Friday, August 30

Once upon a time, Linda and I saw a movie named In Bruges. We hated it. It was filmed in black and white and was about two criminals who needed to hide out after killing someone. They chose Bruges. The film not only seemed stupid but dreary. The town always seemed overcast. Our friends later told us it was a spoof. We didn't get it. We'll need to try again,.

Well, we're here, its in color and the day is bright and beautiful. Our place the Alergia Hotel, but really a Bed and Breakfast has a lovely garden off the dining room. We consider eating out, but its just a little too cool.

After a typical European breakfast of meats, cheeses, breads, orange juice and coffee, we venture out. As advertised, we are 1 1/2 blocks from the main square. The platz is dominated by the clock tower where one of the criminals jumped from but didn't die immediately. Another thing that irritated me about the film.

Anyway, we wonder around a bit toward a canal city tour. There are four tour boat companies, all give you the same tour. We choose the one that is a little out of the way and has the shortest line. Its a short wait and then onto the boat that rocks as big people get on. The captain/tour guide waits until he has a full load and is balanced. He surveys our group for language preferences. No surprise - Dutch, French, and English. So, he alternates between each language and driving the boat. Why is it that every time we take a tour using multiple languages does it seem like the guide spends more time speaking the other languages than English? Is this just our imagination or are those other people getting more information than we are, or does it take more words in other languages to express yourself?

We see old buildings, a little history about Bruges and its golden era of the 15th century. Bruges was a major trading center and known for the quality of the merchandise sold there. Bruges was synonymous with quality. 

After the tour, Linda wants to buy a pendant she had seen earlier. On the way to that vendor we pass a painter and buy one of his watercolors of the city. She buys the pendant and then we walk back to the main platz to the Historium - a multi-media presentation of the history of the city during the 15th century. Its interesting: you are guided to walk through rooms, each with a video presentation with a story line of a young apprentice who works for van Eyeck and falls in love. The rooms are decorated in period modeling. The audio is from a mobile unit where you select your language. Works good. From the terrace, I take some pictures of the main platz below. Here's me in the picture that van Eyeck was painting in the story.

We eat lunch at one of the many cafes ringing the platz. I pick this one because earlier when I asked if their kitchen closed at 2:00, the guy was nice and funny. And, by the way, they don't. They stay open all day. We order the lunch special which starts with a herring salad for Linda and a shrimp salad for me. I ask how it is and she says, "its fishy and interesting". I decide to pass on her offer of a taste. Her main course is a Flemish stew - delicious, especially the dark sauce - and I get mussels which are also tasty. We end with chocolate mousse. I break my diet and eat it. Hey, this is Belgium where the best chocolate comes from. 

I'm still suffering from my cold and tired. We walk back to our room. Linda goes back out to shop and I take a nap. She returns with no  bags. But, she has a goal of eating a Belgium waffle with chocolate sauce, not Nutella. We walk around with the intention of finding the perfect place where we can sit and have an espresso and share a waffle. After walking up and down several streets we find ourselves back at the main platz and sit at one of  the cafes. They have waffles with assorted toppings. All more costly than the street vendors that don't have seating. I guess seating comes with a price. Our waiter is rather indifferent and really pushes the waffle of the house that has a mystery sauce. Linda thinks that might be nice, but as he walks away from the table he mentions it comes with ice cream and she doesn't want that. As these waiters do, he punches the order into his portable machine that connects with the kitchen. Linda smells a rat and gets up and tries to change the order to just the chocolate sauce. When he delivers it, there is a waffle soaked in chocolate sauce with slices of banana and a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a separate dish. Linda thinks she successfully changed the order but when the bill comes we are charged the outrageous price of 11 euros, 3.50 euros more  than any of the other waffle selections. Linda is pissed. She complains to our moody waiter but he says it was not possible to change the charge on the order, it was already in the computer. What a joke.

We walk around for about 15 or 20 minutes with Linda fuming all the way. We circle back around and she confronts him again and tells him he has ruined her visit to Bruges. He claims no responsibility that makes her even madder. Its a standoff, but at least she spoke up for herself and felt better for doing it but her angst kept her from a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Thursday, August 29

I'm sicker than a dog - bad cold, dripping nose, stuffy head, and irritating cough. I didn't get much sleep. So, the question is do we stay with the plan and drive to Bruges for 2 days or cancel and stay at the house. After a hot shower, I decide I don't want to walk around the house all day coughing. I would rather do it on the road and at our Bed and Breakfast in Bruges. 

Its only about a 3 hour drive. We decide to break it up some and stop at Ghent. It takes us a few minutes to find a parking place. While we're looking, we find ourselves driving down a street on trolley tracks which looks strangely devoid of other traffic. A man walking by signals to us and we stop. He tells us we are not allowed to drive on this street and there is a policeman just down the next block who will give us a 40 euro ticket if he sees us. The man asks us where we want to be and we tell him - Here. He laughs and tells us how to get to the parking garage. I execute a quick U-turn and after a couple of turns, we find the garage. 

Its 2:00 and we quickly learn that many restaurant's kitchens close at this hour. What? Are we in Italy? We cross the street and find an open kitchen. We look at the menu and ask what language is spoken here. The waitress says Dutch.  Duh!! We should recognize it since that's where we've been for 5 weeks. I usually don't eat soup unless Lynda Adamson serves it to me or I have a cold. Today, I have a cold and we both have a delicious large cup of leek soup and share a dish of parma ham and melon. That's a good lunch.

Then its time to explore. As we do in many European towns, head for the churches. In this case, three very large churches within a good city block of each other. We also find the river. 

On the way back we stop at a chocolate shop for an espresso. They give you one Leonidas chocolate truffle of your choice with your coffee. You got to love these Belgians. Excellent coffee and the best chocolate. This was a very good introduction to Belgium. 

We walk back to the car and drive to Bruges. Louise has a little trouble getting us out of town and we end up circling a park unnecessarily, but we make it. 

