A Den Bosch Photo Hunt with Ayush

You remember Ayush, right?  Before this past Saturday in Den Bosch, we've met up with him 3 times previously:  first in Venlo (Nov. 2015), where he works when in the Netherlands, next here in Gorinchem (Mar. 2016), and then last year in Utrecht (Apr. 2018).

Ayush is one of our Shutterchance buddies.  He's from India but lives in Singapore where he works as an engineer for OCÉ, a Canon company that develops, manufactures and sells printing and copying hardware and related software.  From time to time he is asked to work in Venlo, NL, where he has been this past year.  At the end of February he flies back to Singapore, so we caught him right under the wire.

This time we agreed to meet up in nearby Den Bosch, 40 km from home.  Technically, it's 's-Hertogenbosch, colloquially known as Den Bosch (pronounced Den BOSS).

Ayush took the train from Venlo to Den Bosch (one hour) where we met him.

While we waited for his train to arrive, we took photos, of course.

And then we walked together from the station into city center, past the dragon fountain,

Den Bosch's most famous monument from 1903.

Actually, Astrid had printed a walking tour of the city center passing some of its statues.

Ayush had first sent it to her but now needed to get bearings between paper and smart phone.

Since the dragon above is one of the statues, let's continue on with the other statues we saw.

Zoete Lieve Gerritje (sweet, gentle little Gerrit) is a singing woman with her cockerel.

Except that she's not a woman but a man and not sweet or gentle!

He'd steal from the farmers and then celebrate by dressing up as the farmer's daughter.

In the market square is Den Bosch's namesake, Jheronimus (aka Jeroen) Bosch (right).

He's a world-famous painter representing the Early Nederlandish painting school.

He lived from 1450- 1615.

The Dieske statue (1991) is of a little 15th-century boy who would secretly pee in the canals.

While peeing one day, he discovered the enemy approaching the city across the canal in the reeds.

He warned the city and thereby became an overnight hero (he's the one on the pedestal).

This is the Musician with Dancing Children, from 1969.

And this one???  

I have no idea what it is, since it wasn't on the list and I can't find it yet by Googling.

But you get the idea of the charm of the city by it's statues alone.

Of course, there's much more than statues.  See the "rainbow" crossing (right-middle)?

This is what Astrid put up on our Shutterchance blog this past Monday.

Don't you love her take on it with the selective coloring!

And listen to that busker!

As we walked around, I started collecting gable stones, like I've done in the past.

Gable stones and those "things" that catch my eye.

A surprise was The Morian, the oldest brick house in the Netherlands, built in 1220.
It sits right on the market square, with hardly anyone paying attention!

And speaking of the square, evidence of the upcoming carnival was everywhere.
Many cities have an alternative Carnival name and Den Bosch's is Oeteldonk.
Carnival is celebrated mostly in the southern parts of the Netherlands,
closer to Roman Catholic Belgium.
Den Bosch's Carnival colors are...GUESS:  red, white and yellow.

Roman Catholic Carnival is a good segue to my own personal goal of the day,
 to see St. John's Cathedral, designated a Basilica Minor in 1985 by Pope John Paul II.

Thankfully, it was open!

A service was being held near the altar, so we couldn't get much closer than this.

But we could look up and around elsewhere...

...especially in the back of the nave, where the high pulpit and organ are.
Remember, I always look with Preacher Dad and Organist Mom, as though they are with me!

Our Baptist eyes stare shamelessly.  We can't help it.

As we left city center and headed back to the train station to say goodbye to Ayush,
we were reminded that we live in a "changing" world.

It's friends like Ayush who keep us grounded!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Totally changing the subject, guess who arrives today here in the Netherlands???
Astrid and I are on the way to Amsterdam this morning to pick up daughter Amy
who's taking a week's break with us between jobs in Atlanta,
her first visit to us here in Gorinchem!

Ayush in Our Own Backyard

Remember Ayush?  Ayush from India, living in Singapore, and sometimes working in Venlo, NL.  Yes.  THAT Ayush.

This past weekend we had the good fortune of showing him around our own backyard when he took the train to visit us for an overnight.  Lucky for us, our senior complex here has a guest room across the courtyard from us, so it all worked out splendidly.

Astrid and I drove to Geldermalsen to pick him up at the train station.  He could have come all the way to Gorinchem
but this gave us an extra hour by driving to another station, without him having to change trains again.

Besides, Geldermalsen was near the stork village we wanted him to see...our first stop.

Even Astrid still gets excited by storks, though having grown up with them.

I had never seen a real one till I moved here!

Then we drove along the dijk to Brakel, to catch the ferry across the Merwede river,
saving us miles and time for the rest of our day.

The first big stop across the river was the Loevestein castle from 1361.

Those who've followed me for awhile should recognize it, right?!

It's one of those child-friendly castles, catering to Kids of all ages.

Ayush was a good sport!

What's there not to love about a real castle!

For one thing, they have a way of working up your appetite.

So we drove to nearby Woudrichem for lunch at our favorite De Stroming restaurant.

Woudrichem is Gorinchem's sister city across the river from us, remember?

The Nooit Gedagt windmill there is where Astrid gets her flours for our bread machine.

It's also where you can climb to the top...which Ayush and Astrid did.

Woudrichem has a picturesque harbor, too, so it was the ideal place to end our first day.

At home that evening we watched a good movie while eating peanuts in the shell.

Ayush was in Rome and followed suit like a very good gentleman!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The next day, Sunday, was another "see what's in our backyard" kind of day.

From our back door (top-right), we started the walk around Gorinchem's citadel.

I couldn't be prouder of where we live here in the Netherlands!

We actually wouldn't have to go anywhere ever for how beautiful our city is.

(But you didn't hear me say that, of course.)

Another windmill, De Hoop, allows climbing to the top.

For having never been inside a windmill, Ayush really lucked out...two in one weekend!

What is it about water and boats and harbors?

We ended up in city center to visit inside the protestant Grote Kerk, two blocks from our apartment.

And because the Italian ice cream shop is there on the square, we did our thing

before heading back home...before heading out again by car.

It was time to drive out into the polder to our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant.
Liddle lamzy diveys were skipping about all over the place, so we had to stop.

I especially loved watching the two who were inseparable the entire time.
It doesn't get much cuter than that.

And, yes, we each chose a different pannenkoek and shared one-third of each.

YUM YUM YUM

And then, for the grand finale, we drove to Kinderdijk, the UNESCO site of 19 windmills.

I hope you never tire of this place because this won't be the last time you'll see it from me,

God willing and the creek don't rise.

It was the Golden Hour already, time to take Ayush back to the train station.

What a great visit from such a kind, generous, considerate young man.

We'd do it again in a heartbeat, Ayush, so THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I told sister, Ruth, that this was a dry run for the two days she and hubby will be with us in July.

If it works for you, it works for us!