Sunday, August 2, 2015

Saturday, August 1

Our last outing: Assen to visit the Drents museum to see a special exhibition on North Korea.




This town is in the northeast of The Netherlands and about 1 3/4 hours from Soest. It has various sculptures around town.



The museum is housed in several buildings including a church (Kerk) in a campus-like setting just at the edge of the shopping district.



Some of the articles on the grounds were artistic.



And some were functional. I'm sitting on a log with backrests attached to make it more like a bench.


This shot gives you a better view of the log's additions.


We entered through a very modern, mostly underground structure. But, later we climbed the stairs and were in parts of the old buildings that seem to be connected.





The exhibit was mainly of propaganda paintings made to illustrate how wonderful life is in North Korea. Here is a wonderful example of how "they just don't get it". The woman is supposed to be happy working at her office and receiving some good news on the telephone. However, notice how she's dressed in the office. Did someone say heat? Where is it?




All the women are painted with the same faces and all of them are happy. We heard one story about a painter who was sent back to the studio to redo his painting because the smiles on his subjects were not big enough. The government maintains a studio with 1,000 artists to keep this stuff coming.



The great enemies of the North Koreans are the Americans and the Japanese. There were sections on how the Japanese treated the Koreans during WWII.


And a section showing the Koreans as the victors in the Korean War. This woman is protecting someone as the shadows of the bad guys approach.


In the gift shop, the ever present bunny. We call him the Utrecht Bunny, because that's where we first saw him and the city is littered with them. Actually, they celebrate the children's books written by Dick Bruna.



Just two blocks from the museum was a square ringed with cafes and a block down one of the streets was another. We stopped at two cafes that were just bars before we found this one that had food.



Linda ordered a chicken salad and I had a burger and we tried two more different beers. Linda's was another one with lemon/citreon  flavoring. She likes those.


We continue to experience problems with yellow jackets. They buzz all around us while we eat and today this guy landed in Linda's beer and she had to fish him out. When she dropped him on the ground he slowly stumbled away. I think he was drunk. The waitress showed us that we needed to put the coaster on the top of the glass instead of sitting the glass on it. Problem solved except the breeze blew it off. Then, as I was emptying my beer I felt a soft body on my lips. I didn't know I was sharing.


All different types of people sitting around us and passing by.


Heading out of town, we drive along the ever present canal. It seems most towns have them.


Along A28 we pass this interesting sculpture.


And a gigantic bike.


Back to the house for a snack and a little packing. 

This will probably be our last entry for this trip, maybe a short one tonight. We get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning (Monday) to catch the 5:55 am train to Utrecht and then on to Schipol. We'll spend the rest of the summer in the heat, I guess. Its been a good trip.


Saturday, August 1, 2015

Thursday/Friday, July 30/31

Thursday: This is market day in Soest and we surely don't want to miss a market, do we? Linda suggested we do a little cheating in the way we eat and visit the Verkeley bakery. We had not been there this year yet. It was just a little too chilly to sit outside. I had a croissant and Linda had a dough wrapped meat thing. We shared a freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee for both of us. Its rare to be served freshly squeezed orange juice in the States, even in Florida.

Life goes on outside the window while we eat our breakfast. We watched this family pull up on their bikes and buy the kids ice cream cones.






Many of the stores have apartments on top of them. We keep saying we think that would be a great location.


Buying meat at the butcher (van Aasch). 



Linda bought some shorts for nieces, a large purse for herself, and I bought a belt. Everyone got something.




"Hey mom, look at me." No pedals.







Afterwards Linda prepared lunch: lamb rolls, spinach with mushrooms and large pearl onions. Wow, two really good lunches in a row.

Friday: Linda had scheduled a Reflexology session at the massage parlor at 2:00, so that meant a walk over to Soest Zuid through the cornfields.



And passing decorated fences.





As we passed a wheat field, we scarred the birds and up they went, scarring us too.





We took the #74 bus back and I mowed and trimmed the lawn. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to mow before we left because of all the rain. But, alas, it got done.

Hans and Jose had invited us over for dinner and we had a lovely time. 




Honeydew melon wrapped in prosciutto ham. Yum. Their honeydew is sweeter than ours. Much better.


After appetizers and a drink, she served my favorite dinner: meat in a brown sauce, corn, and rice. At home, I usually just have hamburger in place of the good chunks of meat that Jose served. It was great. Fresh berries with a little whipped cream for dessert.




We will see them one more time on Sunday when Linda is going to work on Jose's feet. Nice couple - we enjoy visiting with them.