We get very close to our bed for the night but even though Louise says we have arrived we don't see it. I ask and am told its just a few more doors down the street. One of the entrances is a lady's hat store. That's confusing. I am met by Veronica who speaks English very fast with a heavy accent. We unload the car and she shows me  the private garage to park in. She explains a hundred things to do and gives us a map and offers to help us with our bags - no lift and its 2 flights. We just have one bag so I decline but thank her. Remember, in Europe the 1st floor is one flight up from the ground floor. We're on the 2nd floor, but its okay. Our windows open to the street below which is very noisy, but later calms down. There is a church about a block away. 

I'm whooped and we have some snack food that we brought with us, so we just stay in our room and rest. Tomorrow, we will explore.

Wednesday, August 28

Our next door neighbor, Liesbeth, sings in The Netherland's Concert Chorus and has invited us to come with her to den  Haag to perform Beethoven's 9th, which, of  course, means the Ode to Joy. We jump at the chance. Today is the 100th anniversary of The Peace Palace and the concert is part of a full day of events with lots of dignitaries from all over. They will be performing the same concert on Saturday in Amsterdam at the Concert Hall for 42 euros apiece as opposed to 8 euros apiece tonight. We think tonight's concert will be so much more special.

She picks us up just before 6:00 and we arrive about 7:00. The concert doesn't start until 8:30, so Linda and I have time for dinner. There are several cafe/restaurants across from the concert hall and we choose the nearest one. We don't want to spend all of our time walking around looking at menus. Since I'm not driving, I order a vodka (for my sore throat, you know) and Linda has a glass of port. For entrees, she gets two baby soles (whole fish, but easy to get to the meat) and I have a schnitzel. Both dishes are presented on a bed of al dente vegetables and a bowl of little potato marbles. All very nice.

With 15 minutes to spare, we walk across the plaza and into the concert hall. Our seats are in the orchestra over to one side a bit, but just fine for a concert. The orchestra is the den Haag Symphony. The hall is newish and modern with stark angles and a functional ceiling with no adornments, just lights and other technical stuff hanging way up there. The balcony is U-shaped like the first balcony at the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall. And, that's where all the VIP's are seated. Even though they have a special entrance they are late and we wait for about 10 minutes.

Before the playing begins, a woman emerges from backstage and welcomes the special guests in English, French, and then Dutch. Part way through her talk, a little old woman sitting on the side balcony starts yelling that she can't hear what the woman is saying. The MC very kindly tells her that she is speaking in 3 languages because of all the special people attending and if she will just wait they will get to the Dutch part. People end up laughing. We don't get any of this immediately. Later, on the drive home, Liesbeth explains what was said.

The first piece is a tribute to Benjamin Britten by a Swedish composer. It was melancholy. Then came the grand 9th in all 4 movements. Maybe I have never heard the entire 4th movement because it was longer than I thought, but beautiful and majestic. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. 

Dining out and a concert in den Haag an listening to a friend sing - its the good life.

Tuesday, August 27

Its Market Day at Baarn and Linda wants to return a pair of pants she purchased last week at the market in Soest. The stitching has come out. She expects the same vendor to be at 
Baarn. That seems to be the rule at these small towns in the area.

I'm feeling a cold coming on, so she walks over and I bring the car over later. We meet at the cafe on the square across from the market. We always seem to go to this same cafe whenever we are in Baarn. I have an espresso and wait for her. And, don't you know, the guy isn't there. We'll be in Bruges this coming Thursday and gone next week. So, it looks like a home repair. 

On the way back, we drive over to the health food store for some cereal and L-glutamine and nuts and seeds. The rest of the day is reading and resting - trying to get rid of my oncoming cold.

Monday, August 26

Once we get going today we decide to find the De Haar castle. Joke had sent us an email describing this classic castle just outside of Utrecht - not far. We put the address in our 
Tom-Tom and head out. After about 30 minutes we pull into a parking lot which looks like its close to something that looks like a castle. While we are trying to decide if we need to pay, a woman happens by and hears us talking. She tells her that she thinks these parking spaces are just for the residents who live across the street. If we want to park, we need to drive around the block and use the parking garage. As we continue to talk, I show her the printout of the place we're looking for and she tells us we're in the wrong town. Whoops. We're in Ijsselstein and we want to be in Haar Zuilens where the Kasteel De Haar is. 

We decide that since we're there, we should look around. After finding the garage, we walk past this church with its interesting tower and  protrusions at the top that we have never seen before. We continue walking over to what looks like the main street and stroll down the equivalent of 3 blocks. Its Monday and before 1:00, so most of the shops are closed. We look at a couple of menus and finally settle on one cafe where we sit in a garden-like area. Linda has a very Dutch dish: three eggs, ham, and speek. I have carpaccio and we share fries. 

Having checked off that town, we put the correct address into the Tom-Tom and head off for another 30 minute drive. This time we pull into an area clearly marked Kasteel De Haar and park the car. It is a storybook looking castle. It has turrets, a moat, a drawbridge, and nice looking towers. We pay the park admission fee and the parking fee and decide we don't want to pay an additional 12.50 euros apiece for a tour of the building in Dutch. 

We came to walk around the grounds and that's what we spend the next hour doing. There are ponds where white swans are vacuuming the green scum off the surface of the water. We discuss whether or not anyone ever eats swans. We don't think so. Even in those paintings where the hunter has a bunch of different dead game, you don't see dead swans. We wonder. 

The rest of the walk is along paths by a maze, more ponds, old trees, and gardens. There is a wedding at the chapel on the grounds and as we approach, so we sit on a bench and wait for them to finish. Back at the gift shop we decide to buy a book about the castle to find out its history. Linda wants to know about its history. Linda. 

We sit at the cafe for an espresso for me and sparkling water for Linda. The wedding reception is next door in the restaurant and we watch them take pictures. 

