May 21:

Cologne, Germany, is about 2 1/2 hrs away without traffic and it contains a beautiful Gothic cathedral. 

We did hit a detour and lost about 1/2 hour, but were able to drive directly to the underground garage under the church. We discovered this convenient place to park a couple of years ago when we visited here with Linda's brother, Dan.

After checking the timing of English language tours, we had just enough time to grab lunch at an outside cafe on a sunny, warmish day.

The cafe also had a complete menu of sweets but, we passed when this guy didn't.










Back to the church we met with our tour guide from Bulgaria.

Our guide took us around the church pointing out stained glass windows, statues and the box that supposedly contain the artifacts of the Magi. 




The story goes that an archbishop who supported Frederick Barbossa, invaded Milan, Italy, and brought them to Cologne.

This is a statue of St. Christopher (saint for travelers) carrying the baby Jesus who is getting heavier and heavier. Then Jesus said to him "Now you know how I feel carrying the weight of the world". The cathedral was started in 1248 but wasn't finished until the late 19th century. During much of that time, congregants entered the church from the side door and this would be the first thing they saw.

Once the tour was over and we watched a short video, we walked down to the river for an hour boat tour on the Rhine River.

Cologne used to be a major port and now some of the buildings seemed to be influenced by that history. We thought these condos looked like cranes.

A sausage in curry and another kind of sausage and a beer. We're Germans now.











Once off the boat, we walk back up to a large square rimmed by restaurants and filled with tents. It looked like a huge wine tasting party. It was late Saturday afternoon and the partying was beginning. After walking all the way around we finally found an open table inside a cafe. 

I had the best weiner schnitzel I've had in a long time and Linda went for the wurst and sauerkraut dish, 

The girls needed to check things on their mobiles.


With our tummys full, we headed out of town. Because there was heavy traffic on the other side of the road in the morning, we decided to go a different way and stop in Dusseldorf for dessert. We knew nothing about Dusseldorf but we like the way the word sounded. 

Once we arrived in the Zentrum part of the city, we came upon closed streets that led down to the river. Eventually, we crossed the river and could see a mass of people gathering right where we wanted to stop for some apple strudel. Obviously, that was not going to happen. We learned later that there was a Japanese celebration with big fireworks done the Japanese way (what ever that means) and music going on. We headed out of town and found a little truck stop with coffee but no apple strudel. So, we settled for chocolate and finally arrived "home" about 10:30.

May 20:

Ray had said he was interested in how the Dutch closed off part of the North Sea which had previously been called the Zeuderzee and how they created new land. To help him see, we decided to head for Enkhuizen at the west end of the causeway. Kees had taken us here previously and its a charming little fishing town that has some old houses.

We drove up the east side of the Ilsemeer and came across the causeway (20 minutes). Its amazing how much time and effort the Dutch have put into taming the sea and claiming more land.

After checking in at the tourist office and being told to use the train station parking lot which was unlimited and free, we found a small coffee shop. We struck up a conversation with the owner after asking him how to pronounce Enkhuizen. He was born in the town and gave us two pronunciations: one for the natives and one for everyone else. His second wife, from Kenya, was working behind the counter. Since his first marriage didn't work out, he decided to go to a warm place during the winter and one thing led to another. His wife was a runner when she was younger and her sister will be running for Bahrain in the Olympics in Brazil. Interesting guy.


Just past the tourist office and train station we walk past this cute building and the church.

We walked along the seawall and followed its curve past the outside museum. 







The museum showed the progression of different styles of houses - from wood to brick and sturdy roofs.

We came across these poles and wondered what they may have been used for. They look like there are steps for someone to climb but, why? Maybe Kees can tell us.

Along the way, we came upon these baby goats.















You always have to have at least one church and interesting and very Dutch houses.




For lunch, we found a fish restaurant and started with a herring appetizer.

Deb and Ray gave the raw herring a try and were able to finish with Linda and I having a few bites

Then we had a serving of kibbling with fries. Everyone was satisfied.

Then, we went looking for chocolate to complete our lunch and found this.




We came out of the shop with some really good gourmet chocolate truffles. Almost all of them were eaten as we walked down the street. Excellent.

Here's a store selling the little beginner bikes for kids we often see on the street and their parents running to keep up.

Then we needed to get back to the house to serve nachos, as promised, to Duco and Noor.

The kids showed up first and starting eating, Peter and Liesbeth followed a short time later. Both kids' English is continuing to improve and we had a sporadic conversation with them. They really like nachos. 

