February Snow One Week in the Netherlands

Because we never know IF or WHEN it will happen, you can imagine how thrilled we were to finally get snow, even if only for a week.  Frost is one thing, which we saw in January, but snow is another thing altogether! 

We awakened to snow on Sunday morning, 7 February, as predicted.  

I didn't even go out that day except on our balcony and then on the walkway in front of our apartment.

Astrid had covered our car the day before, to protect it in our courtyard.

I took this from our 1st-floor walkway, looking down into the courtyard.

It was heavenly for me, and, if that was all I had, it would have been "fix" enough.

But lucky for me, the next day I walked home from grocery shopping and got more.

Another "fix," even though with the wind chill I barely made it home!

Seriously.

The following day, Tuesday, Astrid drove us along the dijk in nearby Vuren.

Besides seeing the snow, she wanted me to see the high water of the Merwede river on our north bank.

You can see the flooded fields, with the Loevestein Castle across the river.

This is when an outsider understands why the Dutch need locks to control their water.

So much of the area around us is below sea level!

The dijks are also important to keep out the water but are also picturesque.

When I saw the swans, Astrid knew she needed to stop.

Remember, this was 5 days before Valentine's Day.

And remember that swans mate for life!

Our English friends have lamented that we don't have hills for sledding,

but who needs hills when you have dijks!

Don't you love the winter willows!

Not much snow but enough to create some nice scenes.

We drove a bit further out into the polder to find sheep.

(No wonder we like wool for winter, right?!)

It was a splendid day, full of many snow "fixes."

On Wednesday we had erwtensoep, served up in the courtyard for 50 of our residents.

From where I stood, I looked back through our birch tree to our apartment side.

(Our apartment is one floor down to the left of the tree trunk.)

On Friday morning, after 5 days of temps around 20°F, we drove to scout out skating spots 

for Astrid, first in Giessenburg (top row) and then in Brandwijk (bottom row).

That afternoon she went back to Brandwijk to get her skating fix.

 

But one time wasn't enough, so she went back on Sunday to another spot on the Giessen river.

THAT was her real fix for skating this winter, as her video shows.

Then just like that, after Sunday, Valentine's Day, the temps immediately went back up to the 40°s F.

The winter violas outside our front door sprung back to life!

So, from Sunday to Sunday, it was like a February winterland miracle 

inserted into the calendar for all who needed their fix.

The Maastricht Christmas Market and St. Servatius Basilica

Now that we're back from our Christmas Market venture last weekend, you know we are full of Christmas cheer.  We got our "fix."

Let's start with Maastricht, which was our Friday afternoon arrival point.  And since I took only 3 photos before we sat down to eat (it was time!), I'll start with this "fix," which was a must for the trip:  brats! 

Gotta always have a brat at the Christmas market.  It's what you do.

THEN we were ready to start the day.

HO HO HO!

No Bah Humbugs from us.

Because most European Christmas markets are situated at city center,

the biggest church of the city is usually right there in plain sight.

And because the European churches are more important to us than even Christmas markets,

we pretty quickly veered off from the Christmassy "fix" to make sure we didn't miss this Basilica.

Actually, there are two churches next to each other, separated by a street.

The red spire is the Dutch Reformed St. John's Church from the 14th c. and wasn't open.

The humongous church next door is the Basilica of St. Servatius from the 11th-12th centuries.

It's easy to tell this is a Roman Catholic church.
And yes, I lit a candle and prayed for special people that day!

Opposite the altar view in the former collage is the organ/back of the church.
What a treat to hear it while we were there.

It was the crypt, however, that grabbed me the most.
Soulful.  Cozy.  Meditative.
St. Servatius, the Bishop of Tongeren, died in 384 and is buried there.

That's the reliquary bust of St. Servatius, 15/16c., bottom-left.

From inside the church, we looked out to the Christmas market Ferris wheel....

which, of course, totally got our attention.

We've never seen a Christmas market with a Ferris wheel, so we had to ride it.

The contraption itself always fascinates me...and this time more so because of the colors.

How can you NOT love  it!

And yes, that's how big the basilica is (bottom-right).

I had fun making this collage on my iPad for Facebook.

It so happens the toilets were next to the skating rink,

so we watched for awhile.

I loved this wee family, with mommy showing how and then older sister doing it.

As the afternoon wound down, we sat long enough for stir-fried mushrooms with garlic sauce

and the prerequisite glühwein.  

We were totally satisfied.  We didn't need more.  It was time to leave.  

As we left the market and wandered to our car, past the city hall (top-left and center),

we were reminded that Masstricht is André Rieu's city, for those of you who know him.