On the way out, we drive through Veluten and an A and H grocery store where we stop to shop for dinner. Its a large store and we found taco shells.

Another wonderful day in Holland.

Sunday, August 25

Today was a glorious day. The weather was very iffy - overcast and some fog. The forecast was for rain. But, Jose and Hans took us on an adventure. We walked over to their house at 11:00 for coffee and a peach pie. We visited for almost an hour and then Jose brought out toasties (ham and cheese sandwich toasted on both sides). We were full and ready to go. The main objective of the day was to take a boat ride down a canal. Hans drove us over to the other side of Baarn to a bedroom community called Eemdijk. We arrive just in time to board and we're off. 

 Its still foggy but the countryside is lovely and the company is wonderful. The boat is completely full of bikes on the main deck and all the passengers sit up on the top deck. The view is good and there is a cover in case of rain.

 A little more than an hour later, after traveling down the canal and out into the Ijsselmeer, we enter the town of Huizen, opposite Spakenburg. The Ijsselmeer used to be called the Zuiderzee but in  1932 they closed it off with a dyke to protect the land from the North Sea tides and storms.

We travel up into the inner harbor to let off most of our passengers and their bikes and pick up another large group - all with bikes. This is the Netherlands, so everyone has a bike and they use them.

The boat only stays long enough for the unloading of people and their bikes and the boarding of the new ones and then  we pull away from the pier. As we leave the harbor we see some blue sky emerging from the clouds. We're sitting in plastic lawn chairs near the side of the deck when the boat turns and some water which no one knew was there is blown off the canvas top and onto Jose. No one else, just Jose. She gets drenched but accepts it in good humor. One of the crew comes by and pokes at the top hoping to get the rest of the water to fall. We wipe the chairs and sit back down. A little later, we try sitting at the stern on the lower deck, but you can smell the diesel fumes and we move back to our previous positions. 

We pass a huge turbine farm, most with three blades but some with just two. At one point there is a long row of them right at the water's edge. By the time we return to our starting point the sun has come out completely and we take off our jackets. 

Hans drives us over to Baarn to the Kasteel Groeneveld - what we would call a mansion surrounded by beautiful grounds that must be at least 200 acres. This is  just off one of the main circles that we travel through all the time. Linda and I can't believe we have never seen it.

There is a cafe in front, on the left and we sit to have drinks and my afternoon espresso. Even though it was a little cool on the boat, now the weather has become perfect, mid-70's and low humidity. Just what we expect when we visit here. We are surrounded by families with small children and a few dogs. All of them behave and we enjoy our conversation. I ask Hans and Jose about people marrying in their country. I don't see many wedding rings and I wonder if couples are marrying or just living together. They tell me that there is a large percentage who just live together. They don't see the need to marry at least until they start a family. Sounds like the States.

After we finish our drinks its time for a walk through the grounds. As we walk around a pond, we watch a dog retrieving a ball from the water. He takes it back to his master and lays it down on the grass a few feet away, just like our Florida's neighbor's dog, Scout, does. When the master doesn't move, the dog picks it up and drops it a little closer to him. This goes on three times before the master picks it up and throws it over into the grass. The dog doesn't see where it lands and assumes its in the water like last time. The dog jumps in the water and starts looking around. Finally, he gets out and starts circling the grass. He finally gets the ball and we clap.

We start down a lovely tree lined avenue that takes us to some farm fields with cows grazing. We turn back into the forest and walk through a tree tunnel.

Every two hundred feet there is a picture opportunity. Hans says we take a lot of pictures. But they're digital so we can sort through them later and maybe delete some. 

We look at very old green and red birches and oaks. Linda and Hans hug some. Its a very relaxing walk. By the time we return to the parking lot, it seems everyone is gone. Before getting into the car we walk over to a garden at the side of the mansion and look at all the different flowers planted in wide rows.

Hans drives us back home and we thank them for a great day. We eat leftovers for dinner and watch a Diane Lane, Jack Nicholson movie that we had seen before - comedy/romance.

Saturday, August 24

We're all alone. Everyone is gone and we're here until we drive to Bruges on Thursday. Linda does some wash and we walk downtown for Linda to see the Action store. She likes the carry-on bag that I discovered yesterday. They are a good size and  price and could be used as an overflow bag to hold all the stuff we have purchased. They come in black, blue, and pink. Linda went right for the pink one. 

Just in front of Action is a fast food Turkish style restaurant. It smells really good. We order two Doner gyros and eat at tables in the back, outside. Lots of meat and cheap. Another find.

After, we walk across the street for an espresso for me and sparkling water for Linda. And, we each have a Belgium chocolate covered cherry. Nice mid-afternoon treat. On the way home, we stop again at the fish shop and pick up tuna salad for dinner. 

Dinner at home and TV again. 

Friday, August 23

Janie and Dan get up early to finish their packing. They weigh their bags and have to redistribute to get the bags under the 50 lb. limit. Jose and Hans drop by to say goodbye and bring them a gift. Then we're out the door to Schipol Airport. We unload the car, hug and kiss and tell them how much we enjoyed their visit. And Linda and Janie cry as they say goodbye. 

 We drive back to the house and do a few chores: washing of bedsheets, vacuuming, dusting, etc. After that, Linda comes up with a great idea: let's get a massage. We jump into the car and drive over to the other end of town to our Thai massage girls. Last year we let them work on us every Sunday. They're still there and remembered us. We both get an hour massage at the same time, side by side. Good, good, good.

I take Linda back to the house to take a nap, which she doesn't, and I walk down to Jon Mets to have an espresso. Sitting outside on one of  the big couches watching the people go by. Linda had already purchased a schnitzel for me to have for dinner. I bought her a piece of white fish wrapped around a piece of salmon at the fish shop. I also discovered Action which is a store down a narrow walkway off the main street. Its like a mini-Target. They have got great prices for household  products, school supplies, auto supplies, and clothes. Its amazing that it has taken us more than two years to find this place. Dan Dodds found it and told us we needed to go there.

