The Other Side of Ayush's Visit

What?  Well, in that last post when Ayush visited us here where we live in Gorinchem, NL, I also took lots of pics without him in them, of course.  THAT other side.  That's what this post is about as we went here-n-there around our backyard.  Just for the record, you know.

So, remember the train station in Geldermalsen where we picked Ayush up?

It was full of goodies...like the Star of David, for one.

The snail weathervane was on a house in the neighborhood nearby.

When we crossed the big Merwede river by car ferry to the Loevestein castle,

we spotted a cow in the thicket and a ram guarding the gate.

That's what I mean by "goodies."

Inside the castle there were plenty of photo ops.

These places cater to photographers!

Once in Woudrichem, next door to the castle...more goodies.

In fact, while Astrid and Ayush were climbing up to the top of the windmill,

I stayed below with the sheep, watching them graze nearby.

Over hill, over dale....

Woudrichem has one of my favorite Dutch harbors.  It never disappoints.

The next day, when we took our Gorinchem citadel walk...more goodies.

Even the English narrowboat was in our inner harbor, a frequent visitor throughout the year.

To finish the weekend at Kinderdijk was the crowning touch, of course.

How can one place have so many faces, so many sides....

You know me. I can never get enough...or too much...of these goodnesses everywhere we go.

By now you should recognize all of it, but it's never the same two times in a row.

For those of you who also follow me at my Shutterchance photo blog,

do you ever guess which of the images I show here will end up there with a few more tweaks?

HA!  Just asking!  :)

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!

The Biesbosch Museum in Werkendam, NL

Because we almost never drive from Point A to Point B in a straight line, here's a bit of a prelude before I take you to the next museum on our Museum Card.

In all fairness to our first museum, which was the open-air museum in Arnhem,

here's the windmill in Geldermalsen we stopped at first for our cornmeal, ground there by the mill.

It's the De Bouwing grain mill from 1848.
And it was a gorgeous spring day, April 11.

Two weeks later we drove to our second museum, just 6 miles from from us, in Werkendam.

And as you know, we stop whenever something interests us along the way!

That huge house next to the church had whirligigs in their yard and cows in their window.  HA!

Whenever I got out of the car, I HAD to capture the flowers...even the weeds.

The right-middle image is rapeseed.  They grow a lot of it in England but just a little here.

A handful of weathervanes.

A few sheep and cows.

We even had to stop for a saiboat at the Biesbosch lock drawbridge.

Astrid has lived with drawbridges and locks her entire life and still gets excited about them with me.

I loved watching the tip of the sailboat mast pass by!

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

By the time we arrived  in the vicinity of the Biesbosch Museum, it was time for koffie.

It was a good place to start feeling the energy of this water basin, 

formed after the St. Elizabeth flood of 1421.

Today it is a nature preserve with reminders of a day gone by when inhabitants earned their living here,

fishing, hunting, weaving baskets, farming....

As museums go, at €3.75 normal rate, it sure packed a wallop.

 For some reason, I've always been a glutton for life-sized model re-enactments of past eras.

Someone put a lot of time and energy into all the details.

I liked the boats, of course....

...but my favorite was this mama doing the laundry with her sweet little girl (and cat!) nearby.

Did we really use to do things that way???  Oh, yes.  I remember.  HA!

All the taxidermy was done to perfection.  The birds....

...critters...

...and even the water creatures, all in their natural habitat.

The walls were covered with photography and paintings.  

Lots of history to see and read about or watch on flatscreens throughout.

We actually were thrilled by this little museum.

It took us only 2 hours to see it all...perfect for an afternoon's inspiration.

Another time we may decide to go back and pay the extra price of the electrically-powered "cruise"

 around the creeks and waterways, to see the otters, birds, foxes and who-knows-what.

Don't you just love what you can find in your backyard...once you buy your annual museum card!

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As an FYI, we fly to England tomorrow for our Shutterchance photoblog meet-up on Sunday,
and will return on the 18th with lots to show and tell!