'Tis the season! And we're in it full blast (except, alas, without snow...yet).
Two weekends ago we drove south (A) to the Christmas market in the limestone caves of Valkenburg (an upcoming post), but this past Saturday we drove northeast (B) into Friesland, to our Christmas concert of this season in Bolsward.
As Astrid says, we drove the entire length of the Netherlands in two weekends, 328 km (204 miles).
But I want to start with the Christmas concert first while it's still fresh in my mind. We won 2 tickets for the price of one on the Dutch VakantieVeilingen auction site for the Christmas concert with Martin Mans in Bolsward. You might remember that we did this last year for the Christmas concert in Amersfoort with Pieter Jan Leusink. We've decided we'll do this every year, as long as we can get tickets for half price!
Since we chose a 3 p.m. afternoon concert, we decided to leave early enough for a small photo hunt ahead of time...first to Workum, 12 km from Bolsward. After all the wind and rain a couple days before, we wanted to be near the coast to check it out.
But first things first, you know!
A potty break and a koffie break...or in this case, a hot-chocolate break with gevulde speculaas!
It's a pie-shaped tart/spiced cookie filled with almond paste, a Christmas specialty.
O.M.G.
And look at the quaint Pottebakkerhûs where we were served.
Sometimes you just have to be there...like seeing the little mouse tile near the floor in the bathroom!
Sometimes you just have to be there...like seeing the little mouse tile near the floor in the bathroom!
Directly outside our café window, across the street, is the St. Gertrude Church of 1480,
with its free-standing tower. This for a town of 4,000 inhabitants!
The old weigh house and town hall are in the market square next to the church.
Everything is right at your fingertips, I always say.
And with a weathervane and a good gable stone, what more could you ask for!
It doesn't take much to make us happy.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Everything is right at your fingertips, I always say.
It doesn't take much to make us happy.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
But it was Bolsward we wanted to see before the concert. So back into the car to drive those 12 km...
It's a city with a population of c. 10,000. How charming.
The stand-out tower of the city center is its city hall from 1614.
The dark image is from after the concert around 5p.m.
City halls in Europe really do take the cake...apart from the grand cathedrals.
Speaking of grand cathedrals, just a block away from city hall we found this shell.
What in the world!
This is the Broerenkerk (Brother Church) built in the 13th c. as a monastery for the Friars.
It burned out in 1980 and has since been made into a national monument.
It's hard to describe what it felt like to be inside there...
but I couldn't help but think of how you can't put new wine into old wineskins!
On that note, we found a place to eat lunch.
Did I ever mention that we always share half-n-half of what we get when we eat out?
In this case it was a farmer's omelet and a tuna salad.
By this point we had seen plenty of gevelstenen = gable stones...
...and all those things I love to "collect" wherever we go.
Impressions. Imnpressions. Impressions.
Even the oliebollen vendor was out selling his Christmas goodies.
While walking to our concert, we passed the St. Francis Church from 1932 (bottom left)...
...and then saw the Martinikerk nearby, the protestant Great Church from the 15th century.
This was the day's destination.
It was almost packed by the time we arrived at 2:30p, half an hour early.
This was when I'd have to trust the 1200mm range of my new camera, I told myself.
I'm not used to sitting in the back of a church, but sometimes it does have its advantage.
And I had plenty of time to look around...
...especially at the organ, just behind us, built by Albertus Anthoni Hinsz in 1781.
I even captured some of the Urker men in back before they filed down the aisle to sing.
Now look at the concert program below...
How cool is that, using the provincial costume of the Urker men for its program!
Urk is a municipality and town in Flevoland, south of Friesland, whose economy is based on fishing.
Martin Mans is the director of thesefishermen singers...
...as well as the larger group of VOICE singers in black.
That's Martin Mans himself (bottom left), a man of many talents, including organ playing.
It was an incredible concert with acoustics to die for.
After the second piece of the program, God and God Alone, I was in heaven.
Tears in my eyes. A song in my heart. Joy in being alive.
And I knew we'll do this every year, somewhere, as long as we are able!
The dark image is from after the concert around 5p.m.
What in the world!
It burned out in 1980 and has since been made into a national monument.
but I couldn't help but think of how you can't put new wine into old wineskins!
Did I ever mention that we always share half-n-half of what we get when we eat out?
In this case it was a farmer's omelet and a tuna salad.
This was the day's destination.
This was when I'd have to trust the 1200mm range of my new camera, I told myself.
I'm not used to sitting in the back of a church, but sometimes it does have its advantage.
Now look at the concert program below...
Martin Mans is the director of these
That's Martin Mans himself (bottom left), a man of many talents, including organ playing.
It was an incredible concert with acoustics to die for.
After the second piece of the program, God and God Alone, I was in heaven.
Tears in my eyes. A song in my heart. Joy in being alive.
And I knew we'll do this every year, somewhere, as long as we are able!