After dinner we watch the BBC 2 show called Pointless which Janie never got to see when she was here. She wanted to but it didn't happen. Then we watched Mel Gibson in the Patriot and that took us to midnight. A rather slow but relaxing day.

Thursday, August 22

Today being Thursday, it was time for Janie and Dan to pack. It was also Market Day in Soest. Market Day won for first priority and the girls left after breakfast for the main street. Dan and I drove over to the other side of Soest to the health food store and bought non-gluten cereal, cocoanut oil and milk and then headed back downtown to the Verkley for coffee. I told Dan we would probably see the girls and indeed they came by after a short while. Joke has a large plastic square crate with wheels and a retractable handle that's good for hauling things back home. Well, the girls had that thing full and left it with us to take home in the car. After the girls order an apple pie and an apple tart (can't remember the Dutch names) and Dan investigates what we can only call a big bitte ball, they left to checkout the other side of the street. You have to stay on schedule because the vendors start closing their stalls about 1:00. 

 Surprisingly, we all arrived home within about 10 minutes of each other. Later in the afternoon, after most of the packing was done, someone suggested we eat dinner at the Chinese place. My first thought was the one on the main street, but Linda said that Jose said the Peking in Baarn was better, plus its in a park and you can eat outside. So, after a small drink, that's exactly what we did. 

As you drive into the center of Baarn there is a sign for the Peking that seems to point you into the park. I take it but end up first at the Poffetiges restaurant. After turning around, I take the other path which ends in a dead end. The only other option is to drive out of the park and around it and that was the answer. There is a parking lot for the restaurant that's what we use. As we walk up to the restaurant, we see Liesbeth and Peter, our next door neighbors, sitting on a coach having a drink without the children. We know this must be a rare event and we tell them to stay put and we'll sit at a table. We don't want to disturb their special time together. I tell Peter he must be romantic and he says I should show him and Linda laughs. Oh well. 

Once Peter and Liesbeth finish their soup, they come over and join us. Its nice to have them there with us and they help us decipher the menu. Its Chinese food described in Dutch. A little difficult for us language-challenged Americans. They show us on the menu where they have small portions, tapas-like dishes and that is what they have ordered. When Liesbeth receives her dishes, I decide that's want I want too: a shrimp dish and a duck dish. Everybody likes the look of the duck and shrimp. Plus lamb and tempura fried green beans are ordered. Linda adds a vegetarian dish of balls the size of bitte balls covered with sesame seeds and with a small dark something in the middle. I tried a different kind of Heinken - dark. It had a very different taste, but I liked it.

Liesbeth and Peter had to leave us to pick up the kids and we finished eating. As we walked back to the car, we showed Janie and Dan the large (about 15 feet high) cage of birds at the edge of the park that we had discovered last week. Peacocks, parakettes, chickens, roosters, and some unidentified birds. 

Back to the house, Janie and Dan do a little more packing and then the guys are off to bed and the girls have another pajama party.
Janie brought some white wine that seemed to be a hit. We will try and get some back in the States. See below. 

I think this wine may have been invited to the pajama party.

Wednesday, August 21

The one thing that the Bauers wanted to make sure they did during this visit was to visit the Rijksmuseum. It is newly opened after 10 years of renovation work has kept it closed. We drive into Amsterdam with the invaluable help of Louise and orbit the museum until we find the parking garage. Its under the park where the Rijksmuseum, the van Gogh museum, and the concert hall are located. All in one. The building is beautiful and big. 

We stop at a cafe on the edge of the park for a coffee to energize ourselves. As we approach the museum there are modern sculptures and a small park down a few steps. Over to the side are two lovely looking women named Vonder and Bloom singing and playing a guitar and keyboard. I buy their CD. As we get closer to the main entrance, we see a long line of people waiting to enter. This is a great feeling: we walk past them and are told to enter by the door across the driveway right into the large visitor welcome center with a four story glass ceiling. We decide to buy the audio tour guide iPhones for 5 euros apiece. After figuring out how it works -  mine needs to be replaced - we select the 90 minute highlight tour and off we go by starting on the second level (3rd floor). 

There is so much. The Night Watch, of course, Waterloo, the woman with the water jar, a huge doll house (Lynda Adamson would have liked that), stained glass windows, and a scale model of a 17th century Dutch man-of-war with lots and lots of cannons. It had three and 1/2 rows of cannons and two in the stern and places for two more. I have never seen cannons in the stern. But, then you have to ask yourself "why not?". Seems like a good idea. Especially, if you're running away. Plus there were Rembrandts and van Goghs. I always thought that Dutch painters of this period used too many dark colors. But, these were well-lit even with the use of so much black paint. The detail and the different types of brush strokes used was impressive.

At the end of the tour was the mandatory visit to the museum shop. They have one inside and outside. We visited the one inside for coffee mugs and stuff. We walk slowly back across the park to the car and Louise gets us out of the city very quickly. 

We have not had any real food since breakfast, so after a quick stop at the market in Soest for eggs and milk for tomorrow's breakfast, we agree its time to eat at the Luykje restaurant. This is where Dan Dodds had eaten a meter of meat a couple of weeks ago. And, this is where Dan Bauer did it too along with Linda. I had a certain kind of schnitzel and Janie had lamb chops. I helped Linda with her pork. She took care of the beef, turkey, and speek (special type of bacon with lots of fat - yummy, I didn't get any of that). We were feeling pretty good and ended the meal with everyone but Dan having an Irish Coffee. Thank goodness the house was only about 1 km away.

The TV only seems to have cop shows on this time of day, so Dan and Linda and I went to bed. Another great day in the Netherlands.

Tuesday, August 20

Jose and Hans, #11 down the street, have invited all of us for an  outing. They pick us up at 10:30 which means we need to get going a little earlier than usual. It turns out, we make it and out we go. We use two cars because we all can't fit in one.

