Philine in Münster and Burg Vischering, Germany

 

It's like clockwork now, visiting our Shutterchance's photoblog friend, Philine, each Spring and Fall, where she lives in her senior community in Münster, Germany.  As long as we all are able!

It's a double pleasure for Astrid and me because we book our favorite Fletcher hotel in Lochem, NL, for 2 nights, giving us a needed break from our normal activities at home:

It's only a 1.5-hr. drive from home to the hotel, so we arrived in time for lunch.

It's like we had the place to ourselves...again, like the last time!

Did I mention that the hotel is in the middle of the woods?!

And because this time the sun was shining (and our room wasn't ready till 3p), we went for a 4-km walk.

BTW, those are Pentecost/Cuckoo flowers (bottom-left) that bloom only at this time of the year.

At one spot, on the edge of a hockey field, we were startled by this memorial.

Once back at the hotel, Astrid Googled to find out it was for a 19-year-old female hockey player

who was struck by a falling tree during a storm while riding her bike there.

Once out of the woods, continuing our loop back to the hotel, we found ourselves in farmland.

As you can probably tell, we desperately need rain right now,

but we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!

Once back at the hotel and getting settled, we went back down to one of the dining nooks (of which there are several!) for nachos and beer while playing Five Crowns.  You know us by now--we do like our traditions!

That was this past Tuesday, April 21.  The next day, Wednesday, was our Philine day in Münster, a 1.5-hr. drive from the hotel...

first meeting up with her in her lovely apartment...

followed by being her guests in their lovely dining room for a 4-course fish lunch!

Needless to say, Philine is well taken care of there, which gives us great comfort.

After lunch, we were then off in our car to visit the Burg Vischering, a moated castle from 1271 that we had visited with Philine back in 2014 but wanted to see again with new eyes.  Besides, it was Philine's first outing of this new year and on a gorgeous, sunshiny day.  We were all READY for it!

Let the photos speak for themselves!

On the path around the castle was a mirrored wall for a fun photo op (top 3 images).

But THIS was my favorite photo of the day!

All the way around and back to the entrance!

Because she's part of our photoblog, I had fun taking pics of Philine taking her photos.

We ended the afternoon in the stable café, enjoying our coffee break.

MY choice was the ice-cream-coffee drink which I hadn't had in years.  Heavenly!

A perfect way to end the day before heading back to Münster!

After dropping Philine off at her senior community, we drove back to the Fletcher hotel for a quiet evening, sorting through photos, more Five Crowns, and then bed....

only to be awakened by a fire alarm at 1:30a!

Yes, all of us went outside and waited for 40-min. before finding out it was a false alarm,

triggered by a very inebriated woman who, after causing considerable damage, passed out.

SIGH

We DID get back to sleep right away, thankfully, and awakened sufficiently refreshed... 

ready for another breakfast we love from this place!

And then, just like that, Thursday morning, we were back in the car for home.  THIS is the kind of break we love.  Not exactly a vacation but a very nice break that also included dear Philine, our friend!

Daughter Amy in the Netherlands, 2026

 

True, she was just here for New Year's, but in the larger scheme of things (because New Year's will probably never happen again), THIS is the 3rd Easter in a row that she's been with us, with plans already for next year.  THIS is the tradition!

And it never disappoints!

This time it was from Wednesday to Thursday (April 1-9), a full week of rest and relaxation with a few things mixed in to make it exciting.

Thursday, April 2, was a leisurely drive at lunch time, out on the back roads along the dijks to Fort Asperen, one of our new favorite cafés since she was last with us:

The fort wasn't yet open for the season (it's always closed while the bats hibernate there during winter),

but the door was "accidentally" open, so we peeked in so Amy could get a hint of it.

The lunch experience was exactly what we wanted and expected.

And because we had noticed some storks in nests on our way...

we drove a few miles away after lunch to visit the stork village in Herwijnen.

This is the time of the year the babies are being born, just like the lambs!

Friday, April 3, was our senior community's Easter luncheon, which Amy has now shared with us and our friends for the 3rd time.  It's a good way for her to she how we live here in community and they love seeing her with us:

I make the mutjes/little hats (green, yellow, pink and purple) for the soft-boiled eggs that Astrid cooks.

And this year the daughter of one of our residents catered the meal through her company.

It was a huge winner.

Saturday, April 4, was Amy's day out with our best friends, Jeannette and Femke (J&F), to explore Rotterdam...without us:  

We sent her off (left) to the ecstatic excitement of them all

and were very happy when Femke shared photos with us throughout the day (right).

Based on what we heard, it was a glorious day for like-minded friends!

Then it was Easter Sunday, April 5, when the goal was to just relax and BE:

This was Astrid's 3rd time to make the white asparagus meal for lunch,

a real winner for all of us!

