The Alkmaar Trip and Vicinity

So, after all those weathervanes and gable stones (last post), here's the first day of our overnighter a couple weekends ago when we Seized the Weather!

Just to refresh the geography, we drove from South Holland, where we live,

to North Holland, the province of Amsterdam, as you see.

Alkmaar is about 62 miles north of Gorinchem (our city).

But first, about 4 miles SW of Alkmaar, Astrid wanted to stop in Heiloo.

This is the chapel on the property where her dad died on 8 March 1981, 34 years ago.

Astrid had never been back since, so this was a bit like staring the tiger in the eye.

His last 10 years were spent here, sick and apart from his family, dying at age 61.

She faced the tiger and unleashed her pent-up tears.

And I got to see the place I had heard about for years.

From Heiloo we drove the short distance to Alkmaar, known for its cheese market.

(The tourist attraction itself is only on Fridays, in season, from 10-12:30, 

something I had seen years ago in my past life.)

Impressions, you know.

As we walked into city center, the icons and sights became familiar.

But as often happens, we were ready first for koffie break!

Remember, the weather was glorious, so we actually sat outside in the sun (50-60 F).

As I've said on Facebook, the apple pie with whipped cream is NOT dessert to the Dutch.

THEN we went to the very spot of the world-famous cheese market.

Can't you just imagine the hustle and bustle of those days of yore, right on the canal.

The building is the cheese-weighing house, with the cheese museum on the 2 upper floors.

Because it was Sunday, out of season, nothing was open.
But there was plenty to see as we stood on the bridge opposite the weigh house.
We weren't the only ones taking advantage of the good weather.

Not far from city center is the Molen van Piet from 1769,
one of the most picturesque Dutch windmills you'll ever see because of it's location on the canal.

 But a bit farther out from city center were other windmills, just as colorful....


...and turning (some of them).
I was especially entranced by the juxtaposition of the wind turbines in the background,
turning the opposite direction (Dutch windmills turn counter-clockwise).

Back in the car, we headed north from Alkmaar to Schagen
on our way to our hotel in Callantsoog, on the North Sea.
You know me, snapping pics all along the way, sometimes without a clue what I'm seeing,
like that lookout tower (?) in the middle of nowhere.

Then Astrid gave me my education about the stolp farmhouses we started seeing everywhere.
Stolp = cover/cap (like the cover over a butter dish).
As a farmhouse, the stolp refers to the roof and its square-based pyramid cover.

It so happens there is a bridge in Sint Maartensbrug, 5 miles from Schagen,
that is a skeleton of such a stolp farmhouse.

We had to see it, of course, and get inside it's inner structures.
How very clever for someone to think that up!


Sometimes you have to see to believe!

Once we made it to Schagen, it was time to eat our mid-day meal,
directly across from the Grote Kerk on the market square.

By now you know that we buy 2 different lunch items and split them,
accompanied by a really good beer...which happened to be from Texel, this time,
the island just north of there where Astrid spent many a year visiting.
(You may remember that we spent 3 days there in October, 2011.)

And because we like to do it, we treated ourselves to a scoop of ice cream afterwards,
to last until we reached our hotel in Callantsoog for the night, 7 miles to the coast from Schagen.

How's that for a spur-of-the-moment trip to capitalize on good weather!
Coming up is the next day, driving back home along the North Sea coast.

A Weekend of Friendship

Or, when it rains it pours.

Astrid and I can probably count on one hand how many times we meet up with friends in a year's span, not counting our trips abroad or guests "tripping" here.

So when we have two days in a row on a weekend, hobnobbing with local friends, that's a big deal.

It happened last weekend.  First it was Saturday with dear friend Margreeth (from nearby Giessenburg), with whom we have had several happy memories.

First, we went to eat lunch at our nearby Metropole Restaurant  (now open for both lunch and dinner).

It's one of our favorite restaurants here in Gorinchem, a 10-min. walk away.

Since 2009, the restaurant has partnered with the Syndion group,

offering jobs to mentally-handicapped adults.

It so happens that Emiel (close to age 40 with the mental age of around 12-14)

has been a friend of Astrid's since he was 12.  We LOVE him.

And no one could be prouder of his job than he is!

He was delighted that I took his picture:  "Now I'll be famous!" he said.

Waiting is always worth it when you're with a friend.

And when the food comes, we're never disappointed.  N E V E R.

Margreeth had the burger (something we've not yet tried).

Astrid and I shared the carpaccio salad and the grilled salmon salad.