We think we're headed to catch a boat to Spakenburg. We're not always completely sure we understand what Jose and Hans are explaining to us. They start by giving us a tour through the countryside between Soest and Amersfoort and Baarn. We see expensive houses, lots of cattle and sheep, and a lot of beautiful, flat land. We drive down roads we had not been on before. After about an hour, we arrive at a restored windmill with a restaurant attached. Across the fields, we can see one of the Soest churches. We realized we had traveled in a large circle. 

Just after we order lunch, Jose is acting stressed. It turns out that if we don't eat quickly, we won't make the boat. We tell her its ok, but she wants us to be on a boat today. She is getting up from the table to ask for our food to be held until later when the  food arrives. We tell her again that its ok. As she eats you can see she is thinking what else can be done. Her solution is for us to take a cruise through Amersfoort at the company she works for. We tell her that's a very good plan and try to calm her down.

We are eating out on a deck beside a pond populated with ducks and geese. Every now and then there is a lot of squawking. Its from someone throwing food at the birds and they're going crazy. Eventually, I get up and throw bits of our leftover bread to them. 

Watching them, we watch groups - maybe families or tribes - separate from the rest and go over to the shore. They must be English because they patiently queue up to hop up onto the grassy field. Some of them have trouble, but the others wait calmly until he or she gets up the bank and then they take their turn. Fun to watch.

We drive back to their house and Jose calls to arrange our cruise. The 2:30 cruise was booked and the next one was at 4:00. The guys sat out in Hans' Zen garden and the girls dash off  for some shopping. When they return, Jose serves us a small strawberry shortcake dessert. Then we're off to Amersfoort. We arrive just a few minutes before the cruise and we board the small canal boat that holds 16 people with a driver and a narrator. Unfortunately, its all in Dutch. Jose finds us some printouts in English that explain a little. Along the canal walls there are various pictures and plaques including the one shown below. There was another sculpture with a baby carriage with square wheels. Art you know. The best part was just being on a boat.

Afterwards, we walk out to the main square and have a coffee and then progress to wine and beer. Its just lovely. 

We drive back home and  tell them how much we enjoyed the day and say goodbye.

Dinner is in the garden using everything that could be found in the refrigerator. It turned out very well.

TV, cards, and reading finished off the day. Thank you Jose and Hans for a lovely day. Danka vel.

Monday, August 19

The one objective for today was to meet Jinny, Janie's high school friend who she hasn't seen since her marriage (49 years) and who lives about 1 1/2 hours from Soest and has been married to a Dutchman and living in the Netherlands for most of that time. We are meeting her and her husband in Houten at 6:00 for dinner. What to do before then? Again, we don't have a well-defined plan - just head down the road and  see what happens.

A little place called De Lage Vuursche is just down the road and it has a couple of boutique shops that attracted the attention of the girls. Once parked, we walk up one side of the two block commercial district and down the other side. In one of the shops, they learn that the prince who has been in a coma for the last 18 months and died last week, has been buried in the churchyard here. We decide we should walk over there. Its in the back of the cemetery with flowers covering an area the size of about 6 or 7 normal cemetery plots. There is a constant flow of people coming by to pay their respects. We walk around this small cemetery and see some very different burial plots: several looked like they were trying to be "green". The tombstone on one was a slab of slat with a branch propped against it and grass and large rocks placed on top of the grave. 

Back in the car we decide to drive to Houten and hope its a cute town where we can walk around and have a snack and coffee. While we are on the A27, the girls are bored and take pictures of themselves.

It only takes 30 minutes and Louise delivers us to the Hotel Houten  where we are to meet Jinny for dinner. Then Louise takes us to the center of town. The buildings in the center of town look very modern to us, reminding us of Reston, Va. or Columbia, Md. (planned communities from the 1960's). We pick an outdoor cafe and the girls go off looking for a sweetie. They return with apple pie slices and we order coffees to wash them down. 

Finally its close to 6:00, so we drive back to the hotel and wait in the lobby. At 6:00, a couple walks in and Janie recognizes her friend. If we didn't know that she was from Mississippi, we would have said she was Dutch who spoke very good English. She's been in the country for a long time.

This is an upscale hotel and restaurant with reasonable prices. We thought the dinner was going to break the bank, but not so. Each of us had a very nice meal. We were given menus in English. Linda had a carpaccio salad, and I had an oriental chicken and rice dish. It was all good. The conversation bounced around the round table with Jinny and Janie catching up and Linda and I talking to Andy, her husband, on things we had in common like sailing. It was an interesting 3 hour dinner.

We say goodbye and drive back to Soest in 1/2 hour. Linda rubs Janie's feet and then its time to bed. We have to be out of the house at 10:30 tomorrow to go running around with Jose and Hans - neighbors.

Sunday, August 18

We woke to intermittent rain and drizzle, dark and gloomy. But, by noon, as happens here, the clouds parted, the sun emerged and it was a new day. We want to leave the  house, but cannot make up our minds where to go. Eventually, a plan emerges: get on the train to Utrecht and figure it out from there. We're not sure, but we think the train stops at Utrecht. Therefore, we figure that if we don't want to wander around that town, we will look at the screen in the train station and decide on where else we want to go. Free spirits. 

Linda and I have ridden the trains for 3 years now, so we think we know what we're doing. We are on the platform waiting when the first train comes by. We know that the first train in each 1/2 hour sequence goes to Utrecht and the second one, which comes about 7 minutes later goes to Baarn. Well, this train is marked "Baarn". That's confusing. Instead of asking the conductor what's up, we just let it go. We were thinking that maybe the sequence is different on Sundays. It isn't. And, of course, the next train really is going Baarn. I ask the conductor this time what's up and he says the first train was not marked correctly. Really!!! As we're standing on the platform, Dan, Janie, and Linda watch a bird with something in his mouth fly up to the tree above us. They think the item might be cheese. I'm standing minding my own business and thump something hits me in the head and bounces over to Janie's purse and then to the ground. It felt like an acorn, but laying on the ground I poke it with my foot and its mushy, almost like a piece of potato. Strange, but it made everyone laugh.