And then, late afternoon, we walked the 10 minutes to the La Caponnière bunker café...

where once again we enjoyed a charcuterie platter.  

It's now a tradition that Amy loves, ending our Easter celebration.

That brings us to Easter Monday, April 6, when, believe it or not, WE STAYED AT HOME the entire day, eating and playing Five Crowns.  Actually, during all the in-between times, you can just assume we were playing Five Crowns:  a total of 19 games altogether!  And 4 movies plus a Repair Shop!

On Tuesday, April 7, we drove to Wijk bij Duurstede for Amy to see and drive through the only drive-through windmill in the Netherlands (and the world??): 

Yes, that's our car with her in it.

We ate lunch at our favorite restaurant there, De Engle (The Angel), on the town square...

followed by a short walk to the ruins of the medieval castle still used for wedding venues:

To be honest, it's one of our favorite places to take visitors,

especially on a gorgeous day!

The town is such a delight to visit, also because we take a ferry (bottom-right),

coming or going, which is another fun experience to share with our guests.

Our last full day was Wednesday, April 8, when we spent the afternoon and evening with Astrid's family here where we live in Gorinchem:

We first picked up Hailey and Sem at lunchtime (with Wednesday afternoons off from school),

and drove to Woudrichem, across the Merwerde river, to eat pannekoeken on a barge.

It actually was a first for Astrid and me there, which we loved sharing with the kids

...and Amy!

Astrid is a great Oma, as you can see!

How fun is that!

Woudrichem, too, is a delightful place to take guests,

unless you're plumb tuckered out, of course?!

But once back at Jeroen's and Marissa's, we were all wide awake,

even Nova, who is now 9 months old!

Jaap is a great Opa, as you can see!

We all dug in for the "last supper" of Amy's trip.

It made for a grand celebration and ending to another beautiful visit.

Besides, it's that time of the year.  Definitely a perfect time for traditions.

On Thursday, April 9, it was back to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport in the morning for her return to Atlanta.

THANK YOU, Amy, for yet another grand visit.

We LOVE this EASTER tradition!

Our 16th Anniversary and Valentine's Day

 

Our wedding date was February 5, 1010.  Valentine's Day, of course, is February 14th, 9 days later, every year.  So, lately, we've been celebrating both occasions together on Valentine's Day, because our favorite restaurant, Metropole, a 7-minute walk from home, has a special meal each year now, in spite of the fact that the Dutch as a whole do NOT celebrate the occasion.  It's an American celebration that is slowly jumping The Big Pond.

So, sense and sensibility!

And that was last evening!

Here's the menu (which I'll translate as we go along).

But first, we always love starting with a latte macchiato, just because!

Metropole is one of the few places where they give you the heated milk and foam

and YOU pour in the coffee.  We love the ethos of it!

It was a four-course meal, starting with:

CREAM OF THE CROP

Salad with salmon fritter, cucumber

crudites and sweet and sour carrot

Followed by:

ROSES AND MOONSHINE

Celeriac rose infused with hot beetroot broth

How cleaver is THAT!  

The broth opened up the celeriac rose before our very eyes.

Then came the main course:

YIN AND YANG

Mini pheasant and duck roll with cranberry jus

pearls of turnip and kohlrabi

and crispy potato heart

Then it was dessert:

HEART MELT

White chocolate heart

with raspberry mousse and hot blackberry sauce

O M G

The taste alone was worth it but...

just look at the visual, (thanks to Astrid)!

We topped it all off with a decaf cappuccino, of course:

The recap:

And then we just sat there, relaxing, until we were one of the last couples to leave.

This memory has become a tradition for us now, just like when we celebrate Christmas Eve there with Jaap each year.  Remember?  These are the pegs of the year upon which we hang our special celebrations and memories.  Lest we forget!

Terschuur's Old Crafts & Toys Museum

 

After 16 years of living here in the Netherlands, guess what!  We found another best-kept secret of this country, this time through our housemaster, Mark, here where we live in our senior-living community.

It's called the Oude Ambachten & Speelgoed Museum (Old Crafts & Toys Museum), located in Terschuur, NL, located 68 km/42 miles northeast of us.

We immediately knew it would be a photographer's paradise, and it was, as you can see from our visit this past Saturday, February 7!

[credit here]

Just strap on your seatbelt and let the photos do the talking:

Most of the photos I'm showing are more or less in theme groupings.

Just use your imagination!

This is Astrid's video.  Don't you love it!!!

The top photo is of miniatures; the bottom is life-sized.

All 4 of these were miniatures, less than a foot tall.

Talk about being short of eyes (one of my favorite Dutch expressions)!

This isn't even the half of it, but you surely get the gist.

So, a big shout-out to another best-kept secret here in the Netherlands.  If you're ever in the area and need a good photo-op or a WOW-experience, we highly recommend it.