The Dike Synagogue in Sliedrecht, NL

Sometimes we hear/read about something and decide to follow it up...just like you, I'm sure.  In this case, our new-found friend, Janny, told us about the monthly open house for De Dijksynagoge in Sliedrecht (of all places, where Astrid happens to work) this past Saturday and Sunday from 2-4 p.m., 18 km from home.

So, it was a no-brainer.  We put it on the calendar and went on Sunday.

It's the only synagogue in the world built on a dike.

In fact, Astrid heard it's the only synagogue outside of Jerusalem built on a mound.

It was built in 1845 but was dismantled and rebuilt in 2002 when the dike was reconstructed.

It was moved 80 meters west from it's original spot.  Leave it to the Dutch, as I always say!

(Pay attention to the horseshoe hedge in the back on the lower level.)

Can you see how bright the space is?

And how gezellig...the English word is "cozy" but it's more than just cozy.

You immediately notice the important things...even though I don't know what they're called.

For me, this would be the "altar."

And the "pulpit," plus the menorah (lampstand) and the "light."

Astrid found out the menorah was made by our woodcarver friend, Adrie Bezemer, 

from a 1000 yr-old piece of oak wood.

And yes, there is even a wee balcony from which you can get an overview.

From there I could better see the skullcaps all men were required to wear.

There was even a grab-bin in the lobby for visitors who didn't have their own.

Back out in the lobby we took the stairs past the Star of David down to the ground floor.
(That piece of broken plaster exposing the brick means it's "never finished"
until the temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt.)

Remember, this synagogue is on a dike, so the back floor is below the front entrance above.

That's where the  museum is.

I can imagine how proud the Dutch Jews are of these artifacts.

The backdoor off the museum takes you to the garden inside the horseshoe hedge.

Everything grown there is mentioned in the Bible, with names and verse locations.

Totally worth the experience and most educational.

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It so happens you can see the 1886 Sliedrecht water tower from the synagogue.

And there were plenty of weathervanes in the area to make me happy,

including the second cat vane I've seen within two weeks.

It was my 71st birthday the next day, Monday, so let's just say I was a very happy camper.

As you know, it doesn't take much!

For Lisl and Michael in Bath, England

If you're staying up with this England trip from May (yes, it's already July!), we were there for 10 days, Friday to Sunday.  In the middle, we were with Bill and Ange and then with Chad and Norma, whose posts are now all complete.

But on the two weekends, holding everything together, we were with Lisl and Michael in Bath.  I've already shown you the parish walk and the Shutterchance meet-up from the first weekend.  Now we're at the last weekend, ready to finish up the Incredible Adventure of England 2014.

Today is just to say THANK YOU to Lisl and Michael for their gracious hospitality in their warm, bright, cheery garden home.

To back-track to that first weekend after the parish walk, guess what I got to try out.
This is what I mean by gracious hospitality.

 There they are, Lisl and Michael, being the hosts with the most.

Wonderful memories around food...even though I was too busy eating than taking pictures.

We HAD to eat England's famous fish-n-chips, of course.  A must.

And as a btw, Lisl allowed me to do the dishes each time, after I insisted.

Even the birds know whose place to visit for a good meal!

(You could say we're all pigs at Lisl's table.)

And Michael has his own stash for something good afterwards.

In the span of 2 weeks, Lisl and Michael hosted 6 Shutterchancers...and one more now in July.

Peter and wife Penny were there before us for the meet-up. 

Ray from Australia, Chad and wife Norma, and Chris were day visitors.

I'm sure Lisl is ready for a break by now!

But what I most loved my camera for those 2 weekends was THE GARDEN!

 Look at that!

Everything you've ever heard about English gardens is TRUE!

Lisl and I both practiced using our macro option on our cameras to capture it all.

We had so much fun trying to figure it out.

And as you see, the weather cooperated.

This was in May, mind you, when not everything was yet in bloom.

How do you say good-bye to that?  Chad and Norma did, after dropping us off.

We eventually did a couple days later...but it wasn't easy....

Next up:  Bradford on Avon and then Bristol.

Droitwich Spa and Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire, England

Following on the heels of Bill and Ange's family (last post), here's a taste of Droitwich Spa where they live and a little jaunt we took to see nearby Hanbury Hall, part of the National Trust.

Droitwich Spa is in Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe, and is usually shortened to just Droitwich, especially for us Shutterchancers.  It's a city town of ca. 22K inhabitants.

What I love most about it is its half-timbered architecture.

Over the years, we've heard so much about Droitwich because of Bill.  Now we got to see it,

including the Acorns charity store where we found a used DVD movie I've wanted for years!
Bill's family has had a long history of charitable work there.

Bill and Ange knew we'd want to walk through their Vines Park along the canal...

 ...for more reasons than one...

...but mainly because of the narrowboats.  I am so in love with the English narrowboats!

Staring at what is stored on top of them is half the fun.