Twenty minutes later we board the Utrecht train and 30 minutes after that we're in Utrecht. We have been to this town before, last year, but we forget exactly where things are in all of these towns. Its a year in between visits. Our first decision is whether or not to stay or hop on another train. Looking at the various screens showing departing trains, we don't see anything that looks appealing. Let's make a commitment and stay here. That means we use our proximity train cards to exit the system. Looking around the  station looks familiar. There is a shopping mall attached to it. I ask a young man if I am remembering correctly that after walking through the mall, we come out into the middle of town. He verifies that I'm correct. Perfect.

And, that's what we do - walk through the mall, about 2 city blocks long, take the escalator down to the street level and come out onto a square. The first thing we pass is an open shop serving freshly cooked french fries. As we did in Amsterdam last year with Janie and Dan, we buy a paper cone with mayo for each couple and walk and eat down across the square. Linda had found a map of the city from an information booth in the mall and wanted to sit and eat by a canal. She, not me, asks a nice looking young woman where a canal is and she points to what looks like an alley. At the other end is a canal with cafes on either side. Most of them are one level below us right at the water. The closest one has vacant tables and we descend to that one.

The weather has, if anything, gotten better. The canal is busy with a constant flow of different size private and tour boats, along with a row boat and some kayaks. We order beers and two orders of ribs to share. Turns out that is plenty. This is the way to go. As we are eating, a family arrives with a cute 2 year old boy with blond curly hair. The chairs abut against mine and its feeling crowded. He is behaving and doing just fine but someone gives him a smartphone to watch a video with music that's too loud for where he is. That's annoying. After a couple of times watching it he moves on to something else that's quieter. Peace has resumed.

We slowly walk back to the train station down a different alley and out in the square, the girls buy some cut flowers for the house. Our train is waiting for us when we arrive at the platform and off we go back to Soest.

Back at the house, the grass is dry, so I get the mower out and cut the grass. Ten minutes later I'm back in the house. We hang around some and watch TV. There was snacking later. Linda had bought some pea soup for Dan and that was snacked upon.  Another lovely day.

Saturday, August 17

This was a very slow day!  The first person didn't get out of bed til 9:30.  Friday really tired all of us out.  Finally when everyone came downstairs and we looked at each other like zombies for a while.  Then we decided to have breakfast.  Bill had one of his favorites, banana or apple with almond butter, Janie ate leftover fish from dinner and Linda made one of her clean out the frig scrambled eggs for herself and Dan.  They were 'yummying' all through breakfast.  Everyone read while Janie did some laundry and  played her favorite card game, solitaire. OK, time to move our bodies. Bill, Janie and Linda walked downtown on a mission.  Janie and Linda went to Fusion's to make reservations for dinner to get some of those mussels they had last week. Done, and on to the Albert Hine (a&h) grocery store to pick up some pea soup.  Dan had some in Amsterdam and loved it so much he just has to have more.  Maybe today for lunch we will open the can and see if it is as good as he is hoping. Bill went to Lidl, another grocery store to pick up some paper towels.  We meet at Bill's favorite cafe for espresso.  The Chocolatier Cafe was closed but the served him anyway.  Everything in town closes at 5 o'clock.  It was 5:15 PM or 17:15 hours.  There were still customers eating so they served him not knowing he has 2 honeys coming around the corner to have a drink too.  Linda has decided she likes to drink port and Janie has a glass of the house white wine.  We helped pick up some of the cushions for the cafe since they were so nice to let us stay while they were closing up.  We are the nice Americans. Then we walk back to the house to see how Dan is feeling. Good, he is ready for dinner so we hop into the car and drive a full 5 minutes to Fusions for dinner. 

As arranged, we ate at Fusions - mussels, same as we had last week with Dan and Sue and just as good. The server recognized us and even remembered what we drank. No one left hungry. Good place to eat. If you're ever in Soest, go to Fusions.

Friday, August 16

Rest day. We were all slow to get up, eat breakfast and do anything. Eventually, the girls walked downtown to shop and the guys met them at the chocolatier for coffee and wine later.

It was fish for dinner and watching the Moscow track meet. Janie and Linda had a pajama party and spent a good part of the night chatting. Lord knows when they came to bed.

Thursday, August 15

Even though Janie and Dan arrived in Amsterdam yesterday, today they get to come to Soest. Using emails we arrange to pick them up at Hotel Krasnapolsky, on the Dam at noon. We make a stop at the health food store for almond butter, cereal, and l-glutamine. Then we put the hotel address in the Tom-Tom and take off down the A-1 toward Amsterdam. We get within 3 kms of the hotel and run into heavy traffic. Well, we are in Amsterdam and its raining. Fifteen minutes after noon we pull up to the front door of the hotel and retrieve our guests.

Louise (Tom-Tom voice) tells us there is heavy traffic and takes us out of town a very different way but we keep moving and  eventually we're on the A-1 headed for Soest. During the ride, Jaanie and Dan tell us their hotel story. Once they gave up on us picking them up last night (about 9:00), Dan uses his Kindle Fire to look for a hotel on hotwire.com. They find a discount, 3-star hotel (NH City Centre) nearby for a reasonable price. Using a taxi that took them on what seemed to be a roundabout tour of the city, they arrive and are told there are no rooms, no matter what hotwire.com says. But, they find them a room at the Krasnapolsky (part of the same chain and 5-star) and give them a free ride over to it. The price is the same, and Janie and Dan end up in a luxury room with a balcony overlooking the Dam. This is called "making a silk purse out of a sow's ear" or "making lemonade out of a lemon". They did ok, given the circumstances.

