Nijmegen, NL, at Christmastime

Remember when we drove to the Christmas markets in Köln, Germany, the last day of November?  After spending the night there, we decided to NOT stay and do more of the same but to visit Nijmegen on our way home.  It's a city in the Netherlands we've had on our back burner for a long time, population 165K, because supposedly it's Holland's oldest city, celebrating it's 2000th year in 2005..

Like always, we headed straight for city center, where everything was decked out for the season...

...and because it was Saturday, the market was in full swing on the city square.

Pay attention to how close the church is.

We love to arrive in these cities at koffie-break time.

So right there midst all the market stalls, we spied this Atlanta Grand Café and Restaurant.

You know me and how I make connections.  It was a no-brainer.
Having lived in Atlanta for 25 years was not for nothing.

From there it was a short walk to the church through the market square...

...past the Weigh House (Waag) from 1612 and through the city port/gate.

And past 2 of the city's iconic statues!

The one right in front of the church is Moenen by Piet Killaars.

The lady is Mariken van Nieumeghen from a 15th century legend.

And because it was right there in front of us, we visited the Sint Stevenskerk from the 16th century.

 What a grand church from the outside.  So majestic.

But OMG, when we walked inside....it was the polar opposite of the Köln Cathedral from the day before.

Wonderfully bright and inviting.  The sun was streaming in everywhere through HUGE, unstained-glass windows, right on the magnificent organ pipes!

Did I ever mention I am a glutton for wood!

And these salmon colors!

As far as European churches go, this is one of my favorites thus far.

But that may be because the one in Köln really did depress us the day before!

Once outside again, we immediately saw a Zwarte Piet (Black Peter).

Remember that this was December 1 and Sinterklaasdag is December 5!

Speaking of which...yup, he was all over town in store windows.

Not hard to get into the spirit of things!

This is how it's done in the Netherlands!  HA!

By now we had walked through city center and were on our way to the railway bridge.

A pedestrian, cycle and train bridge, to be exact. No cars allowed.

Isn't that fun!

Daddy and daughter making a great memory!

All good things come to an end, they say.  We had to go back down!

But not before watching these 2 guys push their bikes up the side bike track.

From on top of the bridge we had seen a castle in the distance and headed for it straightaway.

It's the Kruittoren from 1425...

...and sits in this lovely Kronenburger Park.  

Black swans are rare in the Netherlands, so we were lucky to see one.

 By then we were ready to go home.  Enough is enough.

(I'm guessing you're saying the same thing.  HA!)

I even got some fancy weathervanes!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Today is my turn at Vision and Verb again...on The Answer is Within You.  You might be surprised by how I found an important answer to the beginning of my new year!  Here's a clue:

Hope you're all off to a great New Year!

GOUDA, as in The City

So, after we left the cheese shop, loaded with our bag of cheese from the last post...we continued our photo hunt of Gouda, the city of 71K inhabitants. Actually, it took us two seconds to figure out we could leave the bag at the shop and come back for it later. Which we did.

Gouda the city is surely most known for its cheese. Duh. But it's also known for its clay smoking pipes with looong stems, stroop/syrup waffels (both of which I didn't take pictures...my bad!) and for its candles:

Gouda kaarsen (= candles) are considered to be the cream of the crop.
They're made of stearine/natural wax with a special prepared wick, with hardly any soot or smoke,
almost never dripping and burning for hours.

And that reminds me of what Gouda is also known for, it's famous Stadhuis, one of Holland's oldest Gothic city halls, built between 1448 and 1450:

This magnificent structure sits in the middle of Market Square, as seen here from above.
At Christmas time, Astrid says all the windows are lit with Gouda candles.
Definitely on our list to see this next holiday season.


Speaking of the Stadhuis, later in the afternoon as we ate lunch on the square, I was able to zoom in on this wedding party just coming out. You may recall that weddings in the Netherlands take place at the city hall,
as ours did here in the city where we live.


On the same market square, behind the Stadhuis and just a couple buildings from where we ate, is Gouda's Waag (= weighing house), built in 1668 for weighing goods to levy taxes.
It is now a national monument.

As happens in most of these Dutch iconic cities, there's always one big church that stands out from all the others, and that would be Sint Janskerk:

A UNESCO monument known for its stained glass windows, the church was built in the 15th-16th centuries, dedicated to Gouda's patron saint, John the Baptist.
The church was open to the public for an entrance fee (€3,50 each, as I recall) but no cameras allowed.
Sorry, NO. We'll look online. Sometimes we're cheapskates, just for the principle of it.


...but as you know by now, that doesn't keep us from walking all around to see what we can outside.
I'm a glutton especially for such arched walkways attached like this.


I'm also a glutton for seeing such a steeple while out-n-about town and knowing whose it is!

Since we're in the vicinty of the grote kerk (big church), let's cross the street to Gouda's history Museum....

...with another archway. I love those walk-throughs...
(notice Sint Janskerk so close behind once you're inside the courtyard)


...and all the gevelstenen (= gable stones) inside the courtyard.
We didn't enter the museum proper but enjoyed the inner courtyard as its own museum.

The other church that sticks out like a sore thumb while you're out walking around is the Gouwekerk, over by the vismarkt (= fish market):

In the bottom right-hand images (above) you can see the 2 pillared structures on each side of the canal (with the church in the background). In days past the fishing boats would pull up alongside these open-air structures and unload their catch for market selling.

On the way to the vismarkt, by the way, we passed the following bridge being restored:

...and as we passed it...


...LOOK AT WHAT ASTRID CAPTURED! (Rated R)
The top row was the foreplay, the bottom row 'the act.'
HA! It was a real 'quickie!'

How can you ever beat Mother Nature!


Well, we try, don't we. Look at this bit of whimsy. Is this, too, foreplay???

Now, change gears, if you can, and check out these two windmills:

't Slot (= the Lock) was built in 1832 as a grain mill.


De Roode Leeuw (= the Red Lion) was originally built in 1727, also as a grain mill.

And to tell you why we love these photo hunts so much....

...just before we rounded the corner to see the Roode Leeuw windmill, we spied this sewing machine outside in a yard, suffering from the elements. As we started taking pictures of it, this gentleman, so seemingly hungry for conversation, came out to tell us all about it. He even offered it to us...if we wanted it!

And then, just to the left of the windmill, there on the canal where we had first seen the mill from afar after first parking....

...life as they know it on the canals of The Netherlands!

Bid yourselves tot straks, now, to Gouda....

...a city of so much of what I love, like more gevelstenen (= gable stones).
You can actually see the whole shootin' kaboodle here on the Dutch database.


Enough impressions for a lifetime of enjoyment.

Gouda, the city. I have a feeling I barely got started (and you thought this was long!).