Our Sister City, Woudrichem, NL

While my American family and friends prepare for the big Thanksgiving feast tomorrow, and our European Christmas markets simultaneously get ready to open....

Here's what Astrid and I did last Saturday when Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands, letting all the Children know he'll see them on December 5!

For one thing, we needed more flour for Astrid's bread machine and cornmeal for my cornbread (from the windmill in Woudrichem).  So it was the perfect day to take the ferry across the river to see our Sister City.  We were there in August, remember?

It's only a hop, skip and a jump from our apartment to our Merwede riverfront where we catch the ferry.

 By now, most of this should look familiar to you, yes?

Because we got there in plenty of time, we had a chance to see Mr. Cormorant drying off his wings.

It made an easy photo op because he stayed out-stretched for what seemed like forever.

Once on the ferry, it was good to look back on our own city, Gorinchem, with her beautiful landmarks,

while across the river we saw our sister waving to us (middle center and bottom).

There she is, Woudrichem, as seen from the river entrance.

We've really grown to love this city.  After all, she's family!

Immediately we headed off to the windmill, for two reasons...

to get our flours and to have a nice koffie break in the bunker café below.

We were too early in August when we wanted to check it out...De Kruitkelder.

This time we intended to have lunch there but during the winter months, they only serve koffie...

and all kinds of goodies, like these Woudrichem slof rolls.

With that extra energy, we then slowly walked to a new place for lunch,

catching some of the sights along the way (this team was there before and after!).

Woudrichem is a harbor city, like Gorinchem, oozing with charm.

Can you tell which boat was my favorite?  HA!

You almost forget you're going for lunch when you walk in such places.

Guess where we ate lunch?  Who knew it was a restaurant!

After all these times of seeing this place near the salmon boats, we finally got to go there.

It's the De Stroming restaurant, sitting on two boats in the harbor.

OMG.  Talk about charm!

It's our new best place to take all our guests, whenever they come.  Seriously.

They even have Woudrichem's own beer, Woerkumer, an abbey beer made in Belgium for them.

It was getting late when we headed back to the ferry for our trip home.

This time, waiting on this side of the river, Mr. Heron entertained us.

How can he scrunch his long neck in like that?

And OH, don't forget Sinterklaas.  He had arrived in Gorinchem at 10 a.m.

and was getting ready to arrive in Woudrichem at 5 p.m.

In fact we passed him on the ferry.  See him?

And just like that, we caught the Golden Hour while on the ferry home.

(Astrid took the pic of the cannon!)

I guess you know I'm going to say it...but I feel like my whole life is the Golden Hour,

even if it does mean I miss being with my family over the Thanksgiving weekend!

On Friday we're off to Belgium for a long weekend, to see the Christmas markets in Ostend and Bruges.

But first, Happy Thanksgiving to you who celebrate it.

May your Horn of Plenty be full!

Our Own Backyard

It's the last day of February and just like that, 1/6 of our new year has come and gone! And since our 5 February anniversary weekend (the last 3 posts!), we have not been out-n-about anywhere...except here in our own backyard.

So. Let's take a gander to see what exactly is here at our fingertips!

The sidewalk you see in 2 of these images above goes all around the citadel part of our city center, inside of which we live. There is water surrounding us, in rivers and canals...thus the boat harbors and the cannons, stalwart memories from days past...and our Grote Kerk and the sheer loveliness of towering trees.

I take these walks with my camera...45 minutes if only for a complete, brisk circuit.
Astrid runs the 4 km in 25 minutes and feels like a 'newbrand' person.


If I start off in one direction, I almost immediately pass the canal with its 'museum' of barges against one side of the city wall. This red-and-green beauty is the Hoop op Welzijn barge.
Hope for Well-Being.
I smile every time I see it, especially on a sunny day.


Then I pass Old Sannie who fishes off his own little island in the Paardwater (= horse water pond).
Usually I see him on the street side when I walk to my my semi-monthly grocery store, as seen here.
Sometimes it's good to get a different perspective on your friends, you know!