After stopping at our special hamburger place on the road to Hillversum (can't remember the name) and being turned away because of lack of tables (didn't want to sit outside in the rain and the cool) we end up at de Smickel. Janie had a huge tuna salad and the rest of us had pancakes with various savory toppings and beer. Linda tried one with lemon in it. Different. I think she liked it.

Back at the house, we sit around and natter for most of the afternoon. The skies clear and we eat dinner outside. More nattering and then to bed. Everyone was very tired.

Wednesday, August 14

Sparkenburg holds a fair highlighting traditional crafts and performers for 4 Wednesdays in July and August. Today they were holding the last one this year. So, even though we have been there 100 times, we drove over again. Its amazing to me that in a small town like this one with so many people showing up that we are able to follow the signs "Centrum", for center of town, turn into an underground parking garage that is free and park and come out in the middle of the event area. Our objective is to eat lunch. We decide to buy fish at one of the vendors cooking on the street and find a place to sit down and have a beer. I go searching for a table and Linda stands in line for kibbling fried chunks with a tartar sauce with herbs - good.

We sat under the trees and ate and drank sharing the table with two other couples who spoke limited English. We had a very limited conversation with them. They had arrived on their bikes. Their total trip was about 50 miles. As we leave the eating area, Linda stops to ask one of the performers who is wearing white wooden shoes if they are comfortable. She has a little trouble with English and Dutch but manages and the woman lets her try them on. They rock. Yes, actually rock back and forth. It was a fun experience.

We walk around a little and Linda finds some pants and a top that matched perfectly - had to have them. Linda had been shopping and knew that these prices were the lowest around. The pants are loose and colorful with elastic at the waist and ankles. Very Dutch-stylish. As we walk and talk toward the car a well-dressed man makes a comment. We start talking to he and his wife. Turns out they live in Soest about 2 blocks away from where we are staying. It continues to be a small world.

Since it was early afternoon, we drive to Hillversum to refresh our memory of the place and have an espresso. We find the middle of town and park in a AH Grocery store parking garage and walk down a pedestrian-only street. After the espresso for me and a Palm beer for Linda, we stroll down the rest of the street. Linda stops a guy who is riding a bicycle with a large wooden cart on it that holds children and groceries. We see them all around the place and we took a picture of it. See below. You must have to have good balance to ride one of those with kids shifting around.

We walk back to  the car a different way and come across the area of town we had visited previously. We stop at the AH where we parked and bought meat and shells for tacos for dinner. This is a really big store. Much bigger than the one in Soest.

Back in Soest, I cook dinner and we have tacos for dinner in the garden. Afterwards we read and try to watch TV, but its not working. It does appear a little later. Even later, I happen to check my email and see an entry from Dan and Janie saying they are at the train station waiting for us. Whoops! Wrong day. We were expecting them tomorrow because of a previous email. After trying to email and call them, we finally contact them at the hotel they needed because we didn't show. Everything will be ok tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 13

Tuesday is market day in Baarn, our closest neighboring town. The weather was iffy, meaning very changeable - blue skies one moment and rain the next and then back to blue skies and big puffy clouds. We decide to do what the Dutch do and ignore the weather. We walk, yes Bill and Linda do walk. Last year we walked to de Generaal restaurant with Lynda and Frank Adamson and it rained. I think it always rains some when we go to Baarn. Its about 3 miles down a pleasant lane past some interesting houses, some with thatch roofs.

The market is in the town square and they have the usual: meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, clothes, and ready to eat food. We browse and then sit outside under a substantial umbrella at the same restaurant (De Kerkbrink) we ate at last year. It seems to have the most selections on its menu and the most patrons. I have a Westmalle Douple (dark beer) and weinerschnitzel and Linda has sparkling water and salmon. All of that was very good.

As we're waiting for our food we discuss why it feels so different here in the Netherlands than at home. It seems that the people do all the normal things that people do with their lives but maybe in a more relaxed way. Most of the Dutch seem to be happy and content and not racing around to get something better. It makes for a calming atmosphere. Of course, we're just visiting and even though we stay a month each year, we surely are not seeing everything. But, it still makes for a very enjoyable time.

While we are sitting there, more people arrive with cigarettes and crowd us. We take a chance and move to a table with no cover. That works until right about the time we finish our meal. A big black cloud has been working its way toward us, and then decides to dump. We pick up our plates and move inside. We're sure the rain will not last long, but it seems like a good time to have an espresso. When you order an espresso here you never know exactly what you will get. Oh, the coffee is usually different from place to place but always good. But, they give you extras - a cookie, or a small piece of chocolate or even a partial shot of liquor with some slomgrum (sp?) (whipping cream) on it. Today, we received the shot but it was larger than usual. How nice. Puts a special touch on the espresso. 

The rain stops and we start walking toward the train station. First, another pass through the market as they are closing up and Linda finds a nice blouse with a big butterfly on it. Have to have it. We walk through the Baarn park and come upon a large cage with peacocks, chickens, roosters, parrakettes, and little yellow birds - all yakking, especially the rooster. Quite a crew.

We walk up to the station, our train is waiting for us, and 5 minutes later we get off 4 blocks from the house. Linda walks downtown to buy some food for dinner and we eat in. When Linda goes off to buy food, she visits the butcher, (today it was ready made hamburger patties), the bakery for a croissant (not every time), and Lidl for veggies. When Dan was here he was trying to buy some milk for Sue's coffee. He carefully examined the offerings. There was 3%, 2%, 1% and then one with no percent. He decided that meant whole milk. Well, not so. Back home we found it to be buttermilk. Another learning experience. So, today, Linda asked people what milk was used for coffee. It turns out that there is milk for cooking, milk for whipping, and milk for coffee (koffiemelk). They showed her where the later was - on the shelf, and now we have milk for Janie and Dan's coffee.

