Doing CELEBRATION the Dutch Way

Because this is the time for the tulip fields to be bursting with bloom, Astrid and I made the decision over a week ago that we would go looking this past Monday.  And since we were also waiting for the "invitation" to go pick up my "for life" staying permit at Immigration in Rijswijk, near the tulip fields, I said "It would be just like God" to have the invitation in time to hit both birds with the same stone.

Guess what!  My invitation came last week Wednesday, in plenty of time.

So we first drove the hour's drive to Rijswijk, a suburb of Den Haag (The Hague).

We walked into the Immigration building, picked up the number for my turn,

and, before sitting down to wait, were immediately directed to a booth where I picked up my card.

It took less than 5 minutes from beginning to end.

I am now officially a European Union Long-term Resident.

It means I can now live anywhere within the EU.

I need only to renew my permit every 5 years (like with a driver's license or passport).

PINCH ME.

PINCH ASTRID because this means she never has to worry about job security on my behalf again!

As we left to go back to our car, Mother Nature was celebrating with us!

From there it was to the tulip fields!

 As we drove along, Astrid had a great brain fart as she saw where we were,
16 km north of The Hague.

Let's first stop in Katwijk aan Zee by the North Sea for our koffie break!

And we did!

It would have been unforgivable to be that close and not SEE the sea.

Speaking of seeing, look at that darling church, built in 1461.
It's the St. Andrew's Dutch Reformed church, also called the Old Church or the White Church.

What is it about the sea!?!?!

And how can you resist this kind of art on the beach!?!?!

But...we were on a mission to see the tulips fields and did not linger in Katwijk.

It so happened that the first BIG field we saw was in Noordwijk, so that's where we stopped.
It's known for its bulb flower fields, just 11 km from the Keukenhof gardens.
(Remember when we were there back in April of 2010?!)

The colors were so bright my camera could hardly stand it.
Well, that's my story.  Actually, I had to mute them waaaaay down for Shutterchance....

...as you see here.  Maybe I was really too hyper that day and needed calming down?

So many varieties of roses tulips.  Did you know they have no smell?
I think the Netherlands would be asphyxiated by now if they did.

There was a section of newly formed blooms/buds...

...as well as a section of hyacinths at the far edge of the field.
Hyacinths bloom before tulips, but they're obviously still in season...and smell BIG TIME,
making up for all the tulips all around the world that don't.

(remains of the day)

Because it was a Monday, there really wasn't a crowd. 
Lucky for us, I think we all were quite manageable in our celebration.

  As we left to go home, my excitement was heightened by seeing a heron at the side of the road.
  Herons are extremely skittish and can stand still for a photo if they allow you to get close enough.
Usually they fly away immediately (out of the image!) whenever we get close enough.


Sorry for how jerky this is but...it's better than nothing, right?

We were in the car, which was not ideal.  Next time I hope to be standing outside.

And finally, of course, the weathervanes of the day.

That evening, once back home, Astrid treated me to a 3-course meal at a nearby restaurant.
How can you beat such a day of celebration!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Change gears now to closer to home, lest I forget my citadel walk from this past Sunday.

I borrowed Astrid's Garmin GPS watch to see if my walk would show what I expected.
It did!  You can almost see the ramparts.
The green drop is the Start and Finish point at our backdoor, walking counter-clockwise.
It was 4.38 km (2.72 mi.) in 1 hour, 4 minutes, stopping to take 15 pics and 6 short videos.
Not bad for a new knee! I'm ecstatic.

And to show what our citadel looks like right now, LOOK.
The yellow everywhere is rapeseed, believe it or not.

How can we NOT love where we live!


Even our windmills celebrate with us!

Out-n-About Again. YAY!

You have no idea how good it is, 3 months after knee replacement, to be out-n-about again, like old times.  Seriously.  The timing, to coincide with spring, has been P E R F E C T.

My surgery was January 8th.  Winter.  On February 22, at 6+ weeks, and still winter, I took my first mini walk out on the citadel wall and did a post about it here. 

Now that it's SPRING, I'm still going strong...stronger, that is, with every consecutive walk.

This was on March 22nd, with an almost-complete citadel walk.

To include both of our windmills was a goal that day.

Then, on Easter Sunday, April 5, on a gorgeous day, I did the entire walk:  4.5 km/2.8 mi.

Stopping for just a few pics, I did the walk in one hour.

The following Sunday, April 12 (last Sunday), I did it again!  In one hour.

Old Sannie was sitting back on his wee island at the Paardenwater (removed during the winter).

(In fact, we were in the right place at the right time on March 26,

when we saw the men putting Old Sannie back where he belongs.)

Even if I see the same things over and over again while on my citadel walks,

it's like seeing them for the first time.  I never get tired of them.
I hope you don't either!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Then, of course, we went out-n-about with the car.

There's a canal right next to our parking garage where we saw Mama Duck and her 12 babies.
Cheaper by the dozen.  HA!
Too bad there's trash, but it gives scale to these vivacious ducklings.
(that's the sound of Astrid snapping pics in the beginning)

 Driving along the dijk near the Mervede river, where you can catch the ferry to Brakel,

is this grouping of 3 statues called "Where's the Water" by Hans van Eerd.

It was commissioned for a dijk renovation project of 32 km along the Merwede,
and sits totally out in the middle of nowhere.  Who sees it???

It was the 2nd Easter Day, April 6, driving out into the boonies in the direction of Hellouw,

15 km east of Gorinchem.

It's the time when the storks are delivering their own babies.

Don't you love the stork weathervane here!

It so happens this is at the Herwijnen stork village that we try to visit every year.

And look at all the weathervanes we found that day!

Five days later, this past Saturday, we drove out again, this time to see Fort Vuren (a next post),

directly across the Merwede river from the Loevestein castle.

As we prepared to stop, a cargo ship laden with coal passed by,
followed by two other freighters, heading east towards Germany.
This is commonplace any time we're at the Merwede!

 That day we found more weathervanes.
Gotta keep our eyes open, you know!

With all this energy, I'm totally invigorated and feel I've reached a new level in my rehab.
I even moved the saddle of my exercise bike down a notch, increasing my knee flexion.
For me, that says it all.  So YAY YAY YAY!