Ostend, Belgium, End of November 2014

FINALLY, here's the last post of that wonderful trip to Belgium at the end of November over a month ago!  It was my goal to finish it all before I go into the hospital on Thursday for a left-knee replacement.  (But more on that later.)

It so happens that Astrid received an email while we were in Atlanta in October, giving us an offer too good to refuse:  4 days, 3 nights at a city-center hotel in Ostend, Belgium, full breakfast included, for €154 total.  Not per night.  Total.  After reading the fine print and seeing nothing askew with the offer, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO ASK US TWICE.

Ostend is on the North Sea coast (remember the tram ride?).  It's a 15-minute train ride to Bruges, where we saw the Christmas market and the Snow & Ice Sculpture festival.  We arrived on Friday, December 28th, and left the following Monday, December 1st.

We loved being situated in the center of the city in a very cozy hotel and room.

Just a block away was the magical Winterijs wonderland, first day of its 2014 opening.

And since it was lunchtime, what better place to go native.

Brats with onions!

Then, we were on a mission to see as much of the city center as possible before nightfall.

We knew the rest of the weekend was "taken."

In hopes it would still be open, we first headed off to Ostend's main church,

with it's separate St. Peter's Tower across the street from 1478.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a Roman Catholic neo-gothic church from 1899.

 And, yes, it was open!

It was the perfect time of the day to be there, with the sun prisms dancing around the stained glass.

When we went back outside, the sun caught this one spot of the rose window.

It was magical.

 Across the harbor from the church, a short walk away, was the train station.

I LOVE European train stations and boat harbors.

When you can get both together in the same photos, it feels better than perfect.

The next day, Saturday, when we took the train to Bruges, I got some close-ups.

 As we walked inland along the harbor, we came to the Zeilschip Mercator,

once a training ship for the Belgian merchant fleet, now a floating museum.

  If we can't take a joke, right?!

With the sun setting by late afternoon, we headed to the Albert I Promenade to catch it.

Sitting on a bench from 5-5:30, this is what we saw.

A brave surfer nearby was also catching the sun...and waves.

You always see things a bit differently at night, of course.

Back where we started from, even the Winterijs pavilion had perked up.

Ostend is a delightful city at any time of the year, I'm sure.

But we loved being there at the holiday time.

 As we often say, we were "short of eyes."

After all, Belgium is our neighbor to the south of us, just a 30-minute drive to the border.

We should probably go there more often!!!

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About that knee replacement:  After a volleyball accident in 1971, I have finally cried "UNCLE!"  I can hardly wait to get a new knee, even though I know I have a long row to hoe once it's done.  They say it's the most complicated of orthopedic surgeries but also one of the most successful.  So I am highly optimistic and expect nothing but the best.

Wish us both (poor Astrid!) much success, please and thank you.

And of course, I'll catch you up as soon as possible (after my 5-day hospital stay).

Open Monument Day: Hoeven Abbey/Bovendonk

Remember how I mentioned (last post) that every September there is an Open Monument Day in the Netherlands when over 4,000 historic buildings and sites are open to the public free of charge?  Actually, that day, Saturday, has now become the weekend.  And because of that, we got to go somewhere on Sunday.

The village of Hoeven (pop. 6,500) is only 60 km from where we live here in Gorinchem, so even when we drive the backroads, you're talking about less than an hour's drive.  And you know us, we like to stop to see whatever is of interest along the way.

Like this city hall in Klundert, built in 1621, for instance.

Astrid LOVES doing the research to find these gems for our cameras!

It doesn't take long to walk around such a specimen and ooh and aah.

And since Dutch weddings are done at city hall, can you imagine getting married there?

While I'm at it, we saw other stuff, coming and going,

including that colossal basilica in the middle of nowhere in Oudenbosch (remember?),
just 15 km from Klundert.

But the weathervanes still take the cake for me.  I c a n n o t  resist them.

(To be honest, I don't think Astrid can either!)

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But now, the Hoeven Abbey, which was our goal for the day!  Here's an overhead view which I found on the internet:

You enter at the bottom.

 The ground was purchased in 1282 by the abbey of Cistercienser of St. Bernard.

From then till now, it lost its Roman Catholic church function, became Protestant,

and now is the Bovendonk conference, hotel, exhibition and event center.  

 Because it's used as a conference center, it's not open to the general public,

which is why we jumped at visiting it on Open Monument Day.

Step inside and be amazed.

It was hard to know where to start, even at the very entrance.

We knew we wanted to see the chapel, of course, and eat lunch,

but the chapel wasn't open yet (recent service) and we weren't ready for lunch, so we walked around.

When we entered the courtyard, it all took my breath away.

Smack dab in front of us was the chapel...and the lunch tables...

and the chapel weathervanes....