In case you don't know him, here's my favorite of all the videos I've seen.
He's Maastricht's favorite son!
To be honest, he's all of Holland's favorite son!

On that note, we crossed the St. Servatius Bridge across the Meuse/Maas River to our car.

Enough "fixes" to last the weekend...but it was only our first day of three....

Jack Frost and Some Macro Fun

Here's another break (from the Vasse trip in December) to keep us present with the here-n-now...which happens to finally have below-freezing temps here in Gorinchem.  Other places in the Netherlands have had snow, but not here...yet.

At least Jack Frost has visited!  So on Monday, walking home after grocery shopping, I took pics.  I'm still trying to make my Canon Powershot max its limit, hoping not to get out my big-girl camera and macro lens.  I'll keep trying....

This is pretty much in order of what I saw from beginning to end.

It intrigued my how some had frost and others didn't.

And how some had LOTS of ice crystals.

Brrrrrrrrr.

It really was cold but we all were in heaven.

Some more than others.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Still in the macro mode, a couple days earlier, I had to capture Astrid's amaryllis.

How is it possible they can grow so tall?  And this is the second bloom!

As you see, I had to stand on a chair (still in my pyjamas on a Saturday morning).

Later that afternoon we drove to our sister city, Woudrichem, across the river,

to buy more ingredients from the windmill for Astrid's bread machine.

Afterwards, for lunch, we dined at the nearby De Stroming restaurant...always a photo op.

[We plan to take sister Ruth and hubby there in July!]
The doggie vane was an added "gift" on the drive home.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

One last fun thing from Monday night, because I had free passes to the show skating in nearby Dordrecht,
we went to see what it was like:

I ended up having so much fun watching and filming Astrid.
And though neither one of us needs to do it again, Astrid said it was totally worth it.
Even worth her taking Tuesday off work, she said (since we got home at midnight).

End of Year Bing-Bang

Because I didn't expect it, I must interrupt the program and give some ting tang, walla walla bing bang before the New Year tomorrow.  Are you ready??!

So, what happened last week, Wednesday, two days before Christmas, was an exhibition/clinic of old-timey Dutch zwieren and zwaaien (gliding and swaying) ice skating...like what they used to do on the canals (when there was still ice and snow!!!!!)...HERE in Gorinchem at our city center's Winterfestijn.

This image, from the Gorkums Nieuws, is of the Schoonrijders (Clean Riders) in costume,

when they came to Gorinchem on 12 December (but whom we totally missed).

The plan was that I would go and take photos of the whole thing, from 1-2:30p.  But guess what, it wasn't anything like what I expected because, well, it was a clinic and not really a show, like above.  They wanted to teach people how to do it.

I bet you know what's coming???!

But first, since I was there half an hour early, here's the rink that is set up around our city center's fountain every Christmas vacation:

The kids were having a blast (especially since it was 50-55 F outside).

Have you ever wondered how the Dutch teach their kids to skate?
Of course, it's usually on a canal somewhere, and with a chair for the prop.
But everyone helps each other.  It's a big deal.

Finally, I saw the professional skaters arriving...the ones who would demonstrate the zwieren and zwaaien.  I kept waiting for the officials to clear the ice, as did the professionals.  But it never happened.  Talk about a huge disappointment.  They had to do their thing in between all the kids skating in their way.  This was NOT how it was supposed to be (and Astrid, who was at work, later wrote to complain about it....), but they tried to make the most of it....

...while I attempted to get some snippets!
First there were two, then four, then six, followed by a wee demonstration with a newbie.
Notice the stokken (sticks) that are important for the "dance."

Okay, now here's what you're waiting for.  HA!  One of the very kind ladies, not at all pushy, kept asking me if I wanted to try it?  I had a hundred excuses, of course...my new knee, Astrid wasn't there, etc., etc.  My last excuse was there was no safe place to put my camera and purse, to which she offered very kindly to hold for me...and to even take pics of me, if I wanted?

And yes, they just happened to have skates my size.  And two gentlemen to help me!

Within seconds, there I was zwieren and zwaaien,

and laughing my head off like a kid thinking it was Christmas.

The guys couldn't stop laughing either.  Once you get me started...Oh, my!

I think we circled the rink 4 or 5 times.

"Do not ever take your hands off the stick," they told me.  And thank god,
because I fell twice but not all the way, because the gentlemen held me up with the stick.

Ting tang walla walla bing bang!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

And since we're on the subject, Astrid and I once again drove to Kinderdijk before sunrise on Christmas day, just because.  It's become a soulful tradition for us that is a gift you cannot buy.  Since then I have used some of my manipulation tools to be a bit artistic...another soulful gift for ME, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

On that note, remember this...?
Ooh Eeh Ooh Ah Aah, Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!