Monday, August 12

Out of the house at 4:50. That's AM to take Dan and Sue to Schipol Airport. About 45 minutes later we deliver them at the curb to the KLM area and say goodbye. We had a really good time with them and we're so happy that we still like each other. Maybe again sometime.

By 6:15 we were back in bed. And then, nothing happened. A little breakfast of eggs mixed with leftovers from the night before and we walk to town for an espresso at de Lindenhof and sit on their big cushiony chairs outside and  watch people come and go. We walk around looking for contact lens cleaner and window shopping. We're surprised that there are so many shops open on a Monday. Not all, but many. We buy some fish and shrimp at the fish shop and have a nice conversation with the guy behind the counter who served us last week. He puts together three pieces of salmon wrapped in plaice with some spices for Linda.  I buy an International Times-Herald and Financial Times at the shop down the street.

When we arrive back at the house, Linda walks over to the windmill and I sit in the back garden and read my papers. The wind picks up a little and makes it just cool enough to force me inside.

Dinner is our fish and we watch a little TV and read. Just before we go to bed we get an email from Dan telling us that they have arrived in Tampa. Everyone is safe and sound. Their trip is over - we have a little less than a month to go. Janie and Dan are due on Thursday.

Sunday, August 11

Tomorrow is a traveling day for Dan and Sue, They must return to the States. So, we stayed around the house so final washing and packing could take place. It was also Sunday, and no stores were open anyway. Linda cooked an egg dish for Dan and her, I had a bowl of cereal, and Sue had some of the egg and finished her bagels that she bought in Delft. How about that? Bagels in a rather small Dutch town. We also see Subway shops in many of the towns.

We read and talked and just hung out. During most of the afternoon, sitting in the living room, two flies, one large that we initially thought was a bee and a smaller one kept buzzing around us. Dan listened to them and realized that the note of the smaller buzz was the root of  the chord and the larger one's buzz was a 5th above. Our music teacher. Therefore, they were serenading us.

Dinner was made of the food we purchased yesterday: chicken breasts and pork, both wrapped in bacon, lamb logs, peppers and mushrooms, and rice. We had a little cocktail time before dinner with wine, sausages, cornichons (baby dills) and olives stuffed with almonds. We thought it was garlic, but it was almonds.

We had the neighbors over later for a little visit and wine, coffee, and tea. Dan spent a long time talking to Hans about fossils and other things. Hans brought over a book explaining some of the rocks. Afterwards, Hans and Jose took Dan and Sue down to their house for Sue to see the very extensive fossil collection. I spent a good portion of the evening talking to Margaret and Andy (we're not sure what to call him) about living in Canada. They met and lived in Vancover and British Columbia in the early 60's and have two boys who were born there. In 1958, Andy left Holland on a boat for Halifax. Then he took a train to Montreal and found some work. Eventually, he saved enough money to take the train west with a friend and he ended up building bridges for the Canadian railway system.

Linda spent a good deal of time talking to Jose about auras and chakras. Jose had a necklace on made of the colors of the Yoga chakras. That got Linda talking about energy and Jose seemed interested to learn.

Hans and Jose want to take us somewhere for the day, but we are going to wait until Janie and Dan arrive on Thursday - probably a tour of Utrecht or a boat ride down the canal toward Spakenburg. Any of that will be really nice.

It was a good little party.

Saturday, August 10

Saturday is shopping day all over the world and so it is here too. Sue stayed at the house to clean up and Dan, Linda, and I started down the street for breakfast and some shopping for Sunday. We only get down to #11 and come across Hans and Jose standing outside. We talk and Hans and Dan discuss the bad condition of the large pine tree in the front yard. Then, it was time to show Dan Hans' fossil collection both inside and outside the house. In the back is a lovely Zen garden with very large rocks and shrubbery and running water that they have been building for years. So that took awhile.

Then it was breakfast at the Verkley, wine at the chocolatier, vegetables at Lidl and meat at the butcher. All of these places had long lines except the wine shop. All the working people must have been stocking up for the week. Sue wondered what happened to us.

Then we checked the train schedule and were off to Amsterdam. We got into a funny conversation with the train conductor who checks your tickets. He was trying to teach us some Dutch and we were failing miserably. But, we all laughed and laughed with each other. We don't remember anything about Amsterdam, but we know we had a good time.

Friday, August 9

We wanted to take Dan and Sue to Delft so they could checkout the china stuff. Delft china is world famous for its blue china creations: plates, bowls, flower vases, pitchers, etc. Its interesting that in the 1600's it was the Dutch making cheap imitations of these things from China. As time went on, they got better and better at it, like the Japanese making cars in the last half of the 20th century. Anyway, they're really good at it now. At one time there were 11 factories in Delft, now they're down to 2 and we toured one of them.

We just walked in the door and asked for a tour and a young man names Hans gave us a personalized tour of the factory on the two upper floors. He showed us how they start with clay from Germany to get the brighter white, pour it into molds, let it cool, fire it. The firing takes 24 hours. They raise the temperature to 1900 degrees centigrade and then let it cool down. Then the item is hand painted with a black cobalt and then fired again. This second time turns the black to blue and brightens any other colors. We watched one worker painting a plate. He can complete it in about 4 hours. Smaller items, of course, take less time. All this to say, this stuff is not cheap. We purchased a tile and earrings for Linda.

From the factory, we drove over to the main part of town and walked through several streets until we found the main square. By this time, it was time to eat lunch. Sue had a tuna salad, Dan had chicken satay, Linda had mussels and I had a weinerschnitzel. Linda's mussels were a little fishy, but everything else was good with beer.

The women spent the next hour and a half shopping while Dan and I sat at the cafe and watched people walking by on the square. Sue found a set of Dutch shoes that were salt and pepper shakers. Real cute. They found some other rather surprising stuff. When they finally finished, we headed for Laren and poffertjes. We take all of our guests to this place which only makes these little smashed donut holes. Its an essential experience.

Back to the house, we just hang out.