And then, just before I get to De Hoop (= Hope) windmill, there he stands, this handsome brute of a fella.
For all my love of water towers, I wonder if I have ever shown you ours, now converted into apartments.
It's one thing to live in a windmill. What about a water tower!
Hmmm, wonder if there's such a thing as a water-tower B&B???

In this post, I am showing you images only from these first 2 months of 2011. It's kinda like seeing our city again for the first time.

Twice a month when I walk to my bank, converting dollars from my American bank to euros for deposit here, I walk across one of our many drawbridges. This is the Korte Brug (= Short Bridge) and is up almost as often as it is down, for the many barges that pass through the canals.
I think of all the people I know who would be totally fascinated by the technology!


When I get to the geese and the art sculpture sitting in the pond (which you can see here from last year), I know I'm almost at the bank. These geese LIVE there. They let you know it belongs to them.
There's another place, inside the citadel, where the geese own the place and cars have to stop for them
here (quick scroll). They tickle me to death.


One morning as I walked back from the bank into the citadel, this gentleman was hanging a banner for a winter concert across the street. That's how close the buildings are.


Remember, these are images just from this year so far.
One day perhaps I'll combine them with impressions from last year. You know how it is when you see some things for the first time, even after you've been there for awhile.




One of my mottos as a photographer is "Always Look Up!" And this is why.
These 4 fellas grace the façade of the above building. Don't you wonder why!




These lions just a couple of façades away are not nearly as scary.
The crooked lines of the building scare me more and make my eyes dizzy!

Now, an update on my Rummikub Fridays here at our senior complex...even closer than our backyard:

I love this game and can't believe I had never heard of it before now. After all, it's been around since the 1930s, combining elements of rummy, dominoes, mah-jongg and chess, games I love.


There are 8-10 of us who are in the 'club,' for which we pay €2/month (for a party at the end of the year!).
Halfway during each Friday's 2-1/2 hours of play, with 5-6 games per table of 3-4 players,
we all get a coffee/tea break...or in my case, Spa Rood (mineral water).
BUT
after the games are over, between 4-5 p.m., we all sit around the tables and have a Happy Hour.
That's when most of the women have an advocaatje drink
(and the men a glass of wine, a beer, or a jenever...all €0,75 each...cheap).
OMG! Why hadn't I ever heard of that either: advocaat!
I've highlighted Sophie (above) because her smile is to die for.


That's my glass on the right (above) after I'm done.
Invariably someone will tell me to use my finger...they won't care!
HA! How can you not love this kind of cammaraderie.

Did I ever tell you that I treat Astrid and me to a meal out every Saturday, whether we're home or on the road! It's a break for both of us. If we're here at home, we have our favorite 6 or so places to visit, 2 of which are farther away than a walk but still what I'd call in our backyard. This past Saturday we went to our favorite pannenkoekenhuis, 7 miles away through the back roads of the polders.

This restaurant is out in the middle of nowhere and yet has so much charm.
How's this for a welcome at the front door. Wooden shoe feel welcomed? :)


Did you wonder what pannekoeken were? Now you know.
Dutch pancakes but loaded with toppings like you'd have on pizza, something we sometimes crave.
We always swap halfway through and then lick our platters clean, trust me.


I'm such a glutton for the accoutrements wherever we go.

This house is clean enough to be healthy
and dirty enough to be happy.

And just to emphasize why our own backyard has its own treasures, just look at what we saw both coming and going:

Not counting all the ducks, geese and seagulls...we spied a pheasant, a stork (above right), a Great Cormorant...and an ever-faithful swan pair. We see swan couples all over the polders...one or two pairs per field. Astrid says they mate for life and stay put where they are, growing their young.
If one of them dies, the other dies soon thereafter of a broken heart.


Three more weathervanes!

And then one last thing to delight me to no end...


...these 5 fishermen fishing the canal while it rained!
Astrid says they often have a contest to see who will catch the most fish in 5 hours, for instance.
Most of the fish they catch are carp, rudd, perch or bream...which, no, they do not keep.
It's just the fun of fishing, even in the rain, with your buddies sitting nearby.

That's enough for anyone's backyard, don't you think? Enough to keep you home forever. Don't worry, we'll never stay home forever, if we can help it. But neither will we forget what's here at our fingertips!