Sinterklaas in the Windmill

By now you may remember that yesterday, December 5, was Sinterklaas here in the Netherlands.  It's the traditional day of giving and receiving gifts...not on Christmas.

It also happens to be the day I celebrated my arrival here in this country, 9 years ago (2009), to start my new life with Astrid, who became my wife 2 months after arriving, on February 5!

But I digress.

What I rarely show, however, is the importance of Sinterklaas himself in this culture.  Yes, you can say he's similar to America's Santa Claus, but he's different in that he arrives in the Netherlands 3 weeks before December 5 to make sure all the kids know he's here.  That's NOVEMBER!

It's a fun story...about how he arrives on a boat from Spain with his horse, Amerigo, and his Zwarte Piet helpers (Black Peters, who are Moors).  You can read all about it here.  He actually does arrive here in Gorinchem on a special boat, with kids watching him arrive in our inner harbor from the Merwede river outside the locks.

And yes, he's a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children.

This is the Nooit Volmaakt windmill just a block down the street from our back door.

It's a grain mill, originally built in 1718, from which we buy the flours for our homemade bread.

Nooit Volmaakt means "Never Forget."

When Astrid told me Sinterklaas was visiting this mill last Saturday at 2 p.m.,

I knew I would try to make it, if it wasn't too crowded.

Lucky for me, it was NOT too crowded, which actually surprised me!

The action was on the first floor up, where kids were invited to make speculaas cookies

while waiting for Sinterklaas to arrive.

I zeroed in on a couple of the kids who were fully involved.

Future chefs in the making, for sure!

Coloring was also an option....

which, of course, made me think of wee granddaughter Hailey.

Then we got the news that Sinterklaas had finally arrived down below!

He brought with him a Zwarte Piet (yes, they can also be women), as black as night.

A child standing nearby, as a Zwarte Piet wannabe, was allowed to hold the staff.

This is serious stuff.

Not anything like Santa Claus Ho-Ho-Ho-ing.

Some kids were afraid (sound familiar?), 

but parents played their part to calm the nerves.

This girl in particular was a total believer.

And then Sinterklaas climbed up to the cookie makers above.

No, I didn't follow him...

but I pictured in my mind's eye what it must have looked like.

It was raining when I left the mill but I didn't care.

I came.  I saw.  I dreamed about the years to come with Hailey!

And I repeated what I say every year at this time:
"Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus!" 

For Don and Ruth: The Netherlands in July

Now that they arrive home today, back in the U.S. of A., here's a celebration of the fact they really were here where we live, here in the Netherlands.  Sister, Ruth, and her hubby Don, really did come and visit us.  It's a big deal because after 6+ years, this is a FIRST for any of my 6 remaining sibs.

So, Don and Ruth, this is for you, to show you really were here with us:

Friday, 22 July:

We picked you up at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport after your all-nighter flight,

and did the obligatory photo-op at IAMSTERDAM.

From the airport, we parked at the AJAX soccer arena and took the Metro into the city center,

where we then went straight to the Rijksmuseum area.

We were all hungry by then and walked straight to the nearby Wagamama, 

our favorite Japanese ramen bar.

It was also a good plaza for picking up your Amsterdam/Dutch souvenirs.

And because this was Don's first visit to Amsterdam,

we chose the fastest way to see the city with a 75-minute canal cruise.

And then went home!  It was a full day.

Saturday, 23 July:

After a hearty breakfast in our apartment, we drove on the dijk to nearby Fort Vuren.

We knew Don in particular would eat it up.  Which he did.

We stopped at the Herwijnen stork village and found a few storks still breeding.

And then took the ferry across the Merwede river to the Loevestein Castle
(now with leaves on the trees).

That's where we spent most of our time that day, inside and out.

It's known for all its interactive fun...for kids of all ages.

As I recall, Don hit all 3 of his marks.

We have grown to love this castle because of all it's different floor levels,

plus nooks and crannies.

Don, of course, was intrigued by all the wood!

Next door to Loevestein is the delightful city of Woudrichem,

where you climbed up the windmill, while I stayed below with the "brethren." 

Once home that evening, we walked to our favorite Greek restaurant on our main canal,

sitting at our favorite table in the corner of the bay window.

Sunday, 24 July:

After a typical Dutch breakfast of uitsmijters (thanks to Astrid),

we took our Gorinchem citadel walk.

I always think of you when I see the huge sycamores and chestnut trees.

I think we all love how things work...like the sluices/locks everywhere in the Netherlands.

And where the walls can go up in case of high water...also intriguing,

as well as the new guardian deities from South Korea, gifted to the city.

I think Don had a South Korean student this past school year?

Nothing wrong with a good photo op, of course.

Then we went to our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant out in the polder...

before ending our day at Kinderdijk, one of our favorite places on earth.

Okay, so maybe these were OUR favorite places, but we wanted you to see them.

ALL of them.  And here's proof that you did.

THANK YOU for coming to see where we live.  Now you know why I'm in heaven here.

Zuidlaren, NL, and It's Famous Statues

In conjunction with my happy birthday last week, Astrid and I drove on an overnight trip to Zuidlaren and Groningen over the weekend, 230 km north of us to the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen.  Actually, in the coming and going, we traveled through 6 of the 12 Dutch provinces (South Holland, Gelderland, Overijssel, Drenthe, Groningen and Utrecht)!  Gorinchem, where we live, is in South Holland province.

[Groningen is another post, where we went to see a Jan van Haasteren exhibit celebrating his 80th birthday.  He's the jigsaw puzzle man, remember?  We also had an unexpected stop on the way in Westerbork where 102,000 Jews were "assembled" for transport to Nazi concentration camps during WWII.  That, too, is another post.]

