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.