You Can't Walk on One Leg

First of all, it's my turn again at Vision & Verb and if you really want to understand what this title is all about, that's where you'll have to go to find out. Clue: it has more to do with Dutch idioms than with this black sheep grazing somewhere around Buren, Holland. Second clue: it has more to do with generosity than how fit you are!

Now, to the post at hand. This past weekend was gonna be real iffy when it came to Granny Towanda and if we'd have a date with her. It was predicted to rain the entire weekend so we basically decided not to do another photo hunt. However, come Saturday morning with only cloudy skies greeting us, we spontaneously went for it. Another outing nearby, all of 77 km (48 miles) to Culemborg and Geldermalsen...followed by lots of rain later that night.

First stop was Culemborg, where the water tower greeted us as we entered the city. Astrid knows by now that I will always ask her to stop Granny Towanda so I can take a picture...this time from the car window. It's the larger of the two cities at 12 sq. miles and approx. 28K inhabitants. Its market square is large and historic, known most for two things: it's Binnenpoort gate and its Town Hall as seen in this collage below (click on collage to enlarge).

Between Culemborg and Geldermalsen, driving along the back roads, we passed this church on the side of the road in Buurmalsen. In 2006 the town had 1,058 inhabitants. These towns may not be big but they sure do have big churches!

Geldermalsen, less than half the size of Culemborg, with 10,551 inhabitants in 2007, and with barely a smidge of a market square to speak of, gave us two delights. First, a place for a nice cuppa koffie at Le Mélangeur Koffie Thee Choco Vlaai café. Out in front of the shop is this delightful statue of three dancing ladies. I think of the Three Graces but have no clue what it's called or who the artist is. Note to myself: Google will not always help you find what you are looking for, so write it down while you're there...or take a picture of the plaque!

The outside statue is above; the café's mural is below, right next to where we sat on the left.

Besides the statue and refreshing koffie break, Geldermalsen's De Bouwing windmill filled us up for the rest of the day before returning home. Luckily it was open to visitors, so we had the chance to stroll around and talk to the ladies [wo]manning the shop. We even bought some corn meal that was ground by the mill and are eager to try it out. Incidentally, one lady told us that the woman who runs the working mill in Holland, Michigan, is the only female miller outside of Holland. I have 3 siblings who live in that Holland, so that bit of trivia is delicious!

The top-left pic in this collage is actually De Hoop windmill in Culemborg. But all the other pics are of De Bouwing mill in Geldermalsen. You know me. I can't ever get too much of them. So soulful to me!

As a side note, THANKS to sister Ruth for getting me hooked on Picnik.com where I have access now to collage-making. I've needed it for a long time because of how many pictures I take. I will continue to make my photo albums for me, to document the trips. But these collages will help you, I do believe. You can see my photo album of this trip here.

Don't forget to go to Vision & Verb if you want to find out about the title of this post. You really CAN'T walk on one leg! That's why we had to go to both Culemborg and Geldermalsen.