Wednesday, July 30 - Friday, August 1, 2014

Wednesday - We didn't want to push the Adamsons too much because they were still suffering from a bit of jet lag, but it was a Wednesday during that time of year that Spakenburg holds their street festival. Its just about 10 kms down the road, and they only hold it for four Wednesdays a year, so off we went.

There were a lot more people there than we encountered last week. More like the usual crowd that we are used to. We're getting good at finding a parking place and we were quickly in the thick of it. Wall to wall people, like working your way through a singles bar in DC on a Friday night. But this crowd had baby buggies, handicapped scooters, and lots and lots of shoppers. 

We got separated from each other after awhile, but using the modern tool of cell phones, we reconnected and found a place to sit to eat lunch. 

Then, it was a slow walk back to the car and a slow evening at home. We watched a BBC 2 program on the building of the new tube line in London. It was interesting enough to keep us up until 11:00.

Thursday - After a little discussion, we decided that today should be culture day in Amsterdam. I had previously purchased tickets to the Rijksmuseum on-line so we would not need to wait in the expected long lines. We drove right to the museum and parked in the underground garage. A short walk down the "grassy mall" and in we went. 

Surprisingly, no lines at all, but you never know. We used the audio tour devices and took the 90 minute "highlights" tour. As we had decided last year, the first 45 minutes of the tour is the best.

After the museum shop, we asked about restaurants in the area and were told to just turn right out of the museum and walk across the canal. 

We did and found the "Hans and Gretel" cafe with outside seating. We had to sit at a table on a raised brick section that was just big enough for a table and four chairs, but we did all right and no one got hurt. The sky looked threatening a couple of times, but no rain and mostly sunny.

While we were eating, this pedal/solar "taxi" went by a couple of times.

Crossing one of Amsterdam's iconic canals. This is Amsterdam at its best.

After lunch, we walked back over to the museums and bought tickets for the Van Gogh museum at a ticket dealer who told us we would not need to stand in the longest line. Well, maybe. It probably wasn't the longest, but it still took us about 20 minutes to get inside.

Once inside we started at the top floor and worked our way down four stories. Most of these paintings are from Van Gogh's time in Amsterdam and they are much darker than what he painted in Provence. He practiced alot with self-portraits. Like the Rijksmuseum, the first part was the best.

Driving out of Amsterdam was uneventful, and we cleaned out the refrigerator for dinner.

Friday - It was time to drive to Bingen, Germany. Lynda is writing a book about Hildegaard von Bingen and wanted to research in the area. 

It turned out to be about a 6 hour drive with stops and a major backup. We did okay for the first two hours and made good time. 

The flat land of The Netherlands gradually gave way to rolling hills of the south. We were driving parallel to the Rhine river, but stayed in The Netherlands longer than we expected. 

Finally, we entered Germany and rolling farmland. We could start to see hills off in the distance.

We stopped at an Autohof for lunch and potty breaks. Shortly after that, we encountered a traffic jam. It was an hour long. The type where you turn off your engine and people stand around talking. I eventually walked over to a truck driver who didn't speak any English but, I still asked him what was going on. He didn't know. I thought with a CB radio he would be talking to other truckers, but apparently not. 

By the time the traffic started moving again, whatever was at the crash site was gone and all we saw was emergency vehicles and dirt that had been spread on the road. The site was no more than 1/4 mile from where we stopped. We could have been involved in it.

Arriving at our hotel, we found nice rooms on the 3rd floor and, of course, no elevators. When we moved the car, Frank and Lynda and I found a shop at the bottom of the hill named All Drink. That really said it all - vodka, wine, and sparkling water - we were set.

A drink in our room to relax and then downstairs for a gourmet meal. We were on "half board" which means we were paying for dinner but not lunch. 

Our pretty waitress relayed our special diet requirements to the chef: non-gluten and no dairy for Linda and I. The female chef was able to adapt and we were presented with a four course meal: small appetizer of greens; a normal sized salad with cherry tomatoes, greens, and an excellent vinegar dressing; a chicken dish; and a sorbet and berry with a digestif for dessert. Oh yeah, and a bottle of a lovely red wine. What a nice end to a traveling day.

This is the salad that got us started. We ate the rest so fast, there was no time for photos.