Talking to the parents, both lawyers, we learned that they did not need to take a bar exam. To be a lawyer in Holland, you attend school, than start at a firm with a mentor. After three years, if the mentor thinks you're qualified, you get your license. 

It was a good ending to a lovely day.

May 19:

If you have never been to the Netherlands, then one of the must see places is Amsterdam. I believe that many people only see Amsterdam during their visit to Holland and that forms their entire impression of the country. Of course, that is wrong, but today was Deb and Ray's turn to see the city.

Off on an hour train ride and then a stroll up the main street that connects the Centraal train station to the Dom (the city's central square). The Dom is the site of the original dam on the Amstel River. Get it - Amstel - Dam = Amsterdam?

We had timed tickets for the Anne Frank House and had time for breakfast. They cater to the Brits with full English breakfasts. 

Deb and Ray went Dutch with an omelette and sweet, chocolate pancake - YUM:

Bill and Linda went Brit:













Then, with full stomachs, we walked over to the Anne Frank House with about 15 minutes to spare. They started selling these timed tickets on May 1st. Certainly a lot better than the old method of standing in line for over an hour.

The House didn't allow pictures. It was depressing, but very complete in telling Anne's story and about her dairy and how it was found and published.

The Westkirk stands besides the House so we took a look. There is also a Nordkirk, but this was the church for the well-to-do.

After leaving, we were able to catch a tour boat right there to see the harbor and some of the smaller canals.






















Its hard to see, but there are seven bridges down there.

Just before we completed the full tour circle, the captain suggested we get off at a stop that would give us a pleasant walk up to the Rijksmuseum. We turn a corner and there it was at the end of the street.

After a stop for a coffee, we decided that trying to see both the van Gogh and Rijks was going to be a bit much and Ray was more interested in the van Gogh.


No photos allowed in the museum, just lots of his paintings.

After that, we walked over to Hans and Gretl which is where we always take our guests for lunch. But, by the time we arrived after 5:30, the kitchen was closed. Wondering down one of the main restaurant streets, and after rejecting a few expensive places, we found a bar that had pretty good food. They had schnitzel for me, so that's good. Deb had it too. Linda had a stew and Ray had fried fish. It was all pretty good.

We walked a little further and hopped on a tram to get back to the Dom. From there we always make a circle that includes a chocolate shop (closed), the smallest bar in the city (just looked in), the Bull Dog Energy Coffeeshop, and, of course, THE GIRLS (not polite to take pictures of them in the windows).

A short walk back to the train station and after a little confusion trying to find our track (spoor) and also add some money to our train cards, we were off to Baarn and then transferred to our last train and home again.






Four tired puppies slept good that night.

May 18:

Today was designated Soest Day. Linda bought these a few days ago and now they are opening at the front door.

Breakfast at the Verkeley (bakery).


Sitting out, a little cool, but sunshine, watching mothers biking with cute little girls in the front box container.

And, eating sweets.

Then some grocery shopping at the Lidl grocery store and the van Asch (butcher). Talked to the owners and told them we would be back in July.





We had previously checked the sign at the windmill and were pretty sure it said on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 3:00 there was a docent there to give us a tour. Given that information, we walked through the community and through the just planted cornfield and sure enough, there was an ex-fighter pilot (flew F-104s) to give Deb and Ray a very complete tour and explanation of how this grinding windmill worked.

We walked back to the train station the DLC Cafe for a coffee, but they had just closed. 






Then, after the girls changed, we drove over to Laren to the Loetje restaurant for a good steak. Sean, the chief chef at the Proef had suggested it.


It was easy to find, and in we went.

Ray started with a red beer to try something different. We each had way too much food. Linda had liver and onions, I had a schnitzel, Deb had a filet mignon with bacon, onions, and chicken livers, and Ray had a smoked salmon with white asparagus and potatoes. Deb and I needed take-away containers. It was good, good, good. We'll need to report back to Sean on a very successful dinner.
Even though everyone was stuffed, we decided, since we were in Laren, that Deb and Ray needed to try out proffetjes (sp?) at the special place in the park.


We sat in our private alcove. 








By an ordering mistake, they not only got the pancake holes with grand marnier but, a waffle order too. Oink, oink.














And here we are with Paul who has lived here all of his life. We met him when we first came in 2010. 
He was born just a few blocks away.

After, we waddled back to the car and drove "home" we hit the beds.