Zeeland

With Frits and Carolien at the wheel, we travelled through many small villages in northern Belgium and back into The Netherlands. The southern North Sea coast of The Netherlands is made up of peninsulas, islands and inlets, so there is a lot of coastline.  We headed for Zeeland, which is a peninsular province jutting into the North Sea.  You can see Zeeland on the map below if you find the town of Middelburg.

We spent two nights in Middelburg and took time to explore the lovely town and the neighboring town of Veere.

A small Middelburg home.

We ventured to the town of Veere for dinner and general exploration.

Veere square.

Carolien told us there is a lovely garden behind this wall.  The owners were inconsiderate in not leaving the door ajar for us to peek in.

In case you were wondering, gluten free baked goods are available.

Pre dinner stroll.

The ocean is at my back, and I'm looking across a canal.

Photo by Carolien - Veere cityscape.

Photo by Iris - Veere cityscape.

Beer in the garden before dinner.

A good dinner and good company in Veere.  A good day all around.

Delightful Dalham

Iris and her parents planned a trip for us to see some of the "off the main tourist tracks" in the Netherlands and Belgium.  Our first stop was Frits and Carolien's home in Dalhem, Belgium where Taylor and I were totally charmed. 

This is the kind of structure that I always wonder about when passing by.  I felt so lucky that I got to stay overnight here. The red shutters belong to the next door neighbor.

This house is built into part of the of original town wall.  It was probably the gatekeeper's house.  From the side of the house you can see the wall.

Here are the remains of the town wall. Up the street, past the white house, are the remains of the original castle.

Castle wall with what looks like a blue door.

Looking up the street toward the castle wall from the front door.

You enter the house through it's basement.  Deeper into the cellar are remains that date back to the 5th century.  The rest of the house has been built on these ruins and is newer - I believe Frits told me 16th century.  Anyway, it's really old.  From the entry you climb up a narrow spiral stair, and here you are - in the dining room.

The dining room seems to be the hub of this 16th century home.

This partial wall divides the dining room from the living room.

Frits and Carolien built this fireplace in the living room.  The columns were originally on a fireplace on the entry floor.

Iris and Syvart relaxing in the living room. Can you see how thick the walls are by looking at the window sills?

Syvart and Taylor toasting our time together.

Frits starting the meal with a toast.

As we left the house in the morning we walked by these buildings. There is a bakery in town where we bought our croissant.

Typical Dalham house.

What I didn't take photos of are the lovely gardens on the side and back of the house.  You will have to trust me and imagine the hilly garden filled with sunshine and perennial beds.

As much as I loved the house and town, part of what made it so special was spending time with Syvart, Iris and Iris' parents.  This was definitely a highlight on our European tour.

King's Day continued

The grown ups found King's Day so stimulating that after enjoying it for a few hours we left town and toured the Dutch countryside.  We meandered through several small villages and eventually found ourselves in the town of Edam.

Carolien and Frits. We had coffee and apple pie at this inn before strolling through town.

Classic Dutch house

Did you ever think that Edam cheese came from a town called Edam?  Well, it does.

There are many flavors of Edam, all of them good.

Throughout the Netherlands, the buildings are historic.  Most have been renovated after the wars to look as they did before the bombings.  The result are these streets full of old homes with rich histories. Since much of the population was celebrating the king's birthday in Amsterdam, we were practically the only people on the streets in Edam.  Considering the revels outside the house in Amsterdam, we all enjoyed the peace and quiet.

European Adventure 2017 - the beginning of the middle

We had a quick but easy journey from Paris to Amsterdam. It continues to surprise me that European countries and cities are so close together.  Iris and her father Frits picked us up at the train station and the fun began.  Keep in mind that this was the first time to meet Iris' family.  We spent an amazing 8 days together and came away feeling like family.

We saw the classics in Amsterdam and its surroundings.

Frits drove us around the country side and yes, the bulb fields are show stoppers.

We walked through the Jordaan neighborhood with Iris' mom Carolien. The canals are as charming as expected.

