21 August 2007
Nether Lands
On July 20, Hannes and I hit the road again. This time, he drove (yaay!) and i passenged, knitting and reading as we crossed Germany and headed into Holland.
Friday night we got to Den Haag (the Hague). Saturday morning was beautiful and blue, but i had such a headcold, it was hard to enjoy it. What I liked in the Hague was that it just looks different. It's different from Germany, even though it's only about 6 hours away.
We saw some rad old cars
some cool bikes (oh my, the Dutch and their bikes! they do a lot of personalization)
I cajoled the boy into coming into this cotton fabric shop with me
and as part of our compromise, i visited a coffee shop and an art gallery with him
Our hotel was next to the NutsHouse and the Nuts Savings Bank
After we left the Hague we headed to Scheveningen. (a name the Dutch Resistance used as a codeword in WWII because the Germans and English can't manage to say the name right). It's a resort town on the North Sea. But it was cold and windy that day, so we dipped our toes in the ocean and had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk before moving along.
Next we camped in an area North and East of Amsterdam called Flevoland. It was probably in the mid-60°F's, or 15-17°C. It rained and we learned that our new tent is truly waterproof. Woo! so we stayed dry. we bought ourselves a present - Yahtzee, with the scorecard in Dutch. Dobbel Blok it was called, which is Kniffel, in German.
The campsite wasn't too scenic, but we made little trips out and aboot. First we went to Urk, a cute little fishing town on the coast of Ijslmeer.
These great views courtesy of the Lighthouse in Urk.
Which, surprisingly, lets you climb all the way to the top, and walk around the light on the tower.
Later we visited Arnhem, rented out bikes, and rode up to the Hogue Veluwe nature reserve.
We rode over the paths, through the dunes and the sparse pine forests. They have over 1000 free white bikes at the park, for people to use, but we were glad to have our own.
In the middle of the park is a modern art museum with a huge collection of older Van Gogh paintings. They were mostly dark and unhappy paintings. I was really drawn to this picture, though.
I saw her and thought, "I'd really like to have a drink with that gal, I bet she's got stories." Turns out she's Mata Hari, painted by Isaac Israel.
We also did a day trip to Amsterdam, before relocating there. Can you believe, they need parking structures for bicycles?
Amsterdam was beautiful, but none of my pictures really turned out. It seems a little more Vegas than Vegas, but at the same time old and picturesque like nobody's business.
Odd notes on the Netherlands. Peanut butter is called Pindakaas, and it's delicious there. At the breakfast buffet we learned (from illustrated single-serving packages) that the Dutch put butter on their bread, and then sprinkles. That's right, you may know them as Jimmies. Those little candy cylinders that one normally gets on ice cream. They put it on bread, and it's breakfast.
They also have chocolate spread that's like frosting, but counts as part of a healthy breakfast.
Pannekoeken - pancakes. The dutch first sautée veggies and meats, then pour in a pancake batter that doesn't rise much. So it's kind of like a mix between omelettes and pancakes. And when they eat sweet Pannekoeken, they use syrup called Stroop which tastes a lot like molasses.
Neither Hannes nor I were adventurous enough to throw whole herrings down our gullets. Maybe next time.
Friday night we got to Den Haag (the Hague). Saturday morning was beautiful and blue, but i had such a headcold, it was hard to enjoy it. What I liked in the Hague was that it just looks different. It's different from Germany, even though it's only about 6 hours away.
We saw some rad old cars
some cool bikes (oh my, the Dutch and their bikes! they do a lot of personalization)
I cajoled the boy into coming into this cotton fabric shop with me
and as part of our compromise, i visited a coffee shop and an art gallery with him
Our hotel was next to the NutsHouse and the Nuts Savings Bank
After we left the Hague we headed to Scheveningen. (a name the Dutch Resistance used as a codeword in WWII because the Germans and English can't manage to say the name right). It's a resort town on the North Sea. But it was cold and windy that day, so we dipped our toes in the ocean and had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk before moving along.
Next we camped in an area North and East of Amsterdam called Flevoland. It was probably in the mid-60°F's, or 15-17°C. It rained and we learned that our new tent is truly waterproof. Woo! so we stayed dry. we bought ourselves a present - Yahtzee, with the scorecard in Dutch. Dobbel Blok it was called, which is Kniffel, in German.
The campsite wasn't too scenic, but we made little trips out and aboot. First we went to Urk, a cute little fishing town on the coast of Ijslmeer.
These great views courtesy of the Lighthouse in Urk.
Which, surprisingly, lets you climb all the way to the top, and walk around the light on the tower.
Later we visited Arnhem, rented out bikes, and rode up to the Hogue Veluwe nature reserve.
We rode over the paths, through the dunes and the sparse pine forests. They have over 1000 free white bikes at the park, for people to use, but we were glad to have our own.
In the middle of the park is a modern art museum with a huge collection of older Van Gogh paintings. They were mostly dark and unhappy paintings. I was really drawn to this picture, though.
I saw her and thought, "I'd really like to have a drink with that gal, I bet she's got stories." Turns out she's Mata Hari, painted by Isaac Israel.
We also did a day trip to Amsterdam, before relocating there. Can you believe, they need parking structures for bicycles?
Amsterdam was beautiful, but none of my pictures really turned out. It seems a little more Vegas than Vegas, but at the same time old and picturesque like nobody's business.
Odd notes on the Netherlands. Peanut butter is called Pindakaas, and it's delicious there. At the breakfast buffet we learned (from illustrated single-serving packages) that the Dutch put butter on their bread, and then sprinkles. That's right, you may know them as Jimmies. Those little candy cylinders that one normally gets on ice cream. They put it on bread, and it's breakfast.
They also have chocolate spread that's like frosting, but counts as part of a healthy breakfast.
Pannekoeken - pancakes. The dutch first sautée veggies and meats, then pour in a pancake batter that doesn't rise much. So it's kind of like a mix between omelettes and pancakes. And when they eat sweet Pannekoeken, they use syrup called Stroop which tastes a lot like molasses.
Neither Hannes nor I were adventurous enough to throw whole herrings down our gullets. Maybe next time.
Labels: adventures, holland, travel
