Thursday, July 16

Neighbors Jose and Hans took us over to the grounds of the Utrecht University to their botanical gardens.

After paying our admission fee (we forgot our museum card, so we had to dig out some cash), we sat on a patio and had coffee and an orange juice mixed with strawberries. We find many places that serve freshly squeezed orange juice. Not only in Holland but in Europe generally. We also encountered it in our stops around the Baltic.

The gardens were huge and took several hours to stroll through. This hill was all manmade from large boulders and enabled the creators to put in waterfalls. It is built around and over Fort Hoofddijk that was built in 1879 as part of a ring of forts around Utrecht. These gardens were first established in 1963. 

There's also a moat.

Lots and lots of flowers.

Toward the end of our tour, we visited the butterfly house. This reminded us of one we saw in Cannes, Australia, years ago. You had to enter two doors: one a sliding one and the other was made of hanging plastic strips to make sure none of the butterflies escaped

Most of them were flying around your head. Sometimes they landed on you. This one liked Jose's hair.

And, this is how they begin their life.

And become these beauties.

We continue to see bikes setup like this to carry children and other stuff like groceries.

Leaving the university, we saw this building. Not very different except for the colors.

For a late lunch, Hans and Jose took us to a beautifully set restaurant on the grounds of what looked like an old estate. There was a wedding reception going on in the front, but we walked toward the back and over to the river which is a tributary of the Rhine.

The afternoon was perfect for a beer and a pancake.

When we looked up from our table, this is what we saw. We were all shaded by a tremendous type of pine tree.

Hans and Jose ordered their pancakes with bacon and apple. Linda thought that sounded good. They said it was very Dutch. I ordered the meat lover's with bacon and ham, mushrooms, and onions. Both of ours were made gluten-free and required that we order from another waiter. Not sure what that was all about. Interestingly, if you want gluten-free then you cannot get burger meat on your pancake because it has breadcrumbs in it. They keep you pure.

Nearby there were kayaks to rent and we watched 5 or 6 people dock their boats and pull them up onto the grass and have something to eat.

After we returned to Soest, we invited Hans and Jose over for coffee and chatted for awhile until they had to go. Jose needed to take a friend grocery shopping.

What a grand day. They always take us to places we haven't seen. Good adventure, good food, and good fellowship.