A(nother) New Car!

 

I know, I know!  It surprised us probably even more than you!  But, in the end, it made total sense....

Yes, we had just bought a brand-new car last year about this same time:

She (Merlot) was a VW UP! that replaced our well-loved 10-year-old Škoda Citigo

BECAUSE, since the Škoda Citigo was no longer being made, she would be the "exact same."

In other words, she was supposed to be a new model of the car we were giving up.

Except that she wasn't!

Very soon, both Astrid and I started seeing that the brand-new car we had just purchased was not an upgrade (or even "same" grade) but a downgrade, even though it was new.  Astrid felt it in the lack of power she had had in the Citigo engine, especially when on mountainous roads in Belgium.  I felt it in the "little" details, like no overhead handles when getting in and out of the car.

So...one day this past July, out of the blue, I asked Astrid if she'd consider upgrading to another Škoda, trading in our almost still-new VW UP! (under 10K km) at the same place where we bought the UP! (which also sells Škodas).  Pedro, our dealer for all 3 cars in our 15 years together, would be good to us, we knew.

Guess what!  Because the Tour de France was just ending (which has been head-sponsored by Škoda the last 21 years!), Škoda was giving a €2K rebate for any purchase of a new car.  THAT was the fait accompli of our decision to order a new car on August 2....

...which still had to be made (in the Czech Republic) and which was finally delivered and ready for pickup this past Tuesday, November 26!

[All of that was for our record, as I always feel obliged to add!]

Drum roll, please!

The Škoda Fabia Selection in "brilliant silver," and automatic (Astrid's first)!

A foot wider and a foot longer than both our Citigo and UP!

ANY IDEAS FOR A NAME???

It took 45 minutes to finish all the paperwork and then another 45 minutes

to learn the entire entertainment center, connected to Astrid's iPhone.

DONE!

EVERYONE VERY HAPPY!

And THEN...Pedro pulled this trick out of his hat:

A gift-pack of 4 mini whisky bottles (5cl each) to honor Sander!

Pedro hadn't forgotten that we drink a "bottom" of whisky each Saturday

after Sander's death in April of last year, in remembrance.

Another tear and smile to celebrate Life as we know it!

Let's all drink to that.

Another Five Years!

The last time I made a post about renewing my 5-year Dutch staying permit was in January 2020, which is another way of saying that the 5 years gets shorter and shorter every time (depending on when the request is made and not the expiration date--an infuriating story that's beside the point).

But, again, for the record!  

This is my 5th permit since moving to the Netherlands on December 5, 2009, and my second time to pick it up in Den Haag/The Hague.  My 2020 post is full of my impressions of The Hague from that wonderful, blustery day, so no reason to repeat any of that.

Just these very special moments:

Driving into this world-famous city gives me goosebumps.

It's home to the International Court of Justice!

(I'm thinking about Putin and Netanyahu right now.)

It's important to get there early, of course, since it's a scheduled appointment.

So we made sure we had time for a very nice latte macchiato first.

My appointment at 11 a.m. was across the street a block away.

No cameras inside, of course, but once outside, always the obligatory, thankful kiss!

We then had a quick walking-errand for Astrid to the nearby Decathlon sporting-goods store,

before heading back to the car for wherever Astrid would take us for lunch--a surprise.

I hadn't seen this building before so, yes, I grabbed it...

just before the memorable landmark of The Hague's Nieuwe Kerk from 1656,

just outside our parking garage.

Astrid's surprise was finding the only Wagamama on a beach,

which happens to also be The Hague's only Wagamama, in Kijkduin, its suburb.

Followed by ice cream next door, also on the beach, of course!

And yes, that's the North Sea that runs into the Atlantic Ocean!

Far off to the right we saw the nearby beach and city of Scheveningen,

another of our favorite memories over the years, especially with our kids.

This time I couldn't help but think of what's ready to happen across The Big Pond

with Trump's 2nd Presidency.

And I said to myself, Whew!  

Another 5 years to be a legal immigrant without fear of being deported!

I'll drink to that....but God have mercy on everyone else?!

 

Our Atlanta Trip 2024

 

So swiftly fly the years!

Once again, it's the schedule/routine we've grown to love:  one week with daughter Amy, a week at the cabin, followed by a week with son Mark.

1:  At Amy's, October 17-24.

First and foremost, we met her new cat, Nacho, her lover-boy!

And then reacquainted ourselves with her neighborhood on our daily walks

at this fun time of year, with Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner.

That first weekend we rendezvoused with Mark and g'son Nicholas for Mexican,

celebrating all our birthdays in one swell foop.

[photo credit:  Astrid]

And then Amy and I voted.  [More on that at the end.]

Even Nacho wanted to vote:  "Please, oh, pretty please???"

I think Kamala wanted to let him!

As we had done in 2015 with Dennis and Nicholas, we decided to go back to Six Feet Under,

the restaurant across the street from the Oakland Cemetery, with just the 3 of us.

Oakland Cemetery is Atlanta's oldest "public park," worth seeing over and over again,

which I'm sure we'll do maybe even next year...again.

But what was new for us this year was Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground.

It's one of Georgia's best-kept secrets I never knew!

And we saw only part of the 300+ acres!

[photo credit:  Astrid]

2.  At the Cabin in the North Georgia Mountains near Blue Ridge, October 24-28.

It was a new cabin this year and, even before opening the door, I took this pano iPhone pic

and immediately said to g'son Nicholas, "This is the one!"

[photo credit:  Astrid]

4 bedrooms, 4 full baths, 1 powder room, for 8 people (but only 6 of us).

A kitchen for Amy (the cook) to die for, great walking access, and a view for the soul.

Absolutely nothing to complain about; everything to praise!

And we finally got to meet Mark's girlfriend, Melissa!

