On the Dutch Backroads

You probably already know this about me but it's still one of my happiest, most favorite things to do:  to drive the backroads of this country I have grown to love.  It never grows old.

Did I mention that last Wednesday, February 5, was our 10th wedding anniversary?  And of all the places to choose from for a wee day's outing, we drove to Gouda, NL, 33+ km from home.

Don't you just love maps!  It always helps me to get the lay of the land.

If you squint, you can see we had a river to ferry across around mid-point (thin blue line).

It's the Lek River and is crossed in Schoonhoven for this trip to Gouda.

I snapped the pics from the car while we waited for the ferry to arrive and unload.

This is again from the car while it's our turn to load and cross over.

I was tickled to see that Garmin captured the speed of the ferry while we were crossing on it.

Now we're on our way again, paying attention to every little thing.

See why we love the backroads so much?!

[Why did the swan cross the road?????]

It so happens that this is the one area of the Netherlands that still has old-timey telephone poles.

Astrid still reminds me that this is very unusual...and yes, I do forget.

Almost everywhere else wires are hidden underground.

Do you like road signs from other countries?

I still sometimes have to ask Astrid what a shape or color means.

Surely you can tell here where the bikes are allowed to travel and where not.

Bike paths are so very important to a country that claims more bikes than people!

Surely you know what this is, right?

In the growing seasons, such a stand will be loaded with produce,

an honesty box/jar nearby for your purchase.  

Sometimes Astrid buys goodies for us at similar stands on her bike rides.

I don't care what season it is, however, when it comes to the passing scenery.

With no leaves on the trees now, you certainly see more.

I especially love the weeping willows and the pollard willows, of which I never tire.

The same for the windmills.  They never grow old for me.

After this photo we arrived in Gouda and started our day there with a latte macchiato, followed by an inside tour of the Sint Janskerk, the longest church in the Netherlands, which was our main goal for this trip.  And THEN a celebratory meal for our anniversary.  But that's all for another post.

So, now we're back in the car on our way home.

Here's a postal worker on her bike, getting ready to cross the white bridge shown earlier.

You never see PostNL post being delivered by car!  Either by bike or by foot with a cart.

Speaking of bikes, the backroads are often where we see the race bikes, like Astrid's.

They slow things down of course, but...isn't that the point?

You get to see the things that make this country "more Dutch you cannot get,"

like the 3-poled silo (top-left) loaded with hay.  The roof slides up or down on the poles,

depending on the amount of hay stored.  Usually we see 4 poles, in the corners...

...like in this image Astrid took that same day (because she likes a "men at work" theme).

You can see the 4 poles with the silo roof lowered down behind the house.

By the time we get to the ferry, the afternoon is waning.

We watch the ferry arrive, unload, and then follow the first car on.

Notice that even heavy trucks (bottom-right) are ferried across!

As an FYI, Schoonhoven means we're leaving the city. Don't you love it!

Passage is cheap each way:  €2.20 for the car and driver (Astrid).  €.70 for the passenger (moi).

What's left to be seen is priceless.

And yes, I still pinch myself, after 10 years here.

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!

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!