First Weeks in Holland, 2018

  Every year we, or maybe its just me, say we're not going back to Holland anymore. And, then we go. We trade houses with a Dutch couple named Kees and Joke. So, here we are again in a little town about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam called Soest. 

Usually we pass them in the air over the Atlantic Ocean, as they go to Florida and we come here to their house. But this year there have been some complications: Joke, the wife, has a chronic lung condition and is taking a new medication. Because of that, she has to stay close enough to Holland that she can have a checkup once a week. Therefore, they decided to take off in their caravan (pulled trailer) and visit places around the country. Keep in mind that if you drive more than 3 hours in any direction except north, you're out of the country. If you drive north more than that, you get wet.

  On a separate note, Liesbeth, Peter, and their two kids from next door, who we have become close with over the years, came to the US for a visit of 3 weeks. We delayed out departure a few days so they could stay with us in Washington for 3 nights. We showed them around the town: a driving tour, a tour of the Capitol, and a look at the Library of Congress. 

  On their last full day with us, our friends Janie and Dan, who have visited us in Soest and met Liesbeth and Peter, came over to the condo and prepared a delicious chili feast. More Americana. 

  We flew to Holland the day after they left. It worked out very nicely. Our airline was KLM and with an upgrade to Premium Economy it turned out to be a lovely non-stop flight.

  Because Kees and Joke had not left when we arrived, Liesbeth and Peter opened their house to us for the first two weeks. They have a lovely home. The only problem was the heat. Our first week was hot (92 degrees) but coolish at night - no a/c. We also inherited the care of their cat called Mookie. She is an outside cat, but very sociable. When we move to a different place in the yard, she comes with us. She gets locked in the washroom at night.

  One night, Kees and Joke hosted a cookout for us and the neighbors: sauages and hamburgers on the grill with salads, 16 people. Coincidently, Lynda Adamson had prepared a cookout as an introduction to the US for our Dutch friends and their German traveling companions the night we picked them up from the airport.
It was all very nice and everything was eaten.

  Another day, Kees took us on a driving tour through some of the country side that we had never visited. 

Up and down the dykes and to a cheese shop where they made their own cheese.

  
They called it "old" cheese and we all had samples. It was pretty good. The room was full of rounds of cheese.

  Then we stopped by a town called Oudewater. This town became famous in the 16th century for having accurate scales. Not only were the scales used to weigh produce, but suspected witches. It was widely believed that witches weighed more than average. If you weighed within the limits, you could receive a certificate testifying that you WERE NOT a witch. Contrary to our beliefs, Linda passed and was declared a non-witch and received her certificate.

Stopping along the road for a coffee out of a thermos and a apple - the Dutch way - frugal.

This is the way the Dutch store their hay. Its stacked under this roof and as they use it the protective roof descends and continues to protect the remainder.

Per plan, Claude Immer, from Switzerland visited for 4 days during our 3rd week. Without a car, we took the train to the Hague and saw Vermeer paintings at the Maurithaus museum. The museum is in a lovely old house that has been well maintained.

Each exhibit is in an ornate room that gives an intimacy to the whole experience. We visit it whenever we can.  The star of the Vermeers is The Girl With The Pearl Earring.

The Nightingale is another famous painting and it is not a Vermeer.










We also made it over to Sparkenburg for their very large street market which is only held for 3 Wednesdays during July and August. 

These ladies are making doilies the old fashioned way. I say making because its not crocheting and its not knitting. Its something else.

Sparkenburg was originally a fishing village, separated from most of the land around it by water. They speak with an odd dialect and are very conservative.

Claude wanted to visit the Reijksmuseum in Amsterdam, so she and Linda took the train downtown.

The museum was designed by the same man who designed the renovations to de Haar.









I stayed home so that I was sure I could get to my reflexology appointment. Linda was a little late but made it for her appointment too. I rode the train home with Claude

  The last day that Claude was here, our friend David, who lives in London and is an architect, came over for 3 days. 

He spends a lot of time in Indonesia and brought us some gifts.

We also moved over to the other house the second day he was here and Claude left. David rented a car which gave us a little more freedom. 


We drove to Naarden, which we had been to before, but this time spent a little more time at it. We went into this church with this fantastic wooden, carved ceiling and this monstrous pipe organ.

This is, of course, was only some of the 150 pipes.

Naarden is a town completely within a fort. But, this fort is built of earthen works in a star configuration. After the invention of the canon, this type of castle or fort was more effective as a defense. All of the forts in North America were built this way. Yorktown, Virginia, comes to mind. 

Down the road was the de Haar which looks like a "real" castle: it has a moat, turrets, and battlements just like you want a castle to have. It dates from the 1100s, but, as you would expect, has been rebuilt numerous times. The latest work was done in the late 1800s. Its also furnished as it was in the 1920's and 1930's. Up to 2000, it was used mostly for movie stars to stay and party. It still is rented out for special events. A wedding party was using it the day we were there. A couple of sisters still use it as a holiday hangout. 

  After David left, we spent our time getting reflexology treatments on the other side of town, walking or taking the bus to street markets, and watching shows on Netflix.

    To get to our reflexology appointments, we have to walk past a chicken farm and this beautiful rooster who Linda is drawing 

and thru a corn field and past a restored windmill. It helps me get my 10,000 steps for the day.

On most days, which are in the 70's, sunny, and low humidity, we walk to the center of town for a coffee and once in awhile some raw herring - a very Dutch thing to eat. Here's Linda having some. We also eat paling (smoked eel). Its pretty good. Even I ate both fishes.

Linda goes for walks without me sometimes and discovers things like this VW Bus. Why are we interested in this kind of thing? Heidi's Doug loves anything related to VWs, especially the old buses.