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"Believe me, my young friend. There is nothing, absolutely nothing,
half so worth doing as simply messing around in boats." 

The Wind in the Willows

How to motivate in a torrential downpour? Pancakes in Utrecht

8/22/2016

7 Comments

 
Picture
This picture best captures the torrential downpour we experienced in the Utrecht countryside.
My friends are real troopers. The forecast warned of intense rain, and that's exactly what we got. But we persevered! From downtown Utrecht to a pancake house about 6.5 km southeast of the city, Sander, Bonnie, and I paddled through almost continuous rain. But the "pancakes," if you can even call them that, were worth the soaking.

The Rental Shop - Kanoverhuur Utrecht

This was my second time visiting the rental shop in Utrecht. Kanoverhuur Utrecht (also known as Kanoverhuur aan de Gracht) rents singles, doubles, and canoes for a good price (14€ for the full day). They moved locations since my last visit to Utrecht, but they're still in a very convenient location on the main canal through the city center, only a 10 minute walk from Utrecht Central station. You can reserve boats in advance, easily online. The kayaks are decent, though it's a good idea to call and reserve the bigger single kayaks if you have some tall people in the group. They provide a nice map with routes and destinations, though the pancake house icon tricked us into thinking it was 2 km closer than it was (the pancake house is off the map) - watch out! 
Picture
Nena, Bonnie, and Sander about to be launched backward into the canal and into the rainstorm.
The shop uses an amusing method of launching, which involves having you sit in your kayak and then pushing you backwards into the canal. I found it intriguing that they made no mention of the impending rainstorms. I guess a deep,narrow canal, in which you're possibly the lowest item on the earth's surface, is safer than a big open lake. 
Picture
Now we know what's behind one of the many mysterious doors along the canals of Utrecht: Kayaks! European rental shops love rollers - we should really get some of these back in New York. I can't tell you how many 70 lb double kayaks I dragged across the mulch and up and down the docks at BayCreek, back in the day.
Picture
The rental shop has a water vacuum they use to dry out the kayaks! So impressed.

The Utrecht Countryside + Torrential Downpour

​During my previous visit to Utrecht, we kayaked around the historic center and ventured further east. This time, we decided to head further south, up the Kromme Rijn (Crooked Rhine). The Kromme Rijn used to be part of the main Rhine River to the North Sea, until it gradually silted up and was later (in 1122) dammed.  Now the main Rhine river flows through De Lek toward Rotterdam and the North Sea. 

One of Bonnie's friends who had lived in Utrecht recommended a pancake house as a fun paddling destination. She said "it's about a 1-hour paddle from the centrum." So when the rental associate said it would take us 3 hours to paddle upstream (and half that to get back), we glanced nervously at each other. But hey, we're experts, right? We can slash that down to 1.5 hours. 
Picture
Picture
Approaching an adjustable roof under which farmers store grain(?) - more grain? Up goes the roof!
The rain began after about 15 minutes on the water, and continued for the next 1+ hours of our trip to the pancake house. It varied in intensity - sometimes it rained so hard we couldn't hear each other over the sound of drops on the water. It wasn't cold, though, so we simply observed our shirts and butts and legs getting soaked with amusement. 
Picture
Rainy selfie
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Pretty bridge in the park.

The Pancake House (Theehuis Rhijnauwen)

We kept a good pace (the rain helped), and arrived at Theehuis Rhijnauwen after about 1.5 hours. Sander was watching the biggest part of the storm approach on his radar app, so we had quickened our pace to beat it. The true deluge began just as we were pulling the boats up onto the riverbank... 
Picture
Arriving at the pancake house.
Picture
We made it! And the real downpour begins.
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So drenched but so happy to have arrived at the pancakes. Power ranger Bonnie gathering her gear in the background.
After snapping a few pictures in the downpour (much to the amusement of the dry pancake munchers under the roof), we headed up toward the restaurant. Our initial concerns that we might be too wet to dine were relieved when we saw outdoor (but roofed) seating and metal chairs. 
Picture
The pancake house. We were very happy to see outdoor seating (i.e. where our wet butts could sit) under a roof.
Picture
View from our cozy table under the heat lamps.
We grabbed a spot under some heat lamps and settled in for the next ~1.5 hours. The pancake options looked so delicious and interesting that we decided to order 3 and split them 3 ways. The first was a pizza pancake, the second was a goat cheese-arugula-prociutto pancake, and the last was topped with fruit and B&J's chunkey monkey ice cream.  Click the pictures below to enlarge... note the hot chocolate with rum...  :D
Picture
The yard behind the pancake house - I imagine this is a pretty nice place to sit when there isn't a downpour.

Downtown Utrecht

As the end of lunch neared, so did the rain. Our trip back to Utrecht was with the current, and the sun even began to cooperate. It flew by! We decided to paddle an additional loop, through the historic canal of Utrecht. 
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This picture is so Dutch. Canals, boats, bridges, bikes, quaint buildings. bricks.
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Sander insisted on taking many selfies on this trip. This is his best face.
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Bonnie in the canals of Utrecht.
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Canals tend to be bike graveyards here in the Netherlands. This one's been buried for a while - the spokes were rusted away.
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One good shot of our fearless photographer.
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Artsy shot of the canals in downtown Utrecht.
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This is such a common site that I often forget to take pictures - doors that open without any kind of stoop into the canal.
We brought the boats back around 4pm, and squeezed in a beer, bitterballen, and even Indonesian food (for Sander/Bonnie) near the train station before going our separate ways.

Utrecht is a really fun city to paddle through. It might even rival the Hague, in terms of boat-in eating/drinking opportunities. There are still many channels I haven't explored, so I can't wait to return again soon! 
Date: Sunday, August 21st, 2016
Distance: 16.5 km (10.3 miles)
Duration: ~5.5 hours (including extended pancake lunch break)
Weather: Torrential downpour + a bit of sun at the end
7 Comments
Jeff Buchman
8/24/2016 12:45:43

Dragging Jocassees uphill builds character

Reply
Nena link
8/24/2016 23:57:03

No wonder everyone that works there has such a big character!

Reply
Johan Burger link
9/1/2016 11:08:32

Hi Nena,

Nice trip you made in the rain!
We almost met again. I kayaked this route the following Monday.
It still rained, but not so badly as on Sunday...
I updated my website with a new map (may be helpful for your next visit).

Greetings!
Johan

Reply
Nena link
9/8/2016 03:18:44

Hi Johan,
I checked out your Utrecht post -- I can't believe you almost got hit by a falling tree! I'm surprised it didn't happen in the hard rain when we were there...
Nena

Reply
Elizabeth Prentice
9/14/2016 02:01:49

Ahhh looks fun, let me know next time you do Utrecht!!! ...when it's not raining :)

Reply
Team CF link
11/22/2016 07:40:18

Hey Nena,
despite the rain, it looks like you had a great time and the pancake house was quite rewarding after all the hard work.
Hope to meetup next year in Antwerp!

Reply
Oregon Directory link
4/5/2021 15:17:57

Loveely blog you have

Reply



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    This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.

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