Of islands and other things

I lost my puny little manual camera during this trip so no I do not have any photos and no I was not very happy on learning the fact that the said camera with ALL my pics had been lost.


It had been raining intermittently for the last two days now, ever since I had reached this island in fact. The rain jacket Doris [my dear adorable Doris] had given me was a couple of sizes too small. It was cold outside and I had been cycling since morning. I was sitting inside this wonderfully warm cafe where they gave these little glasses of whipped cream and Baileys free with every dish you ordered. Nothing would ever taste that good. The meaty breakfast and the local beer did come a close second though.

The island of Texel [pronounced Tes-sel] is a half hour ferry ride from Den Helder which is a two hour train ride from Amsterdam. As far as "islands" go, I had seen nothing like it; its quite cold, there are tons of birds and the cows are massive. Passed by this one giant specimen and reminded me of a bloody yak. Right next to it these kids were jumping on a trampoline.

How did I choose Texel? By a method that has served me remarkably well over the years: look at map, point figure in random direction, go where finger be pointed.

No regrets. Spending about 16 euros per night at a really cool youth hostel, I rented a cyle and was off. Texel has this gorgeous stretch of road which runs along the shoreline for about five km. So right by the cycling track there is this slope towards the sea and then the sea itself. The "slope" itself reminds me of those high-speed cycling tracks. Saw these families flying kites from there; probably one of the easiest things to do there. Just chuck the kite up and watch the strong winds carry it away.

Looking back, thats pretty much what I did for two nights: an early free breakfast, cycle along the island, meat filled lunch, cycle some more and then a cheap dinner. No museums to visit or no picnic spots to laze around in. Yeah, it did have its own particular charm.

Like most places though, the best part was the people I met along the way. Right from the train from Amsterdam to my return leg, inevitably there would be someone interesting to meet and talk to. So I met this adorable little kid and her proud father, a college student who found Amsterdam fit for potheads only, two charming backpackers who played this really confusing and hi-paced card game in the youth hostel and a bunch of swiss backpackers who were just having fun. Real helpful and some of them were born entertainers.

The swiss kids and me, for example, had an entire conversation based on rock bands. I would say "Coldplay", and they would go "hmmm" or "naaa" and then they would throw a name at me. We did this for half an hour. Great fun. Then the man who gave me a lift to the ferry, he tried to teach me some basic Dutch. Don't think I was too good a student.

Or the sweet old man who ran a chocolate shop in Texel who lent me his umbrella without even knowing who I am. Didnt even tell me when he wanted it back!

All in all it was definitely something I would do again, this time though I would probably be off to another island of the Dutch north. And keep me a bigger rain jacket.