And the cloisters clock, by architect Pierre Cuypers!
Gebruik den Tijd eer hij Ontvlied (old Dutch): 
"Use the time before it flies away."

Yup.

The cloisters.  The cloisters.

Okay, so they're modern now but couldn't you be a nun/monk there?

You'd at least want to go to a seminar, right?!

By then it was time for LUNCH.

As you know, many abbeys make their own beer, but because this is no longer an abbey per se,

this Magister beer is made for it by the Scheldebrouwerij in Belgium.

We are loving trying out new beers, can you tell?

On that wonderful note, totally satisfied, the chapel was ready for viewing!

Have you noticed how ornate the floors are throughout the entire abbey,

including the chapel!

I could imagine sitting at a service here.

As we left the complex, the same way we entered, the statue out front had new meaning for me.

I made up my own story for it:  Praise and Hallelujah.

A few yards further, near the gate, Mother Nature, too, was singing her praise.

It was that kind of day.

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As an FYI, Astrid and I fly to Atlanta on Wednesday for our annual 3-week trip to see my family and friends.  We're down to counting hours....!  :)  

St. Mary Redcliffe Parish Church, Bristol, England

As promised, here we are at the end of our England 2014 trip, after 10 full and glorious days in May.  Besides a meet-up of 21 photobloggers, we spent overnights with 3 separate couples, all of which I've told you about already.

Today, I close this Great Adventure with the St. Mary Redcliffe parish church in Bristol, England.  For how much we both love churches, both large and small, it seems appropriate to finish here.

For one thing, you can't miss it with it's 292-ft spire!

It's apparently the 3rd tallest of all England's parish churches.

Built from the 12th-15th centuries, it's been a place of worship for 800 years.

Queen Elizabeth I said it was "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."
Thankfully, it narrowly escaped destruction from bombs in WWII.

 When you can spend a lot of time in the entrance alone, that tells you something.

In fact, it tells you a lot!

As you know, I always head straightaway to the nave.

Then I look up to the windows and the ceiling.

And then down to the floors.  I'm never disappointed.

Always look up; always look down...and see what you catch in between.

I told you I've started collecting church cushions.  This is why.

The altar, the choir, the brass lecterns...all of it.

But this time I totally missed the pulpit and the organ.  How did that happen?!

Maybe it was because I got caught up in the Chaotic Pendulum!

I watch this and stare every time.  Who thinks these things up?
(too bad the sun was so bright)

"Through Journey into Science, we offer a forum for the whole community to come together to discuss, wonder at, question and think about the issues advances in science and technology are raising for our world."

Amen.  Selah.  So be it.

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We can hardly wait to go back to England again, hopefully two years from now, if not sooner.
(Next year we already have two sets of people coming to see us here in Dutchland.)

Thanks to all who made this another trip of a lifetime.  You know who you are!
And thanks to all of you who have come along for the ride.

Cirencester, England, and St. John the Baptist Parish Church

So, in my last two posts I showed-n-told about our two days with Chad and Norma while in England back in May.  I decided the trip we took to nearby Cirencester was worth its own post, so here it it!

All you have to do is drive into the city and look at the architecture to see how old it is.

"The earliest known reference to the town was by Ptolemy in AD 150."  (Wiki)

Even though our main destination of the day was the parish church,

we stopped to see some sights along the way.

Chad and Norma knew exactly where to take us.

And as you know, Astrid and I love all the impressions we can get.

That includes weathervanes, of course.

And wildflowers.  I've been on a kick, haven't I!

But it was, indeed, the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist that we came to see.

The church is medieval, from 1115.

 This is a Church of England parish church.

 If you like stained glass, you'd be in heaven there.

You know me...because of preacher Dad and musician Mom,

I always pay attention to the pulpits and organs in these churches.

See the hour glass (bottom right)?  That's to help the preacher pay attention to the time!

I think I told you I'm starting to "collect" church cushions.  :)

Don't you wonder what every little thing means!

See the top-center cup?  It was made for Anne Boleyn in 1535

and was given first to her daughter Queen Elizabeth, then to the queen's physician,

who later gave it to the church.  That's history!

While Chad, Norma and Astrid climbed the tower to get city views,

I walked out into the churchyard (let's just say I have a bum knee) to see more of the outside church...

and the delightful cemetery.  What is it about cemeteries!

It's common in Europe to see war memorials in their cemeteries,
even if a bit make-shift and simple.

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And that makes a good segue to my Vision and Verb post today on Rights of Passage.

Let's just call this Pacifier Tree in Münster, Germany, the first rite....

with many rites/rights to follow, including death.

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This now brings us to our last days in England, back where we started with Lisl and Michael as our hosts.
Stay tuned for Bradford on Avon and Bristol.