This happy post is about the village of Zuidlaren where we spent the night.  What a delightful, cozy, clean, charming village of ca. 10,000 people.  I fell in love with it.

But long before we got to Zuidlaren (at 4:30 p.m.), we stopped late morning for our koffie break.

It's the treat we give to ourselves when we make these road trips.

Latte macchiatos always seem to call out to us!

Now insert on your back burner at least 6 km of walking in the afternoon before reaching Zuidlaren.

As we drove into the village on its main street, we saw two of its famous statues.

This one was the first and is called the Berend Botje statue.

It's a nursery rhyme depiction of Berend Botje who sailed out with his boat from Zuidlaren...

and eventually went to America, supposedly, since he was never found again.

Astrid was repeating the nursery rhyme throughout the trip!  :)

The second statue, a block from our hotel, is this horse-market sculpture.

Every October in Zuidlaren is Europe's largest horse market with 350 market stalls 

extending 2.3 miles from the center of the village.

Horsetraders come from Germany and Belgium, as well as the Netherlands.

The statue depicts the time when buying-and-selling deals were "closed" with a simple handshake.


ADDENDUM:  I've added this YouTube after publishing this post.
At around 1.5 minutes, you can see the famous handshake!

It wasn't surprising, then, as we walked around town, to see many references to horses...

and that famous handshake!

But we were hungry...and had seen an Italian restaurant while driving into town!

Remember that 6 km walk on your back burner?

I guess carbs were what we needed because that's all we wanted,

accompanying our very nice Warsteiner German beer.

We both have a weak spot for spaghetti carbonara and lasagna, a rare chance to eat for us.

And then we walked some more, finding the village synagogue

where you can read the 15 names of residents sent to Nazi concentration camps.

After our earlier time in Westerbork (another post), this was additionally sobering.

Zuidlaren is also known for its many village greens, called brinken (middle-right),

with their stands of trees.

The next morning, Sunday, before driving to Groningen (another post),

we drove to Zuidlaren's only windmill, De Wachter (The Guard), from 1851, now a museum.

It's where the original Berend Botje resides, which we had arrived too late to see that Saturday.

And just outside the windmill, along the canal, is De Jonge Wachter (The Young Guard), 

a paddle steamboat built in 2000.  Both mill and steamer were at rest/closed that Sunday.

But we had seen enough to make us very happy campers,

along with the many weathervanes throughout the trip, several in Zuidlaren itself.

The turkey (middle-right) is the first we've seen, in the Westerbork area.

Happy Birthday to me, right?  It really doesn't get more fun than this.

Growing older and better, that is!

Ayush in Our Own Backyard

Remember Ayush?  Ayush from India, living in Singapore, and sometimes working in Venlo, NL.  Yes.  THAT Ayush.

This past weekend we had the good fortune of showing him around our own backyard when he took the train to visit us for an overnight.  Lucky for us, our senior complex here has a guest room across the courtyard from us, so it all worked out splendidly.

Astrid and I drove to Geldermalsen to pick him up at the train station.  He could have come all the way to Gorinchem
but this gave us an extra hour by driving to another station, without him having to change trains again.

Besides, Geldermalsen was near the stork village we wanted him to see...our first stop.

Even Astrid still gets excited by storks, though having grown up with them.

I had never seen a real one till I moved here!

Then we drove along the dijk to Brakel, to catch the ferry across the Merwede river,
saving us miles and time for the rest of our day.

The first big stop across the river was the Loevestein castle from 1361.

Those who've followed me for awhile should recognize it, right?!

It's one of those child-friendly castles, catering to Kids of all ages.

Ayush was a good sport!

What's there not to love about a real castle!

For one thing, they have a way of working up your appetite.

So we drove to nearby Woudrichem for lunch at our favorite De Stroming restaurant.

Woudrichem is Gorinchem's sister city across the river from us, remember?

The Nooit Gedagt windmill there is where Astrid gets her flours for our bread machine.

It's also where you can climb to the top...which Ayush and Astrid did.

Woudrichem has a picturesque harbor, too, so it was the ideal place to end our first day.

At home that evening we watched a good movie while eating peanuts in the shell.

Ayush was in Rome and followed suit like a very good gentleman!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The next day, Sunday, was another "see what's in our backyard" kind of day.

From our back door (top-right), we started the walk around Gorinchem's citadel.

I couldn't be prouder of where we live here in the Netherlands!

We actually wouldn't have to go anywhere ever for how beautiful our city is.

(But you didn't hear me say that, of course.)

Another windmill, De Hoop, allows climbing to the top.

For having never been inside a windmill, Ayush really lucked out...two in one weekend!

What is it about water and boats and harbors?

We ended up in city center to visit inside the protestant Grote Kerk, two blocks from our apartment.

And because the Italian ice cream shop is there on the square, we did our thing

before heading back home...before heading out again by car.

It was time to drive out into the polder to our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant.
Liddle lamzy diveys were skipping about all over the place, so we had to stop.

I especially loved watching the two who were inseparable the entire time.
It doesn't get much cuter than that.

And, yes, we each chose a different pannenkoek and shared one-third of each.

YUM YUM YUM

And then, for the grand finale, we drove to Kinderdijk, the UNESCO site of 19 windmills.

I hope you never tire of this place because this won't be the last time you'll see it from me,

God willing and the creek don't rise.

It was the Golden Hour already, time to take Ayush back to the train station.

What a great visit from such a kind, generous, considerate young man.

We'd do it again in a heartbeat, Ayush, so THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I told sister, Ruth, that this was a dry run for the two days she and hubby will be with us in July.

If it works for you, it works for us!