As charming as the city and it's surrounding are, the delights of King's Day captured our attention.  The city pretty much closes down to celebrate the king's birthday.  Part of the celebration includes wearing orange - I think it has something to do with William of Orange. Frits, Carolien and family started the celebration the night before when Iris' sister arrived with her two children and a bag of nail polish.  We women painted our nails in a variety of colors, but we all had an orange theme.  Then, we went to bed and the party in the street began.  The music went on loud and clear until 1 a.m. There were moments when I thought perhaps I was back in India - the music was that boisterous.

The next morning the real celebration began.

Who knew it is possible to have an all orange breakfast? 

These little king head are like cream puffs dipped in orange frosting.  Pretty tasty.

With breakfast under our belts we hit the streets, wearing our orange.

Taylor, Jamar, Syvart, Iris and Frits ready to celebrate. Frits and Carolien have an orange flag on their balcony as well.

There were many musical groups playing in the streets.  This group were old sailors singing sea chanties.

The streets were crowded with bands, puppet shows, make shift sales people, food stalls, etc., etc.  It was kind of like a giant carnival. No permits are needed, you can sell what you want on the street.  It's a good day to sell all the stuff that you originally planned to take to Good Will.  Someone will buy whatever it is you have.

Here's Iris buying cookies from a neighbor girl.  Her sister Jantein is on the far right, and her niece Niyah is right behind Iris.  Do you like the orange haired guy?

Jantein, Nia and a neighbor boy.

This street party started very early in the morning and continued throughout the afternoon.  It's a wonderful opportunity for neighbors to mingle with each other, exchange their garage sale items, watch spontaneous performances and of course, to celebrate the king's birthday. 

One Full Day in Paris

April 24, 2017
Today Taylor and I planned to walk through the Marais District in Paris, go to the Pompidou Centre to see modern art, and continue walking around Paris.

We started with the walking tour of the historic Marais.  We saw quaint buildings, the Jewish Quarter and the outside of the Pompidou.  We found the Pompidou as disgusting as Parisians do and decided to abandon the plan of going inside the building at all.  Instead we spent the day walking through the Marais, Monmartre and back to our  hotel.

The Pompidou is not under construction.  This is the way it looks.

I prefer the older buildings - especially if they have been creatively adapted with elephants.

The Jewish Quarter still has Jewish people which I find totally surprising after the events of World War II.  The original quarter has shrunk, of course, but you still see evidence of several shops and we  saw a number of Hassidic Jewish men on the street.

Jewish book store.

The old Jewish Synagogue, still in use today.

After the Marais and the Jewish Quarter Taylor and I decided to take the Metro to Montmartre. We took the subway yesterday so I already knew that it is has improved immensely since I last used it in 1971.  It is clean, and has no discernable odor - the qualities that I found disturbing in the past.  In addition, it has a very nifty system of helping you plan your trip. You simply put your finger on the electronic map at the stop you wish to go to, and instructions appear for you.  In our case, we took the Yellow 1 Line in the direction of Chateau de Vincennes.  We got off at the Nation stop and transferred to the Blue 2 Line in the direction of Porte Dauphine and got off at Anvers.  When we emerged we were in front of the Elysees Montmartre the famous CanCan theatre.  This automated itinerary finder is one idea that the Taipei MRT could add to make their system even more perfect than it already is.

We trooped through Montmartre with all the other tourists. We went in Sacre Coeur Basilica, a fairly modern structure finished in 1919, with hoards of rude and obnoxious visitors.  I was quite discouraged because so many people don't understand the meaning of the instructions:  "Silence" and "No photography."  It was a carnival.  On the other hand, when we crossed the street to visit the Church of St. Pierre-de-Montmartre, Paris' oldest church (1147), hardly anyone was there.  It was a much better experience and calmed me down.

We had lunch, and enjoyed wandering through the hives of streets that make up Montmartre, and seeing well known sights including the famous Moulin Rouge.

A highlight was finding our friend Liz Cronan's favorite croissant shop on the Rue des Abbesses, The Grenier.

Un croissant et un pain au chocolat

Next a visit to a local park.

At the park, we ate our goodies and figured out what to do next.

Thus, ends our one full day in Paris.  We still have tomorrow morning, and then we go off to Amsterdam.