Saturday, May 30

Here is Linda getting ready for the day and needing to get up on her tip toes to reach the "Dutch magnifying mirror". They are tall and we're not.

Joke's hobby is gardening. More specifically - flowers. Here are the flowers both inside and out that Linda now has responsibility for.

This is the back garden that Kees and Joke have set up for a romantic wine tasting.

We actually had something to do today. Our neighbor, Liesbeth, sings in a rock band called Queen. And, don't you know they sing Queen songs. The band was scheduled to perform in a little park in Utrecht today, so we caught the train and went over. As we left the train station we saw this teapot on top of a building.

During our walk we came upon a large flower market. Lots and lots of flowers. This is Holland and this is one of the things they do. 

As we left the flower market we came upon this statue of a hare. Who knows? And, we found statues of rabbits all over the place and little ones in stores. Don't know what that was all about either.

Don't look at the guy in the foreground, checkout the dude sitting in the back.

Even with a map and instructions from the information lady at the train station and Linda's phone navigation app, we took the long way around. Instead of a 20 minute walk, it was about 45 minutes. But, we still arrived before they started playing and saw the entire 1 1/2 hour show. We saw them last year and enjoy them each time. Lizzie plays the keyboard and sings. There is a lead singer, bass and guitar players, drummer, and a guy playing the synthesizer. They kept the place hopping.

The band and Lizzie

Lizzie

The lead singer whose name doesn't come to mind.

There was a festival going on beside the bandstand and this is what walked by while we were sitting and watching. 

This is how they train their kids to ride bikes. No peddles.

This guy was walking around taking videos with a very professional camera, and

these shoes. Hmmmm

We walked back to the center (Centrum) of town much quicker than earlier. We were hungry but decided we wanted to eat at home, so we just stopped for a tea and espresso.

Here is the famous Utrecht bell tower and that same dude again.

This was near where we stopped for espresso.

You never know who you'll meet on the street.

After walking through the shopping district, we decided we were ready to go home. We knew the train left a little after 6:00, and we started walking faster. But, we were slowed when we came upon a french fry shop and stopped to get a cone of fries with mayo on it. Walk and eat at the same time. The train station is attached to a very LONG shopping mall and even though a nice couple had told us to cut through the V&R department store as a shortcut, we still knew it would be close. As we got to our platform we saw people running, but we didn't - mistake. We only had about 16 feet to go when the train started moving. This kind of thing is not new to us. Many times we have come close to missing a flight or a train but we usually make it. In fact, the last time we missed a train was in Ostend, Belgium in 1977. But, that wasn't our fault. The ferry from Dover, England was late and the trains in Europe don't wait. Not a bad record.

So, you sit down and wait for the next train that leaves in 30 minutes but shows up within 20 minutes and you can board. 30 minutes later we're in Soest.

Linda cooks some chicken and I watch some dumb TV shows. And, Linda made some gluten-free pancakes.