From lunch we walked another 10 minutes to our Grote Markt.

That's where the old city hall is, housing our city's Gorcums Museum.

It was Margreeth who convinced us a year ago to buy the annual museum pass, remember?

 We headed straight to the top floor to first see the exhibit of the Gorkum Martyrs.

I had no idea about this part of Gorinchem's history.

19 Dutch Catholic clerics and friars were hanged by the Calvinists in 1572.

These religious wars are enough to break your heart open.

Walking down the stairs to the next exhibit, I was lifted up a bit...

to prepare me for 100 years of the chair!

This exhibit of 90 chairs is compiled by French expert Leidelmeijer.

 You want to see chairs? 

 Can you imagine sitting in them?!

 Some of them, NO.  Some of them, YES. 

 At one point, I had to put my feet up (at 7 weeks post-knee-replacement!),

while the ladies continued on for one of the permanent displays I'd already seen.

Looking out back from the museum you can see the Grote Kerk.

Looking out front you can see the fountain and main square.

Pay special attention to the middle-left image with the wee little cart....

because that's where we ended our day, with our must-have treat.

Our Venezia Ijssalon opened that day for the rest of the year.

We wouldn't have missed it for anything.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

That was Saturday.

On Sunday, we walked to nearby Femke's and Jeannettes's for a delightful afternoon.

This was the second time to build our friendship around food.

And what we're discovering is that the bridges just grow and grow.

Femke is the gourmet cook.  Jeannette is following in her footsteps.

See what I mean?  And we didn't even start with this!

I didn't grab my camera soon enough for the fig and raspberry liqueur from France,

followed by a homemade cheesecake, thanks to Jeannette.

O.M.G.  Eat dessert first!  Always.  Whenever possible.
But don't forget to take a picture of it first!

As if that weren't enough, Femke comes out with a quiche.

I think we all could have died and gone to heaven,
in spite of the voodoo toothpick holder.

See how she/they display their cookbooks?  I love it.

J&F.  And as we left, the waxing moon smiled down on us.

Most weekends don't come packed with friends like this.

Are we lucky or what!

The Cumming Country Fair, 2014

By now you know we fly every year to America in October because of the Cumming Country Fair.  Nicholas is now 14 years old, a high-school freshman, and still wants to go.  "It's a tradition," he says.  Since age two (in 2002) he has been 12 times, skipping only one year, 2012, when we weren't there in October because of nephew Peter's wedding in August.

This year was very different, however, because it was the first time Nicholas took a school buddy.

Buddy Sebastian is from Colombia, has lived in America only 7 years...and had never been to a fair.

So to start off, we all agreed the skylift was the first thing to do, to get the 12-minute overview.

We made sure they sat in front of us so we could "overview" them.

From that point on, till supper, we set the boys loose,

while Astrid and I went on our first-ever fair photo hunt.

Near the end of the skylift ride is the lineup of tractors and farm equipment, so we started there.

 Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, this pink tractor is always stage-center.

It's the wheels that grabbed my attention this year.

These are humongous, old-timey machines.

Put your hands together for all our farmers everywhere!

We always take time to run through the petting barn.

I remember when Nicholas was little and got to feel them.

This was our first time to walk through the old-timey school house...

...and the two churches attached on either side.

One was a Methodist Church and the other a Baptist Church.

How can you tell which is which?

At such-n-such a time, we rendezvoused with the boys for supper.

Each boy ate their own BIG turkey leg, while Astrid and I shared one...

with our prerequisite roasted corn, of course.

The guys were out of ride tickets at that point, ha, so g'ma did what she's good for.

And off we all were again.

By now we were getting a good ground-level overview of the fair, just as the sun started to set.

Talk about a Golden Hour as the sun treated us to its magic.

And then it was dark, with a different kind of magic.

The country store, the blacksmith shop, the quilting bee, the syrup and saw mills...

you get enough education to keep going back year after year, let alone for the rides.

But one thing new this year, winding its way throughout the fair the entire evening,

was the Puppetone Rockers.  They totally made the night for me.

We even talked with them for 15 minutes on one of their breaks.

Turn up the sound to get the gist,
totally upbeat and always with a message to the kids about "Doing Right."
What a thrill.  I hope they're back next year.

Last but not least, we always end the fair with homemade ice cream.
The boys had strawberry and the girls had chocolate-peanut-butter.
You'd be smiling, too!  :)

And yes, we already know the dates for next year's fair!