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.