The narrowboat harbor at the end reminds me of a trailer park, only better.  HA!

It was a great walk for finding all kinds of weeds/flowers...something I've started paying attention to.

(Have you noticed?)

Back near city center we visited the Church of St. Andrew from 1571.

It's a Church of England parish church.

(notice the bottom-left window which is painted...not stained glass)

I love that these churches are open during the week!

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From St. Andrew's we drove to nearby Hanbury Hall and Gardens, part of the National Trust.

Lucky for us, entrance was free that day!

Can you imagine living there?

We first started with a 30-minute guided tour inside that didn't allow photos until later after the tour.

(which I discovered after I captured a handful).

But once outside, we snapped away to our heart's content.

We have no shame!

Talk about gardens!  

As I so often say, "This is so English!"

Some flowers I recognized but most I didn't.

They even grow edibles for their tea room.

It was hard to leave such an idyllic place.

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But Ange had to leave for her Tuesday afternoon job...

...while Bill, Astrid and I ate lunch at this Hop Pole Pub.

Any pub that says "Hot beer, Lousy food, Bad service" has got to be good, right?

No wonder it was the Pub of the Year in 2011.

One last thing to see before leaving Droitwich was the Edward Winslow statue.

Did YOU know he sailed to America on The Mayflower in 1620??

And he's a Droitwich native.  No wonder we were destined to spend two days there!

Next up:  our visit with them to see the Worcester Cathedral, deserving its own post.

Spring in the Garden

Every once in awhile we drive the 5km to nearby Arkel to have koffie with our dear friends, Siem and Thelma.  If we can sit outside in nice weather, it's like heaven for me because they have such a huge yard, full of goodies.

Let's just say I have wandering eyes and can't sit still!

 But first, we had iets lekkers (something good) with our koffie.

And another friend, Wil, came by to visit a bit and drop off her tennis rackets with Astrid for stringing.
(surely you remember that multi-talented Astrid also strings rackets)

Then I was on my own personal mission to take pictures of every different flower I could find!

 Since this is Holland, let's start with the tulips...almost all of which were red.

I know daffodils and forsythia but after awhile I had no clue what I was looking at.

I just know that I enjoyed what I saw, even if it grows on trees!

Hmmmm.  Which images should I group together??

I just went for broke!

Don't you love how Mother Nature makes her color combinations!

And if it weren't for the butterflies and bees, where would we all be!

Speaking of "we," Thelma was putting on her own show for Astrid.

She's her own special flower!  What a fabulous addition to the garden. 

And since you surely remember Astrid's "garden" on our balcony...

...it, too, is growing up a storm.  Build it and they will come!

HAPPY SPRING!

On Firetrucks, Military Vehicles, Gardens and Such

So, now that the London Summer Olympics are in full swing (YES YES YES), how about  a sweeeeet little commercial.  One of the best I've seen:

Yup.  Astrid and I are gluttons for the Olympics.  This year I'm rooting for 3 countries:
USA, Netherlands, and Great Britain.  Well, add Canada, too.  :)

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Now, a bit of my own olympic mish-mash of this, that and the other....

First, a bit of nostalgia when one recent Saturday the nearby Stoomspuit Gorkum ("steam-spout" firehouse museum) displayed their goods.

  We heard the clanging bells and ran to our balcony off the kitchen.

We almost didn't get the shots in as they quickly passed one floor beneath us.

Notice the old geezers...having so much fun (click any image to enlarge).

I still pinch myself when I see such things!  (Here's a YouTube.)

(And yes, those are the apartments behind us, ready to be torn down.)

Speaking of museums (and old geezers), they're all over the place here in the Netherlands.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  One of the "others" is a walk away from us here in Gorinchem:  the Rijdend Unifil Museum (military vehicles).  It's open every weekend and we decided to finally go visit it, on the day they also had a flea market on the premises (yup, you heard that right).

From the outside, it started to make sense...the juxtaposition of the flea market with these dinosaurs.

Once inside, it was a photo op for these old geezers.

Thank God for the Red Cross.  But don't you wish they weren't necessary!

And as regards the flea market (which I didn't shoot, for some strange reason), I bought a new orange polo shirt for €1.50 (important for those important Dutch holidays!) and together we found 18 DVDs for €25.  Crazy, you say, but it's one of our favorite pastimes...watching movies together.  We now have over 400 in our library.  :)

I won't call Thelma and Siem old geezers, at age 75 and 76 respectively (since I'm too closely following suit!), but we went to visit them in their lovely home last weekend, giving me another photo op with my macro lens:

 Oh yes, and I took the oculus with me (bottom right), just in case!

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This past Saturday we drove 100 km north of us to Wijk aan Zee to meet up with new bloggers for us, from Sweden:  Mr. and Mrs. Lifecruiser!  So my week is cut out for me, processing those images with the TV screen in front of me.  

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!