Sorry for the duplicate image but what a joy it was to meet her

and to see them both happy and in love with each other.

[right-middle image is from Mark's house the next week]

Speaking of good walking access, Astrid and I got back inside just before the only rain of the stay.

And, yes, that's actually a rainbow in that top-middle image.

One day Mark drove Astrid and me to the nearby Stanley Rapids off the Toccoa River.

[Melissa had to go back home early--long story--and wasn't with us, sadly.]

Lots of Swoop (new card game), movies, football, and GOOD FOOD,

thanks to Amy who loves orchestrating the breakfast and dinner meals.

All I did was bake Mark's all-bran  muffin mix each morning and wash the breakfast dishes!

3:  At Mark's, October 28-November 5.

First order of business once down the mountain at Mark's house

was getting reacquainted with Piper, his cat of 14 years.

As Nacho is to Amy, Piper is to Mark!  She's very loyal to him.

Besides lazing around and playing lots of Five Crowns, the 3 of us took 2 trips.

The first was to the quaint city of Dahlonega for lunch, 33 miles away,

followed by a visit to Amicalola Falls another 20 miles further.

Both were past memories I wanted Astrid to see.

The second trip was to the Cherokee Bluffs Park less than 5 miles from Mark's house

and a new place for all of us, which we will definitely want to visit each year

for the exercise and the therapeutic, soulful beauty.

We had one last chance to see Melissa, who came over for a game night,

while grieving the loss of her dog of 10 years, Watson, who had to be put down

because of terminal cancer (which was the reason why she had to leave the cabin earlier).

All that plus movies in Mark's newly-upgraded home theater, plus one evening of football

for GEORGIA (Mark) and OREGON (Nicholas) and MICHIGAN (moi).

The grand finale with Mark, 3 years in a row now, was his Dungeon's & Dragons potluck,

where Mark cooked a brisket on his pellet grill.  Enough food to sink a ship!

Needless to say, we left for home with full tummies and hearts and souls.

* * * * * * * * * *

That was the 5th, Tuesday, Election Day for America's Presidential Election.  We arrived home in the Netherlands the next day, finding out soon thereafter that Trump was to become our next President.

This is the only story I can tell right now, a week+ later, following the initial gut-punch:

Kamala Harris did NOT lose.  

She ran one of the greatest campaigns in American history FOR the middle class.

Trump did NOT win.

Sadly, it won't be long before Americans and the world find out why.

DISINFORMATION won!

And it's happening all over the world, including here in the Netherlands.

Can we figure out how to counter it?  I sure hope so!

Gorinchem's Citadel Walk with Hailey

 

First of all, when we babysit granddaughter Hailey, who is now 6 years old, it's usually on a Wednesday afternoon (a Dutch universal school break till age 12) when we take her to our Knitting Club and Astrid works on a crafty project with her.  The ladies absolutely love her...and she them.  They've all become g'mas to her.

This time (this past Wednesday), however, was a Teachers Day, giving the students the entire day off, and because Papa wasn't able to be home with her, we got to have her the full day for our first time ever.

And to make sure we took care of her energy factor (!), we made sure to take her outside for a Gorinchem citadel walk before lunch that morning.  We assumed we would NOT do the entire 3-mile walk, not because we/she couldn't do it but because we'd be stopping all along the way at every whip-stitch.  And we were right!

We had a blast:  

Most of you already know that we start the walk just a few feet from our back door.

In fact, that's one of our city's parking garages across the street from us. 

We always start with the war bunkers (from even Napoleonic times).

And as we guessed, Hailey had to climb up and down them all!

That little girl has no fear whatsoever.  A total dare-devil.

But, as Astrid says, she has learned to be cautious, calculating everything she can or can't do.

Right then, at the beginning of our walk, was the first of 3 cannons.

Hailey always knows a good photo-op when she sees one.

After the first bunkers is one of my favorite parts of the walk, under the humongous sycamore trees.

And yes, eagle-eye Hailey noticed the birdhouses on her own!

After the sycamores, we cross the street to a next set of bunkers by the outer harbor.

See the little, round brass medallion on the bricks?  That's a citadel marker for Gorinchem.

At this point, we're at the second cannon of our walk, atop a bunker

and pointing out to the Merwede river not far away.

See what I mean about our little dare-devil!

This is Gorinchem's outer harbor, beyond which is the Merwede river...

to which we're walking, but wait...another cannon!  

Can you see it in red, dead center?  Squint!

Our third and last cannon of the walk...in sight of the Merwede river!

Way out beyond the harbor (if you squint again) is one of the barges on the Merwede,

traveling either to Germany (left) or Rotterdam (right).

Since Astrid and Hailey were ahead of me, Astrid said "Let's wait here for Oma Ginnie."

To which Hailey said, "That's a good idea because I have tired legs."

Off we went again, of course, when Astrid noticed Hailey's snotty nose.

Each time Hailey blew, Astrid said, nog een keer (= again), to which Hailey counted with her fingers.

Don't you just love it!

As though anyone needed to be told, yes, here's another photo/foto-op,

this time of the Toll House from 1598.

It was exactly there that Hailey spontaneously said we needed to make a selfie.

As you'd guess, this girl lives and breathes photos being taken all the time, her entire life!

On that note, it was time to head home, halfway around the citadel.

But not before Oma Astrid treated us all to ice cream at the water port on the Merwede river!

Time now to head home past the inner harbor...

through town...

with a final "last-hurrah" of selfies.

Home to eat lunch and then Knitting Club.  HA!

Are we tired yet or what!

So, yes, it was only half the citadel, but as ex-Bill often said,

"Half a loaf is better than no vacation at all."

[Photo credit:  While most of these photos are from me, many are also from Astrid, all from our iPhone 15 Pro Max cameras.]