Cycle Your Heart Out in Amsterdam - Route 25

The Fly

It took six years and twenty-five heart routes to realise it

Sure, it would've been nice if it had occurred overnight 
But it didn’t 
And maybe it wasn’t meant to

Maybe each heartful route was a lesson to learn 
A blessing in disguise 

Maybe each one was a chapter to be told
In a story that was unknowingly writing itself

Maybe that alluring spider’s web 
Was meant to catch me

Maybe I was meant to fight my way through
To come out the other side
As that grateful little fly

All week leading up to Amsterdam I had been reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book ‘Big Magic’. Having been on my reading list for ages, it more or less jumped off the bookshelf into my hands at the Airport. The more I read, the more it made me realise I write because I freaking love it. I understand not everyone will enjoy reading what I have to say, but that's OK too. I'd rather write for the rest of my life than live in a criticism-free bubble.

My favourite part was when she wrote about how we should have more fun with our creativity.
For many years I would stress myself silly about writing up my heart routes,
I would try and force myself to write, even if I didn't have a creative cell in my body that day.
I would then get burnt out, lose my words, conclude I was a terrible writer and keep it only for myself.

I now whisk myself off to romantic locations on my own to allow myself no time limit,
just the sheer luxury of being able to write, zero interruptions, other than my wine and olives arriving.

So why Amsterdam?

One of the top cities to cycle in, and it took me until now to get round to it.
In 2015 it was my 1st trip to Holland, and was where I created my heart route in the tiny coastal town of Westkapelle. That was just a small taste I discovered of how much the Dutch love cycling, and how super flat this country really is. Having returned to Holland for the 2nd time to spend time with family at the beautiful beach Callantsoog, I managed to arrange a 1 night stay in Amsterdam on my way back to Barcelona.
As I left Callanstoog I smiled to myself after having spent the last 2 weeks with family and friends. As we live all spread out all around the world, I’m always so grateful for any time I can spend with them.

Bike rental:
On the train ride to Amsterdam I looked up bike rental and straight away found MacBike. Conveniently located just off the canal, a short walking distance from the famous Rijksmuseum museum and my hostel. I hired my beautiful red bike and was given a detailed map of the city. The girl in the shop was really helpful in telling me all the best canal and paths to ride, as well as nice spots to relax and enjoy the open markets and cafe scene.

The Heartful Route

Rolling down the canal I loved that I had no expectations, I really hadn't researched Amsterdam as I’d wanted to be surprised by it all. I think along the route I developed an addiction for canals, each one I passed I couldn’t stop myself from stopping and taking a quick photo.

Having been up since 6 am my stomach started to protest at being neglected. A few metres away I found a inviting canal boat, a perfect spot for filling my stomach on some Dutch cuisine. I sat and ate as dozens of touristic boats passed, I felt a little bit like a lion in a safari park as they whipped out their cameras ready to capture the beautiful picturesque canals, with myself modelling a mouthful of food.

As I sipped on my cappuccino I took out my map again to figure out my heart route, I then slowly realised it had created itself organically. The more I studied my map and all the canals, the more a heart shape emerged. The best thing was that is was mostly made up of canal paths, the closer to water the better I thought!

I was about to jump back on my bike when I looked across the road and saw the Cheese Museum, I remembered a fellow cheese fanatic friend of mine had mentioned it to me last year. My taste buds melted as my eyes feasted on all the different flavours... truffles, pesto, a rainbow of colours from blue, purple and even green!
After trying nearly every cheese sample in sight, I then realised a belly full of breakfast, combined with with multiple flavours of cheese was probably not the best breakfast combination.

As I wandered along the canals to walk off my satisfied stomach I came across a large group of people all staring up at a house, curious to know what it was I then saw a small sign, “Anne Frank Huis”. Memories came flooding back to me as a child, reading the book in my bedroom, wiping away the tears. In that moment I immediately dedicated a piece of my heart route to Anne.

After gliding along the scenic streets and canals of Prinsengracht Joordan I noticed how quickly the vibe changed. Arriving at the centre of my heart route, I had also reached the HEART of Amsterdam. I came face to face with the grim reaper at the Dam Square Royal palace, dead bodies at The Body Worlds museum. Cycling through the craziness of it all, one thing remained the same, it was still full of bike lanes, and easy to ride through despite the masses of tourists.

I looked at my map, and noticed I needed to head towards the canal in order to start the other half of my heart route. As I stopped at a canal after the Dam Square to check where I was I noticed a bicycle taxi on the look-out for clients. He must know every single path in Amsterdam I thought, so decided to ask him for some directions.
He happily pointed me in the right direction so I could find the canal, and continue the rest of my heart route.

Before I knew it, the lines had joined again, heartful route 25, complete! After waking up so early and cycling the whole city until 8pm I was on the verge of passing out in hunger and exhaustion.
Thank you Lorenzo restaurant... I didn't get the waiter's name, but I'm grateful for his kindness. I'm surprised I could even get my words out, I just mumbled something along the lines of, "I'm hungry". Not only did he give me a generous size portion of tasty pasta , he cracked some jokes, then took my bike basket off the table to make my meal feel more homely. I pretty much passed out afterwards back at my hostel! I'll have to return again soon to see Amsterdam by night...

The following morning it was time head back to Barcelona and press pause on my Dutch adventures. 
Before saying goodbye I sat in a cafe called Back to Black that I’d luckily discovered along my heart route, directly overlooking the bicycle filled canals.

​Billie Holiday played in the background while I stared out the window searching for the right words to write up about Amsterdam. A heart shaped foam smiled up at me from the cappuccino reminding me of all the kind people I’d met along the route, and helped me make route 25 possible.

No longer had I just finished Route 25, I was already starting to dream of my next heart route, and all the adventures yet to come.