail cloth. This is a very strong Moslem area so maybe it’s movable ?The Maassluis Storm surge barrier. Too vast to catch on film so here it is from the air13 barriers protect the southern coast of Holland and this ,the largest is on the 20km long shipping canal into Rotterdam’s Europort. It’s only been used once and is controlled by computers connected to weather and tide systems. Floats into position then it’s filled with water so it sits on the bottom. Brilliant It’s the largest single moving part on earth and because it needs to swing and also rise and fall, the single bearing on each arm is a ball and socket type 10 metres in diameterOk. We really have reached the end of the Rhein now! The obligatory photo and we’re heading up the coast to Friesland. The cycle way is good seal, winding along beside the sand dunes . You never know what you’re going to come across .

25 kms up the coast is The Hague . After endless suburbs we reach the centre and find a hotel inside Chinatown. After a Chinese haircut and a Chinese meal we put our bikes away in a ‘safe house’ under the council buildings, just 2 minutes away. (no storage at the hotel) This is guarded 24/7