Monday & Tuesday, June 8 & 9

Monday was scheduled as a rest day. Sleep in to try and recover from jet lag, eat a hearty breakfast, get your feet rubbed, and take a stroll around downtown Soest. 

We stopped at the Proef for a coffee and wine and bought some chocolate and nuts. 

Later we walked halfway to our local windmill.

We ran into Liesbeth and Peter on our way back. We introduced them to Heidi and Doug and talked about having them and the kids over later in the week.

Today was Doug's birthday and we ate dinner at Luykje just down the street. We had told Doug he was going to get a meter of meat but he decided he couldn't eat the whole thing and they don't allow sharing. So, he and Heidi both had a half. 

You get salad and frites with everything.

Here is a half meter of chicken, beef, and pork. Much more impressive if you get the full thing on the spit that hangs from the rack. Next time.

The Birthday Boy looks happy. And his assistant.

Upon reflection, he probably should have got the whole meter and taken leftovers home. They also had a shrimp appetizer and a cheese wrapped in bacon. Linda had a white fish and I had the ribs. Everyone was happy.

On Tuesday it was time to rev up our pace and we headed out to Delft. Its just over an hour by car. 

This is the kind of thing you see on the Dutch roads.

As we neared our exit we ran into traffic and decided to get off one exit before the one that the Garmin GPS told us to take. Well, don't you know that once we got onto the town streets and saw a sign for the pottery factory we knew where we were and it was closer than the other route.  

We were given the regular tour of the factory and told how they formed, fired, and painted the china pieces. Then, of course, its into the gift shop to look around. Heidi found a piece she liked but wanted a windmill painted on it. 

They said they could do that and we could pick it up for her in a couple of weeks after we return from the cruise. 

Then, into the main part of town and with just a little fooling around we found a parking garage by the Jumbo grocery store. A short walk and we were in the main square with the church (Kerk) at one end and the very interesting looking town hall at the other end.

Lunch was at one of the cafes with an enclosed front. 

It was breezy and cool. After lunch, more shopping. Heidi needed to buy some cheese from the shop across the square with the salesgirl in a traditional outfit.

Farm girl clowning around.

Then as we headed back to the car, we stopped in a cafe for coffee, wine and the apple cake that the Dutch specialize in. We almost walked out of this cafe because it just didn't feel right and no one was waiting on us. But after Linda was out the door, a guy came by to urge us to stay and said he had everything we wanted plus the best apple cake in town. We stayed and he was right - lots of apples and a big mound of slagroom (whipped cream).

Back to the car, and we headed to Kinderdijk to see all the windmills. We had about 3 minutes to go when we came to road construction that blocked our way. So now what do we do? Linda got out of the car and talked to some bikers. They told her how to go back around and take the ferry. While she was out of the car, I selected the detour option on the Garmin GPS and when we started off, both her directions and the Garmin's agreed. Yes, we found the ferry and got a boat ride. It was a nice diversion.

Nice couple.

We walked around, mostly by ourselves and took pictures. By this time the sun was almost down - that meant it was getting toward 10:00. An interesting day that kept us moving.