Bluesky Tour - Episode 6 - Nijmegen, 's-Hertogenbosch, Oirschot

 (continued from Episode 5)

Theoretically there's no info you can't find in the world of internet and AI but in practise that's almost but not 100% true (yet) and having suggestions for day trips from local friends is still priceless. Plus they know you better than Gemini does. Therefore, following the handwritten "to do" list from my dear friend Johanneke I set off from Heeze SE to Nijmegen while the weather is still biker friendly:

Highways are boring but get you from A to B faster with less risk of violating the low urban speed limits. I hate them but it's a bit of a must this time:

After some boring highway time I enter the city of Nijmegen and head straight to its river "Waal" driven by my attracted by the water Mediterranean DNA. Not a bad idea at all and I'm already enjoying the view of the local bridge:

Believe it or not this thing has no name on Google Maps although is big enough to not pass (or name). They have some event but the river with music hence the road is closed:

So I turn to look opposite side and find it interesting to see those balcony tents here, not so often seen in other Dutch places:

I like watching the local marine traffic with those barges as we don't have them in out rivers. Here's a few clips of them in this video:

Not everyone knows how strong but cute at the same time the Netherlands are. It's among the top things I adore about this country. Growth and wealth with taste. The way locals decorate their houses is often an eye catcher:

And that's not even among their best efforts. It's rather casual, I just pictured it for those copies of traditional Dutch slippers.

After days without water view it's nice to have some:

This sculpture by the river impresses me as it looks more like coming from the Ancient Cyclades than here:

Here's the story behind it.

Time to leave Nijmegen behind waving goodbye it's nice blend of buildings:

And since I'm heading South West now this makes Nijmegen the most Northern place I've ever been on my motorbike so far. My previous record was Tilburg so I pushed things just a little higher this time🙂

Next destination: 's-Hertogenbosch.

I decide to visit the local rowing club, located where "Dieze" and "Aa" rivers meet. Not a bad idea at all:

That's their base:

In case you wonder how that couch above looks like:

Such a sweet corner in the city this is. One of the (old) guys who just finished rowing sees me taking pictures and starts chatting. First phrase of his:

"old women"

Implying he was there were younger ones in his boat. He then tells me he's 80 and this whole thing here helps him a lot. I'm easily convinced, everybody would love to be in his shape at his age, if they manage to live that long anyway. Tells me to be careful on my bike and we wave each other goodbye. Lovely guy. Dutch are cool, way cooler than many might think.

Here's a video of this place:

How priceless to have something like that in your city. Time to move on though and leave this lovely city behind:

Heading South now to Oirschot. The first thing one notices arriving at this nice village is Saint Peter's Basilica as it's very tall. Tall enough to not need GPS to get there so I park at the main square:

And try to capture that tall thing:

 To get an idea that's a portrait picture of its entrance, I'm not even close and still I capture a fraction of the whole temple:

It's such a lovely place where I can only complain about one thing: restaurants are flooded by happy Dutches catching the sun while my nose is flooded by the smell of the goodies they enjoy. I have food for me waiting at home but that makes me too hungry.

Have a bite on that cutie in my video below:

Time to ride back at Heeze. Here's a summary of the ride of the day:

See you on Episode 7!